Wrist Roller
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds drills like this into your personalized off-ice program, week by week. Your first week is free.
How to Do It
Hold a wrist roller (or a dowel with a rope and weight attached) with both hands. Arms extended straight in front of you at shoulder height — or hanging down. Roll the weight UP by alternating wrist curls — one hand at a time. Once fully rolled up, slowly unroll by reversing the direction. Keep the arms as steady as possible — only the wrists should move. 3-4 complete roll-ups per set.
Why It Works
The wrist roller builds forearm extensor and flexor endurance simultaneously — rolling the weight up and down trains the entire forearm under sustained load that cannot be replicated by standard curls. For hockey players, forearm endurance directly translates to stick-handling quality in overtime and late in the third period when fatigued forearms produce weaker, less precise shot releases and puck control.
Hockey Transfer
Builds forearm and wrist strength — directly improves shot power and stick control. If you've never trained forearms directly, you've been leaving shot velocity on the table. Start.
Coaching Cues
- "Arms extended"
- "Roll weight up with wrists alternating"
- "Control the lowering"
Common Mistakes
Arms dropping — keep them at the target height (shoulder for hardest, waist for easier). Going too fast on the unroll — slow eccentric unrolling builds as much strength as the roll-up. Weight too heavy — should be able to complete 3 full roll-ups without the arms shaking uncontrollably. Skipping it — nothing else builds forearm endurance this comprehensively.
Progression / Regression
Arms extended at shoulder height (hardest) instead of hanging at the waist.
Less weight — reduce the hanging load until the movement is controlled.
Primary Muscles
Energy System
Strength/neural
Put it to work
on the ice.
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds exercises like this into a personalized off-ice program — created by a sport scientist and former national-team coach. Your first week is free.
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