Eyes-up Puckhandling (or Not?)

One night long ago, our roller hockey friend Jerry Z visited The MOTION Lab.  And, while he warmed to do some new stickhandling tricks, something struck me — that I needed to share with him, and also with you…

– Dennis Chighisola

As Jerry did a little light dribbling on his own, I noticed that he was trying to keep his eyes-up.  Aaaaah, good for him — that he remembers to work on something like that rather often.

At the same time, I mentioned to him that I usually have to emphasize or de-emphasize that stuff, depending on what I’m having a player (or players) do.  And that usually depends on where we are with a given puckhandling skill.

For example, if we’re working on the beginning level of any given skill, that usually requires total attention.  And my feeling is that a player usually has enough to worry about without taking his or her eyes off the puck or ball.

Of course, the time ultimately comes when I feel a player has pretty much mastered that skill.  And, it’s at that time I believe he or she has to start doing it without looking downward.

Now, if you’ll view the above image, you should notice that the player has his head tilted at about a 45-degree angle. And, from that posture, I hope you appreciate that he can use split (or peripheral) vision to include a fairly wide view, taking in the black blur on his stick blade, plus his surroundings that should include teammates and nearby checkers.

I think it’s asking a bit much for a player to keep his head erect and then move just his eyes up and down. And, the absolute worst thing he can do is bob his head up and down to alternately view the puck and his surroundings.

Any thoughts on this? I’d love to continue this discussion down below.