The Best Examples of Puck Handling Drills for Beginners

Real examples of puck handling drills for beginners you can start today

Let’s skip the theory and jump straight into real examples of puck handling drills for beginners that you can actually do this week. These are the kinds of drills youth coaches, skills coaches, and even pros use—just simplified for new players.

All you really need to start:

• A stick and a puck (or stickhandling ball/street hockey puck off-ice)
• A flat surface (driveway, garage floor, basement, or smooth ice)
• A few cones, water bottles, or shoes as markers

You can mix and match these drills into a 15–25 minute session, 3–4 times per week.

Stationary stickhandling: the first example of true control

If you’re brand new, this is the first example of a drill you should master. It looks simple, but it builds the foundation for everything else.

How to do it
Stand in your hockey stance—knees bent, chest up, hands away from your body. Place the puck slightly in front of you, between your feet. Without moving your feet, stickhandle the puck side to side, about 6–12 inches each way.

Focus on:

• Keeping your top hand doing most of the work (it steers the stick)
• Rolling your wrists instead of chopping at the puck
• Looking up as often as you can, even for half a second at a time

To make this one of the best examples of puck handling drills for beginners, add simple variations:

• Handle the puck only in front of your left foot, then only in front of your right
• Stickhandle in a small figure-eight around two pucks placed a foot apart
• Switch hand positions (slide your bottom hand up and down the shaft) while maintaining control

Do this for short bursts—30 to 45 seconds of work, then 15–30 seconds of rest. Short, focused reps help you avoid bad habits and fatigue.

Side-to-side lane drill: examples include basic movement and vision

Once you can control the puck while standing still, add a bit of movement. This is one of the most useful examples of puck handling drills for beginners because it teaches you to move your feet and hands together.

Setup
Create a narrow lane about 10–15 feet long using cones, shoes, or water bottles. Space the markers 2–3 feet apart in two parallel lines, like a mini hallway.

How to do it
Start at one end of the lane with the puck. Skate or walk forward, weaving the puck from side to side across the lane as you move down. Think of it like painting the ice from left to right in front of you.

Key points:

• Keep the puck within about a stick length of your body
• Take small, quick touches rather than big, sweeping moves
• Lift your eyes every few touches to build awareness

To keep this drill fresh, examples include:

• Going down the lane with the puck only on your forehand, then only on your backhand
• Doing the drill backward (great for balance and coordination)
• Adding a slight knee bend every time you move the puck across your body

This is where you start to feel like a real player instead of someone just poking at a puck.

Figure-eight cone drill: a classic example of tight-space puck handling

If you ask most coaches for examples of puck handling drills for beginners, the figure-eight around cones will almost always come up. It teaches edge work on the ice and footwork off the ice, along with handling the puck in tight spaces.

Setup
Place two cones (or objects) about 3–4 feet apart.

How to do it
Skate or walk in a figure-eight pattern around the cones while keeping the puck close to your body. Your path should loop around the outside of each cone in a smooth, continuous motion.

Details to focus on:

• Keep your knees bent and weight slightly forward
• Use both forehand and backhand as you round each cone
• Try to keep the puck on the “inside” of your turn (closer to the cone)

To make this drill one of the best examples of progression:

• Tighten the cones to 2 feet apart for smaller, quicker movements
• Increase speed while trying not to lose control of the puck
• Add a quick shot on a net or wall after every two figure-eights

This drill is perfect for driveway work with a stickhandling ball, then transferring to the ice.

Toe-drag lane: a more advanced example of puck handling drills for beginners

Toe drags look flashy, but they’re really just controlled pulls of the puck with the toe of your blade. Even beginners can start learning the motion slowly.

Setup
Use the same 10–15 foot lane you created earlier.

How to do it
Start at one end of the lane with the puck out in front of you. Pull the puck back toward you using the toe of your blade, then push it back out to the other side. Think: pull in, push out, side to side, as you move forward.

Begin slowly:

• Start standing still and just practice the pull-and-push motion
• When that feels comfortable, walk forward while doing it
• Eventually, skate through the lane, keeping the puck under control

This is a great example of a drill that bridges the gap between basic control and real in-game moves. You’re learning how to protect the puck, pull it away from a defender, and move it to open space.

Obstacle chaos drill: real examples of “game-like” handling

Hockey is messy. The puck hits sticks, skates, and bodies. You need drills that feel a bit chaotic, even as a beginner.

This is where some of the best examples of puck handling drills for beginners start to look less organized and more like real hockey.

Setup
Scatter 8–12 objects (cones, pucks, shoes, water bottles) in a 10x10 foot square. Nothing needs to be in a straight line.

How to do it
With a puck, move around inside the square for 30–45 seconds, never stopping your feet. Your only rules:

• Don’t touch the obstacles
• Keep the puck within a stick length
• Look up as much as possible

Variations and real-world examples include:

• Calling out colors or numbers on a wall while you handle the puck (to force your head up)
• Having a parent or teammate point to directions (left, right, forward, back) while you respond
• Using a second puck as a “fake defender” that you must keep away from your own puck

This drill builds the ability to react, not just repeat a pattern.

Off-ice ball handling: examples of puck handling drills for beginners at home

Modern players in 2024–2025 are doing more off-ice skill work than ever. If you look at skills coaches and training programs, many examples of puck handling drills for beginners involve a stickhandling ball or off-ice puck on a shooting pad or smooth flooring.

Here’s how to turn that into a simple routine at home:

Stationary ball control
Use the same techniques as the stationary puck drill, but with a ball. Balls are less forgiving, which forces softer hands and better control. Work:

• Side-to-side in front of your body
• In tight circles around a shoe or cone
• In quick taps, moving the ball forward and backward between your feet

Wall rebound drill
Stand 5–8 feet from a wall. Pass the ball softly off the wall and receive it, then immediately move it to a new spot before passing again. This is a great example of how to build first-touch control and passing feel at the same time.

Quick-hand intervals
Set a timer for 20 seconds and stickhandle as quickly as you can without losing control. Rest 20 seconds. Repeat several times. This mimics the short, intense bursts you get in a shift.

For injury awareness and general health while training off-ice, sites like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Mayo Clinic have helpful guidance on safe physical activity and warm-ups.

Adding movement: examples include crossovers and transitions

Once basic control feels natural, start blending in skating skills. Some of the best examples of puck handling drills for beginners combine handling with crossovers, stops, and starts.

Crossover circle drill
On the ice, use a faceoff circle or draw a rough circle with cones off-ice. Skate around the circle with crossovers while handling the puck. Switch directions every lap.

This drill:

• Forces you to control the puck while your feet are crossing
• Teaches you to keep the puck on the “safe” side of your body, away from imaginary defenders

Stop-and-go control
Skate forward 20 feet with the puck, stop quickly, then immediately start again. Each time you stop, pull the puck back slightly toward your body so you don’t lose it.

These are great real examples of how puck handling and skating link together. You’re no longer practicing skills in isolation—you’re practicing hockey.

How often should beginners practice these drills?

You don’t need marathon sessions to improve. In fact, shorter, focused practices are better, especially for kids and teens.

A simple guideline:

• 15–25 minutes per session
• 3–4 times per week

That’s enough time to cycle through several examples of puck handling drills for beginners without burning out. Think of it like learning a musical instrument: frequent, shorter practices beat rare, long ones.

To keep your body happy as you ramp up training, it’s smart to learn basic warm-up and stretching habits. Resources from places like Harvard Health explain why gradual warm-ups and flexibility work help reduce injury risk as you increase activity.

Common beginner mistakes (and how these drills fix them)

When I watch new players, the same issues pop up over and over. The good news: the examples of puck handling drills for beginners we’ve covered directly target these problems.

Staring at the puck
Everyone does it at first. Stationary stickhandling and obstacle chaos drills help you practice looking up in a low-pressure environment.

Using only the wrists, not the top hand
If your top hand is glued to your body, you’ll feel stiff. The stationary drill and figure-eight drill encourage big, smooth top-hand movement and wrist roll.

Big, wild swings
Beginners often move the puck too far from their body. The lane drill and tight cone setups force you to keep the puck close and controlled.

No plan
Many players just “mess around” with a puck. Building a weekly routine using several specific examples of puck handling drills for beginners gives you a roadmap instead of random guessing.

Putting it all together: a simple beginner session

Here’s how you might structure one 20-minute practice using the best examples of puck handling drills for beginners we’ve talked about:

• Start with 3–4 minutes of light movement and stretching (no puck)
• Do 3 sets of stationary stickhandling, 30–40 seconds each
• Run the side-to-side lane drill for 3–4 passes down and back
• Add 3–4 figure-eight reps around two cones
• Spend 3–4 minutes in the obstacle chaos area
• Finish with 2–3 quick-hand intervals or wall rebound drills

You can swap in the toe-drag lane or crossover circle drill as you get more comfortable. The key is consistency: a few focused sessions each week will add up faster than you think.

For general information on youth sports participation and safe training loads, organizations like the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services provide useful, research-based guidelines.

FAQ: examples of puck handling drills for beginners

Q: What are some simple examples of puck handling drills for beginners I can do in a small space?
A: Stationary stickhandling in front of your body, tight figure-eights around two objects, and quick-hand intervals with a ball are perfect for small spaces. These examples of puck handling drills for beginners can be done in a bedroom, hallway, or small garage area.

Q: How long does it take to see improvement from these drills?
A: If you practice 3–4 times per week, many players start to feel a difference in 2–4 weeks—smoother control, less fumbling, and more confidence carrying the puck with their head up.

Q: Is it okay to learn puck handling off-ice first?
A: Absolutely. Many modern training programs in 2024–2025 start beginners with off-ice examples of puck handling drills—using balls, off-ice pucks, and synthetic tiles—then transfer those skills to the ice. The motion is almost the same, and it’s easier to get more repetitions in at home.

Q: What’s one example of a drill that helps me stop staring at the puck?
A: The obstacle chaos drill is a great example of this. Inside a marked square, you move around with the puck while trying not to hit any obstacles and lifting your eyes regularly. You can also have someone hold up fingers or call out directions so you’re forced to look away from the puck.

Q: Should kids under 10 be doing these drills too?
A: Yes, but keep it fun and short. For younger kids, use playful versions of these examples of puck handling drills for beginners—like “tag the cones,” “snake through the shoes,” or “keep-away from the coach”—so they build skills without feeling like they’re in a strict training session.

If you pick just three or four of these examples of puck handling drills for beginners and repeat them consistently, you’ll be amazed how quickly your hands start to catch up to your feet. Start simple, stay patient, and let the reps do the work.