ice hockey stopping.....opposite foot

[kovalchuk71 212]

uggghhhhhhh........im beginning to play ice hockey after playing roller for a while and im having a little bit of trouble. i can stop nicely with my strong side (right) but on my left, when i try to stp, the skate seems to "chop" the ice and i fall. anyone know whats wrong and any good ways to fix it?

[Kobe 0]

It's tough. Even a lot good players have a little trouble stopping on their weak side. Just keep practicing. I find that you just have to get comfortable using all of your edges (inside and outside).

[bulletproof_funk 0]

In addition to knowing your edges, I'd suggest paying careful attention to what you're doing correctly or comfortably on your good side, then what's wrong on your bad side. Compare the two, make adjustments or corrections to your weak side, and try again. Note how much weight you're putting on both skates while turning or stopping in each direction, and where your feet are relative to each other. You could be putting not enough weight on your front foot, or not spacing them the same as your good side stops. You may never achieve perfectly symmetrical stops, I know I haven't, but you can get pretty close to it.

Also consider that the human body isn't perfectly symmetrical. It could also be something like one skate fitting looser/tighter than the other, or one of your legs is slightly longer than the other, one foot bigger, etc. that you might have to take into account.

[Lester8 11]

I found my trouble learning this was having my skates too sharp. The blade was either deep in the ice or in the air. Try letting your skates go dull so you can gradually learn to apply the stopping pressure. The right form I was taught is to have your feet shoulder width apart and staggered heel-to-toe. Bend those knees to 90 degrees. I suggest you get some open ice, like blueline to blueline, get up to speed, and try to stop. Sink or swim.

[Guest 2048]

I'll agree with lester8, here. It took me a while to get, but what I found worked best was going with a really dull sharpening, especially because of the ice around me. It was really more mental than anything else and once I stopped thinking I was going to break my ankle, I was fine.

EDIT- Also, make sure you're stopping with your toes, not your heels and that you turn your hips.

[Cavs019 710]

there are kids on my AAA team (myself included) that still have some difficulty stopping on the opposite foot. Like anything, practice makes perfect. Its more a confidence thing than anything else.

[thejackal 46]

Unless there's somthing wrong with your skates or your technique, it's mostly mental. If you think you can do it, you can, just practice and it'll come.

[Dan_The_Man_16 0]

Try pushing out with your front foot, and dragging your back one. If you get what I'm saying. Then gradually move your back foot up untill it directly beside your front foot. I learned to stop this was and I can stop great both ways.

[thejackal 46]

Unless there's somthing wrong with your skates or your technique, it's mostly mental.  If you think you can do it, you can, just practice and it'll come.

Thats what I thought when I was learning, so I went at it full force, my skate "skipped" too much and I went flying into my freind injuring his arm.

...Why didnt you tell him to get out of the way? :P

[Gongshow11 1]

Try pushing out with your front foot, and dragging your back one. If you get what I'm saying. Then gradually move your back foot up untill it directly beside your front foot. I learned to stop this was and I can stop great both ways.

that way is terrible and if you hti a rut you can easily break an ankle

kovul, try stopping on one leg to start with, other int he air, this should help

[polk 0]

Try a shallower hollow to get the feel for your skate sliding out a little more. Once you get use to the motion it will come pretty quick.

[biff44 0]

Some pointers:

http://www.omahahockey.net/drills_hockey_stopping.html

[wristshot19 0]

I would recommend getting to know your inner and outer edges of your skates by alternating feet and doing quarter circles by using just one foot at a time. First do quarter circles using your inside edges and then go back the other direction using outside edges. Doing circles and or turns using one foot at a time will help you get to know your feet quite well and teach you the point at which you are uncomfortable with your weak side. My other tip is just to practice over and over even if you have a hard time with it. Actually, you should practice over and over ESPECIALLY if you have a hard time with it. Finally, work on building some strength with your weak side. Do exercises that isolate each side and you will probably see that you weak side is exactly what you say it is, weaker than your strong side. Good luck!

[Kyle_M 0]

I found that skating slowly and stopping at first helped me. I still have a little trouble with it now but you just have to keep praticing.

[asdfa 0]

i actually couldn't stop or pivot at all on my weak side until i went to camp, and i did a ton of edgework, i dunno if you've tried this before, but there is an exercise where you chop side to side and stop. stopping really works the inside edge of each foot, strengthens the muscles and builds muscle memory, and now, when i stop, i have no trouble using my either side.

[RadioGaGa 162]

I'm Right handed....I Bat right, write right, golf right, throw right, but when I started playing pick up hockey in Highschool (I never played league hockey growing up) I had to be a leftie, because I can't stop "to the right". I can't even turn sharply to the right, I can turn on a dime left, but to the right is one big loop...

I've tried and tried (as recently as this week after reading this thread) to stop to my weak side and can't seem to get it...damn near broke my ankle. I'll keep working on it and If I get it I'll let you know, but hell...I've gotten this far only turning left...it's kinda like NASCAR on ice *L*

Cheers!

[chris17 0]

I'm Right handed....I Bat right, write right, golf right, throw right, but when I started playing pick up hockey in Highschool (I never played league hockey growing up) I had to be a leftie, because I can't stop "to the right". I can't even turn sharply to the right, I can turn on a dime left, but to the right is one big loop...

I've tried and tried (as recently as this week after reading this thread) to stop to my weak side and can't seem to get it...damn near broke my ankle. I'll keep working on it and If I get it I'll let you know, but hell...I've gotten this far only turning left...it's kinda like NASCAR on ice *L*

Cheers!

Just think about how much better and more confident you would be if you could stop good on both sides. I know when I couldnt stop good on my weak side I was afraid to get going fast knowing that I wouldnt be able to stop if I had to on my bad side.

[MDE3 0]

I would recommend getting to know your inner and outer edges of your skates by alternating feet and doing quarter circles by using just one foot at a time.  First do quarter circles using your inside edges and then go back the other direction using outside edges. Doing circles and or turns using one foot at a time will help you get to know your feet quite well and teach you the point at which you are uncomfortable with your weak side. My other tip is just to practice over and over even if you have a hard time with it. Actually, you should practice over and over ESPECIALLY if you have a hard time with it.  Finally, work on building some strength with your weak side.  Do exercises that isolate each side and you will probably see that you weak side is exactly what you say it is, weaker than your strong side. Good luck!

Good Post !!!

If you already could stop on ice before, and are just having trouble when coming back from inline, it's probably just getting used to the balance point again. All those other tips about the skate sharpeness and radius are important to a degree, but a few sprints back and forth between the blue lines or even just short ones between red and blue..with pads if you prefer...usually got me straightened out again..using opposite sides each time. By sprinting, you will force your subconcious memory to take over, and the stopping technique will come back. This is of course assuming it was already there.

When you are tentative(trying to do it cautiously), you give your concious mind too much time to 'interfere" with the muscle memory.

That being said, I remember my first inline race....against teenagers and the local rink guards at the tender age of 45....did well......finished well ahead of the pack in second place and spun niftily into a one footed outside edge stop from full sprint as I might have done on ice.

I completed a full somersault in the air as I recall..cracked two ribs on the concrete floor ..and had to listen to some smartass...muttering "toepick"..... <_<

That was my first inline "aggressive stop"....there was no "muscle memory" to rely on as I had just started skating inlines.

[Chez 0]

You just have to get use to skating on ice again, keep practicing

[thejackal 46]

i actually couldn't stop or pivot at all on my weak side until i went to camp, and i did a ton of edgework, i dunno if you've tried this before, but there is an exercise where you chop side to side and stop. stopping really works the inside edge of each foot, strengthens the muscles and builds muscle memory, and now, when i stop, i have no trouble using my either side.

I've never gotten down how to do that "chop" thing where you go diagonally from one side of the ice to the other. Any tips/tricks?

[Neo5370 132]

whoah I thought I was the only one................a more relevant question: are T stops the same idea? Cuz I can't do those either. Nor can I perform an effective two footed hockey stop. Using my outside edges to stop are a mystery to me.

[Chadd 916]

T-stops are pretty much useless in a hockey environment. Half the time anymore I find myself only using one foo for my stops because of how many game I ref.