U14 - U16 Shooting Off The Pass Practice
U14 - U16 Shooting Off The Pass Practice
Please Note: The Practice of the Week is usually designed to be utilized across multiple age levels. With that being said, we highly encourage you to adjust the drills based on your team's age and skill levels. These drills and practices can be modified to become more basic or more advanced.
This practice plan is focused on practicing shooting off a pass.
Why is shooting quickly after a pass important? Shooting off the pass does not allow the defense or goaltender the time to properly setup and prepare for the shot, which increases your goal scoring changes.
Goalies at all levels are becoming strategic in their angles and movements. As a result, it is important to work on shooting techniques that surprise the goalie or get them moving so that their positioning, and angles are thrown off. Surprising a goalie with a quick shot or getting them to move and open up is often much more important than shot accuracy. Listen to Rick Tocchet and Henrik Lundqvist talk about the benefits of getting a goalie to move here.
Practice Coaching Points:
- Use Deception: The player that is making the pass should use deception before making the pass. The passer should use their eyes, head, and body to get the defense and/or goalie to think they are going to shoot, or go somewhere else, before they pass the puck.
- Get Open & Give A Target: If you do not have the puck, it is critical to work on jumping to open space so you can be an outlet to receive a pass. If you stay stationary, you are easy to defend. Get open, and give your teammate a target with your stick on the ice where you want the puck.
- Shoot Quickly: Work on shooting immediately after you get a pass. The longer you wait to shoot after you receive the puck, the better the chance that the defense or goalie has to set up.