In hockey, wrist shot is the accurate snipe in your arsenal, and in the 2012 Allstar Skills Competition, wristshot accuracy won the target shooting challenge.

Wrist Shot Sniper

The four corner target shooting, something youngsters out there should be practicing like mad, brought an interesting performance from young Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars). Benn’s wristshot hit 4 out of 5 styrofoam plates in 10.2 seconds for the win, shaving over 3.3 seconds off his 13.58 second performance in the first round where his wrist shot hit 4 out of 6 times.

While one cannot always be that accurate under pressure of a real game of hockey, wrist shot sniping is essential, and when perfected, the wristshot is something to be proud of and it will give goalies fits.

Take a wristshot tip from Jamie, “Shooting all the time growing up and practicing in the garage really paid off.”

How to take a Wrist Shot

Yes, yes, the hockey wrist shot is the first shot a new player should learn. It takes lots of practice to perfect the wrist shot, in the beginning the tendency is to try to raise the puck by “shovelling” under it. A true wrist shot sniper can do all of this:
Wristshot wind up — Stick not in the air, but the stick does pull the puck from a bit behind the body and whip it forward.
Wristshot body position — Almost sideways to the target; slightly bent at the hips, leaning toward the puck.
Wrist shot hand position — Not as close together as stickhandling; not as far apart as a slapper.
Wrist shot motion of the puck — Leaving the blade on a wristshot, the puck rolls heel to toe, unlike the snap-shot that is more of a quick release from the toe of the stick blade only.
Wrist shot arm motion — Begin your wristshot cupping the puck slightly under the blade while slightly bent at the hips, and as you drag the wrist shot forward, begin to stand up and roll the forearms almost as if you are going to slice under the puck, but quickly roll the forearms the other way flipping the blade over the puck as it’s in front of you and as you unleash that wicked wrist shot of yours.

What Makes the Wrist Shot Hard and Fast?

Stick flex and wrist strength and flexibility. Practice the wrist roll because you have to twist, or roll the stick from behind you to the front where you release the puck, rolling the blade over on its face and pointing at the target after the wrist shot is released.

In the skills challenge relay, Benn had the hardest angle one-timer, and still hit all 3 of his shots in a row 3 for 3. He’s a sniper, and you have to be too.

All in all, the real winners were the fans in Ottawa yesterday, but the 2012 All-Star Skills Competition winners were:

• Faster skater: Carl Hagelin, NY Rangers
• Breakaway challenge: Patrick Kane, Chicago
• Accuracy shooting: Jamie Benn, Dallas with the wristshot
• Hardest shot: Zdeno Chara, Boston
• Elimination shootout: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay

Are you doing your wrist exercises to improve your wristshot? The highest scrorer in NY Ranger history, Rod Gilbert, invented the right tool to improve your wrist shot among other things. If you want to make it to the NHL, you need strong forearms.

Hockey hands depend on wrist exercises. The best hockey players have “soft hands”, but not weak wrists. If you want to take a fast wrist shot or a hard slap shot, (or keep yourself from sliding full speed into the boards), you first have to exercise wrist muscles. You need a wrist workout that will strengthen wrist power and arm power.

Wrist Muscles

Wrist Strength

Consider what’s inside your forearms, and how to develop arm power and wrist strength: the wrist muscles, bone structure, and tendons can all be strengthened. See how the image on the left shows how intricate your forearms and hands are? Wrist muscles are like tightly wound steel cable that can endure a lot of work and carry a large load for their size. You can workout the extensors and flexors of your forearms, and wrist strength can present a lot of arm power.

Exercise Wrist

There are several ways to exercise wrist strength out there, but they are often cumbersome or heavy, which is fine if you’re always to use them in the same place. If you intend to exercise wherever, whenever, then you need workout equipment that can be brought with you in every mode of transportation: buses, planes, trains, or automobiles. Going to a hockey tourny by plane? Can you bring your forearm workout equipment, like a wrist roller with you? What if you’re planning a trip and don’t want your shot to suffer while you’re away? Are you going to pack a trunk instead of a suitcase, so that you can pack and lug a heavy wrist roller with some weight plates? I don’t think so.

We’re talking about wrist exercises, not a total body workout here. Instead of a wrist roller, you should be able to bring something compact and lightweight along with you everywhere. So, unless you’re really creative with bands of elastic, what are you gonna do?

Wrist Exercises of the Past

Wrist roller. Hockey players used to tie one end of a rope to a hockey stick, and on the other end they’d dangle weights. Holding the stick out at shoulder height, they’d wind the weight up the rope. The primitive wrist roller would suffice, but severely limits the space available in which to exercise, because of the length of a stick, and is not portable; Weight plates are heavy and you can’t take this wrist workout on the road to travel games or vacations. Later, steel bar wrist roller came out and it added even more weight to the apparatus, making a nicer looking workout equipment than a broken hockey stick, but still not practical for travel. Other workouts involve just the hockey stick, swinging it around in different motions. Your mom won’t go for this, and it’s not so compatible with hotel rooms either. You don’t want to be paying for that tv at checkout time, do you?

There are all kinds of other wrist exercises involving barbells, dumbbells, ropes, cables, hockey sticks, and whatever.

How portable is this wrist roller?

Not so much. Haha, okay, how about the wrist roller below?

Sure you can move it better, but ya still can’t take it with you on the road so easily because it’s heavy. You’d need more weight than is shown.

Wrist roller solution

The all time leading scorer of the New York Rangers, Hall Of Famer, Rod Gilbert, has an answer to the wrist roller and hockey wrist exercises needs: Instead of Wrist Roller, get PowerArm

PowerArm

5 Reasons PowerArm is Trustworthy

1. PowerArm was invented by Rod Gilbert, based on ideas from his father. His goal scoring wrist shot is credited to the wrist strength he developed using his own workouts, and now he has brought his patented, compact machine to us, to help all of us improve our game. You included.
2. Wayne Gretzky says so. PowerArm is endorsed by Wayne Gretzky, who also testifies to the benefits of PowerArm in commercials.
3. Keith Hernandez, famous Cardinals, Mets, Indians first baseman says PowerArm is good for baseball throwing and batting strength too.
4. John McEnroe, world famous tennis pro, says PowerArm works for tennis training.
5. Boomer Esiason of Jets, Cardinals, Bengals fame, endorses the usefulness PowerArm for football forearms.

PowerArm is super compact, light weight, and heavy duty. Use this wrist strengthening PowerArm in its anatomical V shape or bend it to other shapes to work various angles of the forearms. Get one to throw in your hockey bag, or pack in your luggage when traveling, and go to the PowerArm Facebook Page and type in a Review, post pics or vids of yourself using it in various wrist strengthening exercises.

Do your wrist exercises at PowerArm’s various tension settings as your forearms get stronger. You won’t out grow this wrist strengthening equipment. Exercise wrist strength anywhere, anytime.

I found out back at the beginning of October 2011 that Orlando would get a new pro hockey team in the ECHL. Well yesterday I was invited by the owners of Orlando’s NEW ECHL PRO HOCKEY TEAM, to the “Unveiling Of The Name” luncheon tomorrow (Nov. 16, 2011).
oooooOOOOOOOYYYYYEEEEAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaahhh!

Let’s Play “Name That Name”

1. Will it be the return of the Solar Bears? They were the last Champions of the IHL before it folded after 2001.
2. Will it be the return of the Florida Seals? They were in the SPHL, Champions in 2003, but folded part of the way through the season in 2007.
3. Ice Magic (ice version of our basketball team)? Hmmm that sounds too Disney (Magic on Ice).
4. Ice Predators (ice version of our arena football team)? Doubt it, there already is the Nashville Predators in the NHL.
5. Cougars? The panther is a subspecies of the cougar. <smirk>Surely there’ll be a lot of “cougars” at the games! </smirk>

I will post a comment to this story when I return after lunch today to let y’all know the name of the new Orlando Pro Hockey team.

Orlando Professional Hockey Team Tickets

In the mean time, click on over to http://www.orlandoprohockeyisback.com/tickets.html . One of the partners of the team’s ownership, Bob Ohrablo, said they’ve already been asked by 350 Orlando hockey fans to reserve seasons tickets, and that the Orlando Magic has reserved all of the suites for the first season.

NHL Affiliations

This new pro hockey team in Orlando will be in the ECHL, which is a feeder league to the NHL. They’ll get affiliations with a couple of NHL teams where they’ll obtain most of their players (draftees that aren’t ready for NHL yet). They’ll also pull from the AHL (the other farm league to the NHL).