Roller Hockey player trying to stop on ice

[Polska]

I've recently made the transition to ice from roller hockey. Skating on ice actually feels more natural than on roller blades, but I have one major problem: I CAN'T STOP!!

No matter how hard I try to do a hockey stop and how much I practice (I've been to about 4 two hour free skate sessions to practice only stopping) I can't get it. I can do very sharp turns and when I try to do a hockey stop I just do a very sharp jerking like turn and sometimes end up spinning around. I don't slide scrapping the ice like everyone else.

I think its because the way you do a hockey stop in roller is so much different than in ice. Anyone have any pointers? Anyone ever find themself in a similar position? How long did it take you to get it?

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[Mr Jiggyfly]

I've recently made the transition to ice from roller hockey. Skating on ice actually feels more natural than on roller blades, but I have one major problem: I CAN'T STOP!!

No matter how hard I try to do a hockey stop and how much I practice (I've been to about 4 two hour free skate sessions to practice only stopping) I can't get it. I can do very sharp turns and when I try to do a hockey stop I just do a very sharp jerking like turn and sometimes end up spinning around. I don't slide scrapping the ice like everyone else.

I think its because the way you do a hockey stop in roller is so much different than in ice. Anyone have any pointers? Anyone ever find themself in a similar position? How long did it take you to get it?

On rollerblades you do a quick turn to stop...I had to teach many of my friends how to do the transition to ice, so this is a subject I am pretty knowledgeable about.

Luckily I have a backyard rink to teach them, or I wouldn't have the patience otherwise lol.

Remember when you stop on ice you glide your blades along the ice, then dig in.

The front skate is what you will be stopping on, and the back skate is more or less there to support you. So concentrate on digging in with that front skate..putting all of your weight on to it as you stop, then shifting the weight to your back foot to balance yourself.

If you fall over, you are most likely not shifting your weight properly as I mentioned above.

Just practice the steps in slow motion. Take 3-4 strides at a moderate pace, then turn your skates and slowly stop yourself.

Watch as many hockey games as you can and watch how the players stop...pay close attention to how they turn their skates and shift their balance. You can see this pretty well on instant replays.

 

[ClawinAtcha]

I totally understand where you are coming from. I transitioned to ice hockey at 18 after playing roller hockey since I was 15. It took me a while to learn how to stop, and it took until I was 20 to finally skate well enough to make the club team at my college.

Don't worry if it's slowly coming even after eight hours on the ice! It will come and when it does you will wonder how you ever stopped on wheels.

The first thing I would do when I got on the ice (to practice) would be to go over and hold the boards (I know this sounds gay) and push my blade out along the ice away from the boards, just to get the feel for how much I needed to dig in. Then I would turn the other way and do the same thing with the other foot.

Like the poster above me described, try stopping after taking a few short, soft strides to do it at slow speed. I used to go inbetween the red line and the blue line, facing the same side of the rink to practice one foot on the red line and the other on the blue line. Don't be surprised if you learn how to stop on one side and then it might take you a little while longer to get used to it on the other side! I'm right side dominant, so it was easier at first for me to stop on my right side. Interestingly, later on I still noticed that if I stopped left foot in front, I was digging in on the inside of my right foot to back it up!

One more tip... wearing pads will help you when you are learning. I know it may sound stupid to some, but wearing pads will help you to be more confident if you are holding back from trying to stop at higher speeds. I say this because I noticed that I learned how to stop a lot more quickly by playing pickup hockey, because I was wearing pads and so I was more fearless about falling and potentially breaking/tearing something. So try to play some pickup hockey or wear hockey pants and knee pads to the free skate.

You are doing the right thing by getting out there as often as possible.

Skate, skate, skate! You will get it with practice.

 

[technophile]

Don't feel bad; it took me almost 8 months to learn to hockey stop, coming from roller hockey.

The way I finally cracked it was to first, learn to do a partial snowplow stop (keep one foot gliding straight ahead, turn the other partially out and push it against the ice in front of you). Once you've got that, then you can start the partial snowplow and then move the gliding foot to the full hockey stop position; that lets you practice the different parts of the move separately.

Laura Stamm's Power Skating book has some good drills to learn the various kinds of stops.

 

[Keetz]

I totally understand where you are coming from. I transitioned to ice hockey at 18 after playing roller hockey since I was 15. It took me a while to learn how to stop, and it took until I was 20 to finally skate well enough to make the club team at my college.

Don't worry if it's slowly coming even after eight hours on the ice! It will come and when it does you will wonder how you ever stopped on wheels.

The first thing I would do when I got on the ice (to practice) would be to go over and hold the boards (I know this sounds gay) and push my blade out along the ice away from the boards, just to get the feel for how much I needed to dig in. Then I would turn the other way and do the same thing with the other foot.

Like the poster above me described, try stopping after taking a few short, soft strides to do it at slow speed. I used to go inbetween the red line and the blue line, facing the same side of the rink to practice one foot on the red line and the other on the blue line. Don't be surprised if you learn how to stop on one side and then it might take you a little while longer to get used to it on the other side! I'm right side dominant, so it was easier at first for me to stop on my right side. Interestingly, later on I still noticed that if I stopped left foot in front, I was digging in on the inside of my right foot to back it up!

One more tip... wearing pads will help you when you are learning. I know it may sound stupid to some, but wearing pads will help you to be more confident if you are holding back from trying to stop at higher speeds. I say this because I noticed that I learned how to stop a lot more quickly by playing pickup hockey, because I was wearing pads and so I was more fearless about falling and potentially breaking/tearing something. So try to play some pickup hockey or wear hockey pants and knee pads to the free skate.

You are doing the right thing by getting out there as often as possible.

Skate, skate, skate! You will get it with practice.

Great post.
I Captian a beginner team in my beer league and most of the new guys I get are making their switch from roller to ice. If you've ever down hill skied the best way to describe the hockey stop is to pretend your skiing.
I spent a good 30 minuets trying to explain it to one of my guys with no luck, then suddenly I asked if he had ever been skiing and with that he picked it up instantly. Ice is forgiving! the ice will give before your ankles.
Good luck

 

[znk]

LOL this is indeed a problem even for guys who usualy play ice hockey. I played JuniorA and durring the summer I played in a friendly roller hockey league organized by Martin Brodeur's borther in montreal (played against Martin Brodeur in that league...he played forward and was the best player in the league...just thought I slip this in )


Anyway when I'd go back to ice hockey I couldnt stop either. Altho since I had the experience I took about 15-20 of intense Braking exercises to get to do it properly. And even then I woundnt be natural durring the first 3-4 games and nearly killed my self a few times chasing the puck down the ice...and not having the confidence to break..and just running in to the boards nearly full speed(losing my breath and looking like an idiot in the process).

TIP:
I think It has alot to do with confidence and it feels counter intuitve at first. What I basicaly did was do a verry small jump (not really a jump but more like take all the weight of the skates, like keetz said..its kinda like skiing) and go straight to a 90 degree angle to my current direction and absorbe with my knees. What you think will happen is you'll break your ankles or topple over but it wont happen. Just repeat this over and over far from the boards so you arent worried about falling. And you should be ok. The thing that causes all the problems is the initial urge to turn, its a programed reflex and hard to get rid of.

I hope this helps. I can only imagine how hard this must be. I was on ice skates nearly 180 days in a year and 15 days on rollerblades and I had trouble going back to ice skates. GL!

 

[donelikedinner]

its simple, but takes practice:

if you're stopping with your left shoulder and left leg in the "lead", thats the leg to transfer most of your weight to, using the leg under you (the right leg) to support some weight to keep your balance and control.

try stopping with 1 leg going about 30% of your max speed. then when that is confortable, start including your other leg. make sure to practice any stopping exercise equally on both legs. when you have mastered stopping on your dominant side, make it 35% dominant & 65% weak side, hopefully until stopping on either side is equally comfortable

hope this helps

 

[me_dennis]

this is a dumb question.. but would sharpening the skates help?

 

[Polska]

this is a dumb question.. but would sharpening the skates help?

Ya, I actually wondered about that and asked someone who worked at the front desk of the rink I go to. He said they were really sharp. He actually said that may make it harder to learn to stop since they'll dig in a lot. But I think it's just a matter of putting less pressure on them.

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I have a couple new strategies to try now next time I'm on the ice. When I get it I'll let everyone know, I just hope it doesn't take me 8 months too. If anyone else has anything to add, please do. I can use all the help I can get.

 

[Titan124]

Is stopping on ice the same as stopping on skiis? I'm thinking about starting to play again and for some reason that's how I remember it. Not to thread hijack but I figure while we're on the topic of stopping...

 

[znk]

Ya, I actually wondered about that and asked someone who worked at the front desk of the rink I go to. He said they were really sharp. He actually said that may make it harder to learn to stop since they'll dig in a lot. But I think it's just a matter of putting less pressure on them.

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I have a couple new strategies to try now next time I'm on the ice. When I get it I'll let everyone know, I just hope it doesn't take me 8 months too. If anyone else has anything to add, please do. I can use all the help I can get.

Sharp skates definetly dont help. In fact I often unsharpen a bit them if I dont feel comfortable. It alot easier to break at low speeds with skates that arent too sharp.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Ya, I actually wondered about that and asked someone who worked at the front desk of the rink I go to. He said they were really sharp. He actually said that may make it harder to learn to stop since they'll dig in a lot. But I think it's just a matter of putting less pressure on them.

When you go to get them sharpened, get a shallow hallow put on your blades...if the guy looks at you quizically, then go to another shop until you can find someone who knows what that means.

The skates will be less sharp and won't dig into the ice as much.

Also make sure yoru skates are in square. Ask someone at a hockey shop to show you the difference. It will make a huge impact on your skating if your skates are out of square.

 

[futurcorerock]

It's all physics:

former roller playing ice now. Try to think of the ice as a totally foreign surface than what you're use to and things will go much smoothly.

The best way to start is to do a half snowplow... skate forward and make sure both edges are flat on the ice and that blades are not angled in or out (that seems to be the biggest problem) and turn your foot inward while keeping both edges on the ice... magically your skate will start making snow and you slow down.

Once you get the physics of why it works... it makes hockey stops SO much easier.