Tread Lightly But Carry A Big Stick!
Whether you're playing ice, roller or street hockey, your stickhandling skill is one of the most important elements of your game. As the star of Roller Hockey Magazine's Instructional DVD series, Bobby says, "Stickhandling is an art and your must have soft hands in order to be able to control the puck properly."
One of the best ways to improve your Inline Hockey game is to improve your stickhandling skills. Here are some tips and drills that we feature in the Bobby Hull Shooting & Stickhandling Roller Hockey DVD.
When you control the puck, you need to make sure that the stick blade "cups" the puck on both the forehand and on the backhand. The wrist on the top hand rolls back and forth to control the puck and the bottom hand is more loose and slightly slides up and down the shaft of the stick to guide the puck where you want it to go.
Start practicing stationary. Practice stickhandling in front of the body and as you are practicing, try to keep your head up and view the puck with your periferial vision. Next you want to practice stickhandling laterally or on each side of your body, on the backhand side and on the forehand side. This allows you to keep your body between the opposing player and the puck.
360 Drill
Figure 8
Place two cones down about 10 feel apart. Skate in a figure 8 and as you go into your turns, look down to make sure you have control of the puck. When you come out of the turns, keep your head up in order to practice getting ready to pass the puck to an open man or to see if you have room to skate or shoot.
Zig Zag
This drill is similar to the figure 8 and 360 drill, but here you set up four cones about 10 feet apart and in a zig zag pattern. Circle the contes completely, controlling the puck as you go from cone to cone in a zig zag motion.
Under a Defender's Stick
You will need a partner for this drill and they will act as a defender but will remain still with his or her stick extended towards your skates as if they were trying to steal the puck. Here you pass the puck to yourself, back and forth under their stick. This drill is a good way to practice making moves on a defender when you skate down the rink.'
After practicing over and over, you will become a much better stickhandler and overall better Inline hockey player. And remember keeping your head up is the most important aspect of stickhandling. If you don't practice the drills with your head up, then your defeating the purpose and you won't see where you're going on the court and you may also get hit and have the puck taken away.
Learn more on how to master your Stickhandling with the Bobby Hull Shooting DVD.
