Winning Faceoffs

[Hockey_nut97]

At the beginning of the season i was having no trouble whatsover to win a faceoff back exactly where i wanted it when i wanted it. However as of late, my % has dropped considerably, and im having trouble now on my draws. When i take my draws i get in squat position (its my best description of what i look like) and i watch the refs hand. when he drops the puck i knock my opponents stick away and then draw it back. Is there something im doing wrong, or does anyone have any advice for me to help me through my slump.

[Yarnie13]

instead of strickly moving your stick and trying to draw the puck back to the defenseman you might wanna try to turn your body and block out your oppenent. i used to do what you did and only tried drawing it back with my stick but it didnt work. so i stood up more and turned my body blocking the oppenent out, this gives you more time and control of the faceoff and if stick gets tied up you give your teammates time and space to come in and pick the puck up.

[Hockey_nut97]

Yeah i tried that too, and it worked, but USA Inline Hockey rules prohibit physical contact during faceoffs, and some refs would redrop the puck.

[calihockey]

Best way to win a draw in a non-contact league is to barely put it through your opponents legs and step around them. For this to be effective you have to do both in one quick move. This will take away any chance of the ref thinking you are making contact. Another way is a type of stick check. Pokecheck the players stick where the blade and shaft meet. Doing this hard and quick will give you time to gain possession and win it back. Remember without contact you have to be much quicker.

[Yarnie13]

that is too hard a move to make and no matter what it doesnt give you control of the puck more then 95% of the time.

[Yarnie13]

this move is in no way considered a contact move. the only contact called in a no contact league is hits or rub offs...and even rub offs are questionable.if a ref redrops the puck or calls a penalty on a spin faceoff the ref should be written up for it. i do this move on all my draws and by official stats i have a 90% faceoff winning percentage.and i have never gotten called for a penalty, not in mens league ice hockey, roller hockey high school, roller hockey adult, and roller hockey college.

[calihockey]

trust me it works. its called practice. you cannot do something perfect the first time you do it. It works for non-contact only. When contact on the faceoffs is allowed then you can box out your opponent or tie them up and leave the puck between your skates for a d-man to pick up. you should think before you question people. hockey is a big deal in my family, i speak from experience and knowledge passed down to me from my family. i am the 3rd generation in my family to play hockey. i also have 2 championships under my belt as a coach. both times my teams were the weakest team skillwise on paper but lost a combined 3 games out of 26.

[chandler27]

I base what I'm going to do in the circle depending on which zone and which side of the rink the draw is. i almost strictly use the power backhand move on the right side (i'm a righty). On the left side, I use the box out move. In my league there is no rule on boxing out as long as you don't tie up the guy for too long and the puck has been cleared. Another unothordox move is the paddle move that I use in ball hockey... put the toe of the blade on the ground so it looks like a paddle and slap the back straight between your legs. It looks damn goofy, but it's very effective. I can win 95% of my draws that way. One of the secrets to that move is to hit the puck before hits the ground. But you need a d-man that can control a bouncing puck, because it never goes back flat and can sometimes be a little elevated. Another thing I do is to hog the circle. Get low... your head lower than his so he can't see. Also, go overhand style with your lower hand... that will add more power to your draw, although it tips your "hand' as to what you're going to do.

[Hockey_nut97]

Great technique (hitting the puck before it hits the ground), it works everytime. Except its illegal, I dont know what kinda league u play in, but everytime someone does that, the play is whistled dead and the puck is redropped. Haha, but it made me chuckle

[chandler27]

Hitting the puck before it hits the ground is illegal in my league, but using the paddle technique and hogging the circle keeps the ref from seeing what you're doing. I rarely get called for it.