How to Use a Hockey Stickhandling Trainer

Hockey Stickhandling

When it comes to practicing a hockey stickhandling trainer is a tool that will allow you to learn to be the best. Whether you train on synthetic ice, real ice, or dryland hockey flooring you can absolutely benefit from training with a hockey training aid that is designed to bring out the best of your skills and make them better. The great thing about training and practicing your hockey skills is that you gain from every minute of it.

Stickhandling Skills

Anybody that knows anything about hockey knows that if you can’t control the puck, you are not going to get very far on the rink. As soon as you move forward with that puck, the other team is going to be right up on you trying to get it away from you. The person who has the puck is the one who runs the show at that moment. The more skills that you have when it comes to handling your stick, the harder it will be to stop you from scoring points. With that being said, it is very obvious that stickhandling skills are important.

Training with Stickandling Trainers

There are many types of stickhandling training aids on the market, any one of them could be your ticket to awesomeness.  A very popular aid is something called SweetHands. It is a row of cylinders that are held together by a little bar that allows for a puck to go in between the spaces so that you can practice difficult handling exercises. For instance, you have to be able to aim the puck through the small area and put it back through. Quickly. Very quickly. The best way to get the most out of your training device is to push yourself to get faster and more accurate with each time that you practice. Once you get comfortable doing a certain exercise, bump up the heat and make it more difficult as you go. In most cases, faster makes it more difficult.

Hand-Eye Coordination

Having adequate hand-eye coordination is crucial for hockey skill development. You have to be good at what you do without having to think about it too much. Constant practice turns your task into a second nature kind of movement much like breathing or eating off of a fork. When you use a stickhandling trainer at high speeds you allow yourself to gain valuable hand-eye coordination skills that will last for the rest of your life.

Try This Little Exercise:

Place your stickhandling trainer, such as SweetHands on the ground directly in front of you. Make sure that it is vertical to you so that the trainer is facing away from you like a ladder going up. Stand where the rail is between your legs, but up a couple of feet. Start out by slowly pushing the puck through the bottom space of the trainer. There should be four spaces upward for you to alternate through. Slap the puck through the first space to the right. Slap it from the right, back through the left at the first space. When it comes back to the left side slap it through to the right, but go up to the next space. Slap it back to you from the right to the left through the same space, but when it comes back to you slap it through to the next level up. Once you get to the top, work your way back down to the bottom. Each time you slap the puck through, go to the next one at a faster pace. Keep hitting the puck back and forth faster and faster until you are comfortable with going as fast as you possibly can with each pass. Talk about building hand-eye coordination.

Keep Up the Good Work

Don’t stop with just one exercise, keep on changing the way you hit the puck through there as much as you want. Don’t get stuck on one thing, because if you are comfortable doing it, there is always something else you can build on from there. Make it a goal to get better at one thing every day so that you are continually bettering yourself.

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