Learning hockey at 20 years past an advanced age

[Truckie 27]

yes  rt been baked twice

 

[Truckie 27]

I can see i have the right foot bigger than left in these skates... insole that makes arch (and up) not hurt is too thick and it has my foot in the boot wrong so feels like blade is not where its supposed to be.. I put original insole back in, and the arch (and up) is very sore so now I am not distributing weight on that foot properly and it hurts my skating.... I guess I can get the arch punched out( not sure what that really means)??.....  would a heat gun help and try and spot heat and push or smooth the area out with one of my wooden stick handling balls? or the local shop has a boot stretcher that they say takes 24hrs..  a little wider overall would be good I think as i may need a little more room overall....  any other ideas??

[marka 526]

Howdy,

 

So, haven't done one of these in a while...

 

The executive summary of my current issue with hockey is "Look, _then_ pass".

 

My skills are still increasing, most notably I handle the puck better now than before.  Shots are still pretty "meh".  Getting better at receiving imperfect passes with my skates.  Getting a little stronger in terms of skating.  Etc.

But my Achilles heel right now is that I'll get the puck / go get the puck and then make some stupid "pass to where I apparently think someone should be", without actually looking well.  And of course, 95% of the time, that ends up being a turnover.  Which sucks for everyone.  So now, before I go out on a shift my mantra is going to be "Look, then pass". 
 

My son's hockey is going reasonably well.  He's in a house league about 30 minutes away at another rink (the local rink only has travel hockey and they didn't have room for a goalie.  The house league seems a little better in intensity as well.  I'm helping coach.  That's been going ok.  The head coach is a good guy and I think I've been helping.  My son has been having fun too, it seems like.  He doesn't like it as much as soccer, but he still says he has fun.  Lately he's been wanting to skate out vs. being in goal, but this week he'll be back to getting into the net.  He may have his first game every next weekend if it gets put together and he'll be in goal.  That could be interesting.  Hopefully he'll have fun with it.

The house league itself has been interesting due to the mix of players.  Being a house league, the ages are way more mixed than normal kid hockey... There are four or so Squirts (10 and under), 5 or 6 PeeWees (12 and under), and 5 or 6 Bantams (14 and under).  I think I've got those names right btw.  USA Hockey smartly is going to names like 10U, 12U, 14U, etc. to account for this "WTF?  I haven't been doing this for 100 years" issue, but its not there yet.

Anyway, before the first practice I'm standing there with my son (in his goalie stuff) getting ready to head out on the ice with the rest of the kids and one of the older kids is standing next to me.  And he's my height, with a stick as tall as the one I use.  And I realize that this kid with the same leverage as me is going to possibly be shooting pucks at my 9 year old and I'm like "Uh.... I'm not so sure about this!"  :-)  Luckily, being a house league none of these kids really seem able to fire rockets.

Probably I shouldn't have worried though... Yesterday at a local practice with him I ended up glancing a shot off his head.  :-)  He was fine.  Mostly just surprised both of us, no damage.

Equipment wise for me, coming up on a year doing this I think the biggest surprise is just how consumable stuff is.  My gloves are starting to get holes in the palm of my top hand.  The skates I used since Jan of last year until just recently were wore holes into the top of the inside liner.  The stick I've liked the best for the last while I noticed today has the toe split.  Etc.  Couple that with me getting used to what I like and I don't think I'm still using _any_ equipment I started with.

My next piece of equipment is going to be contact lenses.  Playing with glasses sucks.  And contacts are essentially free with vision insurance, vs. surgery which is like $3.5k or whatever.  So, going to try contacts when I'm playing hockey.  Not expecting them to work well with computer screens (I tried this once before like 20+ years ago) due to my astigmatism, but we'll see.  Anyway, turns out vision matters and blurred vision due to sweat on glasses / glasses falling down your head inside your helmet is not a benefit.

Anyway, that's way long enough.  So yeah... Still hockey-ing.

Mark

[marka 526]

Howdy,

Speaking of sticks btw, I'm going to try out one of these "two year old top end" sticks... Had a $40 credit at HockeyMonkey, coupled with Warrior QR1's being on sale for $140 and 25% off... Ended up being ~$65 out of pocket and I couldn't say no.  :-)  Should be here next week.

Mark

[Vet88 674]

12 hours ago, marka said:

.  Anyway, turns out vision matters and blurred vision due to sweat on glasses / glasses falling down your head inside your helmet is not a benefit.
 

If you still want to wear glasses (I do) then this is how I manage:

- start using tennis sweat bands, they do 2 things 1: hold your glasses in place on your head so they don't fall down / move during play OR fall off when you take your helmet off. They stop sweat running into your eyes, visor etc. An added bonus is they can help to get your helmet to sit firmly on your head.

- use a defogging agent of some kind on your glasses. Demist that is used by divers is good but I go to the local supermarket and buy baby shampoo or baby oil. Put a drop on both sides of the glasses, spread it around with your finger and then buff it off lightly with a soft tissue. This guarantees no fogging for around 2 skates plus it keeps your glasses clean! And this tip came from an ophthalmologist who said it was safe for lenses and their coatings. 

[marka 526]

Howdy,

7 hours ago, Vet88 said:

If you still want to wear glasses (I do) then this is how I manage:

- start using tennis sweat bands, they do 2 things 1: hold your glasses in place on your head so they don't fall down / move during play OR fall off when you take your helmet off. They stop sweat running into your eyes, visor etc. An added bonus is they can help to get your helmet to sit firmly on your head.

- use a defogging agent of some kind on your glasses. Demist that is used by divers is good but I go to the local supermarket and buy baby shampoo or baby oil. Put a drop on both sides of the glasses, spread it around with your finger and then buff it off lightly with a soft tissue. This guarantees no fogging for around 2 skates plus it keeps your glasses clean! And this tip came from an ophthalmologist who said it was safe for lenses and their coatings. 

 

Yeah, I do the shampoo thing now and that for sure helps with fogging.  But I think it works by causing the fog to condense.  Add in some sweat and there's frequently a layer of "liquid-y" stuff that still fucks with vision (but not quite as bad as actual fog.

I tried a forehead sweatband thing, and it added way too much pressure to my forehead.  How do you use the tennis sweatbands?

Mark

[Vet88 674]

6 hours ago, marka said:

I tried a forehead sweatband thing, and it added way too much pressure to my forehead.  How do you use the tennis sweatbands?

 A lot would depend on the fit of your helmet. I just put the head band on and pull the helmet over the top. I use these ones: NIKE Dri-Fit Home & Away Reversible Headband.

Without the head band my helmet sits really loose on my head, I have it at its widest setting. I also use a skull cap (made from shammy material) to absord extra sweat. Without these 2 I'd run rivers of sweat down my face and after a game I can literally wring a cup of liquid from the 2 of them.

[GreatestAmericanBeardo 258]

On 10/17/2016 at 9:48 AM, marka said:

I tried a forehead sweatband thing, and it added way too much pressure to my forehead.  How do you use the tennis sweatbands?

going back through this thread i see you and i use the same barber... I use these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UR4HLOM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(yes, i only have the stars & stripes one)

they work pretty well, i played thursday in a new place that was really hot! (like i could feel the heat blasting down on me in certain spots of the rink) and i didn't get any sweat in my eyes.  which used to happen a year ago, when i started playing even in the coldest of rinks.  they do the whole "wicking thing" and evaporate the sweat from your head before it trickles down.   

they're super thin, and only need to be adjusted once of twice a game, if i smash into a wall... someone... the net... the ice...  for 10 bucks its worth a dry.

[marka 526]

Howdy,

Interesting.  I'll give it a shot.

I tried one of these at my last old guy hockey: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GF28UFO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It "worked" in the sense that I had way less sweat issues but after having it on for a while it felt like someone was driving an icepick into my head.  Just too much pressure.

I may try adjusting my helmet even bigger (I put it out another notch-ish) and give it another go, but I think the real answer is contacts.

Mark

[proth0303 29]

I took the time to read this thread from the beginning and it's freaking great!  While part of me wishes I could step on the ice and automatically be able to play like a pro, the majority of me absolutely loves being a newbie because there is just so much to learn and do!  Having come from a sport/hobby where I had reached a relatively high level of competence, I forgot how much fun the journey was at the beginning.  Starting from virtually nothing in terms of skills means the world is my oyster and I have everything to gain.  It also helps that the people I have met have been nothing short of extraordinary in terms of support and encouragement. :)     

My current regiment consists of playing in a novice league that alternates between games and practices/coaching, 2 drop-ins during most weeks, and a hockey class where I'm 25+ years older than everyone else in the class.  I'm about a month and a half into this and am having a blast!

[Vet88 674]

7 hours ago, proth0303 said:

I took the time to read this thread from the beginning and it's freaking great!  

Not in this thread but in others I have discussed how to get better quickly as a beginner. Ice time is generally limited and often on the ice trainings consist of skating drills and then waiting your turn for the next drill only to have someone screw it up. And then you have a scrimmage and how many times during that scrimmage did you actually get to touch the puck? Scary fact, during the average 90 minutes of group trainings you will get to touch the puck for no more than 2 - 3 minutes. How are you meant to get better at just 2 minutes a day / week??? You need to skate and puck handle and without your own rink or a job at one etc this can be hard. So here is how you can get better, fast. Buy yourself a pair of soft sided recreational inline skates (you can remove the brake), I suggest these because of the time you are going to spend in them and you want it to be comfortable from day one. You can use proper inline hockey skates if you want but often that comes with its own issues, fit, break in period, wear etc. Then buy the hardest outdoor wheels you can, you are looking for 82A or 84A hardness. Then purchase a green biscuit or 2 and a shaft (straight, not tapered) and an abs blade (inline warehouse, hockey monkey and others have green biscuits and abs blades). Get down to your local park, driveway, mall carpark wherever there is a flattish skateable surface and start skating and puck handling to your hearts content. This is the best way to improve, period. Nothing comes close other than your own ice time. And everything you do here will transfer across to ice. If you want to really replicate an ice skating style look at a marsblade chassis on an inline boot. Good luck and enjoy.

[krisdrum 233]

17 hours ago, Vet88 said:

a pair of soft sided recreational inline skates (you can remove the brake), I suggest these because of the time you are going to spend in them and you want it to be comfortable from day one. You can use proper inline hockey skates if you want but often that comes with its own issues, fit, break in period, wear etc. 

I think this is the first time I am reading this advice from you.  Just to clarify, a "soft sided" inline skate is anything that doesn't have a full plastic shell to it?  I see a lot of models with fabric sides but strategic plastic reinforcement for support, etc.  Something like that is what you are suggesting, right?  This makes alot of sense to me.  Maximize your time moving, using a lot of the same muscles and controlling a puck simultaneously.  

[Vet88 674]

That is right, a soft side with a frame around the ankle. I've found the K2 and Salomon boots to be good, do some research as there are a lot of cheap chinese plastic rubbish around that do not last long, a decent pair will set you back around the $60 - $90 mark. And don't think this is just for beginners, this is often used in off ice camps over summer.

[krisdrum 233]

On 1/28/2017 at 4:48 PM, Vet88 said:

That is right, a soft side with a frame around the ankle. I've found the K2 and Salomon boots to be good, do some research as there are a lot of cheap chinese plastic rubbish around that do not last long, a decent pair will set you back around the $60 - $90 mark. And don't think this is just for beginners, this is often used in off ice camps over summer.

Cool, thanks.  I tried some hockey specific inlines last spring, but the fit was not right and they gave me awful lacebite, so I gave up on the idea.  Those set me back $150 for entry level skates.  Doing something like this with a soft boot that should require minimal break-in and at less of an investment sounds like it is worth investigating further.  Thanks.  

[marka 526]

Howdy,

I wrote this up for a group of friends from college, and though it fit here too.  To make it make more sense... I live in Youngstown, OH near Pittsburgh, PA.   Cranberry and Beaver County are suburbs of Pittsburgh, between Pittsburgh and Youngstown.  Boardman is a suburb of Youngstown, a couple miles from where we live.  Laura == my wife, Dominic == my son.  :-)

-----------------------------------------------------

So, a bit over a year into this "Let's play hockey for real" thing.  Jan 2016 was my first Adult Skills class.

One of my goals this time last year was to be on a league team.  I've certainly accomplished that... I'm currently on three teams.

One is the Scrubstitutes, playing in Cranberry at Baierl Ice Complex on a D1 team (about halfway in skill... They have B, C, D1, D2, and E from most to least skilled.  E is full on beginner.  B is "probably played Juniors or real college"-ish).

Another is 'Yellow', a D level team (same approach as Baierl, except there's no division in D) that plays at Brady's run in Beaver County.  Its a core group of friends/coworkers from the Air National Guard base in Pittsburgh, plus fill in folks like me.

The last is Valley Insurance, a B level team (only A and B, B is the lesser skilled group) that plays close to home in Boardman Ohio.

I also play in a regular old guy pickup group run by a guy named Debiec when I can, plus take an Adult Skills class (that same one I started with) with Laura.  

Debiec was the first group I started playing with, back in Feb/March of last year.  Its a really good group of older (average age is 50+, I'm pretty sure) guys.  Skill level is fairly mixed and its pickup where there's no refs, no score, etc. and if you're lesser skilled there's a reasonable chance the other guy who's way better than you will hang back a bit and give you a chance, but they still expect you to try hard, do as well as you can, etc.  Teams aren't totally fixed, but they're fairly consistent with only a couple guys that switch from White to Dark and most folks staying one or the other.  The best guys here are both skilled and fast, but they need to hang back and "play down" to fit in with the group so you don't run into that as much.  On the lower end, you have folks where I was when I started or even slightly lower.  These days I seem to fit in decently well here.  I'm probably slightly below average in skill... Good enough that people don't hang back when they play me and my teammates expect me to do the right thing, bad enough that I'm in no danger of being asked to play down some.  :-)  I really enjoy playing with these guys mostly from the social aspect, since I know them more, plus its local.  On the negative side, no refs means no faceoffs and faceoffs are fun, plus no scoreboard means you don't have that amped up "close game" thing as much.

Valley Insurance is my newest league team, just started four games ago or so.  Skill level here is also very mixed, ranging from a guy that just about can't skate (literally) to some of the upper level (but not "has to play down a lot") guys from Debiec.  This is mostly because there are only two levels locally since Youngstown doesn't have the hockey population base that Pittsburgh does, so either you're good enough for "A" or you're not.  On this team I would say I'm solidly average / perhaps a bit better than average.  Our team is also undefeated at four games into the season, though all of the games were within a goal or two and have been good games.  This leauge also has a 'real' score keeper with a clock that stops (everyone else I play with has a running clock), some record of player stats, etc.  Been having fun here too.  I talked a local friend into playing on the team, plus know some of the other guys from Debiec, run into them locally at stick 'n puck or whatever, etc.  Justin, the local friend above, is the guy who took the Adult Skills class with me at RMU last January.

Next on the skill level and "physical closeness" level is the Yellow team at Brady.  Skill here is a pretty good match for me and I'm solidly average again, perhaps just a bit below average.  Upper end of the skills isn't really higher than the B league in Youngstown, but you don't have the guys that can't skate / are just starting out, so the range of skill is compressed.  This is my 2nd session with them.  Another good group (I've really yet to run into anyone in adult hockey that I don't like).  Last game our regular center was out and they asked me to play center (usually I play winger) and had some nice comments on how my game has improved, so that was a good ego boost.  However, our team is mostly in the basement in league standings, so small blessings or whatever.  Lately we tend to not win the close games, which is frustrating.

Top skill level is the team I played with last night.  "Yellow" again (all three league teams I play on happen to have yellow jerseys!), in the D1 group at Baierl.  In this group, I'm the worst player.  Skill level is still fairly compressed like with the D league at Brady, but the range is slid upwards.  This is my first session with them and I'm not sure if I'll be asked back or not.  I'm not awful in comparison to the group (there's another one or two guys that are similar to me, though I'd rate myself as slightly worse), but I'm clearly the "most likely guy on our team to turn the fucking puck over or miss play something".  Its both nice to be in a "stretch" group like this and demoralizing at the same time.  Our team seems to be solidly in the mix in terms of the other teams in the league... If we have a good game we'll likely win and if we aren't clicking we'll likely lose.  Last night was a 3/3 tie that we won in an overtime shootout.

The Adult skills class has been fun.  I did that for two or three sessions when I started, like I mentioned.  Then they stopped offering it over the summer break and I was doing other stuff.  I started back up again this Jan, with a year under my belt.  I did it again with a weird mix of "I want to show how much better I am than I was" coupled with "I want more hockey practice, vs. games".  The class is a full hour away at the RMU Island Sports Complex at Nevile Island, plus its probably the most expensive thing I do in terms of "cost to be out there".  But I like the instruction and "I can try things and not worry about failing" part of it.  

They split the group into Novice and Veteran.  Novice is REALLY novice, with everyone able to skate forward and probably hockey stop at least a little one way, but that's about it as a floor.  Veteran has more skill, but still you're talking "veteran beginners" vs. "guys that used to play in high school" or whatever.  Going to my first one of this year, I was really ready to show just how much I'd learned and while I was obviously better, I also still sucked.  :-)  Still, there's no question I've gone from "average in the novice group" to "solidly above average in the veteran group".

For the 2nd session of the RMU class, Laura is taking it with me.  So the three of us head down there on Sunday nights, Laura and I go out and take the class, and Dominic hangs out on the bleachers playing games or watching Youtube or whatever.  Its like roll reversal for the normal way stuff is done.  :-)  Laura has been having fun with it.  She's been in the novice group and doing ok I think.  Getting better at skating, etc.  She was surprised to discover that she likes the puck handling / passing / shooting "hockey skills" part as much or more than the "power skating" part.  The only downside for her is that (like nearly all Adult Hockey) its at 8pm and we don't get home until 10:30pm or 11pm or so.  That's late for both her and Dominic, particularly on a school night, and it bothers her.  Because of that, we don't stay for the scrimmage that happens for the last 40 minutes or so of class which is really too bad, because it would be a good way for her to see if she liked playing in a game.  But that would mean getting home more like 11:30pm and she just refuses.

Speaking of Dominic... We started off this season with him playing in a house league at Brady.  He REALLY wanted to play in goal, so we got him setup, he did a week long goalie camp over the summer, etc.  He wanted me to help coach, so I got certified and inspected and all that and was helping out.  The house league is lower level than travel hockey, but its still kids that have been playing a while in some cases, still serious, etc.  It never clicked with Dominic.  You could see that he wasn't having that much fun.  He played one "real" game, a scrimmage against another local group, and they got shellacked, something like 14 to 0.  Dominic played goal the whole time and kept trying, but that game was NOT good for him.  He probably let in 7 or so goals he really should have stopped, but the others were because the other team was just flat out better and the game was 80% of the time or more in our defensive zone.  

A month or maybe a bit more in and he was complaining about going to practice, saying he wished he wasn't playing, etc.  We'd gone through something like this with baseball, and because he made a commitment to the team we made him stick it out (and then did it again the next year, after he decided to sign up and try it again, a decision that still baffles Laura and I).  The result of the baseball thing is that now he HATES baseball and I seriously doubt he'll ever want to even throw a ball around.  I didn't want that same thing with skating / hockey, but also didn't want it to be a "no big deal, just quit" thing either.  So I came up with the idea of him spending the same time he spent playing hockey on "Dad School".  I.e. he'd need to do six hours of whatever schoolwork-y stuff I picked every week.  I offered him that choice and with almost no hesitation, he jumped at it.

Fast forward that a few months, and Dad School was going reasonably well.  Not much complaining about needing to do it, its let us work on some stuff like having my dad (former highschool math teacher) work on math with him, I used it to get him reading some books I liked as a kid (Harper Hall trilogy), etc.  Meanwhile the local guy who put together the Youngstown league added a local kids program  Also, since I'd been in this for a year and I'm me, I had a bunch of hockey gear I no longer used that I wanted to sell.  When I put that stuff up for sale, I included a bunch of Dominic's gear, including all his goalie gear.

Dominic wasn't too happy about me selling his gear.  I sold some of it (the smaller of two sets of leg pads, the old catch glove he started with, goalie pants, goalie cup, etc.)  He really didn't like that, and I think it started him thinking about using it more.  Add to that the new local group and suddenly he wanted to try that again.  :-)  So now we've cut Dad School back to three hours a week along with a weekly kids skills class Saturday morning.  They play cross ice on one half of the ice while a bunch of us local adult players do a stick/puck/pickup thing on the other half.  He's gone twice now and seems to be liking it so far.  We've talked about him (probably with me and Laura) also doing a skating class on Wednesday nights and if that happens, that'll eliminate all of the Dad School requirements.  That's clearly a motivating factor for him, but this is still a step back towards interest, which makes me happy.  This time around, I'm going to try and make sure he demonstrates/proves more interest before we jump into a more serious program.

Anyway, back to me... I sorta described my state of the world above, but didn't talk about improvement much...  I seem to be transitioning at least some from "any time I'm out there, I have a good time" to "I have to do well or I'm pissed".  I'm not sure that's entirely a good thing, but I also get pretty jazzed when I feel like I contribute to a hard fought win, etc.  Playing with the D1 group can be / frequently is demoralizing but equally I think I likely learn more there.  Sometimes I wish I was also still playing with an E league group, so that I didn't feel like I suck all the time.

Objectively, I'm certainly better than I was, but I'm wondering how much of that was getting through the step part of the learning curve in the first few months and now I'm on a shallow incline / flat area.  When I think about where I was a year ago, I'm better in every way.  But when I think about where I was 3 months ago or 6 months ago... Less sure I'm significantly better.  One of my weaknesses is stick handling... I'm just not that great at controlling the puck under pressure.  I also occasionally feel flat footed / stuck and unable to quickly put myself in the right place on the ice.  I do think my situational awareness has gotten a little better lately, but this is also still a place I struggle, since a lot of it is "control the puck more unconsciously, so that you have more mental capacity to see what's happening around you and make a good play".  That's especially noticeable with the D1 league because there's less time before someone is on you, but it exists in every group.

My goals when I started were to have fun, get in shape, and get better.  Certainly those are being met at this point.  But me being me, I'm not happy unless I'm the best guy out there in whatever I think of as a "good" league... Since so far "good league" seems to mean "one where I'm one of the worst players", that's certainly setting myself up for failure.  :-)  Its clear that given starting hockey at age 46 I will likely never have the same skills as another guy that's my age but has been playing his whole life.  But its unclear if with work I can get close enough that its good enough for me.

So far, I'm seeing improvement and I want to keep trying.

----------------------------------

Mark

[Vet88 674]

Getting better as an adult is one of the hardest things to do. As a kid you pick it up quickly, as an adult you have to work much harder at it. How you work at it is the critical part. You can go to all the scrimmages and team practices in the world but this little fact will keep biting you in the ass - for every 90 minutes you are out on the ice you will touch the puck for no more than 90 seconds. How are you meant to get better at puck handling at 90 seconds a time? Simple answer is you don't, you reach a certain level and then plateau off. If you want to get better you have to specifically practice that skill, either your own ice time with stick and puck or the best off ice setup you can get - green biscuit, abs blade on a shaft, inline skates with hard wheels and somewhere to skate. If you really want to take the next big jump in skills, give up your games and scrimmages and skate on your own for the next 6 months, every day, an hour a day, you and the biscuit.

[krisdrum 233]

Another great post Mark and follow up by Vet.  I'm in the same spot you were in about a year ago.  Been waffling on giving the sport a real try for a few years now, in my case, my son being the inspiration.  Looking to make 2017 my "year of skill". 

Mark - your posts continue to be an inspiration and provide great insight into learning the game. 

Vet88 - I'm seeing the pattern in your suggestions.  1) Skate a lot (ice or roller) 2) Stick handle a lot (ice, roller, dry land) 3) do the 2 skills together as much as possible.  Considering so much of this game is about creating time and space and getting to open ice (with or without the puck), that totally makes sense to me.  Need to start looking at roller blades.  Already have the biscuit. 

[Vet88 674]

20 hours ago, krisdrum said:

Vet88 - I'm seeing the pattern in your suggestions.  1) Skate a lot (ice or roller) 2) Stick handle a lot (ice, roller, dry land) 3) do the 2 skills together as much as possible.  Considering so much of this game is about creating time and space and getting to open ice (with or without the puck), that totally makes sense to me.  Need to start looking at roller blades.  Already have the biscuit. 

Yep, you got it in a nutshell. I'd also add that once you get some inline skates and the biscuit underway, you will find it hard to stop training this way because the benefits are huge. I used to go out and just get lost in time, 3 hours later I'm having to drag myself out of the park....

[marka 526]

Howdy,

On 2/13/2017 at 3:41 PM, Vet88 said:

Getting better as an adult is one of the hardest things to do. As a kid you pick it up quickly, as an adult you have to work much harder at it. How you work at it is the critical part. You can go to all the scrimmages and team practices in the world but this little fact will keep biting you in the ass - for every 90 minutes you are out on the ice you will touch the puck for no more than 90 seconds. How are you meant to get better at puck handling at 90 seconds a time? Simple answer is you don't, you reach a certain level and then plateau off. If you want to get better you have to specifically practice that skill, either your own ice time with stick and puck or the best off ice setup you can get - green biscuit, abs blade on a shaft, inline skates with hard wheels and somewhere to skate. If you really want to take the next big jump in skills, give up your games and scrimmages and skate on your own for the next 6 months, every day, an hour a day, you and the biscuit.

 

Yeah, I need to a dryland area setup at home.  I've been slacking on some projects that have to get done to get area in the garage free'd up for that.

One of the other main areas I've been working on lately though is positioning... I.e. getting to where I'm going to need to be.  That seems to be coming from games vs. anything else really.  Plus games are fun, so I'm not going to be giving them up any time soon, even if I might add some hours of dryland practice to my weeks.  :-)

Mark

[Vet88 674]

My comment about giving up games etc to train is from a time point. Most people find that time to do things is a big issue and training / games can take a lot of time each week. If you can do both then that is great but if you had to choose one or the other and you want to get better then practice is the choice you have to make. For positioning one of the best things you can do is watch as many nhl games as you can, focus on a player and where he skates, how did he get into that position to score that goal or receive that pass, where did he come from 2 seconds ago, what made him skate there, what pattern does he skate in front of goal, understand what a "soft zone" is and see how when it opens up the player skates into it for the pass etc etc. 

[Kenzie 1]

Just wanted to say I have read this all the way through, and I genuinely have enjoyed reading your experiences. There isn't a huge deal of relatable content about learning to play ice hockey as an adult. It seems like if you didn't start as a child, it can be hard to know where to start as an adult, especially as I'm from the UK. Although we do have a little bit of ice hockey here, especially where I'm from, it doesn't have as big of a community. So reading this topic has been awesome, because it is so interesting to see how your journey begun and how you've progressed.

Please, I know it has been a year, but keep up with the updates. I really feel invested in your hockey journey!

Hopefully, not hijacking your thread here. But thought I'd post a little about my journey!

I'm looking to start playing hockey as an adult, although younger than when you began, but I am WAY off at the moment. Can barely skate. So I got some cheap bauers (Vapor X300s, I think) just to get out of those awful rental skates. But I have the same issues with my arch hurting. I'm not sure if it is because I'm so bad at skating that I don't move enough, or maybe lace bite?? Or perhaps just a poor fit? I know nothing really about skates, but they felt good in the shop, and the guy helping me seemed pretty confident with them. 

I've played around with lacing and it means I can be on the ice for 15 minutes or so, which is better than the 5 I was managing in the rentals, but then they hurt again. So I'm not sure. They feel pretty good off ice, but maybe that's because I'm not standing. I don't know.

Anyway, signed up to lessons to learn how to properly skate, and they start in a week. As for the hockey side of stuff? Well, I'm working on the skating part first, but I hope to join a local rec team, that is mixed male and female. The only problem is they don't get priority ice, so the practice starts at 11, and finishes at 1 in the morning. Like I said, we don't have a big hockey following here. Although, I have two other rinks nearby, so could look at their rec teams, but I really like the premier league (not sure what level that would be in the US) team for my local rink, so would feel like I was "betraying" them.

[proth0303 29]

2 hours ago, Kenzie said:

Just wanted to say I have read this all the way through, and I genuinely have enjoyed reading your experiences. There isn't a huge deal of relatable content about learning to play ice hockey as an adult. It seems like if you didn't start as a child, it can be hard to know where to start as an adult, especially as I'm from the UK. Although we do have a little bit of ice hockey here, especially where I'm from, it doesn't have as big of a community. So reading this topic has been awesome, because it is so interesting to see how your journey begun and how you've progressed.

Please, I know it has been a year, but keep up with the updates. I really feel invested in your hockey journey!

Hopefully, not hijacking your thread here. But thought I'd post a little about my journey!

I'm looking to start playing hockey as an adult, although younger than when you began, but I am WAY off at the moment. Can barely skate. So I got some cheap bauers (Vapor X300s, I think) just to get out of those awful rental skates. But I have the same issues with my arch hurting. I'm not sure if it is because I'm so bad at skating that I don't move enough, or maybe lace bite?? Or perhaps just a poor fit? I know nothing really about skates, but they felt good in the shop, and the guy helping me seemed pretty confident with them. 

I've played around with lacing and it means I can be on the ice for 15 minutes or so, which is better than the 5 I was managing in the rentals, but then they hurt again. So I'm not sure. They feel pretty good off ice, but maybe that's because I'm not standing. I don't know.

Anyway, signed up to lessons to learn how to properly skate, and they start in a week. As for the hockey side of stuff? Well, I'm working on the skating part first, but I hope to join a local rec team, that is mixed male and female. The only problem is they don't get priority ice, so the practice starts at 11, and finishes at 1 in the morning. Like I said, we don't have a big hockey following here. Although, I have two other rinks nearby, so could look at their rec teams, but I really like the premier league (not sure what level that would be in the US) team for my local rink, so would feel like I was "betraying" them.

Congrats on taking the leap into adult hockey!  I only started this hockey journey a few months ago but finally feel like I'm getting through the "teething" period with my skates (I also bought Vapors but the X700 version).  I started off with arch pain as well which sounds to be quite a common issue.  I have low arches and tried the original insole, the Bauer Speed Plates, and ended up with Superfeet yellow.  The heel lift in the Superfeet was just enough to take a lot of the pressure off of my arch.  This still left me with pain which I learned was caused by a bone called an accessory navicular.  I had the skates punched out and this pain is no longer present.  I was still struggling with a throbbing pain after about 15 minutes of skating.   I even experienced lace bit which was clearly caused by me tightening the laces way too tight and ended up with a big lump on the front of my ankle.  I tried various lace tightness, lacing methods, and lace types.  In the end I think what helped the most was finding the right lacing method (for me it was wax laces, over/under lacing method, snug over the foot/really tight at 3rd and 4th holes/fairly tight in the ankle) AND getting my feet/ankles used to skating by skating a LOT!  Do you feel any arch pressure/pain when you lace up the skates?  If so, looking at different insoles might be a good place to start...  Do you get any blisters?

In only a few months, I've managed to skate/play hockey at 5 different ice rinks as I'm doing whatever I can to condition my body to the sport.  Like any sport, there's a steep learning curve both physically and mentally so get out there as often as you can. :)  

[krisdrum 233]

Man that was hard.  Took the plunge in the big boy pool this morning.  Did a regular adult skills clinic this morning at one of the local rinks.  OUCH!  I was woefully unprepared.  First time with a stick on ice without my son involved.  It was an eye-opener.  Wasn't too bad on some of the passing drills, but the skating still needs ALOT of work.  I made the rookie mistake of being all excited and tightened my skates WAY too much.  Foot pain from 15 minutes in, until I had to throw in the towel and take myself off about halfway through the hour long session.  Felt like I literally shot myself in the foot.  

Lessons learned:

1) Don't overtighten your skates, dumb@ss

2) Getting a few hours in at the public skate over the last few months is NOT good preparation for real hockey

3) BEND your knees

4) My backwards skating is lacking

5) My transitions are lacking

I can go forward ok, turn ok, crossover reasonably.  The rest is a mess.  

To Vet88s suggestion, I need to up my skating time a week like 5 fold, push myself out of my comfort zone and really focus on balance, edge work and the other fundamentals of the game.  

But, I did live to fight another day, which I guess is a victory.

[proth0303 29]

14 hours ago, krisdrum said:

Man that was hard.  Took the plunge in the big boy pool this morning.  Did a regular adult skills clinic this morning at one of the local rinks.  OUCH!  I was woefully unprepared.  First time with a stick on ice without my son involved.  It was an eye-opener.  Wasn't too bad on some of the passing drills, but the skating still needs ALOT of work.  I made the rookie mistake of being all excited and tightened my skates WAY too much.  Foot pain from 15 minutes in, until I had to throw in the towel and take myself off about halfway through the hour long session.  Felt like I literally shot myself in the foot.  

Lessons learned:

1) Don't overtighten your skates, dumb@ss

2) Getting a few hours in at the public skate over the last few months is NOT good preparation for real hockey

3) BEND your knees

4) My backwards skating is lacking

5) My transitions are lacking

I can go forward ok, turn ok, crossover reasonably.  The rest is a mess.  

To Vet88s suggestion, I need to up my skating time a week like 5 fold, push myself out of my comfort zone and really focus on balance, edge work and the other fundamentals of the game.  

But, I did live to fight another day, which I guess is a victory.

Awesome!!!  Sounds like all the stuff I'm going through... and I'm hooked! :)

[puckpilot 312]

If I don't mind me adding a couple of things to that list for people learning on their own time. 

- at the beginning keep it simple. You'll get the most mileage out of the simple basic drills like single leg c-cuts. Get a good handle on them before moving up. Trying to jump ahead to the more advanced stuff before you're ready will only gain you bad habits, a poor stride, and a lot of wasted time. 

- keep in mind all drills are basically muscle building drills. Often the reason someone can't execute an advanced manoeuvre is because they don't have the strength to do it, not because they aren't coordinated enough or don't understand the mechanics.

These are two of the things I learned a few years ago when health issues robbed me of 20lbs of muscle. I'd been skating since I was a kid, but once that muscle was gone, I could barely stand up on my skates . Had to literally teach myself to skate again.