Is roller good training for ice ?

[NuggyBuggy 0]

I apologize if this is a question that's been asked before, but I searched through the previous roller topics and couldn't find anything - if I missed it, I'm sorry. The search function is, well, not too useful, but this is not the mods fault.

I've been playing ice for about a year now, I get to the rink several times a week, twice a week in the summer. I was thinking about playing some roller just for those times when I can't get to an ice rink - i.e., my interest in roller is purely about getting better on ice.

However, I've talked to a few people who advise against this. I've been told that the stride is totally different. I've been told that stopping/turning is different. I've been told that the game is different.

I wouldn't really care, except that I've also been told that it is easy to forget and try to do something that would work on ice (say) that won't work on rollers, and that you can develop habits in one area that will negatively affect your performance in the other. For instance, I know some guys who got started on roller, on ice they're very fast skaters but they have very short choppy strides and they are not very good at stopping on ice, opting to turn where an all-ice hockey player might stop and go. In other words, I'm worried that playing/skating roller might impede my development as an ice-hockey player.

Any thoughts out there ?

[Fury of One 6]

I'd say ice is better for roller more than anything else. Yes the strides are totally different. Roller strides are shorter and choppier as opposed to ice. I sometimes find myself doing roller stuff on ice and the results are not good. I just played roller this past friday for the first time in like 3 months and I was flying out there but I couldn't stop because I was so used to ice.

[ladystorm3 0]

yeah, i pklayed ice one morning and then went to the roller rink, not a good idea, i tried to do an ice stop and...well it hurt.

in our highschool league mmost of the dominant players have played travel roller or some roller. they have the ability to puckhandle better and have great moves.

[delpiero27 0]

I just played roller this past friday for the first time in like 3 months and I was flying out there but I couldn't stop because I was so used to ice.

same problem, but found a great solution: on ice the boards are made to check, on roller are made to stop. or at least they're great for that... but watch out because once i tried to stop against the boards where the gate was open...

[MDE3 0]

Yes the strides are totally different. Roller strides are shorter and choppier as opposed to ice.

Actually the best inline players have a very similar stride to ice hockey..and it is not "short and choppy"....there are different styles in inline as there are in ice, but a good fundamental stride is basically the same for both....trust me I have taught power skating clinics for both versions. The biggest differences are the push angles, For inline you need to finish the stride with your foot drive at a slightly wider angle to your body than for ice, in order to maintain grip through the toe kick at the end of the stride.

Otherwise the stride should be almost identical....it is normal that you push out a bit wider for inline than ice, but this will not hurt your ice stride..it may even help.

Your "recovery"...bringing your rear drving foot back to the lead psition, should come across the centerline of your body...like ice, and your stride should start on the "outside edge" of your lead skate...as in ice hockey. You might want to develop an increased "hip shift" which will bring more weight over the driving skate, and allow you to use more push, as it will increase the grip on the driving leg/foot.

Essentially the strides remain the same, except that the drive angle should be a little more oblique, and the fact that you need to exagerate your weight shift in order to maintain grip.

As for stopping...well it's different, but that's mostly because you do not have a rockered chassis to pivot on, and the "lean" angles are different to get "bite" through the stop.

In order to avoid this try learning a little stopping technique that will serve you well. Make sure you are wearing full protective gear when starting to learn this technique, as you will fall.....

Place your stick on the floor in front of you, then take about three strides skating slowly towards it....jump over the stick and while in the air turn 90 degrees. Land with both feet on the floor at 90 degrees to your direction of travel. Try to make sure you land with wheels flat. To absorb the energy of the landing, let your knees bend as you land, then spring back up. This will give you the "bite" you need to stop.

Repeat this technique for both directions. As you begin to get confident and comfortable, build up speed, always practing the stopping on both sides.

Eventually you will be able to make this pivot with a minimum of "air time" and, actually pivot off the leading wheel to make the turn.....Weighting and unweighting (like a ski turn) is the key....by letting your knees flex, and rebound on landing, you are driving the wheels into the surface, flattening them and increasing the grip....properly executed this will allow you to stop as quickly as in ice hockey..assuming your skating surface and wheels have normal "grip".

All that said, the techniques are slightly different in each, but if you learn the correct ones, they really will not hurt you when you switch back and forth.

One more key is making sure you have good wheels, that are suited for your inline surface. With the latest wheel and chassis technology out there, you can actually stop on inline skates as quickly as on ice. The trick is not to try to execute an ice stop, but to learn the correct technique...once done, it is different enough, that it will not really interfere with your ice stopping when you go back.

[iceburg19 1]

roller hockey is the next best thing to ice hockey,when i go from ice to roller or roller to ice,think about the surface and the skate difference,and mentally prepare for the change,take the first few strides slow ,check your edges,and go .

[KC83 2]

the only thing i notice from ice to roller is the timing of the puck... meaning recieving passes, and puck handling, there is more friction on the roller floor than the ice, my stride is just about the same from roller to ice, it just takes a few warmups or about 10 mins to get back into the swing of things