So, I’d been hearing whispers around the local rinks about this “Alex Bales hockey” method for a while. It wasn’t about a pro player or anything, but more like a specific, almost underground, way some guys were training their hands. Some swore it was a game-changer, others just shrugged it off. You know how it is, word gets around, and my curiosity just wouldn’t let it go.
I decided I needed to see for myself what this whole Alex Bales hockey thing was really about. Turns out, it wasn’t some fancy program you sign up for. It was more about a specific, grueling set of off-ice drills, supposedly developed or popularized by this Alex Bales guy, whoever he was. I managed to get a hold of a scribbled routine from a buddy who’d given it a shot. Looked intense, lots of weird angles and unconventional movements.
Diving into the Bales Routine
Alright, so I committed. Cleared a space in my garage, got my stick and a couple of pucks, and just started grinding through the drills. The first week? Pure agony, man. My forearms were burning, my wrists felt like they were going to snap. The movements felt so unnatural at first.
- There was this one drill involving quick puck movements around cones set up in a really awkward pattern. Dropped the puck constantly.
- Another one focused on super-fast, tiny stickhandles in a confined space, which felt impossible.
- Then there was the one-handed stuff. Don’t even get me started on that.
I was really tempted to quit after a few days. Thought it was just some masochistic nonsense. But, I’d told myself I’d give it a fair shot – at least a month. So, I kept at it, maybe 30 minutes a day, five days a week. I’d just put on some music and try to zone out, focusing on getting through the reps. It wasn’t fun, not at all. It was a chore.
The Payoff… Or Was There One?
After about three weeks of this Alex Bales hockey regimen, I started noticing something during my actual games. It wasn’t like I suddenly had silky mitts like a pro. No way. But in those tight spots, under pressure, my hands seemed to react a bit quicker. I was fumbling the puck less in traffic. It was subtle, not some miracle transformation.
The thing is, I reckon any dedicated, high-intensity hand-eye coordination drill done consistently would probably yield some results. Was it specifically the “Alex Bales” magic? I’m not so sure. Maybe the sheer difficulty and awkwardness of his drills just forced my muscles to adapt in a way standard drills didn’t. Or maybe it was just the discipline of sticking to something so damn hard.
I don’t do the full Alex Bales routine anymore. It’s too much of a grind for me long-term. But I did pull a couple of the less insane drills from it that I incorporate into my warm-ups now and then. They’re a good shock to the system.
So, that’s my experience with the “Alex Bales hockey” stuff. It wasn’t the secret sauce to becoming an amazing player, at least not for me. It was tough, it was frustrating, but I did see a tiny bit of improvement in a very specific area. Maybe for someone else, it’s revolutionary. For me, it was just another tool in the box, a particularly rough one at that. Worth a try if you’re looking to really push your hand skills and don’t mind a bit of suffering, I guess. But don’t expect miracles. Just sweat. Lots of it.
