Coach Jeremy: Hello! This is Coach Jeremy from howtohockey.com and welcome back to the Uncoachable series. Today, we’re going to take a look at some key aspects of improving your slapshot power. Just follow these simple instructions and be prepared to get your name called early next July. To help us break down our game, we’ve brought in the founder of “Peso’s School for Kids who Can’t Shoot Good and Want to Do Other Things Good Too”, Ryan “Peso” Monette. Peso, thanks for joining the show.
Peso: Thanks for having me. There’s nothing I care more about than my shot. I’ve shirked all other skills.
Coach Jeremy: Now it all starts with our body position. You’ll want to start with your knees slightly flexed. You’ll want to make sure chest isn’t hunched over too far forward. So, overall body position: knees are bent and hands should be just outside of shoulder-width apart. Let’s take a look at some examples.
As we can see in this example, this player clearly has no idea what he’s doing. He’s transferring all of his weight from his back skate to his front skate, he’s flexing his stick to the point where it’s about to break, and he’s putting the puck on net.
Here, we see All-Star Imbiber Tye “Ice-Hugger” Otto giving us a great example of a slapshot meant for MNL. Tye transfers all of his weight from his front skate to no skate, ensures his stick never touches the ice, and misses the net by hitting Americans D Brian Balasia in the shin pad.
Peso: This is the kind of play that’s meant for MNL. I mean Jason’s doing great in his clip–if you’re slumming down in the NHL. But here–in the Monday Night Lights Hockey League–you really can’t leave any effort untapped. Best to be sure to fall after, leaving no question that this is really the best you’re capable of. That way, your brother GM can’t harp on your low effort since you bit it so hard.
MNL F/D Jason McShannock slapshot, slowed down to 3FPS.
In this example, this player is winding back far to ensure a high amount of power, enough to scare off a top-caliber defenseman from blocking it. He makes contact with the ice just before the puck to ensure the right amount of flex on this stick for his shot and he opens up his body to the net. Troubling.
Beautiful. Here, we have Troy “CHIP”–
Slackbot: “CHIP!” ~Troy Otto
…Otto taking a slapshot for the ages. He starts only getting his stick a mere foot off of the ice and follows that up by hitting just the top half of the puck. He opens his body up to the Canadian flag, ensuring that he doesn’t need to see where the puck goes.
Peso: This is my kind of play. Shoot the puck, assume it goes in, turn around, and start your celly. Watch as all the Americans come into frame to defend Otto. Slap shots aren’t about getting the puck into the net, it’s a deterrent for getting in shooting lanes.
Coach Jeremy: Thanks Peso. So hopefully, you were able to get something out of this to help improve your shot, not only on the ice but at getting drafted far too early next season. Hit the Like button and smash that Subscribe button. For the Uncoachable series on howtohockey.com, this is Coach Jeremy. See you in the next one.
All photos provided by Monday Night Lights Beat Photographer Matt Fazoli
