The HockeyShot Professional Shooting Pad is a Must-Have if You Plan to Work on Your Shot from Home!

This product is a no-brainer. If you want to work on your shot off the ice, you need a good shooting pad. Otherwise you’ll wreck your stick, and the pucks won’t slide with the same feel as real ice.

HockeyShot’s Professional Shooting Pad is a great choice.

I’ve used quite a few “makeshift” shooting pads over the years. Some of these worked ok, some not as well. None has compared to the experience I’ve had with the Professional Shooting Pad. There are a few key features that make this a “must-have” item:

1. 30″ by 60″ surface area, which is larger than most of the pads I’ve used in the past. This makes it big enough to give you a full range of motion on your wrist shots, slap shots and snap shots.
2. Made of a slick and durable material, which allows your pucks to slide similarly to ice––so it works great for shooting or stickhandling practice.
3. Durability allows you to take slap shots without damaging the pad; something I had to be careful about with some of my makeshift shooting pads!
4. Bevelled edge makes it easy to pull pucks up from beside your mat.
5. This shooting pad is lightweight, with a handle cutout, which makes it REALLY easy to transport (not the case with some of my previous shooting pads).

To sum it up, you need a shooting pad of some sort if you want to work on your shot from home. If you’re looking for one that mimics the feel of real ice, is big enough to take real shots with, will hold up to intense use, and is easily transportable, then this is the pad for you. It’ll save your stick, and help make you a better hockey player in the process!

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The Shooter Tutor is one of my All-time Favorite Hockey Shooting Aids!

I first began using the Shooter Tutor when I was about 10 years old back in Toronto. My dad used to keep one in the trunk incase we had ever had a goalie “no-show” us for practice.

During high school (about 6 years later), I kept that same Shooter Tutor strapped to a full-sized goal in our side yard. I left it up through rain and shine, and shot anywhere from 50 to 100 pucks a day during the summers. Needless to say, it saw its fair share of abuse from me!

Years later, when I began running my own skill development camps, the first thing I invested in were two Shooter Tutors. There’s nothing worse than showing up to a practice or drop-in, and having nothing to shoot at… especially in a camp setting! So, following in my old man’s footsteps, I now keep one Shooter Tutor in my car for “emergencies,” and the other one is strapped to my EZ Goal so I can keep my shot sharp between games.

So… what’s so great about the Shooter Tutor? Well, a lot of things actually! It’s light-weight, portable, and durable enough to take years of abuse. The design is simple, yet sophisticated. You’ve got your classic 5 holes cut out; The steel bar sewn into the bottom keeps it hanging heavy so that pucks don’t trickle through under the “goalie”; You have to actually snipe to score (most of the time). Also, the combination of canvas with the bungie cord straps makes for a very realistic rebound when you miss your shot.

BEWARE OF IMITATIONS:

Because the Shooter Tutor is so well designed, lots of companies have tried to come up with their own versions. I obviously can’t speak for ALL of them, but I can tell you that I’ve used a number of them over the years, none has held a candle to the Shooter Tutor. Many of them tend to be lower quality, don’t stay strapped into the net as well, and don’t hold up to real shots from real pucks the same way the Shooter Tutor brand does. In my mind, the Shooter Tutor is tried and true, and well worth the investment!

Technorati Tags: 10 Years, 6 Years, Backstop, Bungie Cord, Canvas, Cross Bar, Development Camps, Emergencies, Ez Goal, Fair Share, Fairness, Footsteps, Goal Frame, Hockey Training, Holes, Home Hockey, Imitations, Old Man, Phillips Screwdriver, Priorities, Puck, Pucks, Rain And Shine, Rain Storm, Rebound, Set Ups, Shooter, Skill Development, Steel Bar, Storage, Time Consuming, Trickle, Tutor, Tutors, Ups, Weather

The EZ Goal and Backstop combo is a durable, versatile, and inexpensive way work on your shot from home!

One of the highest priorities in my Home Hockey Training Center was to have a solid shooting station. The first step is to have a good goal that you can shoot real pucks at. I chose the EZ Goal and Backstop because it is a full sized, durable, and portable piece of equipment. The design is very cool, and it can actually fold up for easy storage.

Assembling the EZ Goal frame was very simple. It took me about 35 minutes to build both the net and backstop. Most of it snaps together with spring-loaded pins. The few tools that were needed actually came with the net (other than a phillips screwdriver).

The hardest part about putting it all together was lacing the netting on. I’d never done it before, and had to undo and redo a couple of times. The biggest thing I can recommend is fitting it in and tying in the corners and other key spots before you begin. This will help make sure you don’t “run out of net” after you’ve laced 3/4 of the way around (yes, that happened to me!)

In all fairness, the lacing wasn’t hard, just time-consuming… and if you take my advice on “tacking it in” before you begin, you’ll have a much easier go of it!

Part-way through setting it all up, we had a rain storm. The EZ Goal is weather resistant, but I wanted to bring it into the garage anyways. So I had a chance put the folding feature to use. It was super easy to collapse, and it fit in my garage like a glove!

So, after the rain quit, I was able to finish the rest of the assembly and try it out. I’m REALLY impressed with the design! I’ve used nets in the past that don’t hold up to real shots from real pucks. This does.

I’ve also used set-ups where the backstop sits behind the net. They don’t work nearly as well as this design, because if you hit the post or cross bar just right the puck will still ricochet up and over the top of the backstop. With the EZ Goal’s design, the backstop is actually integrated into the net, so unless you just outright miss the net AND backstop, you’re very unlikely have anything get away from you.

Another thing I love about the design is that the side panels can swivel. This feature makes for a really cool set-up when working on shooting from an angle.

All in all, the EZ Goal is a fantastic piece of equipment at a great price point, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their shot this summer!

Technorati Tags: Backstop, Cross Bar, Fairness, Goal Frame, Hockey Training, Home Hockey, Phillips Screwdriver, Priorities, Puck, Pucks, Rain Storm, Set Ups, Storage, Storm Weather, Time Consuming, Ups

Home Hockey Training Objectives and Considerations

This is the 3rd of 3 intro videos for the Home Hockey Training Center. Check out the first two videos before moving on to this one. Here are the links to videos 1 and 2:

• Video 1: Course Overview
• Video 2: Skill Development Strategy

Before you start putting together your Home Hockey Training Center, it’s important to have a game plan. Here’s an example of the things I thought were important considerations for my situation. I think this list is a good start, but I’m sure there are other considerations that might fit different scenarios:

1. Age: older players are bigger and stronger, which may have implications on how sturdy the equipment needs to be, and how much space you’ll need
2. Ability: more advanced players will have more advanced needs, which could affect what types of equipment you’ll need
3. Space: self-explanatory… you need a place to put everything!
4. Objectives: what are the main skills you’re looking to develop? what equipment best fits those needs?
5. Budget: if you’re like me, you’re ok with investing in your skill development, as long as the value is there

Once you’ve mapped out your game plan, then the fun begins! Time to start picking and choosing what you’re going to put in your Home Hockey Training Center. That’s where I’m hoping this course will come in useful.

Join me as I give you a peek at my own Home Hockey Training Center, complete with reviews of everything I’ve included in it. And when you’re ready to start shopping, just click the link below to be taken to my favorite store for Hockey Training Aids!

Technorati Tags: Aids, Budget, Course Overview, Development Strategy, Favorite Store, Fit, Game Plan, Hockey Training, Home Hockey, Peek, Scenarios, Shopping, Skill Development, Training Objectives

Off-Ice Skill Development Strategy

This is the 2nd of 3 intro videos for the Home Hockey Training Center. Check out the first video before watching this one. Here are the links to videos 1 and 3:

• Video 1: Course Overview
• Video 3: Objectives and Considerations

There are certain hockey skills that can very realistically be developed away from the rink, and then there are some that don’t work quite as well. You can gain an advantage over your opponent by practicing as many skills as possible off the ice. This video breaks down which skills can (and should) be worked on away from the rink, and gives a quick overview of how you might want to strategize your off-ice training plans.

The main hockey skills that can be developed at home are as follows:

1. Shooting
2. Stickhandling
3. Passing Technique
4. Some Skating Elements

Then there are a few physical performance items that should be worked on at home as well:

1. Agility
2. Strength
3. Explosiveness

With the cost of ice so high, developing your hockey abilities at home is a cheap, and extremely effective way to improve your game!

Technorati Tags: Agility, Course Overview, Development Strategy, Elements, Game, Hockey Skills, Hockey Training, Home Hockey, Opponent, Physical Performance, Skill Development, Strategy Development, Video 3