Help out a newbie re: joining an indoor league

[maytide]

Hi all,

Thanks in advance for reading this thread and for offering your opinions.
I've been digging through old threads and I've found tons of useful info... I'm hoping that some of you may care to let me know what you think about this:

I'll soon be joining an indoor league, but I'm a little worried about stepping onto this foreign surface -- sport court -- for the first time.

My buddies seem to think I'll be slipping and sliding all over the place, and frankly this has me a little nervous. They say it will take a while for me to get used to the surface.

I've played 10 years of ice hockey, and probably just as much recreational roller hockey (outdoors).

However, I haven't played anything for probably 4 or 5 years.

I'm pretty confident that with some practice I can get back into game shape; I'm fairly athletic; back in my heyday I'd say I was an average to slightly above-average skater. Backwards, forward, hockey stops no problem.

But I'm worried about making the transition to indoor hockey.

Can any of you provide any insight on making this transition? What can I expect the first time I step onto this surface? Tips? Biggest differences? Am I worrying too much (or too little)?

By the way, I'm not necessarily asking about gear or wheels (I hear softer for indoor sport court), but if you have anything to say in that respect I'd welcome that as well. (I'm 5'8" 140).

Thanks a lot!!
-M

[RichardGraham]

Hi Maytide,

I'm sure you'll get a lot of great advice soon, but since no one has yet answered, let me just tell you that you should go to the rink, skate with the equipment (skates, wheels) you already have, and see how it goes. What do you have to lose? If you slip all over the place, you'll find out that someone oiled your wheels before you got on the court (just kidding), or that you've got the wrong kind of wheels for the surface.

My guess is that if you slide all over the place, your wheels are too hard. Softer wheels give more grip on the plastic surfaces used for inline hockey. (I can't say the name of the company you mentioned -- they once had a lawyer send a threatening letter to IHC because facilities listed in our former Links section mentioned that they used "that surface" in their rinks. You'd think that would be a GOOD thing!)

Anyway, I don't expect it will take you very long to get used to the surface unless your wheels are extremely hard, or as slick as a greased pig.

[skielectric]

what rink are you going to play at? i am sure they will have wheels for you to use if your outdoor wheels are to hard. its not that sliperry but compared to out door play its definently diferent. good luck

[Wingman]

Don't hockey stop, you'll be very dissapointed.

[quick_dry]

you should be fine, just go out and get some soft wheels designed for sport court.

How big are you and how competitive is the division?

60 or 70kg whippets and littler players in general can get away with harder wheels on plastic court surfaces. I'm 6'1" and 90 kilos and find I have no grip at all on anything under a 75A durometer (preferably a dual/triple pour 73A so it is reasonably fast yet grippy)

[maytide]

Hi all, thanks for replying!

I'm 5 feet 8 inches... 140 pounds... not sure how that converts to the metric system.
I have a pair of rbk 6 skates with whatever wheels they came with.
I think they're rink rat hot shots... 76A. I hear that is pretty standard for indoor.

The division is probably equivalent to around a B league at best.

Thanks!

[drawp]

I think you'll be just fine. You might have to refine your stopping technique for the new floor, though. :-)

[wingsfan1305]

Ive never played ice, so I'm not sure how that transition should be, but I've been playing street and outdoor forever and just last year i found a court with sportcourt type floors. At first its a little slippery, but i like it so much better. Everything is so much smoother. I'm not a very good skater and it only took me about 10 mins to get used to, so it should only take you 5 or less. Good luck

[wingsfan1305]

people say the sport court is slipperier than it really is. youll be fine in probably 10 mins. the biggest difference i think is hockey stops. not as easy as ice, but you can still do a decent stop.