Stickhandling Training Aid Review: The Dangler

HockeyShot has a new line-up of training aids and I have been slowly testing and reviewing all the new products. “The Dangler” and the Mini Dangler are among two of the new stickhandling training aids released that are designed to help hockey players improve their hands.

What is the Dangler?

The Dangler is a pretty straight forward product, think of it like a souped up row of pucks. The Dangler is designed to give you an obstacle to practice stickhandling around, under and over

Why not just use a line of pucks?

Sure a line of pucks is cheap, but the problem with a row of pucks is that they won’t sit still. Every time you hit a puck it will slide down the ice and it can be quite annoying when you are trying to work on your dangles and you have to re-make your obstacle every time you hit it. This is especially true for coaches!

A product like the Dangler lets you spend more time practicing and less time trying to set up a drill.

How is the Dangler different from other similar products?

The first product in this category that came out was the Sweet Hands. I never did a full review of the Sweet Hands on How To Hockey because it just seemed too simple. I thought most people could put together something similar with stuff they had lying around the house, but the Dangler has a few notable features

• Lighter and more affordable than the Sweet Hands
• The only product in it’s category with moveable center legs
• Built in retractable spikes allow it to grip the ice and stay in place during on ice drills

Video Review and Test of the Dangler

Is it worth it?

The Dangler is fun to use on the ice, but I remember doing the same drills and moves with a line of pucks or a snow shovel as an obstacle when I was a kid.

If you are on a budget and want a product to help you develop your skills I would suggest saving your money for something like the new Extreme Passing kit or a radar gun. You can use household items to practice stickhandling around.

If you are shopping for something like this – I do like the Dangler better than the Sweethands, and I would say it is comparable with the X-deviator from X-hockey products.

Where to Buy / Price Comparison

• The Dangler – $59.95
  • The only product with adjustable center legs and spikes to dig into the ice
• Mini Dangler – $29.95
  • A mini version of the dangler
• Sweethands – $89.95
  • Breaks apart into smaller pieces, but is a bit heavy and a sometimes a pain to move around
• X-Deviator – $116.96
  • Accordion style product makes it easy to carry, the most expensive out of all similar products

Close up Look of the Dangler

Want more details about the Dangler? In this video we give you a close-up look