J A N / F E B 2 0 2 1 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M
11
Bobby Brink beats the Duluth East netminder
to help Minnetonka secure its first-ever MSHSL
State Championship in 2018.
"Wayne Gretzky, he
always preached the
backhand of how he
worked on it and how it
helped add to his arsenal."
Goaltenders often struggle with the deception
and unpredictability of backhand shots.
the years, it's a deceiving shot. It's hard
for them to pick up or read it as well."
PRACTICE, PRACTICE,
PRACTICE
So how and when can young players work
on developing an effective backhander?
Hendrickson says putting in time after
practice can go a long way in building up
the backhand shot. And there are some
keys for getting velocity on the
backhander to make it an even
more dangerous tool.
"As you work on your forehands or
wrist shots or slap shots, I would incor
-
porate the backhand. Anything from
doing stuff in tight where you can line
up a bunch of pucks around the goal line
and just go quick up, elevate, elevate,
elevate," he said. "But then I think to
find spots sort of in a soft spot type area
where you just feed passes and really
incorporate getting your legs in the shot.
I think a lot of people, they kind of f lip it
with their wrists, where you've really got
to get your legs in."
So for those who want to give oppos
-
ing goalies one more thing to worry
about, a strong backhander could do
just the trick. It's time to stop overlook-
ing this shot and add it to the tool kit.
Said Hendrickson: "If you can improve
on it and work on it, it's only going to add
to your game."
