One of the best ways to hone those shooting skills is to practice regularly with a hockey shooting tarp. Some of the best players to ever hit the ice have practiced for years doing drills using a tarp and various other hockey training aids. All you need is the will to become excellent, and you will find a way to work yourself until you become the champion you long to be. Here are a few drills that will keep you strong and in shape for the next time you are on the ice and want to snipe a one-timer right into the goal.
Type Of Flooring
Before we get started, it is a good idea to understand the different types of hockey flooring that are recommended to use with a shooting tarp. There are dryland hockey tiles, and then there is synthetic ice flooring. Either one will work great, but if you want to shoot from concrete, or any other surface you may want to use something other than regulation pucks to practice your shots with.
We will describe these drills for somebody that will be practicing on synthetic ice, but understand that you can still use the tarp with other floorings.
Point Angle One Timer
You can practice for the one-timer shots with a shooting tarp because you can train your muscles to be programmed for the kind of shot that you are going to take. Your muscle memory will kick in when you practice the same shot over and over again. The great thing about a shooting tarp is that you can position yourself to take the same shot as many times as you have pucks to do so. For this drill, you will need a pile of pucks to help you out. However many that you have, put them all on the floor in front of you within reach of your blade, then get ready.
Once you have your pile established, simply pick one of the target slots on your shooting tarp and shoot for that specific target over and over again until your pile of pucks is depleted. There are five target slots to choose from on most of the shooting tarps on the market. Pick the slot that is the hardest for you to hit, and choose an angle to start from that is going to be the most difficult. Shoot from far left, or far-right and put the puck over one of the shoulders of the goalie, but make sure it is the same shot over and over again until you hit the spot every time.
Rebounder Pass Shot
The great thing about using a hockey shooting tarp to work out with is that you can use a rebounder among other tools to help you gain the skills you are trying to improve. When you use a rebounder it can mimic having another player to shoot you the puck so that you can rebound from passes coming at you as quickly and with as much heat as you want to put on them.
Place the rebounder to the left or right of you about 6 feet away, whatever is better for you to work with. Slap your pucks at the rebounder with as much force as you would like to work with and prepare to slap shots from the rebounds that you get.
To hone your passing and shooting skills pass to the rebounder two or three times then take your shot after you get into the rhythm of the drill.
Practice Makes Perfect
Regardless of the drills that you choose to do with your shooting tarp, just remember to continue training until you are the best that you can be. If you take a little time each day to work on your skills, you will see the results when it is time to win the game.
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