4 yr old starting hockey

[w1zard 0]

i'm 18 and my 4 year old cousin just started playing hockey through a "learn to play" program. my aunt (his grandma, so i guess that makes us 2nd cousins?) has been taking him to ice skating lessons prior to this but they didnt see much progress b/c he didnt really listen to his instructor, and would often want to leave or would just stand around. when he took to the ice with gear on and with other players he skated the whole hour of ice time. the problem though is he only pushes with one foot to skate and has very small strides. i'm not really worried about the small strides part i figure he needs to get comfortable but i dont know how to help him with using just the one foot. i dont want to push him to make it not fun. he has a blast when he is on the rink and i dont want to ruin that. the coaches try to help but they have many kids to worry about and can only spend so much time with him. he has only been going twice but i was wondering if anyone knew if i could help in in any way like going to free skate or rollerblading with him? should i wait to see if he catches on on his own or try to help him? if i should help how could i so he is still having fun?

[--notorious 0]

Its a little to early to be worrying IMO, most kids start at 6+

[w1zard 0]

does anyone think maybe he is too young all together to begin?

[hockeydoc 0]

Its a little to early to be worrying IMO, most kids start at 6+

I agree. I have a 4 yr old daughter playing, kind of. It is too early for her. She really wants to be like big sis though. So as for her I let her do what ever she wants, as long as she's on the ice it will help. She does the little step thing, I want to help, but I found I can't really. Just messing around with her on the ice she has a great time and it seems to encourage her to do more. Any time I say anything teaching or coaching ways she seems to want to go and sit on the bench. LOL. She seems to like sitting on the bench with all her gear as much as anything. But if I just leave her alone and play, she will stay on her skates longer.

More Ice time is all you can get at this age IMO. They will learn to skate "proper" in time. I take her to public skates as well, and it's the same thing. If I tell her anything she insists on sitting on the bench, but if I just skate w/ her and mess around she will stay on the ice. Very frustrating at this age because it is too young. My older daughter plays AA travel boys hockey, and I want to get her sis going early. But like you said, pushing them at all at this age can easily ruin the fun, and end the career of the my next NHL'er. LOL . I really enjoy just seeing her out there, so I can live with that.

Good luck. It's great you are involved.

[Alias81 0]

I always found when trying to teach very little kids its good to try and play tag with them, basically it gets them to push themselves at skating and makes them enjoy it when they catch you.

As has already been said Ice time is very important for them and at this age it will be improving leg strength alot aswell.

[KYHockey3 0]

i know quite a few kids who started playing at the 4-6 age range.

most of them are excellent players now. just being around a sport for that long can help them get the hockey mentality and just to know the game better. if your cousin doesnt do much on the ice , then dont push him too hard, it may grow on him over time, i mean he is only 4.

like alais41 said, just play games with him and try to get him to skate away from you or chase you, etc. just get him to love the game and over no time he may turn out to be a decent player!

[hockeymom 2]

Alias, I agree with you... tag is it at this age. It develops balance, stopping and starting in both directions and is FUN. That is all you want at this age. You simply can't take a straight-up teaching approach.... it is beyond their developmental capabilities. They also do not have the maturity to handle winning and losing yet.... so let's not overload them and burn them out before they are 8.

Arguably, full hockey gear is a bad thing because they are physically not ready to handle that amount of weight.

W1zard.... just go mess around and have fun, without correction. The time spent with you and the attention will pay dividends right now while he is learning to kate and falling in love with the sport and also later on when he is ready and able to learn.

[hockeydoc 0]

Arguably, full hockey gear is a bad thing because they are physically not ready to handle that amount of weight.

So true. My 4yr old cant move w/ the pants, elbow pads or shoulder pads on. She was really begging to play in this learn to play class, so we got her the gear, she enjoyed having it on for the 1st 5 mins. but she could move. I was funny watching her, she didn't appreciate the laughs. She skates with knee pads, elbow pads, a helmet, and regular winter gloves. She thinks, and brags regularly that she is a hockey player, but really only messes around on the ice.

At home she falls down and says "I'm okay dad, I'm tough, I'm a hockey player!" :lol: She also loves walking around the house with her mouth piece in. It is not really a good fit, but she just hangs out with it in. Freaky little kid! LOL

I agree tag is great, they are learn, playing, and you can interact w/ them, which both you and they enjoy. I totally agree (again) ice time is all that matters for development, and fun is all that matters to keep them wanting more. ;)

Good advice from all!!

BTW, that's her in my avatar. B)

[looney1 0]

I have a son who stepped on the ice for the first time at the 21 months of age. This he wanted to go out with his sister for a pre school Christmas skate. So I rented the smallest pair of skates that I could and took him on the ice. He would hang on to the bar as I pushed him around. It did not matter how fast or slow I went he would just hang on and glide around as I pushed him. He naturally took to the ice. So I would put him on the ice every chance that I could, sometimes 4 times a week.

He never really took instruction from me very well but would listen to others. Soon a friend of mine with an older son came out with us and that was it they started chasing each other, playing tag just generally goofing around. This made the biggest difference along with his skating lessons.

Soon he would play chase/tag with me. This taught him to do tight turns, change directions, stop and strides. Well we have some family hockey here so 31/2 years I got him a Nike hockey starter kit and put him on the ice with gear on. It was the funniest thing to watch him and his sister play sumo wrestling and when they fell down trying to get up. It really is priceless to see this.

He is now about to turn six and is best skater on his team at the moment, able to stop both ways, turn both ways and skate backwards. Crossovers are slowly coming. I know that over time this will change as the other kids catch up.

The best thing that you can do for young kids is play with them and let them play. Have them do things in a game like setting while incorporating skills that you want them to learn. It is never to early for them to be on the ice AS LONG AS THEY WANT TO BE. As for putting them in gear, I found that it helped as they would try things and where not afraid of falling. Read what the young child is telling you they will let you know if they like it our not.

I now coaching two teams that my kids are on and found new ways to motivate them. Again they love to be on the ice and this makes it easier for me.

Sorry for the long post.

[agass 0]

there is a 3 year old playing for our local team, and when he started i thought he was far too young, however already i have seen a huge improvement. by the time he is 6 he will be a pro

[ktang 34]

I read that Steve Yzerman used to push with only one skate for the first few years, too...

My son used to do that at 3 also, unless he really wanted to get somewhere fast.

[KYHockey3 0]

there is a 3 year old playing for our local team, and when he started i thought he was far too young, however already i have seen a huge improvement. by the time he is 6 he will be a pro

i know a kid that started squirt travel at the age of 6. hes 9 now and has had great improvements

[fatwabbit 93]

let em find their own stride, their own time... it'll come eventually. Keep being enthusiastic about it, and not fault them for mistakes made. You want them to enjoy it as much as you do, so dont put any pressure on them.

btw, is there any skates i could get for a 3 year old? I've had problems finding some that small (besides those fisher price ones). I've even thought of having my son wear his sneakers and have those shoved into the skates.

[hockeydoc 0]

let em find their own stride, their own time... it'll come eventually. Keep being enthusiastic about it, and not fault them for mistakes made. You want them to enjoy it as much as you do, so dont put any pressure on them.

btw, is there any skates i could get for a 3 year old? I've had problems finding some that small (besides those fisher price ones). I've even thought of having my son wear his sneakers and have those shoved into the skates.

What size shoe?

The smallest skate I have found is Mission 9. They claim to make an 8 I've just never found them any where though.

My girl wore 7 shoes and I got her in some size 8 CCM's for ice and CCM 9's for inline. She's now out of them and into Mission 10's for both.

BTW these are US sizes.

[CHIEF22 0]

let em find their own stride, their own time... it'll come eventually. Keep being enthusiastic about it, and not fault them for mistakes made. You want them to enjoy it as much as you do, so dont put any pressure on them.

Exactly. When my son started to skate, he would "run" on his skates instead of pushing outward. His instructors tried, and so did I to get him to push, but he just seemed not to get it. All of a sudden at one of his lessons it just clicked and he was off and flying, so don't get too worried by his only using one foot right now, he will get it, and then it's on from there.