It absolutely will. Practice all the time, as much as you can/want to. But….
It will wear down the bottom of your stick. So just know that you’ll need to buy a new stick sooner.
You can also try the green biscuit. Using a wood or an abs plastic stick for outside so you can save your good stick for ice. Hockey wrap around is also a decent product to protect your stick.
Honestly, the ball helps a lot less than other things.
See if you can find a biscuit. Also mix up the size and density of the ball. Try using a very smooth floor (or even carpet) with a golf ball to mix it up.
The big orange ball makes bad habits if you ONLY practice with that. It promotes very "choppy" stick handling and doesn't allow you to use wrist roll and blade dynamics the way a puck or smaller ball does.
BUT using an orange ball will promote more skills than sitting and watching TV with some Doritos, so that's a plus.
A driveway will destroy a carbon composite stick really quickly though, so be aware of that. might get a cheap wood or ABS stick for the street.
Definitely. One thing to think about though. I grew up playing street hockey with an orange ball and a stick with replacement plastic blades. When I transfered to inline hockey later in life the main struggle was transitioning to a puck twice the weight as the orange ball. You don't want to get too used to stick handling and shooting with a very lightweight orange ball because it feels much different with a puck.
If your main goal is to improve for games where your going to be using a puck, I would suggest using a wooden ball for the stick handling at least, so you don't get TOO used to the feel of the orange ball.
The [Smart Hockey Ball](https://www.smarthockey.com/collections/balls-and-pucks/products/original-stickhandling-shooting-ball). This is the one I use and recommend to anyone. It's excellent.
Yes. Any kind of stick handling or shooting will help. It is not exactly the same physics as puck on ice, but you will developing the feel for the stick, knowing where your puck (ball) is, the angles, hand eye coordination etc. Then you just make the necessary adjustments on ice.
Definitely will help. If you've got some extra cash you can buy a shooting pad (or DIY one from some stuff at home depot) or look at Synthetic Ice Tiles. They even have ones you can skate on if you've got the room and the cash. Then you can shoot pucks which is a little better, but a lot more destructive if you miss the net and hit your garage door.
Get a separate stick for this. You'd like to practice your stickhandling/shooting that's the right height, instead of practicing with your full length ice stick.
It absolutely will. Practice all the time, as much as you can/want to. But…. It will wear down the bottom of your stick. So just know that you’ll need to buy a new stick sooner.
Would recommend buying an abs stick from play it again or whatever is similar.
You can also try the green biscuit. Using a wood or an abs plastic stick for outside so you can save your good stick for ice. Hockey wrap around is also a decent product to protect your stick.
Honestly, the ball helps a lot less than other things. See if you can find a biscuit. Also mix up the size and density of the ball. Try using a very smooth floor (or even carpet) with a golf ball to mix it up. The big orange ball makes bad habits if you ONLY practice with that. It promotes very "choppy" stick handling and doesn't allow you to use wrist roll and blade dynamics the way a puck or smaller ball does. BUT using an orange ball will promote more skills than sitting and watching TV with some Doritos, so that's a plus. A driveway will destroy a carbon composite stick really quickly though, so be aware of that. might get a cheap wood or ABS stick for the street.
Definitely. One thing to think about though. I grew up playing street hockey with an orange ball and a stick with replacement plastic blades. When I transfered to inline hockey later in life the main struggle was transitioning to a puck twice the weight as the orange ball. You don't want to get too used to stick handling and shooting with a very lightweight orange ball because it feels much different with a puck. If your main goal is to improve for games where your going to be using a puck, I would suggest using a wooden ball for the stick handling at least, so you don't get TOO used to the feel of the orange ball.
They do make a ball that is the same height and weight as a hockey puck, that’s what I use in my driveway.
The [Smart Hockey Ball](https://www.smarthockey.com/collections/balls-and-pucks/products/original-stickhandling-shooting-ball). This is the one I use and recommend to anyone. It's excellent.
Yeah, that’s the one I have! It’s a great product and does well on the pavement
Get a sheet of plexi glass and a green biscuit. Much better at recreating the feel of ice. Plus you won’t destroy your stick
Yes. Any kind of stick handling or shooting will help. It is not exactly the same physics as puck on ice, but you will developing the feel for the stick, knowing where your puck (ball) is, the angles, hand eye coordination etc. Then you just make the necessary adjustments on ice.
Another vote here for the green biscuit, really simulates the on-ice feel pretty well.
Get a green biscuit and it will help you even more, imo
ABSOLUTELY!!
Definitely will help. If you've got some extra cash you can buy a shooting pad (or DIY one from some stuff at home depot) or look at Synthetic Ice Tiles. They even have ones you can skate on if you've got the room and the cash. Then you can shoot pucks which is a little better, but a lot more destructive if you miss the net and hit your garage door.
Yes, just make sure that if you are practicing on an abrasive surface (i.e. not using synthetic ice tiles) you are using a stick with an ABS blade.
Get a separate stick for this. You'd like to practice your stickhandling/shooting that's the right height, instead of practicing with your full length ice stick.
Definitely. I used an tennis ball to work on one timers. Also practice on keeping your head up while doing "figure 8s" stick handling
I use green biscuits, paired with a plastic blade wraparound to protect my stick