Dryland Shooting

• Big slow circles both directions, then pull a light band apart at chest height.
• Squeeze the shoulder blades together at the end of every pull-apart.

Common mistake: Shrugging the shoulders up toward the ears.

Skip the band pull-apart if you don't have a band.

• Step into a long lunge, back knee off the floor, both hands inside the front foot.
• Drop the inside elbow toward the front ankle, then rotate and reach that arm to the ceiling.
• Finish by pushing the hips back and straightening the front leg, then switch sides.

Common mistake: Rushing through it. Hold each position for a full breath.

• Hands a little closer. Tiny, fast touches only a few inches wide.
• Soft hands: let the ball sit on the blade instead of batting it.

Common mistake: Big swinging motions. The speed comes from the wrists, not the arms.

• Puck in the middle of the blade, weight moving from your back leg to your front leg.
• Follow through at the target, rolling the blade closed.

Common mistake: All arms and no weight transfer.

First eight in slow motion. Then follow through low for a low shot and high for a high one — that is the whole of aiming.

• Puck toward the heel of the blade. Pull it across and lift with a sweeping follow-through.
• Aim high, since that’s where goalies struggle with backhands.

Common mistake: Flicking with just the wrists and no body behind it.

Second, while the hands are fresh.

• Two quick stickhandles, then release without a big wind-up.
• Change where you shoot from: in front, beside, even behind your feet.

Common mistake: Stopping to set up the shot. It should come straight out of the dribble.

The release is the point here, not the power.

• Pull the ball back to your hip, turning your body between it and an imaginary defender.
• Top hand stays out away from your body, then push the ball forward and go.

Common mistake: Pulling the ball in front of your feet, where a defender can poke it.

Pull it back, turn, then shoot as you push it forward.

• Put a cone out as the defender. Fake one way, toe drag the other, pull it back and finish past the cone.
• Smooth first, then fast.

Common mistake: Rushing the moves before they’re clean.

A shoe or a water bottle is the defender. Beat it, then shoot in the same motion.

• Pass hard and flat at the rebounder, or a wall if you don’t have one.
• Cushion the pass as it comes back: let the blade give a little as it arrives.

Common mistake: A stiff blade on the reception, so the puck bounces off.

Shoot the last five of each round back instead of catching them.

• Arm straight out, fingers up, gently pull the hand back. Then fingers down and repeat.
• Worth doing after any heavy grip day or a long stick session.

• Forearm on the door frame at shoulder height, step through and turn away.
• Ribs down, shoulder blade pulled back as you turn.

Common mistake: Shrugging the shoulder up toward the ear.