Last summer I showed you how to toe drag and this summer I am going to show the backhand toe drag.
The toe drag is a great move to use and very deceptive, if you can perfect the toe drag you will be able pull a few really nice dangles and have the guys on your bench cheering. A lot of people know about toe drag, but not as many people know about the backhand toe drag.
What is the backhand toe drag?
Basically the backhand toe drag is when you use the back of your blade to pull / drag the puck in close to your feet so you can get past the defenders. This is an effective move to practice because by quickly moving the puck in close to your body you will be able to protect the puck and get it out of the reach of other players.
There are actually a few different variations to the backhand toe drag so I have broken each version down in my video.
Backhand Toe Drag on the side
In this version you will be stickhandling with the puck to your side. The best time to use this move is when a defender is skating at you and going for the puck. You can pull a regular toe drag and pull the puck in close to your feet, but I find it’s a lot easier to just roll the blade over and catch the puck with the back of the blade, then pull it in and push it forwards (shown in video).
Backhand Toe Drag in Front
This move is great to pull if you are cutting across the center of the offensive zone and looking to get a shot on the net. I usually do this one when I am on my off wing and moving into the center. Leave the puck in front of you a bit and stickhandle, the defense will likely go for a poke check as you cut across, all you need to do is grab the puck with the back of the blade, pull it in towards your feet and then pull it across your body. I usually have about 90% success rate with this move, and it looks (and feels) great.
Backhand Toe Drag on your backhand Side
This one is done on your backhand side and is the most like the forehand toe drag. What you want to do here is roll the blade right over and actually use the back of the toe of the blade to pull the puck in. This one is pretty tricky to master but I can certainly see it coming in handy, and is helpful to practice for total puck control around your entire body.
