Hockey is a team sports game played in many countries of the world under many conditions, rules and names. Ice hockey is played by teams from many nations, in national and international leagues, and in amateur and professional competition. As it is self-evident that the objective in a game of ice hockey is to score goals against the competing team, consequently it is desirable that hockey players become skilled in accurate shooting of a puck into a defended goal.
Although in team practice, players can hone their shooting skills, this can normally only be done under the constraints of team practice on an ice rink, with the consequent costs of such an enterprise. Less formal practice can be undertaken off-ice, but again it requires a team of players.
In hockey, good shooting skills are normally related to the number of hours a player spends practising hockey shots on the ice or off the ice. Because the majority of hockey players spend a relatively small number of hours on the ice counting practises and games and because most time spent on the ice is for skating and for play making with very little time actually spent on shooting, it is known in hockey that most players need to practice hockey shooting off the ice with a real puck to develop good shooting skills. The practising of off-ice hockey shooting with a real puck, using existing methods, the hockey net or the hockey net with a backstop, is however not very practical and safe for most homes resulting in very few hockey players practising hockey shots off the ice. Also the time lost in retrieval of the hockey puck is a deterrent to the practice of off-ice hockey shooting.
It is common in street hockey to use a soft rubber puck, a rolling puck, a street hockey ball, or similar devices to simulate hockey shooting on the net and/or target. It is also known that for better simulation of on ice hockey shooting a real puck must be used. However, if a real puck is used, there is a major risk of puck damage to the surrounding environment.