Tales from a Beginner

[MarsB 33]

... there is a Hockey U starting soon at my local rink for adults, only 90 bucks for 8 or so sessions.

Perfect, do this! You can't beat that price, and I know my local rink actually provides helmets and pads for this program. Definitely something to look into. In the meantime keep hitting those public skates and start saving up for gear.

[rk5n 0]

I'm in almost the exact same situation as you are.

22 years old who just got on skates for the first time right before christmas. Luckily, there is a public skating rink (only 60x60ft though) in the middle of the city. First time I set foot on the ice, I immediately fell on my rear. That day, I could barely move around the boards. It took me about a week of going every day to be able to confidently move around. Then I worked on adding elements one at a time. Stops, crossovers, backwards, fast starts all came pretty quickly when practicing two hours a day, every day. Then I started going weekly to public skates at a full sized rink to work on increasing my speed.

That was fine and all, until three weeks ago I was going slowly and went to stop along the boards. I don't know exactly what happened, but I got off balance and was falling backwards but my skates hit the boards and spun me around. I faceplanted and immediately knew what happened. My friends skated over. I went "Did I lose any teeth?" "Its worse than that" I skated off the ice (and to my suprise, no one at the rink said a word). Luckily my friends were there to help. Three hours (8-11pm) at the dentist's later and I finally knew all the damage. Upper front 3 teeth dislodged (one went upwards, the other two went downwards, the one that went upwards was badly chipped too, massive laceration going across the bottom of the lower front teeth (lucky I didn't lose any there) as well as lacerations in my upper gum and lower lip. Four different dentists, 10+ appointments, 25+ shots of novacain and 3 root canals later, the dentist says my teeth look really good for what happened.

Since then I've been going to stick&puck weekly. Always with a full cage though. I'm looking to start playing in my friend's league in a month or so.

[ktang 34]

My brother-in-law lost his front teeth in similar fashion. I think it was his first time on skates.

[Vet88 674]

If you want to improve really fast, both skating and puck control, do things off ice. Ice time is generally 1: expensive 2: limited - lots of general skating but not a lot of time to skate with puck.

I tell all the beginners (in reality their parents) to do the following:

1: Buy yourself a pair of outdoor inline skates or inline hockey skates (hard outdoor wheels are needed unless the surface is really smooth). Outdoor "soft sided" inline skates are cheap (on eBay) and comfortable, just get the brake removed (anywhere that sells inline skates should be able to help you with this).

2: Buy yourself a green biscuit (can be found at ice or inline warehouse plus other places)

3: Buy a shaft (off eBay and that takes non tapered blades) and put an outdoor ABS blade (inline warehouse and other places sell these) on it. You will need a heat gun if you are going to do this yourself otherwise try the shop at your local rink. There are plenty of youtube vids that show how to put a blade onto a shaft.

4: Now get down to your local park or car park or skate park or anywhere that has a "not rough" concrete surface and start skating and puck handling. Circles, figures of eights, backwards, forwards, turns etc. Depending on how smooth the surface is you skate on and how often you skate (it should be daily and I found covered carparks often have really smooth floors) you will chew thru the blades, wheels monthly and a green biscuit every 3 months or so. BUT you will improve out of sight really really quickly. Everything you do here for the first 6 months to a year is almost instantly transferable to the ice. Supplement with ice sessions and enjoy yourself.

For protective gear, when starting out I really recommend knee and elbow pads. These, along with your gloves, will save yourself a ton of damage as you learn to skate. I've always preached that you need to learn to skate with a stick in your hand and a puck in front of you. Knowing how to skate does not help you very much, all of your balance gets thrown off and you have to relearn everything when you pick a stick up.

[goaliemanshark 6]

I can't stand inline skates now that I play ice on a regular basis. It's just difficult for me to transition back and forth. Stick handling is similar, especially with a green biscuit. But skating is NOT the same.

[Vet88 674]

When you are starting out the two sports compliment each other in the basics - stride, crossover, turning, acceleration, skating forward and backward, rotating forward and backward.

As you begin to improve in skill, the 2 styles begin to separate. Especially in edge control and stopping. Transitioning between the 2 sports is a skill, I know 2 girls who played for the Canadian womans team, one could do it effortlessly yet the other had to take 2 or 3 skates to fully adjust to the different styles. And I see it all the time with kids who play both sports. for every person who finds it hard you can find one who does it easily.

We are talking here about someone who is starting out and there is no other way to learn the basics fast other than doing what I suggested - period. Of course, unlimited ice rink time is the other way to go and if they have this option then good luck to them. If they lived in Northern Europe this year they could ice skate all day in the street or on the local pond, it's that cold.

[jconc1941 0]

turning and switching from foward to backwards are key haha

[DigDug 5]

Fantastic thread, and fantastic advice guys! Keep it coming!!!!!

[AfftonDad 88]

When you are starting out the two sports compliment each other in the basics - stride, crossover, turning, acceleration, skating forward and backward, rotating forward and backward.

As you begin to improve in skill, the 2 styles begin to separate. Especially in edge control and stopping. Transitioning between the 2 sports is a skill, I know 2 girls who played for the Canadian womans team, one could do it effortlessly yet the other had to take 2 or 3 skates to fully adjust to the different styles. And I see it all the time with kids who play both sports. for every person who finds it hard you can find one who does it easily.

We are talking here about someone who is starting out and there is no other way to learn the basics fast other than doing what I suggested - period. Of course, unlimited ice rink time is the other way to go and if they have this option then good luck to them. If they lived in Northern Europe this year they could ice skate all day in the street or on the local pond, it's that cold.

Another thing that you forgot to mention that transfers directly is strength. You use the same muscles in your legs and back. One of the things that new skaters lack the most is muscle development (in skating specific places).

[Vet88 674]

Good point. Also forgot to mention fitness and cardio. It's really funny/sad watching players return to the sport after a few years break and puffing like a train after each shift for months as they slowly catch up again with the fitness.

[IPv6Freely 2094]

Good point. Also forgot to mention fitness and cardio. It's really funny/sad watching players return to the sport after a few years break and puffing like a train after each shift for months as they slowly catch up again with the fitness.

that's me :)

I also found for the first few months of attempting to play hockey that my lower back hurt REALLY badly. Just muscles I'm not used to using, I suppose.

[dwreckm 0]

I started playing at 24, and that was only a year ago. I try to play once a week, but sometimes don't manage that. Lately I've just been trying to get on open ice times to practice my skating, since I still can't do a hockey stop (snow plow ftw) or skate backwards. I finally dropped some money on some good skates, which have helped immensely, I just need to get the ice time, as well as try to get more in shape.

[stevelknievel 51]

also love this thread, picked up hockey maybe 2 years ago but between work and other time setbacks (breaking the crap out my leg, buying a house) never got to dedicate a whole lot of time but im working to change that and maybe hit a D league in the winter.

so on behalf of the other guys who posted and myself thank you guys for the advice!

[Whatever's Clever 0]

that's me :)

I also found for the first few months of attempting to play hockey that my lower back hurt REALLY badly. Just muscles I'm not used to using, I suppose.

Yeah, I'm just getting back into hockey also, and my back was killing me after about an hour of stick and puck!

[IPv6Freely 2094]

Yeah, I'm just getting back into hockey also, and my back was killing me after about an hour of stick and puck!

Hang in there, it goes away eventually!