The best hockey stickhandling drills can be done on the ice as well as during your dryland hockey workouts. These hockey workouts will focus on your hand-eye coordination, thus improving your hockey skills. You can even turn these drills into games with your friends—and don’t hesitate to end each stickhandling drill with a shot on goal.

Five Hockey Stickhandling Drills

Fun hockey drills train your hands and reflexes to react quickly without overthinking so that your reactions on the ice are automatic.

Full Circle Puck Handling Drill

This drill calls for short handles while you rotate your hips, allowing your body to turn from one side to the other while keeping your feet stationary. While rotating, handle the puck around your torso, moving it in a circle all around your body as far behind you as you can on one side, before turning around to pick it up from the other side while continuing to keep your feet stationary.

Short Distance Puck Handle

This drill calls for short handles. With your feet shoulder width apart, handle the puck quickly back and forth the width of your feet, out in front of you. Continue to rapidly stickhandle the puck back and forth, allowing the handle to move to the right and to the left so that you are keeping the puck in front of you, but off to the side and back to the other side.

Long Reach Puck Handle

Handle the puck from one side to the other, allowing it to travel as far as your reach allows without moving your feet. Pull the puck from left to right in one continuous motion, stopping it at the extremes of your reach before pulling quickly back across to opposite side. The result is a handle that has the puck racing across in front of you from one extreme reach to the other as fast as you can move the puck in a controlled handle.

Puck Handle While Moving Drill

This is the same as the short-distance handle, but do it while you move around, skating in different directions or turning in circles. If you’re dryland training, you can simply walk around moving forward, backward, and to the side for this hockey practice drill.

Obstacle Course Hockey Stickhandling Drill

This is a fun hockey drill that involves tossing out a dozen or so objects. It can be pucks on the ice, rocks in the driveway, or anything that will remain in place. Scatter them as close together or as far apart as you’d like, then take a puck or ball and stickhandle your way through the maze of objects. Work your way around and through the objects moving left, right, circling around them, and find your way out the other side. Force yourself to handle the puck through the objects in different patterns or move them around to keep the drill fresh and challenging.

Keys to Hockey Stickhandling Drills

• Keep your head up to improve ice vision while stickhandling.
• Roll your wrists to maintain proper form.
• Puck handle all around your body—not just directly in front of you.
• Be sure to wear your hockey gloves so you’re are accustomed to them.

Off-Ice Hockey Stickhandling Drills

In a perfect world, everybody would have all the hockey training time in the world to work on their game. From skating drills to stickhandling drills to shooting, being on the ice is key. Unfortunately, ice time isn’t always easy to come by and some rinks close or change focus for parts of the year. When that happens, hockey players resort to dryland training.

For off-ice hockey stickhandling drills, consider alternate products that will help you practice your hockey stickhandling skills in conditions that resemble those you find on ice. Start with synthetic ice panels or dryland training tiles. Products like the Green Biscuit training puck can help your stickhandling drills and other hockey drills.

And whether you’re on the ice or off, hockey stickhandling training tools like the Snipers Edge SweetHands and the HockeyShot Extreme Dangler will also help you develop stickhandling skills and improve your hockey training sessions.