In Part 1 of this article we considered how, at the highest levels of the game, advanced shooting skill involves more than velocity, accuracy, and a quick release.  In order to be a consistent goal scorer at a very elite level, you can either be fortunate enough to be put in a position by your coaches and teammates to score most of your goals very near the net or you can be a “sniper”. In order to be a sniper at an NHL level, you’ll need to add deception to your shot release.

While deception in one’s shot is pretty rarely talked about, people who are consistently exposed to higher levels of the game will recognize some of the following effective methods to add deception to your shooting.

1. “Shoot in stride” so that the goalie can’t be sure at what moment that shot is coming.  Most players stop their feet before releasing their shot.  This time with the feet stopped tells the goalie you are about to shoot and should be kept to a minimum and in some case, for deception purposes, eliminated altogether.  Goalies rely on you stopping your feet in order to get a read on your shot.  Take this luxury away from them.
2. Change the angle on the goalie.  The classic example of changing the angle on the goalie is the “Ovechkin Pull Snap”.  Tons of players use the Pull Snap shot, but none to a more consistent or greater effect than Alexander Ovechkin.  He holds the puck out away from his forehand side (right) skate, pulls it in toward that skate using the toe of the blade, and then torques his snap shot off from in tight to his body.  This rapid angle change, though small, gives him an advantage in shooting percentage.
3. Fake an angle change, then reverse and release.  We call this a “Pull-counter Release”.  You fake a pull-in motion (as in the Ovechkin Pull Snap), push the puck back out, and release a snap shot out away from your body.  Doing this costs you some velocity, but you can gain a lot of deception advantage to off-set the velocity loss if you can execute the technique quickly.
4. Fake a shot, reset, and release.  This must be done very rapidly to gain a deception advantage on a goalie.  A classic example is to push the puck hard toward the net on the forehand, quickly pull it back on the backhand, and then sweep through for a snap shot release.  You can add an “angle change” to this as well if you can pull back and laterally on the backhand turning it into what is essentially a snap shot release immediately after a “Datsyuk Move” (for those who are familiar with the Datsyuk Move). Note:  This “fake, reset, release” concept can also be used off of a fake pass.
5. Once can also conceal the target of their shot.  This means making it appear that you will shoot for one part of the net when you will shoot for another.  The classic example of this is to shoot “back against the grain”.  This is when you are moving one way across the front of the net and shoot back toward the post on the side where you came from.  In that case you use your momentum to create the impression that you are shooting to the side of the net to which you moving.  Once can also use their eyes to make the goalie believe they are shooting in one area and then shoot in another.
6. A final consideration is to build your ability to get quality shots off in situations where your body is not traditionally set up to shoot.  Goalies do not expect challenging shots from players in these awkward positions and often do not track them as efficiently as they should.  High-level Russian players are especially adept at shooting in these conditions.

In our training at Competitive Edge we work on all of these skills whether they be specific release techniques, conceptual habit development, or just creating proper stick flex and release skill in situations where the player is not “traditionally” set up to shoot.  The real secret in shooting though lies with the student who is learning these advanced techniques.  When you take your first few shots using any of these techniques you will be well outside the comfort zone of your habits.  Without the benefit of your “comfortable” shooting technique, you will sacrifice velocity and accuracy.

Most players have a major problem taking a step or two back with their velocity and accuracy in order to take two or three steps forward in shooting skill.  In practice with friends, players want to show everybody their hardest shot and as such use the easiest technique to do so.  Typically, this involves a big wind up, gliding feet, and an easy open path toward the net to work with.  It has a slow release, confuses no one, and has the best velocity and accuracy that the shooter can produce (depending on the shot type).

The secret sauce in shooting for goal scoring, however, comes from players who are willing to sacrifice all of that and, during practice, put themselves in awkward positions, be multidirectional right before the shot, or use a release technique that is very challenging.  Another time that these players develop their advanced shooting techniques is at home where nobody else will be around to judge their velocity and accuracy.  The beauty is that these things are only challenging temporarily.  With practice they become easy.  At least they will be easy for you to execute… they definitely won’t be easy for the other team to handle.