Hockey Hitting??????

Question

Ok,

I play for a fairly good hockey team and am mostly a goal scorer but i would like to work on my hitting.

i am 5'5 110 pounds in bantam.

One of my main problems is i cant seem to line guys up in open ice.

I would like to become more of a force on the ice so any help is appreciated

Answer 1

hitting isnt the only thing about the game. stop focusing on being tough and focus on skating or shooting

Answer 2

You need to learn how to hit hip check as well.Watch hockey players check you can see that they check while they  are miss stickhandled or wile they are looking for players to pass they arnt paying attention

Answer 3

it's good that you'd like to work on your checking (worry more about "checking" than "hitting") but don't get too focused on it.  You don't want to lose that scoring edge you already have.

Remember -- some players are better at certain things than others.  It would be great if you could learn to be a top two-way forward, but Gretzky wasn't known for his checking...he was known for his scoring.

As long as you don't go out and get drilled all the time, you should be ok.

Answer 4

Try steering guys to the boards because it's a lot easier than making an open ice hit. Also, keep your legs moving when you hit someone, don't stop.

Answer 5

yes checking is a very important part of the game, just as important as goal scoring. If you do not have the ability to get and keep the puck, your goal scoring skills don't really matter.

open ice hits are pretty tricky. if the opposing player can see you coming its going to be pretty tough. your best chance is to catch someone with their head down (receiving a pass or skating hard). This way you will have a greater opportunity to complete the check.

If the guy sees you coming your best bet is to steer him towards the boards and rub him out. This may not be the huge hit that gets cheers from the bench, but is just as effective at taking the puck from the man.

Good luck!