The Real Reason Players Struggle With Backhand Shots
Most players don’t struggle with the backhand because they’re weak, unskilled, or afraid of the shot. They struggle because the backhand has quietly become one of the most neglected skills in modern hockey. Kids grow up firing forehands from every angle, but they almost never get the same number of touches, experiments, or repetitions on the backhand side. By the time they reach competitive levels, the backhand feels foreign, awkward, and unreliable, and that feeling alone is enough to make them avoid it. When a skill isn’t used, it never becomes automatic, and when it isn’t automatic, it completely falls apart under pressure. That’s the real starting point for why so many players fail to develop a confident, dangerous backhand shot.
The deeper issue is that most players never learn the proper setup for a backhand in the first place. On the forehand, the blade naturally cups the puck, so even beginners can get away with sloppy mechanics and still produce a half‑decent shot. But on the backhand, the blade doesn’t help you automatically. The player has to create the cup by adjusting the blade angle, positioning the puck correctly, and rolling the wrists at the right moment. Without that understanding, the puck slides off the heel, flips weakly off the toe, or dies on the ice before it ever reaches the net. Kids often think their backhand is weak, but the truth is that their blade angle is wrong, their puck position is off, and their weight transfer never gets started. They’re trying to shoot without the foundation that makes the shot work.
Another major reason players struggle is that the backhand feels like the “blind side” of the stick. On the forehand, players can see and feel everything clearly. On the backhand, they lose that sense of control, and the brain doesn’t trust the motion. When a defender closes in or a goalie challenges aggressively, players panic and revert to the forehand even when the backhand is the smarter, faster option. This isn’t a strength problem or a courage problem. It’s a confidence problem created by a lack of meaningful repetition. Without enough slow, controlled backhand touches, the player never builds the muscle memory needed to stay calm when the moment matters.
Coaching habits also play a huge role. Most practices are built around forehand shooting drills, forehand passing drills, and forehand puck‑handling patterns. Coaches rarely isolate the backhand, and when they do, it’s usually rushed or treated like a novelty. Players are told to “just flip it” or “just get it on net,” which teaches nothing about blade angle, weight shift, or follow‑through path. Without a structured progression, the backhand never becomes a real tool. It stays a desperation move instead of a confident scoring option. The lack of proper teaching is the real reason the backhand has faded from the modern youth game.
The good news is that the backhand can be fixed quickly when players learn the right sequence. They need slow‑speed puck‑rolling drills to feel how the blade cups the puck. They need controlled pushes to understand weight transfer. They need short‑range backhand shots before long‑range attempts. And they need small‑area games that force them to use the backhand in tight spaces where it naturally belongs. Once players get these reps, the backhand stops feeling like a mystery and starts feeling like a weapon. They gain confidence carrying the puck on both sides of the body, they become more deceptive, and they discover scoring chances that simply don’t exist on the forehand.
The real reason players struggle with backhand shots isn’t weakness or lack of talent. It’s that the backhand has been ignored, misunderstood, and under‑taught for years. When players finally learn how the blade works and get the right kind of repetition, the backhand becomes one of the most dangerous shots in their entire offensive toolkit. And if you or your player/s want help in further breaking it down, refining it, or building a progression that actually works, you can always reach out to this old coach, or invite comments from fellow member coaches here within our group.
