When you are training for hockey most people want to train to get the hardest shot possible. That is important and if that’s what you are training for I suggest that you check out my review of the HockeyShot Extreme Radar 2.0 here. What most people don’t realize though is that you will probably score more goals if you work on a quick, accurate release. That is where the HockeyShot Reactive Sniper comes in.
What is the Reactive Sniper?
The Reactive Sniper is a training aid that can be used to train for numerous different goals. The most obvious one is to help you practice a quick release and an accurate shot. It really is a pretty simple device but it couldn’t be more effective. It helps you train to read and react quickly to visual cues. As you probably know this is very important in all sports. Since you also practice shooting and stick handling at the same time you get training for multiple things at the same time.
What is in the box?
When you open up the box you will see a few different things. First is the reactive Sniper itself. There is also a foldable tripod that you can mount the sniper on. This is great to have since it lets you set the sniper up basically anywhere. You will also get an instruction manual, a few colored stickers and some colored rubber pads. I have an unboxing video linked at the bottom of this post if you want to see what everything is.
The only thing missing, in my opinion, is a carry bag. The Hockey Radar comes with a bag and it would have been very nice to get one for the Sniper as well. I did find that a small lunch box does make a good bag and the insulation works to give some padding. It is not as good as a bag that would be made for the product though. I had to use some left over foam padding that I had hanging around my house to fill up the extra space. It is better than just throwing the Sniper in a backpack though.
Design
The Reactive Sniper is a relatively small, black rectangle with five arrows and a small oval on the front. The entire device has a rubberized feel to it and the arrows and oval are a thick translucent plastic. The back has the battery compartment and two buttons, on/off and mode. The Sniper is powered by 3 AA batteries but there is also a micro usb port on the side if you want to plug it in to the wall or a portable power bank. (Read the review of a great power bank here). On the top there is a strong velcro strap if you want to hang it from something.
The Sniper feels very solid and well made like all HockeyShot products. The HockeyShot website states that the Sniper is designed to absorb a shot of up to 55 mph. Obviously this is not recommended though. The strap is very strong and easily allows it to hang from a crossbar or a hook. I prefer to use it on the tripod with a usb cable though. That way I don’t have to deal with dead batteries and the tripod keeps it off the ground enough to make it very easy to see. When I use it in my garage I plug the cable into a wall adapter but when I use the sniper outside of my house I use a portable power bank. This makes this a very portable device. This micro USB port is something that I wish was included with the Hockey Radar.
How to Use it
Using the sniper is pretty straightforward. You turn it on, then you press the mode button until you get the settings that you want. The instructions are clearly printed on the back as well. You can choose 5 different speeds, 7 sec., 5 sec., 3.5 sec., 2 sec. and 1 sec. There are also 3 different color options. You can choose to rotate between 2,3 or 4 colors.
When you start it the sniper will flash an arrow and a color. The light for the arrows is very bright and easy to see indoors or outside. The colors are a little harder to see outside but are still ok. It will switch at the speed that you set. The colors will also rotate based on the setting that you chose. You can use this to do numerous different drills. When you also use the colored stickers or rubber pads it opens up even more possibilities.
Drills that you can do
The drill possibilities are really endless. My favorite way is to spread the included colored pads around the floor. Then I run to the color that is displayed and shoot to the area that is lit up. I tend to like to use all four colors but if you want you can choose two or three instead. Also the different speed options can make this really challenging. I suggest starting somewhere around the middle and increasing the speed as you get better. It really depends on how far you have to travel to get to the different colors.
The stickers or pads can be put on a shooting pad or some tiles and you can use the Sniper to practice your stickhandling. If you use the stickers you can attach one of each color in 5 different areas of the pad. Then you can stickhandle to the color in the area that the sniper displays. This is how the HockeyShot Dangle Training system works. If you are using the pads I suggest using them as an area to run too. Then you can stick handle in the area shown with the arrow.
Another option is to assign a shot type to each color and use that along with the arrows to practice different types of shots. For example if its blue take a wrist shot, red snap shot, yellow slap shot, green back hand, etc.
The Sniper is great for cardio training in a field too. Something that I have done is to use the Sniper to react and run to different areas on a soccer field. I spread out different cones in 5 areas and basically did the same thing as the stickhandling drill. Instead of stickhandling to the color and area though I run to a colored cone. You could attach the stickers to cones that you already have but I bought the color matched HockeyShot ones. They are pretty cheap and having the entire cone a color is easier to see than just a sticker.
As you can tell you can come up with a bunch of different drills that you can add to your training. The versatility of the device really allows you to get creative. You can develop drills that will not only help you train but can be a lot more fun than your typical drills. If you have any drills that you made up please add them to the comments below.
Conclusion
The Hockeyshot Reactive Sniper is a simple but extremely versatile training aid. It is obviously made for hockey but drills can be developed for all kinds of sports. Personally, just like the radar, I have used the sniper for hockey and soccer training. If you or your kids play sports or if you coach I highly recommend the Reactive Sniper as a great addition to your training.
Click the pic on the left to see an unboxing video of the HockeyShot Reactive Sniper.
If you want to check out the Reactive Sniper or any of the other products you can check out the HockeyShot website here.
You can also check out my review of the HockeyShot Edge Dangler here. Also in case you are looking for off-ice training aids, my HockeyShot All-Star Dryland Flooring Tiles review is here.