You’ve heard the term, “Fake it until you make it” before, right?

Well, players need to use a lot more fakes before they make their plays
on the ice if they want to get to, and excel at, the next level.

You want to be completely unpredictable to your opponents. If they know
what you’re going to do, it’s much easier to stop you.

The most obvious fake you can learn is the fake shot. Whether you’re faking
a quick snap-shot on a breakaway before pulling it to your backhand to roof it
or a slap-shot from the point that you’re going to pass off to your D partner,
you need to learn to make that fake with complete control.

Remember that every move has a set-up move. In the two cases above, the
fake shot sets up your real move. In order to make that real move effective,
you must first ‘sell’ the fake. You have to make your opponent believe that
you’re going to shoot or else the goalie or defender doesn’t need to adjust to
it, which makes your real move tough to execute.

So if you’re faking the snap-shot on your breakaway, you need bring your stick
back slightly from the puck, lean into your stick, shift your weight to your inside leg
(the one closest to the blade of your stick), and open up your blade so it really looks
like you’re going to shoot. Just gliding in towards the goalie with the puck on
your forehand isn’t enough to sell it.

In addition to selling that fake, you have to make sure that the fake doesn’t throw you
off-balance and prevent you from executing your real move. When faking a slap-shot
from the point, you have to bring your stick back, shift your weight back and rotate
through as if you’re going to make contact with the puck. Often, when players are
first learning this fake, they aren’t able to control their rotation back to the puck and
throw themselves off balance, making it impossible to make an effective pass off
the fake shot. Controlling explosive rotation is actually a pretty advanced athletic
skill that requires a high-level of coordination and stability through the legs, core
and shoulders.

The great thing is that this controlled rotation, as well as the weight shift of the
fake snap-shot, can easily be practiced and perfected off the ice since you
aren’t going to shoot the puck anyways.

Here’s a quick video I put together to show you the fakes for both
the snap-shot and slap-shot. Feel free to pass it along to any friends, players
and teammates who you think might benefit from the information.

Enjoy!

CLICK BELOW TO WATCH THE SHOT FAKE VIDEO:
https://totalfemalehockey.com/how-to-fake-a-shot-video/

Your friend and coach,

Kim

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS
Director & Founder, Total Female Hockey
www.TotalFemaleHockey.com