Rec and Sports

Hockey Shooting Drills: A Quick Way to Motivate Players

During the course of a practice (especially at the younger ages) it is not uncommon for players to get bored and become sluggish while working on less exciting skills like technical skating. Adding hockey shooting drills into the mix is a great way to liven up your practice and keep your players motivated and up beat. During longer practices, try using high-tempo shooting drills to encourage competition and to mentally rejuvenate your players.

When working with hockey shooting drills, I try to implement a few key points that help my players to get the most benefit possible:

1. Insist that players keep their feet moving while shooting, or shoot in stride. Many players slow down and glide just before shooting, not only does this announce to the goalie that a shot is coming, but it also gives the backchecker a chance to get a stick on the shooter and mess up the shot. A great habit to get into is shooting in stride!
2. Drive in rebounds. Players should be taught to drive home any rebounds after taking their shot. Once again, this encourages good stuff that will be useful in game situations!
3. At the end of a skating drill, try adding a shot. You can motivate a player to practice all kinds of skills he or she doesn’t really like, and completely change the drill in the mind of a youngster simply by adding a shot at the end of a skating drill. This works particularly well when working on backward skating with the young kids.
4. Specify the shot type. It is tempting for players to walk the puck all the way in and deke. There is a time and a place for dekes, but most shots in games will not be dekes. Specify which type of shot you want your players working on, as well as where they should be letting it go from. This will help make sure that players are developing a diverse skill-set around the front of the net.

As you progress through the season, you’ll get a good feel for your team, and you’ll be able to recognize when they need one or two good hockey shooting drills to get them revved back up again. In your next practice, give these easy pointers a try and see how it goes!