What advice would you give to somebody who has never ice skated before?

[Kathryn Tappen]

What is the best advice/tips?

Case in point: I have played inline hockey for a couple of years when I was much younger. I don't recall having any issues skating from what I can recall.

However, I started playing ice hockey recently, and I was in for a rude awakening. Ice skating is a heck of a lot more difficult than I had taken for granted. I thought that because I was OK with roller blades I would be able to keep on on the ice but I couldn't.


Is ice skating really much different than roller blading or is it just me? What can I do to avoid falling, taking forever to stop or just generally looking bad? I am using brand new skates, I never 'baked' them. Does breaking them in have a big effect?

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[Goonzilla]

If you can't skate it isn't going to make any difference if you've had them baked or not. There aren't any shortcuts.

If you can't skate you can't play, no matter how proficient you might be at other stuff, so you need to skate, skate, skate till you can skate.

Yeah, you can get lessons and instruction, but there's no magic knowledge that will let you grasp or get the hang of it all of a sudden.

I make sure I go to a weekend public session once a week to just skate and skate and I'm often getting pulled up by people who can barely stand wanting to know how to stop and stuff. You can give them pointers on how not to fall over and explain the mechanics to them, but they're just never going to be able to get it without logging the time. Start simple and work from there..and make sure you develop or get the hang of something both sides or ways.

You tube has some good tutorials.

Hope you got your new skates sharpened first too.

 

[Crosbyfan]

What is the best advice/tips?

Case in point: I have played inline hockey for a couple of years when I was much younger. I don't recall having any issues skating from what I can recall.

However, I started playing ice hockey recently, and I was in for a rude awakening. Ice skating is a heck of a lot more difficult than I had taken for granted. I thought that because I was OK with roller blades I would be able to keep on on the ice but I couldn't.


Is ice skating really much different than roller blading or is it just me? What can I do to avoid falling, taking forever to stop or just generally looking bad? I am using brand new skates, I never 'baked' them. Does breaking them in have a big effect?

You probably have the basics of balance and stride, but you need to work hard on your edges until you are very comfortable using them. It is just a matter of time at first, and time and effort after that.

I think it is a bit easier if your skates are not too sharp at first while starting out, until you get used to controlling your edges. (but as Goonzilla says make sure they get sharpened...new skates are not sharp at all out of the box)

 

[FishWhiskey]

Just say NO to skating. Its a gateway drug and will lead you right into hockey.

 

[Bondoao1]

I know this is a dumb question, but have you had your skates sharpened yet?

 

[Zegras Zebra]

I would mostly concentrate on learning how to stop. That is my first tip, if you know how to properly stop you can advance to learn more advanced techniques such as skating backwards, crossovers, jumping, etc.

Like someone else suggested, I would go free skating at your local rink and just practice stopping. Remember to keep your feet together as you turn sideways, and try not to snowplow (turning your feet inwards creating a "V shape"). I would also try to avoid children when practicing as they are unpredictable, and you could easily run into one by accident if you or a child isn't paying attention.

Also remember to wear a helmet, and try to learn to fall properly by trying to keep your head up so it doesn't hit the ice.

 

[Kathryn Tappen]

Yeah my skates are sharpened. I think stopping is probably my biggest issue.

And I probably don't have my knees bent or legs as wide as I realise.

I have two sticks...a bauer and ccm. The ccm is a tad longer. I think maybe using the shorter stick will force me to bend my feet and widen my stance more

 

[Caeldan]

Learn without the stick first. Otherwise you may develop it as a crutch.

First thing that is always taught, is how to fall. Just step on the ice and practice falling forward a few times so that you are used to it in a controlled scenario.
Second, when you do start skating remember that you go where you look. So if you are keeping your eyes on your toes like most beginning skaters, you're more likely going to pitch yourself forward and fall.
Practice stopping by just working with a half snowplow first. Just stand in place and plant one leg while pushing the other forward. The idea being that you get used to weight transfer and using part of your edge to create friction on the ice.
Speaking of edges, keep in mind that the bottom of a blade is a hollow and so you have an inside and outside edge to each blade. This is key later on when learning more advanced techniques but having the awareness at the start is good.
For getting a feel for balance and getting used to bending knees and ankles and hips, do sculls down the side and pushes with just the outside leg around the corners/ends

That probably covers most of the initial basics.

If and when you're comfortable with all the above, that's when you start learning to move around with T or V pushes (start with standstill, then on to laps around the rink).

 

[WayneSid9987]

Put on some good knee and elbow pads+helmet and go to town.
Even if it's just a public skate/no stick.
I'm sure theres great tuts on yt.

 

[Revelation]

1. Get padded top to bottom in the best safest pads you can get.

2. Go to an empty public skate. Skate recklessly. Wipe out and fall. Over and over again. 100 times. Count them out loud. If you're not falling you can skate more recklessly. Do that and keep on falling. It needs to be trampoline on ice. Do a few practice falls at first just to see that it doesn't hurt at all (it shouldn't in good pads if you've padded everything)

I guarantee you'll pick up choppy but effective skating overnight, after that it's about chiseling down the technique to be smoother and smoother.

 

[Elias Pettersson]

The biggest difference between a beginner skater and the next level is an understanding of how to use the edges. All of ice skating is edgework. It you can get your inside and outside edges, you can stop, turn, crossover, pivot, transition, etc. All of it just builds on the same principle.

 

[Rookie109]

https://youtu.be/aeoWDofAT5o
Start here.

 

[jw2]

Don't worry about the skates.

Just keep going and get comfortable on the ice. Don't worry about the rest until you are comfortable. As for stopping, for now, just drag one foot behind the other.

 

[TedLundy]

Keep your head up

 

[Goonzilla]

Don't worry about the skates.

Just keep going and get comfortable on the ice. Don't worry about the rest until you are comfortable. As for stopping, for now, just drag one foot behind the other.

I disagree, better to learn the right way first time. If you find or take shortcuts like that, you'll get in a comfort zone, just do or rely on what's easiest and progress very slowly if at all.

I see some young guys who've learned how to stop one side with most of their weight on one foot. They skate up the boards, spray some snow and show off to their buddies who can't quite do that yet, but these guys can't stop properly on both feet and they can't stop on their other side or control their slide; but because they see some guys doing a proper hockey stop and spraying the boards they think they've got it because they can spray too. They're handicapping themselves.

I play with some guys who've been playing 10+ years and who still can't stop properly on both sides or skate backwards properly, always still with both feet on the ice constantly. They've never progressed from being novices..or 'dragging one foot behind the other'.

It's so much easier to learn it right first time than try and fix or overcome bad habits later.

 

[StrictlyCommercial]

I disagree, better to learn the right way first time. If you find or take shortcuts like that, you'll get in a comfort zone, just do or rely on what's easiest and progress very slowly if at all.

I see some young guys who've learned how to stop one side with most of their weight on one foot. They skate up the boards, spray some snow and show off to their buddies who can't quite do that yet, but these guys can't stop properly on both feet and they can't stop on their other side or control their slide; but because they see some guys doing a proper hockey stop and spraying the boards they think they've got it because they can spray too. They're handicapping themselves.

I play with some guys who've been playing 10+ years and who still can't stop properly on both sides or skate backwards properly, always still with both feet on the ice constantly. They've never progressed from being novices..or 'dragging one foot behind the other'.

It's so much easier to learn it right first time than try and fix or overcome bad habits later.

Yeah, one of my teams has a bunch of older guys that just can't skate and its all ingrained lazy habits. Like my being lazy skating up ice is quicker than their top speeds because they can't glide properly due to keeping both feet on the ice at all times.

The otber end of the spectrum is the super choppy guys who move their feet so much that they actually block their own momentum.

For learning go out to public skates and practice 1) skating between each line stopping in a different direction each time. 2) crossovers around the circles clockwise and counter clockwise, wear some pads for this. 3) push and glide on one skate i.e. push off left skate then glide on right skate for as far as you can then switch . 4) Once you can do all that without wobbles, work on v starts (feet facing out in a v, then basically sprint on ice, there's probably yt tutorials), tight turns and quick starts and stops.

If you can do all that you'll be a pro in beginner hockey.

 

[Elias Pettersson]

For the stopping, it's easier to start with a one foot snowplow. It's too hard for a complete beginner to go straight to a hockey stop. With the one foot snowplow, you can still feel control of glide and it teaches you how the feel the inside edge. Just make sure to alternate feet

 

[Lonny Bohonos]

What is the best advice/tips?

Case in point: I have played inline hockey for a couple of years when I was much younger. I don't recall having any issues skating from what I can recall.

However, I started playing ice hockey recently, and I was in for a rude awakening. Ice skating is a heck of a lot more difficult than I had taken for granted. I thought that because I was OK with roller blades I would be able to keep on on the ice but I couldn't.


Is ice skating really much different than roller blading or is it just me? What can I do to avoid falling, taking forever to stop or just generally looking bad? I am using brand new skates, I never 'baked' them. Does breaking them in have a big effect?

Flexibility is key in my eyes.

I am far from a good skater but I have focussed on trying to improve certain elements in my skating and a couple of things really helped me.

One being I now don't lace my skates through the top eyelet. I found the extra flexibility helpful with balance.

Another thing is improving flexibility especially in my hips. It's hard to use your edges properly if you can't move your body into the position it needs to be.

Skating is obviously important however even if you look at the NHL you will see a variety of skating styles and not every good player is necessarily the best skater.

I would recommend working on stick work. It helps if you can control the puck and make passes. You can always pass faster than you can skate and you will have to rely on your skating much more if you are always losing the puck.

Do off ice flexibility/balance drills and passing puckhandling drills.

 

[Fremitus Borealis]

For the stopping, it's easier to start with a one foot snowplow. It's too hard for a complete beginner to go straight to a hockey stop. With the one foot snowplow, you can still feel control of glide and it teaches you how the feel the inside edge. Just make sure to alternate feet

^This. Absolutely this. I was able to trick my brain into doing the real "hockey stop" by thinking of it as starting off as a snowplow, and then just "going all-in", if that makes any sense.

And, worst case, you can still actually play hockey while you're figuring it all out, as long as you can snowplow stop

 

[Goonzilla]

^This. Absolutely this. I was able to trick my brain into doing the real "hockey stop" by thinking of it as starting off as a snowplow, and then just "going all-in", if that makes any sense.

And, worst case, you can still actually play hockey while you're figuring it all out, as long as you can snowplow stop

Wel yeah, you don't just start off with hockey stops, which I see some people trying to do; that (snow plowing) is stage one in learning how to stop and then progressing to a two foot stop, but dragging one foot behind you as someone above mentioned is just not anything to start out doing that's going to lead someone anywhere worth going skating wise.

 

[tfong]

Go take a class. Unless you skated as a kid lots, learning the basics is pretty key.

 

[Kathryn Tappen]

whenever i try to do a hard stop with my hips I just end up skating backwards, lol

 

[Goonzilla]

whenever i try to do a hard stop with my hips I just end up skating backwards, lol

Maybe try that hard stop using your skates instead of you hips?

You need to break it or slow it down and need to develop or learn how to snow plow, shave the ice or slide on your blades. The more sideways angle your blades are on to the ice, the more bite, edge or purchase you get into the ice. What you need to master is instead of that getting your blades flat to the ice or straight up and down so you don't get that purchase and can slide on your blade or blades.

It sounds like you are just spinning your body around to the side or trying to go from forwards to sideways instantaneously with minimum or no purchase in your skates or edges on the ice.

It's a common mistake I see with beginners or casual skaters trying to self-teach themselves; they're almost trying to do a little jump from going forwards to facing sideways. It should be a gradual or almost slow and controlled turn of the skate or skates from facing 'north' to 'east or west' with the blade in contact with the ice throughout. You should be able to see your 'skid' mark (one foot) or marks (two feet) on the ice as your skate or skates moves from zero through to ninety degrees.

Once you can get a slow slide going on and have some control over it, on either one of two feet, you can start to dig in your edges or push a little harder to stop more sharply. The faster you're skating, I think the harder it is to get that initial control of or master it, but at the same time, if you're barely moving you're going to struggle too.

Keep working on a two foot snow plow until you get the hang of being able to slide in a straight line. Once you get a feel for that, start to introduce a turn as you slide. Gotta walk before you can run.

It's kinda simple but hard to explain, but once you get it you'll wonder why you found it so hard.

 

[cptjeff]

Get a private lesson from a skating coach, even just a half hour. Ask at the rink, they'll have lists. Make sure to ask for somebody who's familiar with hockey skating. It's not as expensive as you would think, and that person will be able to see what you're doing and set you in the right direction far faster than you'll figure it out on your own. You'll need to practice on your own, of course, but in doing a lesson with a coach, they'll give you direction in that practice, which will make it far more effective.

 

[Fremitus Borealis]

Maybe try that hard stop using your skates instead of you hips?

You need to break it or slow it down and need to develop or learn how to snow plow, shave the ice or slide on your blades. The more sideways angle your blades are on to the ice, the more bite, edge or purchase you get into the ice. What you need to master is instead of that getting your blades flat to the ice or straight up and down so you don't get that purchase and can slide on your blade or blades.

It sounds like you are just spinning your body around to the side or trying to go from forwards to sideways instantaneously with minimum or no purchase in your skates or edges on the ice.

It's a common mistake I see with beginners or casual skaters trying to self-teach themselves; they're almost trying to do a little jump from going forwards to facing sideways. It should be a gradual or almost slow and controlled turn of the skate or skates from facing 'north' to 'east or west' with the blade in contact with the ice throughout. You should be able to see your 'skid' mark (one foot) or marks (two feet) on the ice as your skate or skates moves from zero through to ninety degrees.

Once you can get a slow slide going on and have some control over it, on either one of two feet, you can start to dig in your edges or push a little harder to stop more sharply. The faster you're skating, I think the harder it is to get that initial control of or master it, but at the same time, if you're barely moving you're going to struggle too.

Keep working on a two foot snow plow until you get the hang of being able to slide in a straight line. Once you get a feel for that, start to introduce a turn as you slide. Gotta walk before you can run.

It's kinda simple but hard to explain, but once you get it you'll wonder why you found it so hard.

This is a pretty good explanation, but overall, you're right that it's hard to explain, and you do have to just kind of feel it out.

But yeah. I had a similar problem as the OP when I started, in that I would just be skating at about 70% speed and basically just try and throw myself sideways. That doesn't work, obviously It really is a lot more about minute little foot movements that are really impossible to figure out by watching other people do it. You pretty much have to literally get a "feel" for it.