By Lisa Brown

By the time you hit U12 (Petites), you will start to notice that you need ‘new weapons’ to score goals.

Athletes who score 3 goals per game at the U10 (Novice) level often struggle as they get older because their shot is too predictable.

Your shot is usually predictable because you have a big wind up or a big follow through. Check out these pics:

Wind up

 

Follow through

Disguise Your Shot

You can learn to disguise your shot. One option is to shoot off your ‘opposite foot’. If you shoot right handed, you usually release the ring with your weight on your left (front) foot:

Ringette Tips

Shooting off your opposite foot means releasing the ring when you are on your right (back) foot. (It’s the opposite for left-handed shots.) This picture shows former Team Canada Ringette star Laura Warner shooting off her back foot:

Ringette Tips

To shoot off your back foot, you must be able to raise the ring with power and accuracy without using your backswing or weight transfer. This requires strong wrists and a quick ‘wrist snap’.

The benefit of being able to shoot off your back foot is that your shot is unpredictable. Without a big wind-up, you can release the ring quickly, before the defence and goalie have time to anticipate it.