Improve Your Snap Shot

By: Dwayne Blais

Skills Coach Dwayne Blais dives into explaining how to improve your snap-shot. The snap-shot is the most lethal shot in the game today because the release is so quick, which makes it hard for goalies to pick up. Watch the video above for tips on how to improve your snap shot. You can follow Dwayne's tips on and off of the ice. 

Tips to Improve Your Snap Shot

1. Hands In Good Position: make sure that your hands are not too tight together and not too far apart. Hip width apart is a good distance.
2. Top Hand Up: having your top hand up will allow you to pull back your top hand while you push down with your bottom hand when you shoot. 
3. Shoulders Over Stick: having shoulders over your stick will ensure your body is in the proper position to generate force.
4. Puck Placement: The best place to take a snap shot is when the puck is a blade length away from your skates and a blade length in front of you.
5. Push Down on Bottom Hand: push with your bottom hand to use the flex of your stick to generate additional power when you shoot.
6. Snap Puck: snap your wrists when you shoot the puck. To generate most power, have the puck start at the toe of your stick and snap as you pull it into the middle of your blade. 
7. Power Comes From Legs: the majority of your shot power comes from your legs. Practice transferring your weight from one leg to the other leg. 
8. Get Over Top of Puck: getting over the top of the puck will allow you to generate more stick flex.
9. Shaft In Front of Blade: keeping your shaft in front of the blade will put you in good shooting position to generate force while snapping the puck.

Tips for Practicing at Home

• Keep pucks in tight, don't pull them from far away which can cause poor technique.
• Focus on technique: keep top hand up, push on the bottom hand, and snap hard down.