In the hockey world, people often refer to certain manufacturers as the kings of what they do. For example, Grit Inc. is always classed as the kings of making hockey bags because of how good a job they do and the quality of the bags they produce. Similarly, when we look at goals, this title goes to Winnwell.
Winnwell takes the crown in terms of providing the best hockey goals, and you can find their products in almost any hockey nation in the world. In today’s discussion, let’s take an in-depth look at different models of Winnwell hockey goals for home training.
Common mistakes when choosing hockey goals
What I wanted to do first is to touch on some of the differences between the various types of hockey goals on the market. On Instagram, Facebook, or Youtube, I’ve seen so many videos of people shooting on nets that are mangled, distorted, twisted, and dented.
A lot of people or even professional hockey players probably assumed that these damages are just what naturally happens when you use up the life out of a goal.
If you count the shots at a net, you can genuinely expect when it will start to fold and essentially become mangled and disfigured. However, this isn’t supposed to occur, and there are two reasons why your goal gets in such a bad condition.
I found them out through my own experience of using lots of different nets from different manufacturers.
Firstly, the particular goal that you’ve purchased wasn’t intended to be shot at with real hockey pucks. You’re supposed to use it with either plastic pucks or balls.
The other reason is that this particular net hasn’t been made from the best quality materials. That’s why it’s unable to withstand repeated shots from ice hockey pucks.
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The way that you can figure out which type of net you’re buying, along with what it’s intended for, is to look at the description or the title of the product. If at any point it’s referenced as a street hockey net, that’s a clue for the fact that this particular net shouldn’t be shot at with real hockey pucks.
Of course, you can still do it, but you must expect the bar and the post to bend, dent, and also become mangled and disfigured. As I mentioned above, we can see this so often in many videos on the internet in which kids and even grown-ups are shooting at the wrong type of net.
Advantages of Winnwell hockey goals
Price
If you’re looking for a net that’s not going to dent, crack, or fold, the Winnwell HD or heavy-duty net is the one that you should consider. In terms of the cost, based on pricing in the US and also in the UK of Winnwell heavy-duty net, compared to your typical or your traditional nets, you’re looking at a difference in between 50 and 70 dollars depending on where you pick the net up from.
Accessories
In addition to producing some of the best and highest quality nets that you can get for home use, Winnwell also creates a massive list of attachments for their nets.
They have everything from targets for you to string up inside the net to shoot at, shooting tops for you to wrap around the net, so you have a fake goalie in the middle of the net, and also backstops to help keep the pucks in one place while you’re practicing on your shooting at home.
Skill nets
In my opinion, aside from all these cool accessories, Winnwell also created something that doesn’t get enough attention. What I’m talking about are the Skill Nets. I understand that having a traditional net at home is cool, and there’s a lot of different things that you can practice with it as long as you are creative with it.
However, the skill nets allow you to work on much more specific skills, namely your accuracy, and the particular places that you like to put the puck in the net. That’s why I would suggest people pick up a skill net instead of a traditional hockey goal.
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Types of Winnwell Skill Nets
The Five Circle Net
The first skill net that I have to talk about is the one that has five small circle nets – the Winnwell Heavy-Duty 5-Hole Skill Net. It has no backstop or netting on the rear section.
Mostly, if you can’t hit the target, the puck will go flying. As a result, you need to be cautious about where you put a net like this, and most ideally is in front of a brick wall.
This doesn’t sound like a great concept, of course. However, considering all of the enjoyments and how dynamic you can be with your shooting, considering how satisfying it is to put the puck in any of the top right or top left corners, it’s one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had while I’m just shooting pucks on my own at home.
A lot of us know how tedious practicing alone at home can get. You usually only rip a puck into an empty net. But believe me, the second you add targets, it adds a little bit more of a dynamic element to your shooting since you’re aiming for something.
However, when you take those targets away, take the traditional net away, and the net itself becomes the target – in this case of the Winnwell Heavy-Duty 5-Hole Skill Net, five separate goals – it becomes so much fun shooting.
Winnwell has even done little things like making sure the center hole is elevated off of the ground. As a result, you can’t just dribble the puck into the hole, but you have to aim and get the right level of elevation on the puck to be able to get it to hit the net.
It’s challenging, it’s fun, and it’s wildly addictive. If I had to pick, for my reasons, and the set up that I have at home, out of all of the hockey nets that I’ve seen, this particular Winnwell net with a set of five separate little circle holes is my favorite by far.
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The M Net
In addition to the Heavy-Duty 5-Hole Skill Net, Winnwelll also has a net that I can only explain as being in the shape of a capital M. This is called the Winnwell 72″ Heavy Duty Skill Net. Very similar to the net with the five circles, holes, or mini-nets, this one has only netting in the shape of the M.
The idea behind this, again, is that you must be a bit more specific about where you aim to put the puck. You have to be a lot more precise with your shooting and with your accuracy. That’s why it’s challenging, and it’s a lot of fun.
With this net, you can still hit the bar since we know that some people seriously love to hear the sound when the puck hits the bar. You are still able to rip the bar down, but the space that you have to be able to pull that off is much more restricted.
Thus, it’s a lot of fun for any players out there that are trying to home on their accuracy, or trying to become the best sniper that you can be.
These nets are going to help aid you in home practicing. Furthermore, you’re still getting that excellent build quality that Winnwell goals are renowned for. You can be confident that they’re going to last.
These things are so much fun, so please let me know in the comments if you had to pick between the traditional net with a backstop, the M net, versus the five little separate net targets, which one would you choose.
With the M net, similar to the Winnwell Heavy-Duty 5-Hole Skill Net, instead of the five holes being elevated, there’s a bar or a piece of metal at the base that helps to add stability to the frame of the net.
However, that also means that you have to elevate the puck if you want to get it into the five-hole slot. You can’t just dribble the pucks in with these nets. You have to aim, you have to be precise, and it just makes your shooting practice at home so much more dynamic, so much more challenging, and it keeps you engaged.
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What to practice with Winnwell Skill Nets
In terms of what you can practice with Winnwell skill nets, my favorite things to practice are my wrist shots and my snapshots. Those are probably the things that I would, in my personal opinion, say the best elements to work on at home. Of course, your backhands as well.
However, in terms of stationary backhands while you’re moving, bear in mind that with the net with the five individual circles nets, you have to be so much more accurate with your backhands or you’re just going to miss the net.
Whereas the one in the shape of an M is a little bit easier to be able to land beautiful backhand shots, you can still work on your wrist shots, snapshots, and backhands very efficiently with either one of these two skill nets.
Now when you’re looking at things like slap shots, there’s absolutely no reason that you can’t practice them with these two skill nets.
However, the Winnwell HD 72 inches net would be the better option if that’s what you want to work on while you’re at home with your street shoes, sneakers, or trainers on, or whether you’re on synthetic ice. Again, in my opinion, specific skills like your accuracy, your wrist shots, or your snapshots are the best elements to be able to develop with these particular nets.
Fair Warning
Now one more thing I’ve got to mention is that because of the shape of the posts of these nets, something that you have to be aware of is the ricochets and rebounds that you’ll get with these particular nets.
With a traditional net frame with a common goal like the HD 72-inch net, after being in use for a while in shooting, you can predict where the puck is going to go, and you know what areas of your house, your cars or your vehicles that you need to be away from while practicing. That’s the only way to ensure that you don’t get a crazy ricochet and end up breaking something.
However, the skill nets are a lot more haphazard to use. You need to be a lot more aware of where you’re using them. If you have anything that is valuable or can be broken from a ricochet, you need to try and cover those up. But this isn’t a negative.
It’s something that you need to consider because if you want to be able to work on your accuracy, targets are tremendous, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with shooting on targets.
But after you’ve used them for a while, they start to get a bit stale and boring while the Winnwell Heavy-Duty 5-Hole Skill Net is endless entertainment. It’s highly beneficial because you’re working on practical skills that you can transfer onto the ice.
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All in all, how cool is it to play in the next season and be more skillful than the last one? There are so many simple ways to practice your hockey skills throughout your time at home. The only thing that is coming in between you improving over the spare time at home is yourself. So get one of these best hockey goals and start training as soon as possible.
