(heavy metal music)
- Hey guys, it's Jeremy
from HowToHockey.com
with the Hockey Movement
and in this video,
we're talking about how
to hold a hockey stick.
Now this is a really important topic,
especially for younger players
because I notice when
working with younger players,
not holding the stick right
is probably one of the
biggest issues that we see
and it leads to problems
with stick handling and shooting.
So coaches, check this video and make sure
you're watching those young guys;
make sure they start by
holding the stick right,
it makes everything else a lot easier.
And for the older players
just getting into hockey,
you guys should be able to
pick this up really quickly,
so let's get right to it.
A few things that we're
gonna cover in this video
is the placement of the
top hand on the stick,
also the location of
the stick in the hand,
placement of the bottom hand on the stick,
the grip between the two,
also what the bottom hand
is gonna do and what the
top hand is gonna do.
So let's talk about the top hand first.
A simple way to show how
to hold a hockey stick
is put the stick on the
ice as if you're going
to take a shot. Grab the
stick with the bottom hand.
Now take the top hand,
come over top of the stick,
and grab it. That's how
you wanna hold the stick.
Now the big problems that
we see with young players
is they wanna hold it
underneath like this.
So their hand is actually below the stick,
and you can see the top
of the shaft right here.
If you can see the top of the shaft,
this player is not holding
the stick properly.
Simple way to test, to see if the player
is holding it right, is right here,
between the thumb and the
first finger on the glove,
there's a little piece of padding.
If that piece of padding
is lined up with the top
of the hockey stick, then
they're holding it right.
Another way to check is
if you take the glove off
and we just hold the
stick with our bare hands,
you can see the spot between your thumb
and your finger should line up with
the top of the shaft. That's
any easy way to check.
Next, we're gonna talk about the placement
of the stick in the top hand, and there's
a few different ways you
can actually hold the stick
that a lot of players have success with.
So first I'll show you how not to do it.
If you're holding the stick right here,
that means probably that the
stick is too long for you.
You should probably cut
it right about there
and that's gonna be a comfortable spot.
So if you see a player with the butt end
sticking right out like that,
that means it's too long.
So how should we hold the stick?
There's a few different
ways I'm gonna tell you.
Let's place the stick on top of my glove
and we'll pretend that
this is x-ray vision.
So pretend that the stick
is actually in the palm
of my hand. One way is to
have the top two fingers
hanging over the top of the knob.
You're only holding the stick with
the first two fingers. Some
players like this method
because it allows them
to rotate their hand
around the stick and
they say it gives them
better feel for stick handling.
Another method, which is
a little more popular,
is to move the stick a little bit higher
so that only the pinky
is hanging over the top
of the hockey stick.
Same thing, players say
it allows them to rotate,
gives them a little
better stick handling. The last method,
which is also very popular, is to have
the entire stick in
your hand so your pinky
is actually going to wrap around the knob
just a little bit or the
knob just comes a little
bit out the end. So you
don't want to have it
hanging right out like that. Either flush
or having that pinky over top are probably
the two most popular ways
to hold the hockey stick.
Next is how the bottom hand
holds the hockey stick.
So this is pretty simple.
Take your glove off.
And you see this meaty part
right here on your thumb.
That part is going to go
right over top of the stick,
your fingers are going to
be pointed up, your thumb
is going to be pointing down.
So with the glove on, grab the stick,
fingers of the glove pointed up.
The thumb is pretty much pointing down
and you can feel that nice meaty part at
the bottom of your thumb right on top of
the shaft and that helps you really flex
that stick and get that power in there.
So we know how to hold a
stick with the top hand
and the bottom hand, we
know what the placement
in the top hand, but what
about this bottom hand?
What are we going to do with this?
This is probably one of
the most important things
to teach because the
placement of this bottom hand
really does impact your stick handling
and your shooting. Now the
thing with the bottom hand,
it's not always going
to be in the same spot.
You actually have to move that around,
but there is a good spot to start.
I like to call it the benchmark
or your neutral position.
So what we're going to
do is grab the stick
how we normally would with our top hand
and stick it up in the air.
Take your elbow of your bottom hand,
touch it to the top hand,
then grab the hockey stick.
This is your neutral position.
If you go any higher than this,
you're not going to have very good success
with stick handling and
especially not for shooting.
So get the players to
start with their hand there
for the neutral position.
Now they will move
their hand a little bit higher if they're
really reaching out for a puck
or doing a certain stick handling move
or a little bit lower if
they're bringing the puck
in close to their body or
they want to take a shot.
But this spot right here
is the neutral position
where you're always going to
return your bottom hand to.
Last thing I want to talk about is
what your hands are actually doing while
you're holding the hockey stick.
This is something that
a lot of hockey players
never get taught, so I
want to cover it early
so you guys are prepared. So first,
let's talk about the top hand.
This is really important.
When you're stick handling,
your top hand is doing
mostly all the work.
All of these fine little
twitches that you can do
with your top hand is going to make you
a really silky, smooth stick handler.
You'll see some guys that stick handle
with their bottom hand and you'll notice
because they're going
to sound like (banging).
They're using their bottom hand to pick up
their stick and put it
down, it's really choppy
and doesn't look very smooth.
Watch guys like Patrick
Kane, Pavel Datsyuk.
If you look at their top
handler stick handling,
it's going like this and it's twitching.
It's like they're
scribbling down an essay,
because that's controlling the blade.
Fine, little movements up here
makes you have nice silky, smooth hands.
So what's your bottom hand
doing while your stick handling?
Loose grip and you can
strengthen that grip
from time to time for certain moves,
but for the most part, you just are having
your bottom hand there for
support and a little extra power.
So when do you really
wanna use your bottom hand?
Bottom hand is great for stick handling
if you're trying to protect the puck,
going like this you can block a guy off
or if someone's trying
to take the puck off you.
You wanna use that
bottom hand to put weight
on your stick. Someone
tries to lift your stick,
put some weight on with your bottom hand.
That's gonna help you
be stronger on the puck.
So if you wanna be stronger on the puck,
protect the puck, put
that weight on the stick
with your bottom hand.
Second thing you wanna
use your bottom hand for
is extra power. When you're shooting,
if you really drive that
bottom hand into the stick,
you're gonna flex that
stick and get a lot more
power in your shot. So you're
gonna use your bottom hand
for weight on the stick,
power on your shots,
extra support and your top hand is there
for those finesse moves, fine movements;
and also when you're
shooting, pulling back
to get a little extra power in your shots.
Alright guys, that's it on how to hold
a hockey stick. If you're looking
for more hockey stick videos,
check out our first one on if you're
a lefty or a righty.
Check out our next one
on proper hockey stick length
and if you're looking for more videos
to improve your skills, don't forget
to subscribe to our channel.
We do new hockey videos every single week.
Thanks for watching the video,
we'll see you in the next one.
