Are you interested in learning how to build a hockey shooting area so you can practice in the comfort of your own home? You have come to the right place. Sniper’s Edge Hockey has been in the hockey business for a long time and is passionate about providing high-quality training aids for all of the up and coming hockey champions. There are several ways that you could create a great shooting area, but we will give a bit of information on a few of the best ones.
Slick Tiles
Slick tiles, also known as dryland hockey floor tiles, are a fantastic way to set up a fantastic hockey practice shooting place. They are built specifically to mimic real ice and provide a slick, smooth surface to practice stickhandling, and shooting. They have interlocking sides that seamlessly join together without causing cracks and bumps in the surface. Since they are only 1 foot by 1-foot square, you can easily fit them into small places. Simply clear an area in your home that has a hard flat flooring surface and lay the tiles out. To ensure that you keep the walls and furniture safe it is best to get yourself a hockey shooting tarp as well. This way you can avoid breaking things and putting holes in the drywall.
Sniper’s Edge Hockey Shooting Pads
With a shooting pad, you can simplify your training and use less space for flooring. They come in three different sizes, the All Star, the Veteran, and the Rookie.
- The All Star is 30” x 60”
- The Veteran is 28″x52′
- The Rookie is 24″x48″
All you need is the shooting pad size that best suits you and an ultimate goalie set up so that you can get to practicing right away. If you intend to practice shots inside of the home, you might want to consider getting a shooting tarp as well. As mentioned above, this will save a lot of damage from happening. However, this set up can be arranged outdoors just as easily. All you need is a hard flat surface and you’re ready to go.
Synthetic Ice Setup
Using synthetic ice to build a home hockey shooting area is the ultimate way to go. Although you need quite a bit more room to pull this one off, it is worth the work. Synthetic ice panels are a bit bigger than the tiles but almost as easy to set up and put together. Just like the above two shooting areas, you will also need some sort of shooting target such as a shooting tarp, or a standalone ultimate goalie set up. Since you can build into a larger area, you can allow yourself a wider margin for competitive practice. You can use ice skates to practice on synthetic ice. Although there is a bit more drag, this will ultimately make you stronger as a skater. It’s a lot like lifting weights because you have to strain more and use more energy to get across the flooring. It helps build strength and stamina.
Home Practice
No matter what kind of shooting area flooring that you choose to work with, it will help you to strengthen your game. Practice helps to build muscle memory in ways that will help you succeed when you need it the very most. Practicing at home might be kind of a bummer, but the one thing that you can gain from it is that you can do it whenever you want without having to travel anywhere to do so. This means that there are no excuses when it comes to practice. Just stay at it.