How to develop or improve your shot using S.M.A.R.T., achievable goals: some of you may already have a good or great shot and are simply looking for tweaks you can make to improve accuracy, power, height control, quickness, or other variables to improve your game. For you, I’d recommend Coach Jeremy’s “Complete Shot” video series from a few (8!) years back – all still applicable and well explained, like all of his content.

So what’s the purpose of this article? And why might S.M.A.R.T. in the title be giving you nightmarish flashbacks?

Practicing with Purpose

First, the purpose. Shooting is important, right? It doesn’t matter if you’re playing D, keeping a hard shot nice and low through traffic for a rebound, or if you’re trying to snipe top-corner from the slot. We all want a good shot, because our overall objective playing this game is to score more goals than your opponent.

I’ve been working with many beginner adults on very basic shooting fundamentals. Many new players, particularly on the lighter side, find learning to shoot as one of the more difficult aspects of learning the game of hockey. There’s a ton to learn (certainly not exhaustive):

• Initial balance & puck position
• Weight transfer
• Body & shoulder torque
• Hand positioning
• Stick flex / “bow”
• Wrist snap
• Follow-through
• Choosing the right type of shot for the situation
• Shooting from the toe or heel of your stick, using puck spin

Unfortunately, many of these things need to come together all at the same time in order for progress to be visible towards our objective of having a “good shot”. Two other issues then begin to surface:

1. We take lessons, or coaching (even from a friend) who offer way too much, albeit well-intentioned, feedback (likely all technically accurate)
2. Because our shot isn’t “getting good”, we begin getting discouraged, thinking we’re doing something wrong, or worse, neglect our shot to focus on other aspects of the game where we’re making more progress

How many of us have tried learning something (for me, golf comes to mind) where sometimes overwhelming volumes of feedback proves counterproductive and our best shots are when we’re thinking about the smallest, manageable number of things?

For the majority of new players, despite classes and development programs (and/or coaching videos) having well-proven, established set curriculums, your path to a “good shot” is almost definitely going to be highly individual.

Hockey and S.M.A.R.T. Goals

So, and on to the second question, why does S.M.A.R.T. sound so familiar and how could it possibly be relevant to learning how to shoot?

Many of you, like me, have used S.M.A.R.T. at school, or at work, to help define objectives and make progress at, well, almost anything. Why? Because for most people, “successfully finishing your project”, “meet investor expectations”, or “build a thriving team” may be the pillars of a strategy, but they aren’t useful daily, weekly, or even monthly goals, no more than “developing a good shot” or “scoring more goals” are.

Here’s what S.M.A.R.T. is and how it may help your approach to learning and developing your shot:

• Specific: In the beginning of this article, I listed 9 more-specific skills that can be developed as part of the building blocks of a shot. Focus on one or two at a time (and feel free to ask me for tips), watch that specific YouTube video (not the entire shooting collection), and commit to practicing them.
• Measurable: Recognize that your overall objective of a “good shot” may be months away (or more), but that progress toward the specific skill you’re working on may be in far more bite-sized measurements, for example:
  • Your shot is getting a little harder even if still along the ice
  • You’re managing to get the puck up off the ice more often
  • You notice you’re more comfortable shifting weight from one foot to the other
  • Following through to the target is starting to feel more reflexive
  • You’re more comfortable putting more of your bodyweight into flexing your stick
  • You’re getting a bit better at looking up from the puck to pick a target
• Achievable: If you’re early in developing your shot, focus on things more in-line with the above examples, not how many goals you score, or doing things others may deem impressive (ie. going bar-down)
• Relevant: Stick with what you need to work on. The rest of your “group” may be adding in dekes or transitioning to toe-drag snapshots, but as mentioned, your path to a shot is individual. There will always be a “next thing” to develop no matter what level you play.
• Timed: We often default to what we’re most comfortable with during games, neglecting the opportunity to develop new skills, particularly if games are where you’re spending most of your ice time. This is in your control; you just need to be intentional. Set aside time to work on the specific skills you’ve decided to commit to: this can be a period of days/weeks, an entire practice, or even a series of pick-up games or shinny.

In Conclusion

I wrote this article because, while coaching beginner adult players on shooting fundamentals, the wonderful question was posed: how do I properly weight transfer if I’m not comfortable having my weight on a single foot yet, period?

The interdependence of a seemingly endless list of challenging skills is part of what makes hockey so rewarding, fun, challenging, and frustrating. Progress is what we all seek, yet the stereotypical measures of performance we’re exposed to watching hockey on TV (plus-minus, points, etc.) are likely only useful to those who grew up on the ice for whom all the skills mentioned in this article are second nature.

So dust off your work (or school) S.M.A.R.T. approach for setting goals, recognize that your journey is individual, keep taking small, bite-sized steps forward, and if your progress toward “a good shot” or “scoring goals” seem distant-at-best, don’t be too hard on yourself. We’ve all been there.

Note: S.M.A.R.T. is useful for other areas of the game, too (skating skills). But that’s a whole other article. If I see you using only outside-edge turns, spread-eagle turns, or are using your pivots way more than you “need” to during pick-up, I’ll just assume you’re ahead of the class. I’m not judging (too much).

Any other tips you’d add, or success stories from breaking things down into S.M.A.R.T. goals? Let me know in an e-mail! While you’re at it, check out our other featured content.

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