Dek/ball hockey vs. roller hockey

[JAY4114 6]

Anyone think that dek hockey is growing fast and becoming more popular than roller/inline hockey and that inline popularity may even be dimming?

[Miller55 333]

No idea why anyone would want to run when they can fly around on wheels. This comment correlates with my waistline after 4 months of covid lockdown

[the_game 452]

Inline has been on life support for some time now. 

[Miller55 333]

2 hours ago, the_game said:

Inline has been on life support for some time now. 

This is definitely true. Rinks have been shutting down consistently for a decade+ around me. I'm sure this covid shut down is going to be a dagger for a lot of these rinks too. That said, I don't get dek hockey and I only know of one place here that has an adult league and it's mostly the result of having a lot of extra space in their facility and enough roller rinks already

[althoma1 575]

Dek/ball hockey is way more popular around here simply due to the fact that the barrier of entry is far lower. You don't have to know how to skate or buy skates. 

Personally, I prefer roller hockey by a wide margin, however; as others have said, inline has been shrinking, but I think ball hockey (at least in my area) is doing quite well. 

[JAY4114 6]

9 hours ago, Miller55 said:

This is definitely true. Rinks have been shutting down consistently for a decade+ around me. I'm sure this covid shut down is going to be a dagger for a lot of these rinks too. That said, I don't get dek hockey and I only know of one place here that has an adult league and it's mostly the result of having a lot of extra space in their facility and enough roller rinks already

I feel like dek hockey is more popular on the east coast but it has been getting more popular around the world. I’ve heard about pro leagues in Europe and the potential for it to be an Olympic sport.

[JAY4114 6]

9 hours ago, althoma1 said:

Dek/ball hockey is way more popular around here simply due to the fact that the barrier of entry is far lower. You don't have to know how to skate or buy skates. 

Personally, I prefer roller hockey by a wide margin, however; as others have said, inline has been shrinking, but I think ball hockey (at least in my area) is doing quite well. 

In my area there were travel tournaments almost every weekend and we’re trying to have a season but covid is ruining it. I’ve been trying to learn how to skate to play inline and I’ve made a huge amount of progress but every skate I try hurts.

[215BroadStBullies610 435]

Surprise to hear that inline is on the decline but I guess being in Philadelphia area we have hockey all year round for both ice and inline. I'd never do dek hockey mainly due to spare my shins and knees the unnecessary wear and tear.

[althoma1 575]

On 7/16/2020 at 8:51 PM, JAY4114 said:

In my area there were travel tournaments almost every weekend and we’re trying to have a season but covid is ruining it. I’ve been trying to learn how to skate to play inline and I’ve made a huge amount of progress but every skate I try hurts.

I'd try on every ice and inline skate you can until you find something comfortable. If it happens to be an ice boot then you could have them converted to inline. The new True TF7 boots might be a good candidate as it's not a fortune (around $350 CAD with the current rebate or under $300 US) and is extremely responsive to heat. It's far from the only option, but one I'd definitely consider. The only challenge with the True skates is you won't get a full idea of how they'll fit until after they're baked for your foot.

[Westside 232]

Isn’t dek ball just floor hockey? Like what you did in grade school? I don’t understand the appeal of this game. If I’m going to run around I’d just play lacrosse 

[JAY4114 6]

8 minutes ago, Westside said:

Isn’t dek ball just floor hockey? Like what you did in grade school? I don’t understand the appeal of this game. If I’m going to run around I’d just play lacrosse 

Dek is actually organized and has very similar rules to ice hockey while still being its own game

[Westside 232]

But you run instead of skate, right? How is that different from floor hockey? I dunno, still doesn’t appeal to me the way ice or inline does. Like I said, if I were playing a sport that required me to run I’d play lacrosse 

 

 

my $0.02

[JAY4114 6]

8 minutes ago, Westside said:

But you run instead of skate, right? How is that different from floor hockey? I dunno, still doesn’t appeal to me the way ice or inline does. Like I said, if I were playing a sport that required me to run I’d play lacrosse 

 

 

my $0.02

Yes you still run. But, unlike inline as of right now, ball hockey popularity is exploding. There are even international tournaments.

Edited August 6, 2020 by JAY4114

[Miller55 333]

Interesting. My middle school had a ball hockey team with a few other schools. I played the first year but the next year was a conflict in the practice schedule with roller and I obviously choose roller.

I think a lot of my personal disinterest in this is the fact that my skating is one of the best aspects of my game, so giving that up for me is just a disadvantage. I don't have the best hands (relatively speaking, roller players are usually known for their hands) but I basically shoot hard and skate well. Other than that, as a Dman, the best thing I picked up over the years is how to really use my body and get physical without drawing penalties, which is kinda a fine line in roller. So for me, playing dek hockey essentially cancels out every advantage that I have in my game. I would imagine that bodying up is different in foot than on skates, positioning is different, shooting a ball is way different and the whole movent of the game is different. 

I'm curious as to how it is more similar to ice hockey though. Is it just because they play with offsides? 

[JAY4114 6]

6 minutes ago, Miller55 said:

Interesting. My middle school had a ball hockey team with a few other schools. I played the first year but the next year was a conflict in the practice schedule with roller and I obviously choose roller.

I think a lot of my personal disinterest in this is the fact that my skating is one of the best aspects of my game, so giving that up for me is just a disadvantage. I don't have the best hands (relatively speaking, roller players are usually known for their hands) but I basically shoot hard and skate well. Other than that, as a Dman, the best thing I picked up over the years is how to really use my body and get physical without drawing penalties, which is kinda a fine line in roller. So for me, playing dek hockey essentially cancels out every advantage that I have in my game. I would imagine that bodying up is different in foot than on skates, positioning is different, shooting a ball is way different and the whole movent of the game is different. 

I'm curious as to how it is more similar to ice hockey though. Is it just because they play with offsides? 

Even in ball hockey, you can still use your body and play pretty physical (depending on the refs of course) without getting called for penalties. IMO really only the rules are more similar to ice and the fact that it’s 5v5. The game is different since there isn’t any checking or skating. With me, I’m just starting to skate and join a high school inline team and I don’t really have hands. I do have a nice shot though.

Edited August 6, 2020 by JAY4114

[Miller55 333]

53 minutes ago, JAY4114 said:

Even in ball hockey, you can still use your body and play pretty physical (depending on the refs of course) without getting called for penalties. IMO really only the rules are more similar to ice and the fact that it’s 5v5. The game is different since there isn’t any checking or skating. With me, I’m just starting to skate and join a high school inline team and I don’t really have hands. I do have a nice shot though.

Interesting. I believe that dek hockey by me is also played 4 on 4, but they have offsides. There's just a half court line, no neutral zone, but you can enter the offensive zone until the ball enters. If my memory serves me right, it's been a while since 7th grade

[JAY4114 6]

7 minutes ago, Miller55 said:

Interesting. I believe that dek hockey by me is also played 4 on 4, but they have offsides. There's just a half court line, no neutral zone, but you can enter the offensive zone until the ball enters. If my memory serves me right, it's been a while since 7th grade

I’d love to play dek hockey for my school. We have a bunch of teams around not affiliated with schools that play tournaments.