Ringette Stickhandling Drills You Can Practise at Home
For Australian ringette players, finding ice time outside a few major rinks like the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne or the Macquarie Ice Rink in Sydney is a real headache. Most clubs train on shared ice, families drive hours on a weekend, and the Aussie winter only runs from June to August. The rest of the year, you are juggling summer footy, school sport, and a backyard the size of a small paddock. That is exactly why stickhandling drills at home have become the quiet secret of serious players around Brisbane, Perth, and Hobart. With a few metres of carpet or concrete, a couple of household objects, and your ringette stick, you can keep your hands sharp without ever booking a session.
The beauty of off-ice stickhandling is that it does not mimic ice perfectly, but it builds the wrist strength, puck control instincts, and reaction speed that show up the moment your blades touch the rink. Below are several practical drills, plus a comparison of the gear you can use, designed to fit around T-ball practice, footy training, and that Sunday arvo at the park.
Setting up your home training space
You do not need a finished basement or a purpose-built gym. Most Australian families find that the garage, a stretch of driveway, or even the back patio offers more than enough room. A standard ringette stick is around 95 to 105 centimetres long, so a two-metre square space is plenty for almost every drill in this guide. Sweep the area first, drop a towel or a yoga mat on the floor to stop the ring from bouncing wildly, and you are ready to go.
Aussie players often turn to Bunnings for a cheap non-slip mat, a set of soft training balls, and a couple of cones when they want a portable setup. If you are training a junior, mark a clear boundary with painters' tape so the ring does not end up under the couch or in the vegie patch. Lighting matters too, especially during the shorter days of June, so set up under a verandah light or near a window that catches the late afternoon sun. The point is to make the routine boring enough that you will actually do it three or four times a week.
The wrist roll and soft hands drill
Soft hands are the single biggest difference between a player who looks composed under pressure and one who loses the ring in traffic. The classic wrist roll drill involves rolling the top hand back and forth across the shaft of the stick while keeping the bottom hand steady. Start with the ring or ball flat on the floor, then move it in a tight figure motion using only your top wrist. Beginners should aim for thirty seconds of smooth rolls before switching hands.
To make it harder, place two objects roughly fifteen centimetres apart and roll the ring between them without touching either. Think of it as the same hand-eye coordination you would use catching a Sherrin in the front yard, just translated to the smaller surface of a ringette ring. This drill is excellent for young players whose wrists are still developing, and it works just as well on a polished concrete driveway as it does in a rumpus room.
Figure-eight stickhandling patterns
Figure-eights are a staple for a reason. They train both hands equally, encourage head-up habits, and require almost no setup. Place two soft objects on the floor, water bottles, rolled socks, or the kids' lunch boxes work perfectly, then weave the ring in a continuous figure-eight, keeping the blade as close to the floor as possible. The ring should never travel higher than the height of the bottom hand.
Australian juniors often practise this drill in bare feet on the carpet, which gives honest feedback when the blade tilts too far. Aim for three sets of one minute with a thirty-second rest, and you have a solid warm-up before bed. The drill also doubles as a great way to recover after a long day of school, since it forces you to breathe steadily and focus on smooth weight transfer.
Toe-drag and pull-push drills
The toe-drag is one of the most useful moves in ringette, especially in tight corners of the offensive zone. Practise it at home by dragging the ring backwards with the toe of the blade, then snapping it forward into a controlled push. Start slow, almost exaggerated, so your muscles learn the full motion. Once it feels natural, speed it up until the ring is travelling in short, deliberate bursts rather than a continuous glide.
Pair this with a pull-push drill, where you pull the ring across your body with the heel of the blade and push it out again with the toe. The pattern mimics the kind of quick release you need in a tournament game. Set a phone timer for forty seconds on, twenty seconds off, and repeat four times. Many parents use this drill to keep their kids busy while dinner is on, since it is quiet and fits in any room with a couple of metres of clear floor.
Obstacle courses using household items
Drills become much more interesting when you turn them into a course. Grab four plastic cups, a couple of stubby holders, a rolled pair of socks, and a small plastic bin from the laundry, then arrange them however you like. Stickhandle through the course forwards, then backwards, then with your eyes up while calling out the names of the obstacles. You will be surprised how much the brain works when the visual input changes.
This is also a brilliant way to keep a junior engaged during the long Australian summer when ringette is firmly out of season. Instead of dragging them away from cricket or swimming, weave the home course into an afternoon routine. Many families in Adelaide and Canberra now keep a small gear bag packed with a ring, two cones, and a tape measure, so the course can be set up in any park, verandah, or lounge room in under three minutes.
Off-ice stickhandling with different balls
A blue ringette ring is a wonderful training tool, but a tennis ball, a street hockey ball, or a weighted off-ice ball each train slightly different skills. A tennis ball bounces unpredictably, which sharpens reflexes. A street hockey ball rolls faster and flatter, which builds speed. A weighted ball, around 200 grams, builds pure wrist and forearm strength. Rotating between them keeps the hands honest.
If you are buying gear locally, Kmart and Rebel Sport both stock basic street hockey balls, while most Australian ringette clubs can point you towards a supplier for proper weighted balls. A common mistake is training only with the ring, so the feel of the actual game ring can feel slow on the first session back. Mixing ball types is the simplest fix and costs less than a family trip to the cinemas.
| Object | Weight | Bounce | Best for | Typical cost in Australia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennis ball | 57 g | High, unpredictable | Reflex training, juniors | Around $5 for a pack at Coles |
| Street hockey ball | 25 g | Low, fast | Speed and quick hands | $10–$15 at Rebel Sport |
| Weighted training ball | 200 g | None, stays put | Wrist and forearm strength | $20–$30 from specialty stores |
| Blue ringette ring | 165 g | None, slides flat | Game-specific feel | $25–$35 from ringette suppliers |
Building consistency and turning it into a habit
The hardest part of any home training plan is not the drills, it is showing up. Set a fixed time, after brekkie on a Saturday, before homework on a Tuesday, and protect it like a team practice. Use a simple paper chart on the fridge to track how long you stickhandled each day, and add a small reward for hitting a weekly target. Kids respond well to visible streaks.
Recording yourself on a phone is also a powerful habit. A thirty-second clip every fortnight lets you see whether your hands are getting smoother, whether your stick is staying closer to the floor, and whether your posture is improving. Many Aussie players follow overseas clubs during our off-season to stay connected to the wider ringette community, and the Lapinlahti club news page is one of the more useful feeds to bookmark between rinks.
A few quick wins that genuinely help:
- Tape your stick at a 90-degree angle for the first month to build muscle memory.
- Train in socks on a smooth surface to encourage a flat blade.
- Use music with a steady beat to lock in your rhythm.
- Keep a water bottle nearby, just like on the ice.
Pitfalls that quietly hold players back:
- Looking down at the ring instead of keeping the head up.
- Standing too stiff, with locked knees and tense shoulders.
- Training only when motivated, instead of on a fixed schedule.
- Using a stick that is too long or too short for the player's height.
The real win is treating home stickhandling like brushing your teeth, short, regular, and unremarkable. A twenty-minute session three times a week, slotted somewhere between the school run and the evening news, will quietly outperform a single exhausting two-hour effort on a wet Sunday. Start tomorrow, keep it boring, and your hands will feel noticeably sharper the next time you step on the ice.