text: First of all the slap shot is by far the most overrated shot in hockey.  If you watch any game higher than say bantam the defencemen are the only ones that really take slap shots.  If you have a wicked wrist shot and a snapper you shouldn't be playing back on D leaving you with next to no reason to even use a slap shot.  As a goalie, I know that the problem with the slap shot is that it's so predictable from a shorter distance and much easier for a goalie to stop than a snapper or a wrister while when it's taken from the blue line it's so unpredictable that it rarely ever even on net.\n\nBut if you have your heart set on improving your slap shot, I know a couple things you can do:  \n\nFirst, your stick, lots of people have very different opinions on stick size.  I have found that the majority of guys with mean shots have their sticks to between the chin and the nose on dryland without skates on.  Some think it should be between the chin and the nose on skates though.  Really, whatever you're most comfortable with is what you should be playing with.  You don't want it to be too short otherwise you may miss the ice and shoot air and you don't want it too long or you'll hit the ice too far behind the puck and lose a great deal of power and torque on it.  \n\nSecond, work on your wrist strength.  A great thing to do for this is take a weight with a hole through it, take an old, broken stick or one that you don't mind breaking and a strong string of some sort.  Tie the weight onto the bottom of the string and the other side of the string to the stick.  The weight should be about at your knees when you hold the stick out directly in front of you at shoulder height.  Twist the stick so that the string rolls around it until the weight is at the stick.  Then slowly untwist it.  Make sure you do this forward and backward.  \n\nAnother good one you do with another person.  Take a pipe or a bar that fits well in your hand and you can wrap your hand around it comfortably.  Have the other person grip the bar as tight as they can while you twist it.  Make some kind of dot or marking on one part of it in the middle so you can count rotations.  Twist left, right, forwards, and backwards.  I would say that after about 5 rotations you'll be able to feel it pretty well.\n\nThe absolute best thing you can do to improve your slap shot would be to get out there and practice it over and over again.  If you can't get ice time, get on some roller hockey skates and set up a net or a tarp or something to aim at and line up a bunch of roller hockey balls or tennis balls.  By practicing with roller hockey balls and/or tennis balls you will be able to aim much better as well as it'll help you get better control on the ball and make you feel more confident with a puck next time you're on the ice.  You may also consider taping a stick weight to the bottom of your stick by the heel of your blade just for the dryland practice.  It'll make your stick feel so much lighter when you're on the ice and that too will make you feel so much better with your shot.\n\nGood luck to you and I hope this helps some.