Will Roller mess up my Ice game?

[mug25 2]

In an attempt to get more practice in, I am considering heading to one of the local outdoor roller rinks to get some skating, shooting and stickhandling in but from everything I've heard — roller skating can or will, mess up your skating technique on ice. I started out playing inline but haven't done so in over 3 yrs., I've been playing Ice now for just under a year and dont want to undo what I've learned thus far. Help me out fellas :D

[xrickyb86x 1]

I've played both and I think hockey in any form will improve your all around game. In general I think inline hockey is really good for your hands and vision. The skating styles will be different and you will have to have your body adjust appropriately to each until you play enough to where it comes natural. It wont hurt. Lots of NHLers played roller hockey in their teens. Bobby Ryan and Paul Statsny come to mind.

[mug25 2]

I've played both and I think hockey in any form will improve your all around game. In general I think inline hockey is really good for your hands and vision. The skating styles will be different and you will have to have your body adjust appropriately to each until you play enough to where it comes natural. It wont hurt. Lots of NHLers played roller hockey in their teens. Bobby Ryan and Paul Statsny come to mind.

Those guys have natural, god-given talent. I'm just an out of shape bum trying to get better for his beer league. LOL.

Joking aside, I guess it's worth a shot. Sadly, none of the outdoor roller rinks here have nets. They all got remove due to vandalism.

[GoBucky 0]

It might mess up your skating a bit because ice and roller is different. Obviously with roller you wont be able to stop or turn like you would on ice and when you do switch back to playing ice you may find that your skating skills have diminished somewhat.

I would think though that playing roller would be better for your game than not playing at all though.

[BenderHockey 127]

It might mess up your skating a bit because ice and roller is different. Obviously with roller you wont be able to stop or turn like you would on ice and when you do switch back to playing ice you may find that your skating skills have diminished somewhat.

I would think though that playing roller would be better for your game than not playing at all though.

Try to join an inline league. Being 4 on 4, you get a lot more time with the puck. That REALLY helped my stickhandling.

[lappin27 0]

I think that playing roller hockey along with getting on the ice the odd time while playing roller will help the most, as your still not losing your skating technique and improving your hands with the roller hockey.

[Dubbs 0]

Playing roller will definitely help your game. The league im in now is a concrete floor covered by sport court, so the puck bounces everywhere, helps your hand eye coordination IMO. While I do agree it may take away from your skating skills on ice (balance I find mostly, that and you can't get a proper toe push because your front wheel will slip when you do), roller hockey you're constantly moving, its more of an everyone skating and circling kind of situation as opposed to in ice when you are able to establish a set position in a zone (if that makes sense). In any case, i find that roller helps with my stamina. I think if you're splitting time between roller and ice, it'll be beneficial for you.

[bandits_5 18]

Im not sure of the actual numbers , but. I think if you would poll NHL players , you would find that nearly ALL of them play or played both roller and ice. My sons roller coach played with bobby ryan when bobby was a teenager in the philly area. TJ Oshie and Paul Stastny are both players , that played NARCH ( check the narch website , theres a ton more listed). Lee Sweat from the Vancouver Canucks , was on the Mission pro inline team. And the greatest player in the world ( Sidney Crosby ) grew up playing both , and hes an ok skater (: p . So , NO , it will not hurt you game. It will only improve it.

[x-axis 44]

I'm guessing to play at another ice rink or going to stick time or pick-up to get more practice is not an option?

To develop skills like stickhandling, shooting and passing... yes roller is a great option. Remember though, how different the rules are for ice and roller, and that the latter is played 4 on 4. I think skating wise, it does ruin your technique a bit and when you switch back to ice, you have to focus more on your edgework.

If its your only option than you should. If you can get more ice time elsewhere, do that instead.

[althoma1 574]

As others have said, roller is 4 on 4 and you get more time with the puck. There are also no offsides or two line passes so it's more wide open and usually higher scoring. I'd recommend at least trying roller as it can be a lot of fun and if you're worried about it messing with your ice stride then get a chassis that allows you to use a stride similar to ice.

I used to use the Tuuk Rocker chassis for this purpose and now use the Sprung Chassis. I do like the Sprung chassis better than the tuuk rocker. The only thing I don't like about the Sprung chassis is that at least one or two knuckles on the rocker arms each season, but while the rocker arms are inact it's the best chassis I've used. I use the A6 chassis and am a bigger guy 6'2" and over 200lbs so that probably contributes to the knuckle issues (I've also been told to soak the arms in water from time to time to keep them from drying out and I've been doing that). A6X arms with more durable knuckles are supposed to be in development and I can't wait for those to be released (I hope it's before my next roller season starts in late April/early May). Anyway, there's a huge thread on Sprungs in the roller section if you want to read more about them.

[wetwilly17 6]

Think about this: do you think that you will improve your ice game more by playing inline or by staying home and watching tv? I think the answer is obvious.

Yes the techniques are different. But any hockey practice is worthwhile. Who do you think would make a better ice hockey player: someone who has played inline all his life but never been on ice, or someone that has never played ice or inline? Again the answer is obvious.

I rarely play inline anymore. I find that if I do play inline, my ice skating will feel a bit rusty when I first get on the ice. But it only takes me a few minutes to totally regain the feel of ice. I also think that the muscle memory/coordination confusion caused by switching from ice to inline and vice versa is beneficial. It forces you to learn and adapt which I think overall improves your athletic ability.

[doodman 0]

I've done both and the advice I would give is to not do too much of one or the other in a row.

i.e. if you play roller one day, get on the ice asap. If you do 5 roller sessions in a row with no ice time, you'll find it harder to get your ice legs back.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

Im not sure of the actual numbers , but. I think if you would poll NHL players , you would find that nearly ALL of them play or played both roller and ice. My sons roller coach played with bobby ryan when bobby was a teenager in the philly area. TJ Oshie and Paul Stastny are both players , that played NARCH ( check the narch website , theres a ton more listed). Lee Sweat from the Vancouver Canucks , was on the Mission pro inline team. And the greatest player in the world ( Sidney Crosby ) grew up playing both , and hes an ok skater (: p . So , NO , it will not hurt you game. It will only improve it.

I bet you'd be wrong.

The fact that it's almost always the same players cited in these ice/roller discussions (except noone mentioned Joe Mullen, yet) suggests that there are certainly not very many NHLers that seriously played roller. In Toronto, inline is so far off the radar that most of the dedicated hockey shops don't stock any gear or know anything about it. I went to Just Hockey and the guys there didn't even know what bearings were, even though they sold a few skates. It took me forever to find a place with an inline girdle I could try on.

[mug25 2]

Thanks for the replies guys. Remember — my question was not "Will playing roller make me a better ice player?". The question was "Will roller mess up my ice game?" — as in, will it hurt my skating technique, puck handling etc.,

again, thx :) I'm back up to 4 nights a week of ice so thinking I may just work in the gym rather than any other additional hockey.

[bandits_5 18]

If roller makes you a better ice player , then it surely is not messing up your ice game. So , i think your question got answered!

[All Torhs Team 0]

Heres a response I put a little thought into.

You told us your in a beer league and wanting to improve your game. And there are not nets at your outdoor roller rink.

There are technique drills that you can practice by yourself that need no nets. You could take advantage of having the entire rink, do full stride drills. Practicing a full stride is something that will help you in both roller and ice hockey. Yet it is not something that will throw you off your ice game from practicing it on roller skates. It is the form that you are practicing to perfection. Your full stride form should be the same in ice and roller hockey the only difference at all is the surface underneath you.

Another practice drill you could do is explosive starts. You can start on a goal line and work on how fast you make your first five steps. Your explosive-ness comes from your toes when your at a dead stop. You'll be up on your toes hunched forward for a straight away explosive start. You want to dig your toes downward into the surface on your first 5 steps. After those 5 explosive steps, thats when your full strides come into play.

Practicing exposive starts may be difficult for people still un-easy on skates. Balance is another thing to work on outside on a roller rink.

Do your simple Russian circles. Skate full circles around every cirlce on the rink, or even half circles. This will improve your edge balance and how you feel on skates in general. While roller and ice skating have different feels to skating circles, the balance is what your looking to get a better feel for.

And who needs nets to practice? Get a ball or a puck and practice your puck possession skills. Wide stickhandling, fast stickhandling. All while keeping your eyes up.

Using an outdoor roller rink means probally FREE practice. Correct? Nothing better than that. Even though the no nets are kind of dis-couraging and makes it seem less fun, there are some fundamentals to be worked on. Anybody thats decent at hockey has to master their basics on skates.

[mug25 2]

Good call sir.

[t6lock 24]

I played roller hockey for almost 15 years until I started playing serious ice hockey. Only ice skating exposure I had in all that time were just from public skating rinks with friends or school trips. I have always been good at roller hockey with my stick handling and shooting and for me, I could always tell who has had ice hockey experience on the floor. After I got my ice skates, my skating was all there, just had to learn to stop and stick handle with the puck that slides a bit more on ice. When roller hockey season came back around, I was awwwwful. I was too used to the puck sliding a lot more than it does on roller and missing being able to stop on a dime in ice. And for some reason I couldn't shoot the roller hockey puck half as good as I could an ice hockey puck (im sure different leagues vary, but our roller hockey puck is noticably lighter than an ice hockey puck).

The one thing I can for sure say helped both games was skating and just honing your technique.