Wide to narrow: quick hands

Defenders reach for the puck. Moving it from a wide carry to a quick, narrow stickhandle (and back) pulls it out of their reach and gets you to a loose puck before anyone else.

How to do it

1. Stickhandle wide: as far left and right as you can while still controlling the puck, three touches.
2. Without stopping, switch to narrow, quick touches right in front of you, three touches.
3. Repeat wide, narrow, wide, narrow for 30 seconds, then rest for 15.
4. Do five rounds. On the last two, go as fast as you can while staying in control.

Coaching points

• On the wide touches, reach with your arms and let your top hand slide out from your body.
• On the narrow touches, bring your hands back in and use your wrists.
• Keep your knees bent the whole time so you can reach without losing balance.

Common mistakes

• Pausing between the wide and narrow touches. The change should be one smooth move.
• Losing the puck at full reach. Shorten the wide touch until it’s clean.

Make it harder

Call out “wide” and “narrow” at random, or have someone else call them. In Sudden Shift, targets pop up far from your puck and then right beside it, so you’re training this every run.