As a hockey player it is important to practice shooting and stickhandling on a regular basis. The big problem that most hockey players have though is finding a suitable surface to stickhandle and shoot off of.
The biggest problem with shooting and stickhandling on pavement or asphalt is the increased friction. This friction causes the pucks to move slower, and flip all over the place (very annoying). The friction also causes your stick blades to wear out pretty quickly (costs a lot to keep buying blades, or sticks)
Shooting and Stickhandling Surfaces
A great solution is to find a nice smooth surface to shoot and stickhandle on. I have tried a lot of alternatives, but I find each cheap alternative will have a downfall in one way or another. I think that if you are serious about improving your shooting and stickhandling it is important to find a good surface to practice on.
One product that we have reviewed in the past was the hockey shooting pad we also did a video review of the roll-up shooting pad which I really liked. I think the roll up pad is the best option for a small area.
Dryland Training Tiles
We were sent a few boxes of training tiles from hockey shot for review. Here is some information about the training tiles from the hockey shot website (with our comments in brackets)
- Slipperiest & smoothest material available for stickhandling,
shooting & passing! (we’ll see about that) - Each tile measures 18” x 18” tile (2.25 square feet) and are 1/2″ thick.
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Comes with 2 beveled edge pieces for easy loading of pucks.
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Tiles easily attach to each other. Assemble entire hockey flooring area in minutes! (more on this in the review)
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Perfect for your garage, basement or driveway.
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Tiles are strong enough for cars to park on, perfect for the garage. (Oh I have to test this out!)
Quality of Material
The tiles are very sturdy feeling, on the top they feel very smooth, and on the bottom they have a cross pattern across the entire tile. The tiles are not overly rigid, and it doesn’t seem like they would break or shatter with a slapshot (time will tell)
Setting up the Hockey Training Tiles
This was pretty easy, it took me a little while to figure it out, but I got it. I thought there was a special way to snap them together, but all you need to do is put the clip side over the ring side and then bash press them together. Each box has 10 tiles, and the tiles measure 18 inches by 18 inches, I set each box up as two rows of 5 tiles.
I would say 5 boxes would be enough for most areas like a garage or basement. It gave me a lot of room to stickhandle and practice dekes. I also added a few more toys from hockeyshot to give me a bit more to do.
On the right side is the attack triangle which is a substitute for a defencemen, and on left side, in the corner, we have the pass master. The passmaster will feed the puck back to you if you pass into it. We also have a weighted hockey puck, and a Green Biscuit which is my favourite off ice puck! Check out the video to see them all in action
Stickhandling and Shooting on the Training Tiles
Stickhandling
I practiced a variety of moves on the shooting tiles, first I just did some basic stickhandling with a regular hockey puck, then moved on to quicker dekes, and toe drags. The tiles held up well too all of my abuse, I was darting back and foreth, moving the puck quickly in all directions and taking a few quick snap shots to finish the move off. The tiles did not come apart at all and most importantly, the puck did not get caught on any edges. I was really impressed at how smoothly the tiles fit together
Shooting
I was told that you can drive a car onto the tiles and they will not break, so they better be able to withstand the force of a stick while taking a slapshot (I tested both 
) With 5 boxes of tiles there was plenty of room to take a wristshot, snapshot, and slapshot. I took a bunch of slapshots and did not feel the tiles move at all, and there was no damage either.
Compared to other products
I really like the roll-up shooting pad which is 4 feet wide by 8 feet long and costs $99. With the roll up shooting pad you get the most shooting and stickhandling area for your buck. A box of 10 training tiles costs $109.50 (use our coupon to get $10 off) and gives you 3 feet by 7.5 feet, but the big advantage to the tiles is that you can buy more down the road and increase the area.
Score sheet – Overall Thoughts
I think that these tiles definitely live up to expectations.
- They were nice and sturdy
- They fit together nicely with no raised edges
- The puck and the Green Biscuit slid very well
- Easy to set up
I would recommend these to anyone who has a garage, basement, or flat open area and wants to start a cool place to practice stickhandling and shooting. Only one question remains though…. can you drive a car on it, you will have to watch the video to find out!
Hockey Training Tiles Video Review
In this video we test out the training tiles and show you how well the pucks slide, how to set up the tiles, and if we can park a car on them
Where to Buy the Training Tiles
I always get a comment on every review asking where to buy the product (even though I link to it about 5 times in the review) so I am making a nice big section called where to buy. You can buy the tiles on this page at hockeyshot
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Jeremy Rupke
Latest posts by Jeremy Rupke (see all)
- How to Work on Your Shot Inside (without breaking stuff!) - June 3, 2013
- Advanced shooting training – toe shots, changing the release point, shooting in stride - May 24, 2013
- NEW: iSnipe Hockey Shooting Trainer App - May 12, 2013
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Can you use rollerblades on them
Yes you can, just make sure you have the right wheels
are they better than ice to practice on?
Can these tiles be left outdoors? We want to set them up in the backyard but live close to the ocean so we have very salty, foggy air. How do these standup to weather?
Yes they will be fine outdoors, just keep them clean for maximum smoothness
Hi, can you apply these over carpet?
You sure can, I put a bunch of them down over the carpet in my basement.
I just got 10 of them and as I was putting them together, one of them didn’t fit at the middle. I keep trying to take them apart but I can’t. Is there an easy way to take them apart or is it even possible to take them apart?
You have to start on the corner, pull up on one tile while pushing down on the other tile. You have to make sure you pull up on the right one though, if you pull/push on the wrong sides you can snap the tabs.
Jeremy, in your opinion which surface gives the closest feel to ice? – The Roll Up Shooting Pad, or the Hockey Training Tiles? Do you have any other pros and cons to share with someone who isn’t sure which one to invest in?
Thanks,
I was wondering if there was any retail stores in Canada that sells any of these products. And also are you Canadian?
do you think these sheeting could be used for goalie training, as in post to post slides etc?
thanks.
They are fairly slick so I think you would be able to do that. For the best results you could use a slideboard. I have seen the G1 Extreme slideboard used for this purpose and I think a few NHL goalies use it.
Thanks for the review. I picked up 8 of these after watching your demo and am planning on getting 8 more as they work great and are holding up well — I also drive over them on a regular basis as they stay on the floor in my garage. Ice pucks slide nicely for shooting, but nothing feels more like stick handling on ice than the green biscuit or ice guy(pro puck) on these tiles. Thanks again
I think you could, they are fairly sturdy. If not you could always put a rubber mat down for your skates and that would work.
I really appreciate your review of these tiles. I am convinced that I want these! (when the funds are available, of course) My question is, do you think it would be possible to stand on skates on these tiles? So obviously not attempting to skate, but just wearing your skates to get the height and everything just right.
I know you said in the video that you can’t skate on the tiles but what about with inline skates? I would imagine that the tiles are similar to the surface at indoor roller hockey rinks.
Yes you can roller blade on them, but you will need the right type of wheels
whats the right kind of wheels?
The indoor wheels are softer than outdoor wheels, so you would need a nice soft wheel.
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