If I were you I'd also START with a stick, it will probably help you balance yourself in the early stages of skating.
I love threads like this because it makes me happy to hear about people who love the game but never had the chance to actually play. So they take the initiative and give it a shot. I'm convinced that just about anyone can learn to play this game, as long as you love it and remember that it's all about fun, fitness, friends. And of course the beers.
With that being said, I think that once you have the skating fundamentals, then you can think about buying hockey gear. In my opinion, you can spend the most on skates, but the least on things like shoulder pads, elbow pads, pants, and elbow pads. Chances are you're playing in a non-check beer league and you can definitely get away with equipment that fits properly, but won't break the bank. Stick with a trusted brand name like CCM or RBK/Jofa, even their lower priced gear will do the job more than adequately. Sometimes you can even find a bunch of gear bundled together in package deals for one low price.
The only gear I'd say you should probably buy as high quality as possible besides skates are gloves and helmet. Gloves will give you the right feel for the stick without sacrificing protection (not all gloves are created equal, try on a bunch and see what you like), and the helmet should not only provide full protection, but should feel comfortable at all times. And obviously use a full cage.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
With that being said, I think that once you have the skating fundamentals, then you can think about buying hockey gear. In my opinion, you can spend the most on skates, but the least on things like shoulder pads, elbow pads, pants, and elbow pads. Chances are you're playing in a non-check beer league and you can definitely get away with equipment that fits properly, but won't break the bank. Stick with a trusted brand name like CCM or RBK/Jofa, even their lower priced gear will do the job more than adequately. Sometimes you can even find a bunch of gear bundled together in package deals for one low price.
The only gear I'd say you should probably buy as high quality as possible besides skates are gloves and helmet. Gloves will give you the right feel for the stick without sacrificing protection (not all gloves are created equal, try on a bunch and see what you like), and the helmet should not only provide full protection, but should feel comfortable at all times. And obviously use a full cage.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
Starting with a stick is ok if you're younger, but when you get a little older, falling down just plain hurts. If I had not been able to pick up pads at a good price, I may not have continued, it just wasn't any fun falling.
I am in the same situation. I have always wanted to play hockey, but never had the opportunity. I am 28 and finally decided to give it a shot. I haven't had much success in finding an adult learn to skate or learn to play hockey program where I live, I've found most of these programs are for kids. I'm going to try learning at public skates and hopefully join a beginner's league next year. It's nice to hear about others in the same situation, good luck.
BuddehJuS
Registered User
- Nov 25, 2006
- 2,472
- 0
I live in FL, which obviously = no ice! Anyway, last July after watching Hockey for awhile, the bug bit me, hard. But, I decided that I was just not going to be an idiot and dive in and buy hockey gear and all that good stuff because that would do me no good and I refused to be dead weight.So, I started going to open skates religiously 4-5 times a week and devoting myself entirely to it. The staff all knew me by name, it was pretty sad. The most impotant thing is the skating, it's the foundation for it all. For example, you can't slapshot to save to you life if you can't skate, that's how important it is. So, get skating down first and when you devotion to that if when I believe you should start to consider hockey. Also, it is important to purchase your own skates.Rentals are horrible to learn on because they can be such a deturrent to one's confident and very painful on the feet! 
Spend solid money, a good tip is to look for last year's top model that maybe on sale due to clearance.This is a great tip because you know your getting a quality skate fo half-off, I bought the CCM Vector 6.0 for $140 which is half the cost. Try on several skates and find what fits you best.Also, remember the dream dude, you want to play hockey and you better not let anyone or anything get in your way because it is the greatest feeling in the world when your on the ice and playing, nothing like it especially when you score that first goal. I'm playing in my 6th game tomorrow and it's like crack. I play pick-up right now and man those guys are beasts, quite a few collegiate players but there all really nice and understand my noobishness and give me tips and always try and find me on the offensive play to score.
Anyway, keep your head up and enjoy dude!!!
Spend solid money, a good tip is to look for last year's top model that maybe on sale due to clearance.This is a great tip because you know your getting a quality skate fo half-off, I bought the CCM Vector 6.0 for $140 which is half the cost. Try on several skates and find what fits you best.Also, remember the dream dude, you want to play hockey and you better not let anyone or anything get in your way because it is the greatest feeling in the world when your on the ice and playing, nothing like it especially when you score that first goal. I'm playing in my 6th game tomorrow and it's like crack. I play pick-up right now and man those guys are beasts, quite a few collegiate players but there all really nice and understand my noobishness and give me tips and always try and find me on the offensive play to score. Anyway, keep your head up and enjoy dude!!!
This thread is extremely helpful for me. I have just recently got back into hockey and I'm addicted. I plan on getting a pair of inline skates in the spring when it warms up since there is nowhere in East Tennessee to ice skate (knoxville or bristol maybe, but too far away). It is certainly inspiring to see people older than me (me being 16) learning to skate for the first time. I am not really bothered by the fact of falling down, just the neighborhood pests. I also need the exercise, too much online gaming .
.This brought up one more point. Is it still so that CCM and Bauer(or is it Nike or whatever nowadays) have totally different size on their skates. I mean not the lenght of skate(that boot section) but width of it. When I were active CCM and Bauer had best skates, but CCM just didn't fit for my feet, while Bauer had right size in every way. So not just check sizes, but a lot of different models of different manufacturers. Skate is same as football(or soccer for yankees) shoes, it have to fit perfect, 100%, not 99%.
We have a guy on our team who's in his 60s and he learned to skate in his late 50s. He did the learn to skate programs and then joined the league. He's still learning, but I see improvement each season. We usually pair him up with our two best forwards. The guy just loves hockey, I think that's the #1 thing to have.
JLHockeyKnight
IMA Real American
I just started playing inline like a year and a half ago, I'm 21 now, started when I was 19. Here's what I recommend the most.
Use whatever you can to learn how to skate. The best way is to learn from experience as to what feels right. Go to OPEN HOCKEY A LOT. You'll find good people there, and you'll get your face out to the general hockey community around your arena. Also, since a lot of new players go to open hockey, the really good players are usually always willing to help out, so don't be afraid to talk to people on the bench while you're not playing. Since its open hockey, no one will ever really blame you if you mess up and it leads to a goal given up, because the game doesn't really matter.
Don't be afraid either. You may be new, but don't let what others think of you stop you for any reason. Hell, being a hockey player, this should be no problem, but even if you hear things(he's new, he sucks, stupid stuff like that, etc etc). After a year or so, you'll have a good idea of what to generally do and you'll be fine. Remember, you weren't born Wayne Gretzky, so don't expect to get good in a day.
And most of all, HAVE FUN. After all, isn't that why we play hockey?
Use whatever you can to learn how to skate. The best way is to learn from experience as to what feels right. Go to OPEN HOCKEY A LOT. You'll find good people there, and you'll get your face out to the general hockey community around your arena. Also, since a lot of new players go to open hockey, the really good players are usually always willing to help out, so don't be afraid to talk to people on the bench while you're not playing. Since its open hockey, no one will ever really blame you if you mess up and it leads to a goal given up, because the game doesn't really matter.
Don't be afraid either. You may be new, but don't let what others think of you stop you for any reason. Hell, being a hockey player, this should be no problem, but even if you hear things(he's new, he sucks, stupid stuff like that, etc etc). After a year or so, you'll have a good idea of what to generally do and you'll be fine. Remember, you weren't born Wayne Gretzky, so don't expect to get good in a day.
And most of all, HAVE FUN. After all, isn't that why we play hockey?
It's never too late to learn how to skate.....to play hockey ? Well ,let's just say don't give up .Keep the courage!
Grave77digger
Registered User
I tought myself to skate when I was 26ish. Im now almost 29 and have been playing ice hockey religiously for the past 2 years. Ive even managed 2 hattricks in my adult league!
http://www.pointstreak.com/players/playerpage.html?playerid=896163
my player page
Just keep skating and you cant go wrong and dont be afraid to push yourself hard. I pretty much hurt all the time from the bangs and bruises of playing. Have had my eyebrow split by a puck and I got a puck to mouth that shattered some teeth
http://www.pointstreak.com/players/playerpage.html?playerid=896163
my player page
Just keep skating and you cant go wrong and dont be afraid to push yourself hard. I pretty much hurt all the time from the bangs and bruises of playing. Have had my eyebrow split by a puck and I got a puck to mouth that shattered some teeth
Slick
Registered User
Even Wayne Gretzky wasn't born Wayne Gretzky! ...errr...well you know what I mean.
As for those guys that say negative things, it can be a confidence blow but like HockeyKnight said, just ignore them. I found it good motivation to make sure you stick it to them next shift if they are on the other team. I don't mean hit them/check them/trip them or anything that will get you in a fight, but if you can keep them from getting to the goal, maybe hooking their stick to keep them from getting a shot off, etc. Will make you feel very satisfied and make them think twice before knocking you. Nothing's more aggrivating then not being able to lift your stick to pass/shoot.
The Gabe Blade
Registered User
- Jul 9, 2004
- 4,995
- 1,613
I don't mean hit them/check them/trip them or anything that will get you in a fight, but if you can keep them from getting to the goal, maybe hooking their stick to keep them from getting a shot off, etc. Will make you feel very satisfied and make them think twice before knocking you. Nothing's more aggrivating then not being able to lift your stick to pass/shoot.
This is precisely what our old guy does. Not a great skater or stickhandler, but he does a good job getting in the way of opposing players (and sometimes our own), he can dink the puck out of our zone or to a better teammate, and he can park himself in front of the crease to screen. When he gets knocked down (which is often) he gets back up for more and never complains.
I think once you start actually playing hockey, you can be a forward and just plant yourself in front of the net setting screens and jamming in rebounds. This takes the least amount of skating but the most amount of heart!
Slick
Registered User
That's exactly what I did my first couple months. I'm starting to venture out more now that I'm learning where the wings/center are supposed to be, but I never had a problem playing the crease (only time I did was when I wasn't wearing a cage). Been playing alot of defense lately too, as alot of the guys I've been playing with are cherry pickers and don't like to play both ends of the ice.
It's a great learning experience to play all positions. Makes you useful to the team's you want to play for and gives you an idea of what the other guy is thinking.
If it's anything like where I skate, there'll be more people of every age that don't know how to skate than there are of the above...but there'll always be the odd smart-arse and skate-bully that skates by everyone with not a thought. It's always kinda refereshing to see them fall.
This might be a silly questions...but have you looked on arenamaps.com? Whenever I'm going someplace (in Canada or the US) I know I might have the time, I'll see if there are any rinks around where I'm going to be.
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Jeffw-13
Registered User
- Mar 23, 2006
- 382
- 0
I would suggest joining a learn to skate program rather than trying to teach yourself. I made this mistake and am still trying to break a lot of the bad habits & technique I developed by learning on my own.
I think my development as a player would have been accelerated greatly if I'd done it right.
I think my development as a player would have been accelerated greatly if I'd done it right.
Well just got back, first time I went skating since the summer of 95,, at first it felt like such a foreign object from when I first started skating in 93 as Ice and Skate Blades is a completly unatural thing, but after awhile I got the hang of it ,,,and I was psyching myself out sitting waiting for the session to start as I looked around and saw all the teenagers and kids with parents and thought I would make a complete *** of myself, but to be honest as the 2 posters above set it seemed most of the people were new skaters, also as he said there was of course the smart *** skate bully who was skating 10X the speed of everyone else and was coming close to knocking people over
Just some advice,, wear gloves, not only if you fall it helps, but god damn when I skated off the ice, my freakin hands were numb
Just some advice,, wear gloves, not only if you fall it helps, but god damn when I skated off the ice, my freakin hands were numb
Voda
Registered User
- Jun 3, 2006
- 805
- 0
i started when i was 23 so i can relate. i had never skated before.
i started getting the feel of skating by wearing roller-blades around my apartment (hardwood floors) and taking them to a nearby tennis/basketball court in the summer to get the feeling of skating. wear a helmet and if you want knee/elbow pads, which will eliminate some of the fear involved in learning skating. and be prepared to fall. if you don't fall you're not pushing yourself hard enough.
my advice is to not even pick up a stick until you can stay on your feet and skate at least at a novice or moderate level. if you can't even stay up there's no sense in having a stick in your hands.
once you can skate somewhat, pick up a stick and start with a rollerball wristing it against a chainlink fence and stickhandling it on concrete or pavement. this simulation will help you transfer your game to ice.
if you want to learn on ice, buy all the equipment and push yourself so that you fall often. you're learning curve will be much steeper this way, but learning on ice is expensive because you will invest a lot of ice-time hours just learning to skate.
my experience allowed me to start playing pickup roller hockey at a relatively competitive level in about 4 months. At about 8 months i started on ice, and at about a year and a half i was playing in my local rink adult D league (which is the beginner league level in/around Pittsburgh)
good luck and have fun!
i started getting the feel of skating by wearing roller-blades around my apartment (hardwood floors) and taking them to a nearby tennis/basketball court in the summer to get the feeling of skating. wear a helmet and if you want knee/elbow pads, which will eliminate some of the fear involved in learning skating. and be prepared to fall. if you don't fall you're not pushing yourself hard enough.
my advice is to not even pick up a stick until you can stay on your feet and skate at least at a novice or moderate level. if you can't even stay up there's no sense in having a stick in your hands.
once you can skate somewhat, pick up a stick and start with a rollerball wristing it against a chainlink fence and stickhandling it on concrete or pavement. this simulation will help you transfer your game to ice.
if you want to learn on ice, buy all the equipment and push yourself so that you fall often. you're learning curve will be much steeper this way, but learning on ice is expensive because you will invest a lot of ice-time hours just learning to skate.
my experience allowed me to start playing pickup roller hockey at a relatively competitive level in about 4 months. At about 8 months i started on ice, and at about a year and a half i was playing in my local rink adult D league (which is the beginner league level in/around Pittsburgh)
good luck and have fun!
DevilsFan38
Registered User
I'm in a similar situation - I'm 21, and I really want to get into hockey. I can skate well forwards, decent crossovers, but my backwards skating and stopping leave a lot to be desired. The only learn to skate classes in the rinks by me are either specifically for little kids or seem to emphasize the figure skating stuff. I've bought Laura Stamm's powerskating book and I think that has definitely helped, but sometimes I have problems visualizing how to do stuff.
So, I was wondering, does anyone have her powerskating DVD and if so, how is it? Or any other tips for DVD's or videos on the internet to check out?
So, I was wondering, does anyone have her powerskating DVD and if so, how is it? Or any other tips for DVD's or videos on the internet to check out?
MikeD
Registered User
nothing wrong with also going back to your local rinks and watching the pee wee major, Bantam and/or Midget travel hockey practices. While you cant skate with them, you sure can watch, listen and learn a good bit about skating and hockey. there are lots of individual development drills used there that you can take to open skate for your own development.
EmptyNetter
Registered User
I've got Laura Stamm's book, too, and have gotten a lot out of it. Know what you meant about translating her explanations onto the ice, though. A friend has her video but wasn't raving about it -- seems she tries to cram too much into each lesson. Instead of showing just one move at a time she transitions from one into another into another. He recommended this guy instead: http://www.robbyglantz.com/
EmptyNetter
Registered User
IMO if it's not too crowded and you can skate with control it's okay to skate faster than the crowd. Just keep these two points in mind:
- Give the wobbly skaters a wide berth -- you never know in which direction they'll fall.
- Never skate between a child and his parent or a child and the wall -- they're always skating toward one or the other.
If there's an intro or beginner league nearby, just go for it. There's plenty of guys in those leagues who can't skate backwards or stop, trust me.
And it will get you ice time and make you more comfortable. I would also try to get non-game ice time to work on stops/backwards skating.
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