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Inline skating: help or hurt ice skating skills?

ausername1

Registered User
Dec 2, 2011
36
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Hi all,
I was wondering if you think it would be worth investing in inline skates to help practice ice skating? I would think it would help at least with confidence about balance but are they two very different beasts? I mean, if I bought inline skates and practiced crossovers, etc. in those do you think it would help with those skills on the ice or are they different skill sets entirely?
I live about an hour and a half from the nearest ice rink during the summer but I don't want to get rusty (I'm not that great to begin with). I have played some street hockey on rough asphalt with some crappy wal-mart brand roller skates and it didn't seem to help all that much but I wondered if nice brand-name roller hockey skates would make a enough of a difference for it to be worth the money?

No, I'm not trying to troll and ask a stupid question- I really know absolutely nothing about inline/street hockey skates... I'm not even sure if there is a difference between the two? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
As someone in a similar situation with the distance away from the closest rink, I have done basically exactly what you say you are thinking about. In my experience, the inline an ice are pretyt much two different animals. It's actually pretty funny because while I was doing one on one day, the other on another, I would fall almost immediately upon hitting the ice or roller surface because it is such a different feel from one to the other. I would recommend just hitting the ice as often as you can and pretty much leaving the roller alone.
 
If you use a practice puck with inline, you can work on your hands.

The only things I find inline to be similar to ice is:

Forward stride
Crossovers (and if you tilt too much you fall over)
Mo-hawk (probably the most similar)
Backward skating
Backward crossovers

Everything else I find to be quite different. If I try making a really tight turn, I just slip and fall. Stopping is out of the question as well.
 
Last summer I did a bunch of inline skating to help prepare for the upcoming season and I believe that it helped a lot. I'd say go for it, it's not going to make you a WORSE skater.
 
TUCKER 06 said:
Last summer I did a bunch of inline skating to help prepare for the upcoming season and I believe that it helped a lot. I'd say go for it, it's not going to make you a WORSE skater.
Click to expand...

Definitely, the only issue is the transition from inline to ice, which is better than transition from nothing to ice.

I've almost been working exclusively on mo-hawks. Both sides, front to back and increasing my knee bend so I can essentially skate side ways on my mo-hawks. It's a pretty transferable skating skill from inline to ice.
 
i do belive if you work on cross overs and such, it will help due to increasing your ankle strength , as well as other posters said it will help your hands, if you use somehting like a hockey ball or green biscuit
 
I played both up through high school then went on hiatus from ice for about 6 years. Got back into it about 18months ago and pretty much quit playing roller except for here and there, now I have a hell of a time trying to stop while playing roller; a problem I used to never have.
 
If you do both regularly you won't notice the difference. When I first started roller skating it felt weird when I got back on the ice, but after I had been doing it a while that weird feeling went away and both came naturally.
 
I found it really helped my son to keep up with his skating when he was younger, but only once he got a proper pair of hockey inline skates without the stopper.

When he had the rollerblades with the stopper, it seemed to hinder him quite a bit and he couldn't keep up as well with his teammates when he was playing roller hockey at the rink. The skates were heavier and slower. We and he noticed a huge difference when he upgraded and lost the stopper.
 
It can't hurt too bad. Its essentially the same muscles.

I played inline my whole life and moved to ice just recently. Couldn't skate for **** at the beginning but after a session or two you basically make the proper adjustments. To me the biggest adjustment, in both directions, is how high you have to lift your leg to take a stride. At first I wasn't getting my foot high enough off of the ice and kept picking my toe. But like I said, once you get used to it, going from one to the other is simple.
 
So it seems like the consensus is for trying inline... okay, now where do I start? What's a good, quality skate price-range, what kind of wheels should I use, etc.? As I said, I really don't know anything about it.:shakehead
 
ausername1 said:
So it seems like the consensus is for trying inline... okay, now where do I start? What's a good, quality skate price-range, what kind of wheels should I use, etc.? As I said, I really don't know anything about it.:shakehead
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If you're just using it for practice, I would suggest not throwing too much money on it. The cheapest pair of Bauers start around $120 or so.

I wear the One70s on ice, and picked up a pair of Vapor RX:25 Inline Skates on clearance. Sizing is the same as my ice boots, but everyone's different I suppose. I still had to try them on at the store to make sure it fits because I felt switching from the Supreme to Vapor series may feel a tad different.

As for wheels... I'm still using the stock ones because I'm just skating in an underground parking lot. Surface is pretty smooth and it's seen little wear.
 
The rougher the surface the harder the wheel you should use. Get a skate that fits well (I personally as stringent on fit in roller as in ice as you need more control on ice) and comfortable. Most lower/lower-mid level skates have outdoor rated wheels which should do the job (rated 80A or higher). What ice skates do you have?
 
I currently have a pair of bauer vapor 2.0's- they're okay but I've only had them for a year and they already feel like they're breaking down. I like the narrow fit in the heel but the toes could stand to be wider...anything comparable to this in inline skates?
Should I get harder wheels even if I'll only skate on rough surfaces occasionally or should I get some for smooth surfaces too and just change them when I change surfaces?
Also, how the heck do you stop in inlines?
 
ausername1 said:
I currently have a pair of bauer vapor 2.0's- they're okay but I've only had them for a year and they already feel like they're breaking down. I like the narrow fit in the heel but the toes could stand to be wider...anything comparable to this in inline skates?
Should I get harder wheels even if I'll only skate on rough surfaces occasionally or should I get some for smooth surfaces too and just change them when I change surfaces?
Also, how the heck do you stop in inlines?
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You don't really stop. Some people drag their foot, I personally slow down by doing mo-hawks or tight turns.
 
You could try one of the newer Mission skates; they fit a bit like Supreme. If you don't want to get two sets of wheels, then just see if you can find something that fits with 78A wheels.
 
Hank4Hart said:
do tight turns if possible, dragging your feet = new wheels every other month :laugh:
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Truth haha. Inline will absolutely help your stride and cross overs. Definitely your hands too if you are using a puck or a ball of similar weight.
 
Inline and ice strides are different.

You'll see NHL scouts point out guys who still have ''roller hockey strides''. Once they hit high level hockey they are forced to change it.

Like so:

Beau Bennett- I don't see a problem with his skating like many do. If anything, he's a bit too upright and doesn't take efficient strides. You can tell he played roller hockey though...
Click to expand...
 
Harv said:
Inline and ice strides are different.

You'll see NHL scouts point out guys who still have ''roller hockey strides''. Once they hit high level hockey they are forced to change it.

Like so:
Click to expand...

But as you say, that only matters to people who are really trying to maximize their play for a specific goal. The average player will not be hurt by roller hockey, and will likely build more skills such as stickhandling, shooting, and passing. That isn't even considering the extra resistance of roller skating which will build leg muscle strength. Also, it can give a nice tan.
 
mhkehoe said:
But as you say, that only matters to people who are really trying to maximize their play for a specific goal. The average player will not be hurt by roller hockey, and will likely build more skills such as stickhandling, shooting, and passing. That isn't even considering the extra resistance of roller skating which will build leg muscle strength. Also, it can give a nice tan.
Click to expand...

If you look at it that way, then yeah.

If your a younger player looking to train in the offseason then I'd advise against it.
 
Harv said:
If your a younger player looking to train in the offseason then I'd advise against it.
Click to expand...

Based on what? Do you have something to support your advice?

I've used rollerblading in the offseason and thought it was great for getting in additional skating time and working on crossovers, both front and backward. Since 99.9% of the folks reading this will never have to worry about what a pro scout thinks about their skating technique, I'd say go for it. Also, since I am lucky enough to have access to an outdoor rink, I work on shooting technique and puck handling. Beats sitting around wondering if it's good training or not.
 
I think roller hockey helps to improve your abilities. It's different game but you can still practice hockey situations like breakaways, stickhandling etc... just on wheels without ice :). And it keeps you in good shape also. I bought the roller skates and went play roller hockey in offseason and I must say its totally worth it. I don't think it makes you worse in ice hockey. It helps to elevate your game and you still gain some hockey experience.
 
holy crap... i just picked up a "entry" bauer setup and wow... it was like learning to skate, at least for the first 5 minutes

I'm glad my wife made me pick up some elbow pads, I wrapped my shin pads over my sweats and gaver a go..

this is a non-rockered setup, and the normal stride is pretty much the same, however I do find that crossovers and tight turns to be slightly different...
I give the edge to the tight turns to my holder which has the rear wheel (an 80mm recessed a bit) but I have no other option to rocker my skates

now, stopping/transitions... there is no such thing and I've learnt hard
honestly speed control is my biggest enemy and all I can do is use a "t-stop" and a heel to heel turn...

without being able to quickly stop and go, I would imagine that you either have to have a perfect tape to tape pass in a real game, OR you always space it out just far enough to skate to, but never room for mistake for the latter

without being able to hockey stop or transition, I think that it does hurt the game in manyaways, however if you are just dinking around with some buddies and heck just keeping the legs in shape... inline is alot of fun

any recommendations on what wheels to buy to properly mimic a hockey skate with a 9 foot radius? ffs... it feels like all my weight is on my heels
 
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