The wrist shot is the most useful shot a young hockey player will learn. Quick, accurate, no big windup. This drill teaches the four phases of the shot.
What you need: Stick, 5 pucks, a target (net or wall), ice or off-ice space.
Setup: Player 15 feet from the target, puck on the forehand side.
How to run it:
- Cue: Load, Sweep, Snap, Follow.
- Load: weight on back foot, blade cupped behind the puck.
- Sweep: blade pulls forward through the puck along the ice.
- Snap: wrists roll over at the moment of release, the heel of the blade follows the toe.
- Follow: blade finishes pointing at the target, weight transfers to front foot.
What to watch: The wrist roll. Without the roll, the puck slides flat with no rise. The roll lifts the puck off the ice and adds power.
If they’re struggling: Reduce distance to 10 feet. Use a street hockey ball off-ice.
If they’ve got it: Move back to 20 feet. Add target zones (top corners). They have to hit the corners, not just the net.