How to..

Question
Hey im brett, i have been training for hockey a lot lately as season starts in 2 months. I have followed previous tips on med ball rotations but they don't seem to help? is there any other exercises to make my wrist shots harder? Thanks :D

Answer
Yes there are a lot of exercises you can do. A lot of players just work their wrists, but the reality is that wrist shot power comes from the arms, core muscles, legs, and stick. Also a lot of the power comes from proper form.

One thing that helped me improve my wrist shot (and slapshot) a lot was shooting with a radar gun because it gave me instant results and something to challenge myself with (always trying to beat my previous speed)

If you work out, you should also shoot on a daily basis to work on your form. For the most power you need the right form. There are two ways to take a wrist shot, the most powerful way is to transfer the weight onto the leg furthest from the blade of your stick (like in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7s_O2JFFEE) I am working on a video showing the two types, and when to use each type and will post the video and article on my blog soon.

As for workouts

You want to do sport specific workouts, and you want to work your arms, shoulders, core muscles and legs. You want to train for explosive movements and power (not endurance) There are a few really good workouts in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhsNN1XukW4 you can pick out the ones that are obviously for improving shot power.

A good one is throwing the medicine ball against the wall like in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhUbePoy8a8

If you want to bulk up a bit you should do pec flies, bench press, push ups but make sure you do sport specific movements. The best book I read on this is called complete conditioning for ice hockey, you can get it cheap on ebay or amazon, it is FILLED with workouts made JUST for hockey.

If you want more tips on improving your game you can subscribe to my hockey tips blog http://howtohockey.com