Balance help

[MikeWhy 39]

So i play roller but that board isnt as active as this one plus this particular question im sure applies to both. I'm trying to get more comfortable with my balance, this may sound weird but i have a difficult time skating with my skates untied....so i was thinking to really sharpen my ankle strength and balancing skills maybe play a few open hockeys with them un tied? does that sound dumb? I sound like a complete duster but if anyone has any tips let me know. The balance issues are mainly when getting bodied up a little bit and coming OUT of an explosive turn. any tips would be great

[Nosferatu 8]

Hi Mike , personally I think you could be asking for trouble trying to play with untied laces , apart from the practicality of a pair of laces flapping all over the place which even if you tuck them in somewhere will inevitably work loose again there's also a chance you'd your ankle some serious mischief . Way way back in ye olde days I used to leave the top 2 holes unused on my skates thinking it gave me more flexibility/agility then I took just a gentle nudge which sent me in a different direction to that which I'd planned made a bit of contact with the boards which sort of turned my ankle as my skate gave way, I didn't break the thing but spent a week on crutches until the swelling went down , pretty sure it wouldn't have happened if the laces had been tight as the skate would have supported rather than gave way .

Your best bet to improve balance and strength is just a case of more skating and try a few specific skating drills , pretty sure you'll be able to find some balance orientated drills on you tube somewhere.

[Chadd 916]

I would pick up a balance board or work on strengthening your ankles before skating without tying your laces. Depending on the issues that you have, you could end up injuring yourself if you skate without enough support. If you were to sprain your ankle, you could set yourself back significantly.

[Hockeydog 8]

If you have access to a Bosu ball/board or can buy one I highly suggest that as well as Chadd's suggestion. If you haven't heard of these things, they are like a swiss ball on one side, and a solid platform on the other. Standing on the ball side with the flat platform side down really helps with balance with an emphisis on using your feet and ankles, as you are standing on an unstable surface. Flipping it over and standing on the flat side also helps balance but you feel it more in the legs/hips and not so concentrated on the ankles. There are also smaller air filled disks you can get that might be cheaper than a Bosu that also act similar to the Bosu, but the Bosu is great if you can get one or use one at your gym, etc. As for skating with laces undone, add me to the reward not worth the risk club. Many, many ways to improve your balance that are low risk, such as front and side planks, yoga, split squats, 1 leg deadlifts, lunging, etc. You screw up your ankle and it would take a long time to just recover to the level of balance you have now.

[MThockeydad 469]

Just do power skating drills (skates laced fully). Work on skating on one foot, gliding straight as far as possible, then work on the outside and inside edge...again of just one foot, then the other.

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

So i play roller but that board isnt as active as this one plus this particular question im sure applies to both. I'm trying to get more comfortable with my balance, this may sound weird but i have a difficult time skating with my skates untied....so i was thinking to really sharpen my ankle strength and balancing skills maybe play a few open hockeys with them un tied? does that sound dumb? I sound like a complete duster but if anyone has any tips let me know. The balance issues are mainly when getting bodied up a little bit and coming OUT of an explosive turn. any tips would be great

Kinda trying to figure out why you would want to skate with them untied?

[Vet88 673]

The simplest tip is practice, there is no short cut. Practice drills with your top eyelet or top 2 eyelets undone but don't scrimmage / play this way.

Balance balls as suggested earlier are good. You should work on edge control, forward and backward. Figure 8 or circle loop drills for the explosive out speed, ladder drills for agility, one on one in a circle playing keep the puck for balance and turning, one on one playing keep the puck using feet only (no stick) for footwork and balance.

These are just some drills that come to mind to work on what you are after, google and youtube will give you hundreds more. Bottom line is you need to skate more. If you want to really change it up go and buy some ice skates and ice skate as much as you can until you are as comfortable on ice skates as you are on inline (I assume that you mean inline when you say roller). Your balance will improve out of sight if you have any technical issues that inline (or roller) lets you get away with. You don't have to play ice, just practice drills at public ice sessions and your inline will naturally get better as a spin off.

[wrangler 157]

Skating with laces untied sounds like a very good way to give up control of the blades.

[MikeWhy 39]

Kinda trying to figure out why you would want to skate with them untied?

Simple minded idea, its tough to do it, try it, then itll be 20x easier when they are tied. Sounds stupid when i look over it.

[Vet88 673]

I wouldn't skate with my laces untied because you lose lateral support in the boot. Without the support, the position of the blade under your foot will shift as you go into turns (your foot moves in the boot) which can cause serious damage if it causes you to roll an ankle.

However it is a well known european training technique to not lace the top eyelet, get used to this, then not lace the two top eyelets etc.

[ASharp 0]

People mentioning the balance board/bosu is great

5 x 1min standing on each leg. Gradually add time. You will find your calves and all the small muscles in your ankle and foot working.

Getting your skates profiled at a longer rocker radius will help with balance

During games and practices tie your skates normally. If you have some time to just skate around at the end of practice loosen the top 2-3 eyelets. Start slow and gradually build up confidence. Doing this during a game/practice when you have not yet developed the ankle stability/strength is asking for an injury.

The players who can skate without doing the top eyelet or top laces tied loosely have learnt to skate this way from a young age. You can make the transition but it will take a while.

[BrondonZA 0]

There is a youtuber that gives tips and trick on hockey stuff (how to's too) check him out ive seen his balance drill too !

http://www.youtube.com/user/howtohockeydotcom

:)

[MikeWhy 39]

Contrary to how i sounded I actually can skate very well, ive been doing nothing but skating for basically a year now its just that i feel like ive plateud and the main issue I face once again is once I get bumbed trying to go for a loose puck or something it seems like i lose it. Its almost like unless im purely faster, the other guy is going to get the puck because one little shove throws me off. And i also do have a minor issue keeping explosiveness coming out of turns but thats if im trying to come out like a ball shot out of a cannon. The thing is i dont have the extra body to have someone push me while im on skates(to sorta simulate being bodied up in an actual game) so what would be substitute?

the bosu/balance board does sound like a great idea however

oh and i normally play without my top eyelet laced

[ccarrigan 2]

Contrary to how i sounded I actually can skate very well, ive been doing nothing but skating for basically a year now its just that i feel like ive plateud and the main issue I face once again is once I get bumbed trying to go for a loose puck or something it seems like i lose it. Its almost like unless im purely faster, the other guy is going to get the puck because one little shove throws me off. And i also do have a minor issue keeping explosiveness coming out of turns but thats if im trying to come out like a ball shot out of a cannon. The thing is i dont have the extra body to have someone push me while im on skates(to sorta simulate being bodied up in an actual game) so what would be substitute?

the bosu/balance board does sound like a great idea however

oh and i normally play without my top eyelet laced

How is your knee bend? If you're standing up straighter it's easier to get pushed around, and that would also account for not being able to explode out of turns. Video tape yourself and compare it to some other players?

Also, I did see a video about standing on one leg (no skates) and suddenly dropping in to a one legged "squat". Just far enough to activate your stabilizers in your hockey crouch. Another that you can do with a friend is jump in the air (no skates) and have them push you a little, and you land activating the muscles and things that produce stability.

[flip12 699]

Biking strengthened my lower leg muscles a lot more than I realized. I didn't play hockey for five years while I was living in New York, and all that time I was pretty much biking everywhere. Now that I'm back on the ice, I'm finding I'm a lot more comfortable with my skates loose around the ankle, and even with an eyelet unlaced in Graf 703's, which are already pretty low cut. Anyway, that was a fun and easy way to work on that kind of strength and now my hockey is benefitting because of it.

What it really sounds like you're concerned with though is skating against resistance. Maybe practice that with a friend. Just do drills to win races to the puck/ball in corners where you have to lean in for body position while trying to get possession first. If you're happy with your skating and just unhappy with losing those battles, nothing better than to try learning how/when to lean by doing it over and over. It sounds like something you'll figure out quickly with some repetition.