We all know our sweet spot on the ice, and where we’re the most deadly. We try our hardest to find ourselves there during the game, but it’s never quite that easy. In this video, I show you how to make a small tweak to your off ice training in order to have a better handle on shooting from bad angles. Since defencemen often plug up the middle, you can often find yourself with the puck on the outside, where the D give you a chance at a low percentage shot. I’m going to show you to turn that into a high percentage shot.

Working on Bad Angle Shots

As you can see, this small change to your net’s positioning actually gives you an entirely new look at the goalie. It forces you to readjust how you look at the net, which is good, because you rarely get to see that net, and that goalie, from exactly 15 feet out, right in the middle of the slot.

Tips for practicing bad angle shots

• Use a backstop, you’ll miss the net more often
• Remember the puck see’s the net differently than you do
• Change your technique up until you find some consistency
• In close try dropping a knee to get the puck up quickly *Like Crosby over there ->

In order to be an elite goal scorer, you need many things. Natural talent is a great start, but you also need to be able to score from anywhere on the ice. Sidney Crosby, and John Tavares are both great examples of players who often score from the side of the net. They like to post themselves up there, because that’s typically where the defencemen are not going to be. In order to be able to even have a chance at scoring from these bad angles, Crosby and Tavares need a lot of practice from said angles.

The other thing to keep in mind when shooting from these bad angles is your handedness. Crosby shoots left, for for him to be on the right side of the net works really well. He’s square to the goalie, he can see the holes clearly, and he’s got a pretty decent look at the top right corner. However, if he was a right handed shot, the right side of the net becomes a little bit trickier. As I do in the video, when shooting from on your off side, you may want to toe the puck in a little bit to change the angle. Not only does this give you a better angle, as the shooter, but it also causes the goalie to have to make a quick adjustment to where your shot is coming from.

Change Things Up

Something else to consider while shooting from these bad angles is the speed at which you square up your blade to your target. The first time you attempt these bad angle shots, shoot normally. On your second round of shooting, flick your wrists to see if it helps your accuracy. This will take some getting used to, so make sure to put some work in.

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