Today, we’re going to take a look at Inside Edge Fakes. We had a good question from Greg Price: “I noticed that a lot of lead players are using a different fake than the typical front fake. You shift their weight for the fake, then pull the puck back to protect it. They curl on the inside edge of the foot close to the defender; the other leg is lifted off the ice, and it’s called the soft leg or the knee bent. Can you break down this move and give some thoughts on how effective it is compared to the front fake?”
What is an Inside Edge Fake?
You can call it whatever you want. There are a lot of different names for them, but basically, it is gliding on one foot on my inside edge to add a little fake. The game’s changed a ton. Everything’s getting more deceptive; players are coming up with new moves all the time, and a lot of footwork. To keep it really simple, it is coming in on a player, maybe faking one way, and then riding our inside edge in to cut back. With a little more speed, I’m coming in this way, add a little fake, cut, and come around for that shot.
With the Puck
As I’m coming in with the puck, especially on the forehand side, I’m going to push on my right leg. I lean on that inside edge and cut back and bring my puck out and protect my puck. So as I’m coming towards my defender, I come in, add a little fake, and then cut on my inside edge. I protect my puck, and then come around for a shot or finish that play or make a pass. You see a lot of players doing it as they’re attacking the net. So those guys are coming in the zone, maybe it’s a two-on-two, two-on-one, or a one-on-one with a player. If I have a defender in front of me, I could come in, fake, cut, and then take a shot. What do we do with our other foot? The other foot is going to either be slightly dragging on the ice a little bit, kind of almost on our toe, or it’s going to lift up off the ice a little bit with a slight knee bend.
Practicing Inside Edge Fakes
And how to practice this? There are a lot of easy ways to practice it, but when you’re gliding on that inside edge, what are you doing? Just ease like this and practice, right? Make sure that your weight is not too far back on your heel. If I come through and I cut and I get all my heel, now it’s going to be easy for a defender to put a stick or a glove on me and knock me off balance. It’s going to be hard to control that puck.
Weight Distribution
You want to make sure that the weight, again, is over the middle, right to the toe of that foot as you’re coming in. It may rock a little bit, but the easiest way to keep that weight in that area is to keep your shoulders over your knees. Where players get in trouble is when they’re coming in, and your shoulder gets over your hips. Now, when I come in and cut, my shoulder’s over my hip, and then I’m going to feel like I’m going to fall back. So, I want to keep that shoulder over a knee and try to keep that weight in the middle of our boot. And as we come in on these, the foot that’s not weight-bearing is going to be up in the air, but I got to plant that foot when I’m done my move in order to make another move or cross over or get away.
So, as I come in here, my leg’s going to come up, but then right away, I’m going to get it back down in order to make my move. I’ll do a couple with a little more speed. So as you’re coming in here, coming in, you’re going to push, cut, and then right away, coming in. You’ll see players use this again, attacking the zone, sometimes in the neutral zone, just to get away from players. Right there, pushing off that foot and coming around. Now, if you’re doing it on your backhand side, the same thing is going to apply. Maybe you’re going to get a quick shot off your backhand, maybe you’re just protecting the puck. But see, my “D”, I pushed off my outside leg. So, push here, come in, and then protect that puck as I’m coming around.
Using it in the Corner
If I’m coming in towards the corner and I want to cut away, maybe to make a pass back. I’m going to cut in on the defender, push across, and then now look for that pass or that play. It’s a great move; it’s very effective, and you can always blend these with other moves. If I’m coming in, I can add a little fake or maybe pretend like I’m going to drive wide. I then cut and then cut back around for that shot. You can add different skills to this and kind of build off it as you’re going, but it’s very effective. You see a lot of good players using it now. It allows you to maintain speed, use that inside edge, and keep that weight on that edge. Also very importantly, it allows you to protect that puck while you’re doing it.
Protecting the Puck
Make sure that if I am coming in on a defender, I’m not exposing the puck as I’m making that move. As I cut with my inside leg, I’m going to cut, protect that puck, come around, and then make that play. The same thing on the backhand side. If I’m coming down on the backhand side, same thing. I push off on the inside edge, protect that puck, and then come in and make the play. It’s a great move and it is really fun to practice. It is especially fun as you add speed to it and add a little bit more deceptiveness to it. You can add a little head fake or a little fake with the puck, and then a cut. It’s really effective to beat defenders and kind of throw defenders off your plan.
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