Hockey Tips

[Kez18]

Hey,

Has anyone got any tips for playing Inline Hockey? I started playing about 6 months ago and would love to improve my skating and shooting. I'm the only girl on my team and also the newest member, so I'm quite a lot slower than the other guys! Does anyone have any tips so I can actually beat them to the puck once in a while? Thanks!

Kez

[RichardGraham]

Hi Kez,

A few tips off the top of my head. IHC readers who are better players than me (most of 'em) will have more helpful ideas:

1. Keep skating. The more you skate, the faster you'll become.

2. Practice and play as many games as you can. As you gain experience, you will better be able to anticipate where the puck is going to go. Although I'm a lot slower than many other players, I can often get to pucks I might not otherwise get because I've put myself in the position to get them.

3. Be aggressive. Many times you won't get to a puck because you'll think to yourself, "That player is so much faster than I am." However, even the fastest players have the puck hop over their sticks from time to time, get caught in their skates, flub a pass, etc. If you think you won't be able to get to a loose puck, you're probably right. If you think you CAN get to one, you might just get it.

Good luck! Welcome to our great sport, and to Inline Hockey Central.

[Secondlaw]

Hey,

Has anyone got any tips for playing Inline Hockey? I started playing about 6 months ago and would love to improve my skating and shooting. I'm the only girl on my team and also the newest member, so I'm quite a lot slower than the other guys! Does anyone have any tips so I can actually beat them to the puck once in a while? Thanks!

Kez

Find out when your local rinks have 'Open Hockey'... That's usually a pay 10 bux to play for 2 hrs. This will enable you to play with people from all different skill levels. If you're really terrible, stay away from the rinks I play in because while you're out there trying your best, we'll be on the bench asking (behind your back of course) why you bothered to show up, because you're taking up valuable real estate while you're on the floor trying to find yourself.

Try playing with people who are noticably better than yourself but not overly experienced. Playing with people who are a bit better than you will improve your skills tremendously. Playing with people who play the way you do will never help you play or skate better. Playing with super experienced people will only discourage you because you'll be standing there with your thumb up your xxx watching them skate circles around you. Now although you might learn something from watching, it's not that much fun if that person isn't stopping to explain to you why he did such a move.

Hope that helps.

[Kez18]

Thanks for the tips, although I probably should have mentioned i live in an area where we don't have 'Open Hockey' rinks. I'm actually part of a local team who started playing hockey at school. They continued to play and I later met them whilst in college, but I only got interested when I watched them play in a local tournament.
We have a regular slot at our sport centre, for 1hr 15 mins every week. A few of the guys have played Ice Hockey for a few years, so there's no way I'd ever be able to take them on! We find it really difficult to play other teams too, as there are only 2 other teams in our area and they live 50 to 100 miles away. We're the only team in the immediate area - Inline Hockey isn't too popular where we live. Which also makes it quite difficult to recruit new members.

So as you see, I can't really play people who are slightly better than me. We do have a mixture of abilities in the team, but they're all at the 'i can do cross overs backwards' skill area where as I'm lucky if i can do 2 cross overs going forwards! Which is why I'm looking for any tips at all that will help me improve - theres only so much a small team like mine can help.

[mcchockey9]

I have taught kids how to skate for years. If you can get to a roller skating rink during an open session, and just skate that is a big help. Skating is the KEY to playing hockey. If that isn't an option, get outdoor wheels, and skate on the road. Just work on your foot work and balance. The rest of the game will come to you. I also coached a college ice hockey team, and told them that a positive attitude is the next important thing. Never think that you can't get to the puck. If the guy does beat you, then get to the correct spot to play defense on him. Good Luck and keep trying. Play against the best, and you will get better. Play against the worst or same, you get worst. Remember that!:D

[Secondlaw]

I have taught kids how to skate for years. If you can get to a roller skating rink during an open session, and just skate that is a big help. Skating is the KEY to playing hockey. If that isn't an option, get outdoor wheels, and skate on the road. Just work on your foot work and balance. The rest of the game will come to you. I also coached a college ice hockey team, and told them that a positive attitude is the next important thing. Never think that you can't get to the puck. If the guy does beat you, then get to the correct spot to play defense on him. Good Luck and keep trying. Play against the best, and you will get better. Play against the worst or same, you get worst. Remember that!:DGreat advice.

One thing I would do when teaching crossovers (on ice), is have the person stand with their hands on the boards. Place your right foot over your left foot as far as you can. When your right foot is placed onto the ice, make sure the entire right edge (of your right skate) is on the ice and parallel to your left skate. Then do the complete opposite with your left foot over your right foot. Do this until you get comfortable. Once you feel confident enough, take a step away from the boards and repeat the steps, keeping in mind that if you're not falling, you're not trying hard enough. Even the best fall, so don't get too discouraged.

This excersize will build up your inner thigh muscles as well as get your more oriented with the new feel. It might not come easy at first, but a little perseverance and you'll be golden.

Another excersize you can try is to push yourself off a little, while rolling, put your legs together, then you want to bend your knees and get your butt as close to the floor as you can, then stand back up and repeat. Try doing this with your legs touching each other. It's a great excersize.

One more for now... Start at one of the lines, give a push, and skate on 1 foot. See how far you can roll. Then do it on the other foot. This is a great excersize for balance.

When you get good at the two last suggestions I made, try combining the two. Give a push, while on 1 foot, you'll want to go down on 1 leg and stand back up on the same leg. Then switch legs and repeat. You will fall while trying this, so have some equipement on.

All of these excersizes are for balance and strength. If your body is not aching after trying these excersizes, then you're doing something wrong or you're elastic woman. By the way, stretching before playing is also a very big help.

Good luck

[Kez18]

The crossing your feet over thing was how the guys taught me how to do them. But after doing them for a while, and moving forwards at the same time, I started wondering why I always lost my balance everytime i went to do a second one. The lads had 'forgotten' to tell me when doing crossovers you dont actually have to fully cross your feet over like that! You just put one infront of the other kind of thing. Now I can do 2 but i always feel like I'm going to fall afterwards - is there anything I should be doing to keep my balance when doing them? I always put my right foot infront of my left, and then push my left leg to the right to pick up speed. The opposite for the other foot (obviously), am I doing this right?

Also we always warm up before we start (2 laps round the rink and then stretches). Our coach won't let us start without them.

[Secondlaw]

Hi Kez,

I've been away for a few days. I can't reply to this now but when I return home later today I'll try to explain a little better.

[DannyG]

The guys above that have noted "just go skate...a lot...as much as you can" are givig you the best tip. Watch better players, ask them how they do a certain thing, most will gladly share their insight.

Just go skate. You will get better and better, but you have to "do the numbers," i.e., put in the time.