Five Tips to Winning Hockey Face-Offs

As a centre man learning and mastering these five tips to winning hockey face-offs will greatly enhance your team's chances of winning the game. Even wingers must be prepared to take the face-off. The most crucial thing is to have a plan before the puck is dropped. Tell your team mates the plan, whether it be by a wink to the defence or a nod to a winger. There are many ways to win a face-off but none are any good unless you communicate.

In hockey, possession of the puck is critical. If your team doesn't have control that means the other team does and may be in position to score. Conversely, you can't score if you don't have the puck. This is why winning face-offs is so important to the overall control of the game.

Here are the five tips to winning hockey face-offs:

1. When taking a face-off you need to be as stable as you can be. Get down as low to the ice as possible and choke up on your stick. Move your top hand about halfway down the stick and your bottom hand near the blade. Build up your strength so you can out muscle the other guy.

2. If you are in the defensive zone try to tie up the opposing player and let your defenseman pick up the puck. Your aim is not so much to get the puck but rather to not let your opponent get it. Anticipate the puck drop, stay low and push into the other centre man with your shoulder, leaving the puck behind you. Very important to communicate this plan to the defenseman.

3. In the neutral zone try to just tip the puck through your opponents legs, blast past him to retrieve the puck and make a nice crisp pass to one of your breaking wingers. In the offensive zone you can be more creative. Try winning on the fore-hand, the back-hand or back between your legs. You can even go for the shot on goal.

4. Don't key on the ref's hand waiting for the puck to drop. Instead watch his elbow. Most referees will move their elbow before anything else, allowing you to better time the puck drop. Don't wait for the puck to hit the ice but try to bat it in the air as it falls.

5. Add some tape to the bottom part of your stick shaft. This will not only give you more grip when choking up on the stick but will also help your stick last longer. Centre men tend to break more sticks than other players because of the abuse to the flex zone of the stick during face offs.

Know your opponent and don't be predictable yourself. During the course of a game you might face the same guy several times. If you try to win the face-off the same way every time he will soon learn your trick and be prepared for it. Switch it up and learn his moves. Using these five tips to winning face-offs will improve your chances in the circle.