Dryland Stickhandling

• 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.

• Hands apart on the stick. The top hand does most of the work by rolling the wrists.
• Move the ball as wide as you can reach, side to side in front of you.
• Knees bent, and cup the ball with the blade on every touch.

Common mistake: Standing tall and slapping at the ball. Cup it and roll the wrists.

Third round with the top hand only. That is the one that builds real control.

• 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.

• Stickhandle while looking at a spot on the wall in front of you.
• Feel the ball through the stick. Only glance down when you lose it.

Common mistake: Staring at the ball. In a game, your eyes need to be on the ice.

Better still: get someone to hold up fingers and call them out as you go.

• Stickhandle while shuffling side to side, like walking the blue line.
• Keep your knees bent and your hands out in front of your body.

Common mistake: Feet stopping whenever the hands get busy. Both have to keep moving.

• Roll the blade over the ball and pull it across your body with the toe.
• Start slow, then drag it around a cone or a stick lying on the floor.

Common mistake: Pushing with the heel of the blade. Turn the blade over the top of the ball.

• 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.

• Two cones or pucks about a stick-length apart.
• Weave the ball in a figure 8 around them, forehand around one and backhand around the other.
• Keep the ball close to the blade the whole way.

Common mistake: Letting the ball drift wide on the turns.

• 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.

• 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.

• Pull one arm across your chest with the opposite forearm.
• Keep the shoulder down — no shrugging to get more range.