More Drifting Written by Ehab Shoukry
Originally published 04.22.02.
My tip for today will discuss the importance of a drift. It's important for me to reiterate that the 3 most important elements to a strong offense are deception, deception and deception! The first part of an air hockey attack begins with the drift; hence, your first opportunity to deceive the defense is your drift.
I think it is very important to develop a standard drift that you are capable of hitting all the basic shots out of (cut, cross-straight, right/left wall under/over, etc). Whether you prefer the straight drift, L-drift, or circle drift, choose one that you can execute very accurate shots from.
Drift speed is also very important. You do not want to drift too slowly because it allows the defense to read shots more easily. Drifting too fast takes away from the accuracy of your shots. So I would recommend finding a good medium speed drift to hit your shots out of. Once you've mastered this drift and are very accurate, I would then move on to using more drifts in my attack.
Whatever you do, MAKE SURE YOU DRIFT! I would not make it a habit to hit shots from a still puck that is not drifting. Remember, your drift can lead the defense's mallet away from your target. It is very deceptive when you drift in one direction, but hit the puck in the opposite direction. Often times, you'll freeze the defense. Good Luck!
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