How to Take the Perfect Wrist Shot Sure, you might not be able to shoot like Eric Lindros, who plays in the NHL All-Star Game this month, but now at least you can say he gave you a few tips. By Charles Coxe In hockey it’s a lot of fun to be the goon, but a few missing teeth and a smashed nose don’t exactly impress the ladies. Women, of course, prefer a man who knows how to score, and the best way to get the puck in the net is with a dominant wrist shot. Rather than ask you to take our word for it, we dragged Philadelphia Flyers captain and six-time NHL All-Star Eric Lindros out on the ice to teach us how to take the shot that’s his bread and butter. Take it from him: “The wrist shot is simply the most important shot in hockey.” 1. Line it up What makes the wrist shot so lethal is its deadly combination of accuracy and quickness. “Accuracy is definitely more important than power, and a wrister is your most accurate shot,” Eric says. “Winding up and taking a slap shot usually gives the goalie too much time to get in the right position?goalies are so good today, you need a shot you can get off quick.” Since a defenseman won’t often give you a clear look at the net, once you see an open spot not protected by the goaltender, take quick, careful aim and don’t take your eyes off the target. 2. Load Once you know where you want the shot to go, keep your weight over your back skate and pull the puck back behind your center of gravity. The point here is to get as much power as you can while simultaneously keeping the puck away from the defenseman. “Sometimes you can’t use your body at all and you’ll have to shoot off your wrong foot,” Eric points out, which will undoubtably sap strength from your shot. To ensure that you get as much power and accuracy out of the shot as possible, make sure the puck is cupped in the middle of the curve of your stick blade. 3. Let ’er rip Sweep the stick forward, shifting your weight from your back leg to your front leg together with the motion of the stick. “It’s not so much upper body strength as legs” that puts the power behind the wrist shot, Eric says. As the puck passes your front skate, snap your wrists over as though you were swinging a baseball bat. To strengthen your wrists (“You guys aren’t gonna make a masturbation joke, are you?”), try Eric’s technique: “My brother and I would practice with weighted pucks in our garage. Of course when we moved out there was a little woodwork to be done.” 4. Follow through As your weight carries forward over your front foot, turn your body into the shot, letting your back leg extend behind you for balance. Follow through with your wrist, pointing the stick at your target. This is where you decide the shot’s direction: If you curl the toe of the blade over the shot, the puck will go low; keep the blade open and you’ll roof it. “Most NHL goals are scored low,” Eric points out, “but when you’re playing in the beer league, with lots of good-looking women in the crowd, that top-shelf goal is pretty tough to resist.