Real problems transitioning between ice and roller

[occams_razor 0]

I played roller hockey for 10 years in the 90's and then played on ice exclusively for the last 10 years. Just recently I started to play roller pickup on local asphalt and me and my 15 year old Missions skates with the stock Hi-Lo chassis are not getting along. Even after three sessions, I am having problems with skating, especially turning, "stopping", and crossovers.

I'm having severe to moderate shin splints every time I put on inlines and it's frustrating to no end. Part of the problem is that so much force is needed to turn and pivot that I am stressing my calves and shins. I also am instinctively trying to slide laterally and use proportional edge control which is nearly impossible with inlines. I don't want to ruin my ice game, but I at least want to be a factor when I play roller. I basically coast around without being able to stop or change direction since all the subtle things I can do on ice don't work and cause pain. Needless to say, I used to play much better than this.

Am I missing something? Will a new-fangled Sprung or Newron chassis help me? I'm at a loss.

[TheProfessor 2]

Maybe try broadening your stance, especially when turning? Use your hips and thighs to put pressure on the inside "edge" when stopping. If you were able to turn and stop back in the day, maybe you just need some more time on inlines to get the muscle memory back.

[Vet88 674]

lol, I see this a lot each year, especially with some of teens we coach who started with roller, went to ice then have taken up roller again. They find things just don't work like they used to. You have to relearn turning and stopping and forget about edge control, it just doesn't happen in roller. Sprungs or Newrons won't help for this, they do help with your stride and some of the finer points of turning but getting the basics right again is all about time on skates. I'd suggest you don't play for a couple of weeks, instead get down to the local park or wherever and just skate practising turns and cross overs (even better is use an abs blade and a green biscuit puck), you will find it comes back pretty quick but you need to give yourself some time outside of a game situation.

As to switching between the two, some can do it effortlessly and others find it screws up their skating and takes 20 minutes or so to adjust each time they swap across. Classic case is 2 girls I knew in the Canadian ice team a few years back, one could swap effortlessly between the two sports yet the other girl took a game to adjust each time. Needless to say she didn't play much roller come competition time.....