Transitioning from soccer to hockey

[Yotes19 1]

Hey all, so I've got a bit of an odd question. Does anyone have any general tips for someone transitioning from playing soccer to inline hockey? I'm 26 and have played soccer my whole life, and I just started playing inline hockey in a league a couple weeks ago. I used to play street hockey with my friends a bit as a kid, but this is my first time doing anything remotely organized or competitive.

 

2 games into the season and I'm definitely struggling. Aside from not being the best skater or puck handler, I've noticed I don't really have any hockey instincts on the rink yet. In soccer it all comes natural to me, but in hockey I find I'm never quite sure where I should be positioned (whether attacking or defending) or where to play the puck when I get it in various situations. I've noticed I tend to try the general things I would do in a soccer situation and it often ends up with me getting burned.

 

Has anyone else here made the transition from soccer to hockey?

 

And even if not, can anyone help cue me in to some of the fundamental do's and don'ts in your typical in-game situations?

 

Any help or advice is appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[Vet88 674]

I played soccer at a high level until I retired about 15 years ago. Then took up inline and ice in a serious way later on. There is very little across the 2 sports that is similar, positioning, movement, skills, direction of play, reading of players is all different - the speed of the game and how fast you can move the puck has a lot to do with this. Now if you had played field hockey then you have some cross over as your hands are generally pretty good but soccer gives you nothing for inline or ice (unless you start kicking a ball around for training whilst on skates).

For positioning, google and watching games is your friend - Google "ice hockey positional play", or similar search, there is a lot of stuff out there. The explanations by Jeremy from HowToHockey.com are pretty good eg

http://howtohockey.com/the-role-of-a-centerman-in-hockey/ 

Watch ice and inline games online, focus on one player and watch what they do, how they skate, where they skate, what they do with the puck in different situations.

Whilst ice and inline have different rush plays, attack setups, structure etc (eg no offside in inline, 4 instead of 5 players), there is still a lot of cross over and D work is basically still the same.

Then you need to skate and puck handle, if you don't have access to a lot of rink time get yourself some soft sided outdoor skates, hard wheels, shaft, abs blade and a green biscuit. Then get to your local park or carpark or anywhere where you have a skateable flat surface and start practicing. Nothing, other than training / playing on a rink, will improve your game faster than this. And please, keep your head up at all times so you can see what is happening around you. Start now by saying to yourself "head up" every time you touch the puck.....

 

[Chadd 916]

You should already have good situational awareness from soccer, you just need to learn how to apply it to hockey. If you don't have confidence in your skating or stick handling skills, watch for the passing lanes. Using the boards can give you more options to get pucks to other people. Don't skate into trouble with the puck, time and space are your ally, find ways to get yourself more time and space, then set up others or get the puck to the net. When in doubt, go to the net and screen the goaltender, look for tips and rebounds. 

[Ashtasticness 89]

It just takes time. Team mates are usually pretty friendly and willing to give advice. Just let them know you're new and wanna learn and they'll help you out. I grew up playing softball through highschool so it's still a big transition for me but you catch on. 2 games in is so early to worry about being the best. I've been playing almost a year and I'm still improving. 

[Yotes19 1]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, definitely some good tips in here. 

 

HowToHockey.com has been a good resource, thanks for pointing out the articles about the different positions, I hadn't seen that. Also, that's an interesting idea to keep my eye on one player during a game, I think that might help. Keeping my head up has definitely been a challenge as well.

 

I'm pretty good at seeing and making a pass, but identifying the passing lanes when the opposition has the puck has been a struggle. There's lots of ways to move the puck around and I guess I'm still figuring them all out. 

 

My teammates have been super helpful. I've made a point to let them know I'm open to advice and won't take criticism personally. Definitely not worried about being the best, but I'm a  pretty competitive person so I'm always looking for more from myself and looking for new ways to improve.