| Lesson 2: Controlling the Puck
| Back to Tips
| Lesson 4: The Cross-Straight
In order to prepare you for taking your first offensive shot, I will now teach you how to execute a "Drift". Drift (n): A movement path taken by the puck in order to prepare for taking a shot. An intended side-effect of the drift is bringing your opponent out of position in order to have an opening for a shot. Basically, "Drifting" is moving the puck into the position where you will take your offensive shot. The first drift you will learn is just a simple forward drift. Put the puck in front of your goal in the middle of table. After lesson 2, you should be able to keep the puck in that spot. Once you have control of the puck, tap the puck once so that it slowly drifts towards the centerline. Try doing this a couple of times, until you can consistantly get the puck to drift along the same path from in front of the goal to the middle of the centerline. Your goal is simple: drift the puck from your goal to the middle of the centerline as shown in Figure 3. It doesn't have to be fast- most drifts aren't. Keep practicing this until you can do it consistantly. The drift will become the backbone of your offense; controlling the puck means making your possessions count!
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