Tips for stopping on weak side

[kmfdm86 112]

Just getting into ice, knew how to skate ok prior to this. Forwards crossovers are good both sides, as well as turning and transitions. But for the life of me I can't figure out stopping on my weak side. I wind up doing some sad awkward turn instead. 

Anyone have any drills or exercises they could recommend to help with this? 

[puckpilot 312]

There's a progression of drills for general hockey stop you can use.

First practice the snow plow stop and get comfortable with that.

The second step is T-Stop, which works the outside edge of the trailing leg. 

Put the snow plow and T-stop together and you have a hockey stop.  Do these to strengthen your weak side.

There's a step 2.5 too that can help develop the t-stop a little further, where you shift your foot placement and move your foot forward in the t-stop so it's at the toe instead of the heel of the non-stopping leg.

 

 

 

 

[Vet88 674]

this would be the last thing I'd be teaching someone on how to stop. If you want to learn how to stop you start at the basics. learn the snow plough on both feet, then on one foot (here is how I teach this drill - balancing on one foot, with the other foot you raise the heel slightly off the ice so your weight is on the toe of the blade, turn the heel outwards at a 45 degree angle, push outwards slightly (at that 45 degree angle) and as you push you let your weight sink back onto the middle of the blade). This gives you the exaggerated motion of a stop - up on the toes, pivot, slide, sink. As you get the hang of it you then start practicing the stop as you skate forward. Slow or fast, it still works the same. As you get better you can then practice one foot inside edge stops over and over for hours one end just like this guy does at the 3:30 mark. Go to a public session, find some space at one end of the rink and go for gold. For a lot of people this is all they need to get by. After this you move to the 2 footed stop which is where you need to learn to stop on your outside edge.

 

[proth0303 29]

I found that the progression that Vet88 describes is what worked for me.  I started with a snow plow with both feet and moved to a one foot snow plow and finally added the pivot.  I practiced this a lot during public skates until it clicked.  The key is to get on your toes on the one foot that plows.  If you are on your heels than it will try to turn you.

[krisdrum 233]

The Trembley video is great.  Just checked out some of his others as well, and was impressed with his simple, clear explanations and demonstrations.  Looks like I have some video to watch and plenty to practice. 

[benson 8]

Most of the above recommendations should work, just practice them. I find that when coaching the kids that don't know how, we start with a snowplow stop. Also standing in place and scraping the ice with your skate, getting the feel for it. Really keep repeating these things until they feel comfortable. Once they do, try to hockey stop on the side you want to. Like proth0303 said, be sure to get on your toes or you will just turn.

Practice, practice, practice! And good luck to you, there are a lot of NHL players that are uncomfortable on one side or the other. While they make it look easy, it's nice to know they struggle too.

[puckpilot 312]

3 hours ago, Vet88 said:

this would be the last thing I'd be teaching someone on how to stop. If you want to learn how to stop you start at the basics. learn the snow plough 

If you're referring to my post, you didn't read it carefully. The first step in the progression I said was to practice the snow plow. The stuff in the videos is to help develop the outside edge because that gets used just as much as the inside edge and tends to be the harder one to nail. With the snow plow you only work the outside edge. 

[chippa13 1844]

I find the outside edge gets used more as most stops are part of a stop and start situation. I'm usually already bringing the other leg over for the direction change before I've completed the stop, which to be honest, rarely happens because the quicker you get moving again the better off you'll be.

[kmfdm86 112]

Thanks for the tips. I have no problems stopping on my right side. So I've got some understanding of how it works. I just don't want to find myself in a situation where I have to stop the other way and go flying into someone else or the boards. Haha.

I just can't seem to get my body to cooperate going the other way. I'll try working on the above mentioned drills next time I'm out. 

[clarkiestooth 235]

There Is No Stopping In Beer League.

 

On a serious note, some good instruction here. You may also want to use less of a hollow (ie: go from 1/2 to 5/8 or 3/4)and check for level edges. That might help make the movement a bit easier until you get more confidence and commit it to muscle memory.