How to deke in hockey

Updated October 17, 2026

A deke is a fake. You make a defender or a goalie believe you're going one way, or shooting, and then you do something else. Every deke is built from the same two pieces: soft hands that keep the puck close, and a believable first move. Here's how to build both, the classic dekes worth learning, and how to deke in Brudvig Hockey.

What a deke actually does

The word comes from "decoy". A good deke doesn't beat a player with speed or with the puck. It beats him with his own reaction. A defender who reaches for the puck, or a goalie who drops to stop a shot that never comes, has already lost. That's why the fake matters more than the move after it. If nobody bites, the fanciest stickhandling in the world just carries the puck into a stick.

Dekes are for one-on-one moments: a defender in front of you with space behind him, or a goalie on a breakaway. In traffic, a quick pass usually beats a deke.

Stickhandling basics first

• Grip: top hand on the knob, loose enough to roll your wrist. Bottom hand about a forearm's length lower, also loose. Tight hands make a hard puck.
• Cup the puck: tilt the blade slightly over the puck on both forehand and backhand, so it doesn't slide off the toe or heel.
• Keep it in the middle of the blade, and keep the movements short. Wide, slow sweeps are easy to poke away.
• Head up: feel the puck, look at the ice. You can't fake a defender you aren't watching.
• Knees bent, puck out in front, not out to the side where you can't protect it.

Eight classic dekes

1. Forehand-backhand. The basic one. Carry the puck wide on your forehand, as if to go around that side, then pull it across your body to the backhand and go the other way. Against a goalie, move him to one post and finish on the other side.
2. Toe drag. Reach the puck out in front, turn the blade so the toe is over it, and drag it back toward your body. It pulls the puck away from a poke check and changes the angle of a shot, which is why it's often used as a toe drag and shoot.
3. Shoulder fake (head fake). No puck move at all at first. Drop a shoulder or turn your head one way, wait for the defender to lean, then go the other way. It works best at speed, and it pairs with every other deke on this list.
4. Between the legs. Pull the puck back between your skates and catch it on the other side, usually to get around a stick or to set up a shot the goalie doesn't expect. Hard to learn, easy to lose. Save it for when you have space.
5. The Forsberg (one-handed tuck). Skate across the goalie to your forehand side, get him moving, then let go with the top hand and reach the puck around his pad with one hand into the open side. Peter Forsberg made it famous with a shootout goal for Sweden at the 1994 Olympics.
6. Spin-o-rama. A full turn with the puck, using your body as a shield, to get around a defender or change direction. Denis Savard made it famous in the 1980s. It's legal in open play. The NHL banned it in shootouts and on penalty shots in 2014, and other leagues have their own rules, so check yours.
7. Shot fake (shooting-lane fake). Load up as if to shoot, with your eyes on the net. The defender drops to block, or the goalie sets, and you skate around him or into a better lane. The fake has to look like your real shot.
8. The breakaway deke. On a breakaway or in a shootout, approach with speed and make the goalie come out and commit. Then go wide, forehand to backhand, or fake the shot and pull it across. The key is patience: deke when he moves, not when you hit the hash marks because that's where you planned to.

Shooting after a deke is its own skill. The shots and moves guide covers the wrist shot, backhand and the moves people copy.

How to practice dekes at home

• Off-ice puck or a ball: a weighted training puck on a smooth floor or a stickhandling surface, or a golf ball or street hockey ball on a driveway. A ball is harder to control, which makes the ice feel easy.
• Start slow: do each deke at walking speed until you don't have to look. Speed comes after.
• Use obstacles: a shoe, a water bottle or a cone as the defender's stick. Pull the puck around it with a toe drag, then around it on the backhand.
• Small, quick, then wide: alternate quick narrow stickhandling with wide reaches so your hands learn both.
• Head up drills: stickhandle while looking at something across the room, or while someone holds up fingers to call out.
• Add the fake: on the ice, practice the shoulder and shot fakes with a teammate playing defense. A fake you've never tried against a person isn't ready.

Common mistakes

• Deking too early: start the move from too far out and the defender has time to recover.
• Deking too close: start it inside his stick reach and he takes the puck.
• Looking at the puck: you miss the moment he commits.
• Stopping your feet: the deke slows you down and he catches up. Keep skating through it.
• Too many moves: one good fake beats three average ones. Every extra move is a chance to lose it.
• Same deke every time: goalies and defenders remember.

Deking in Brudvig Hockey

With a mouse, shake it while you have the puck and your skater dekes. Keep shaking for a spin move. The spin move is also on a button: △ on a phone, Y / Triangle on a gamepad, or Q on a keyboard, with the puck. Deke and every other action can be moved to a different key in ⚙️ > Controls > Set controls. The full list is on the controls cheat sheet.

The real-hockey lessons carry over. Cutting across the crease pulls the goalie with you, so shoot to the side he left. Use the spin before a hit lands, not during it. And in a shootout, after a tie and a minute of overtime, it's three shooters a side, then sudden death, so a deke you've practiced is worth having. Practice mode gives you ten pucks, a net and a goalie with nobody chasing you, which is the place to work on deke and finish. More in tips and tactics and how to play.