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Fifth shot session. Autumn wind

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Manually compiled results from a good round, hinting towards me getting better. Personal illustration by author, October 2018 (updated).

251 recorded shots. Plenty of wind.

Side view of canvas in wind, being hit by puck. Personal illustration by author. September 2018.

Fourth shot session

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Better results overall even though the pucks are all over the canvas rather than the one target point I’m using. I plan to switch to two targets eventually but it would not be meaningful at this point, especially since I then would have to keep track of which is the current target when analyzing the videos.

200 recorded shots. Sunshine and quite calm.

The recording setup. An iPhone 6S plus for shots and an iPhone 7 Plus for recording the player (me). Personal photo by author. September 2018. Update 2018-10-01: I'm now using the iPhone 6S Plus to record myself and an iPhone X to record the shots.

Third shot session

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While trying to improve my technique and changing things around, the results suffered a lot and I decided it was pointless to record hundreds of shots not lifting off the ground. I was spending a lot of time just driving to the football field, setting everything up and then recording, time which would be better spent on just learning how to shoot. Also, I felt a bit pressured when recording, like I was wasting valuable celluloid film or something.

I set up the shooting pad in the garden instead without the canvas and just practiced getting the puck off the pad with some speed and height. I found tutorials on YouTube, shot a couple of hundred pucks, looked at some more videos and tried again whenever I had some time over. Eventually I realized that I was spending far too much time collecting pucks so I put the pad about a meter from a metal netting, enabling me to practice much more efficiently.

Despite shooting a lot of pucks during a couple of days, it did not pay off immediately but at least I had a clearer view of what I should do and not do. For example, when shooting the type of shots I was practicing, the puck should rest against the base of the blade, not the tip. It was much easier getting the pucks into the air using the tip but a lot less precise. Also, I realized that buying the smallest shooting pad was not at all optimal for a beginner. Players with good technique need very little movement space to get pucks away with both speed and height. Having a short pad meant less marginal for error, often running out of pad before getting the shot in the air.

My technique definitely needs more work. Personal photo by author. September 2018.

225 recorded shots. Some wind and overcast, although the sun broke through once in a while.

A round from the second session compared to a round from the third session for some sense of the difference. Looking at all the rounds from these two sessions, the difference is more subtle though. Personal illustrations by author. September 2018.

Second shot session

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Second time practicing and recording at Nynäs IP. I lock focus and exposure so the mobile camera does not refocus in the middle of a shot but unfortunately, I managed to lock it so all the videos but one from today are out of focus. On the upside, they make an interesting test set.

Did not notice that I had locked the focus on something else than the canvas so all videos turned out blurry. Note that the goal net is visible through the canvas. Personal photo by author. September 2018.

Sunshine and calm. I recorded 194 shots.

Setting up. Personal photo by author. September 2018.

First shot session, sunshine but quite windy

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First time practicing and recording at Nynäs IP, a football field a short distance from the summer house we rent. Due to lack of technique, I got tired quickly which only makes it harder to get the pucks off the ground. Many shots bounce on the grass or collide with other pucks and are then sent flying into the canvas. I recorded 130 shots properly, excluding a round or two for other documentation.

Nice backdrop for hockey training. Personal photo by author. September 2018.

Clear weather but quite windy today. Accidentally recorded the first two movies at 30 fps instead of 120 fps.

Quite windy weather today. Personal video by author. September 2018. Sorry for the vertical video, I really know better.