Tips for a beginner

[masterbasser008 0]

hey everyone, i want to play on my ice hockey team next year, and my friend is teaching me the basics and how to skate and all. but i was wondering if you guys had some more tips you could give me to help me out.

Thanks in Advance.

[Eazy_b97 1]

If you search around a bit you'll find some good tips on specific items. To use the search feature make sure it's 1 word and at least four letters long.

In general, work on skating and keep practicing your stickhandling off the ice. Get as much ice-time you can under your belt, and study the better players. Play within yourself and keep it simple to start.

[The Playoff Beard 0]

Easy_b97, is on point. As a fellow beginner, really focus on skating. If you can skate, you can play. Also do things right first, THEN do things fast/with power.

[sniper14 0]

yea you need to know how to skate i hate how kids all they do is work on there slap shot yea slap shot is good but its not the only thing in the game you need to learn how to receive ahit properly without getting hurt yu need to know how to stick handl and the first sht u should e practicing is your wrist you use your wrist more then anyshot unless your a defense but at that age you dnot have to worry about the biggy clapper just worry about taking and giving hits cleanly and stick handlling and stuf like that

clappers are the last thing you learn!

[sonsplayhockey 0]

If the majority of your teamates will be better than you then

1) Work on Skate fast going straight

2) Work on acceleration from stop

3) Hockey stop in both directions.

4) Turn

5) Turn with cross overs

6) Pass while not moving. (head up).

If you can't skate, you can't get to the puck. If you can't get to the puck, forget about everything else. Best thing you'll ever do is to work hours and hours on your skating at public sessions.

Once you can get to the loose pucks, get it, look up, pass to someone. If you can do that, then you can move on. Everyone likes a guy that passes. No one likes a guy that constantly gets the puck then gets it taken away. I don't know how old you are but at the High school level in many states your playing against kids that have been skating since they were 6 or 8 years old (some longer). Not that you can't learn fast but just know your limits like they said.

[Cheesehead 0]

yea you need to know how to skate i hate how kids all they do is work on there slap shot yea slap shot is good but its not the only thing in the game you need to learn how to receive ahit properly without getting hurt yu need to know how to stick handl and the first sht u should e practicing is your wrist you use your wrist more then anyshot unless your a defense but at that age you dnot have to worry about the biggy clapper just worry about taking and giving hits cleanly and stick handlling and stuf like that

clappers are the last thing you learn!

first of all use some periods. you didnt take english for nothing.

i thouhght i was pretty good untill i got private lessons with the hockey director. work on skating. once you can get going prett y good keeping your blance work on turns, then crossovers, then tight turns. then work on stopping on both edges, and different kinds of starts. also dont forget about skating backwards.

When you play in games i suggest that you play offense and not defense. it really makes my mad when a beginer is playing at defense, and they let 5,000 people skate by them(no offense). i have no problem if a new player is working there arse off keeping up with the puck on offense.

Good luck, but remember have fun.

[Jason 65]

Bend your knees! It will help your skating alot if you have a good knee bend. Also, make sure your skates fit you properly and allow you to have forward flex. Your skates will be by far the most important part of your equipment. You should be able to get your knee to reach further forward than your toe when you are striding. Take skating lessons and maybe an adult beginner hockey school. Search the site for more tips. Work hard and have fun!

[sniper14 0]

oh,sorry didnt know this was english class :D

But yea worry about the basic before anything

[Cheesehead 0]

oh,sorry didnt know this was english class :D

But yea worry about the basic before anything

:D its just hard to read and some people might not speak english well

[bullet1 0]

When I was first starting out, it really helped that I knew how to skate. And even still I spend about 1/2 my practice time on just skating, turn, transitions from forwards to backwards and stuff like that. The other 1/2 of the time I practice stick handling and wrist shots. Then sure, I'm like everyone else and take a few slap shots. Good luck man, skating ability is by far the best thing you can get better at.

[Viking#9 0]

I would just worry about your skating, the stick handling helps but you can practice that off the ice too, you only get limited ammount of ice time so work on the skating. Transitions are important, stopping and sharp turns, also crossovers, keep your knees really bent, becuase this will also help you when it comes to stick handling.

Forget about slapshots too, work mostly on wrists, you see a lot of rookies (guys that are going to be playing on the wing anyway) worrying about having huge slapshots that they forget about the main things.

Skating is the most important part of the game, it's like learning to walk again, just worry about that and then try the harder stuff.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

Easy_b97, is on point. As a fellow beginner, really focus on skating. If you can skate, you can play. Also do things right first, THEN do things fast/with power.

Sorry, I just read this and the first thing that came to mind...

If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball :D

[bwear 0]

I agree with most of the above. I'm a newbie (just started skating in Jan) and just started playing in a beginner league a few weeks ago. The difference between most players out there comes down to who can skate and who can't.

I took a beginner skating class and learned a ton and am just now getting backwards crossovers down, which is huge for me, but there are some folks out there who can barely skate forward in a straight line, which is dangerous for both themselves and other players.

Once you feel comfortable skating, add the puck to the equation and work on stickhandling (or as a beginner, just being able to keep the puck with you while skating). I spend some time each session working on wrist shots and backhands against the boards, which also helps with transitions, stop/starts and roping in loose pucks.

Good luck and, most importantly, Have fun!

[Quintin 16]

Good tip would be to learn to stickhandle off ice (Smart hockeyballs/golf balls are great). Start by standing still and learn to get the feel it by looking at it. Then slowly lift your head up and keep it there. If you get discouraged, just think to yourself:

"You don't look at your feet when skating, so don't look at the puck when stickhandling"

Then once you're comfortable with that, start moving your feet when stickhandling ie. jumping side to side, jogging forwards and backwards, running in circles with the puck in the middle and KEEP YOUR HEAD UP!

Stick at it and you'll be good in no time.

[chk hrd 164]

Skating is the most important thing, but learn how to do it correctly. Take lessons from an instructor. If your just starting out find a figure skating instructor. They will teach you how to use your edges better than anyone. Take power skating classes also.

Friends are great for getting you to start but a real instructor will teach you how to do it correctly without bad habbits and show you how to maximize your stride.