And set yourself up for breakaways more often

By Laura Warner

If you`d like to turn yourself into a genuine ring magnet, I`ve got great news for you.

There`s a foolproof way to make yourself irresistible to the ring carrier.

The Truth About Getting Open for the Ring

Most ringette players are completely unaware of what it takes to get open.

Getting open means that the ring carrier considers you to be the most desirable person to pass to on the ice.

It also means that you`re going to attract your fair share of offensive chances and breakaways.

The most common mistake players make is they skate the wrong pattern. This is a deadly error if you want to become a ring magnet.

A Proven Way To Attract The Ring

Last season at a Canadian Ringette Team practice, we were practicing our breakout pattern. After several exhausting drills, the coach finally had to call it quits and give us a break. Our forwards just couldn’t get open to receive the ring.

I’d like to say it was because the Team Canada defence were invincible – but this wasn’t the case. It was because the forwards were trying to pick up the ring while skating directly towards or away from it – and these are the best forwards in the country!

Ring Magnet Mistake #1: Skating directly away from the ring

This is a deadly mistake for a couple of reasons:

• To put it simply, you do not appear open. Ring carriers are very reluctant to pass to someone when they can’t see her eyes and she does not appear to be in open space.
• You are skating away from the ring, which makes it very hard to receive the ring. Even if the ring carrier does decide to pass to you, many players will miss a pass if they are skating directly away from the ring.

Ring Magnet Mistake #2: Skating towards the ring

This is also a deadly mistake. Here’s why:

• The player defending you will be right on your tail. Again, ring carriers will avoid passing to you.
• Even if your teammate passes to you, you have set yourself up for the hardest job in ringette: picking up the ringette ring when you are skating right at it.

Ring Magnet Secret: When you want the ring, skate laterally across the ice towards the ring carrier.

The easiest way to do this is to skate in the shape of an “L” towards the person with the ring. There are four reasons why skating this “L” pattern guarantees you more passes.

First, because you are skating towards her and looking at her, the ring carrier will view you as someone who wants the ring. If you skate away from her and refuse to make eye contact, she will perceive you as uninterested in the ring.

Second, the ring carrier will view you as moving towards open ice. She will want to give you a lead pass to the place you are skating towards.

Third, skating in the “L pattern” makes it easy for you to pick up the ring. It is very hard to pick up the ring when you are skating directly towards it OR away from it. The ring carrier knows this, and she will want to pass to you because you’ll have the best chance of picking it up.

Note: Make sure you do not skate into the boards when you make your “L” cut. If you end up with the ring on the boards, you will be very easy to check because you’ll be “trapped” on the boards.

Fourth, when you are skating in this “L pattern”, it is very easy for you to cut towards the opposition’s net immediately and attack!

Check out the video clip below of a player skating lateral across the blue line to receive the ring

Light it up out there,
Lisa B.