Advice for a total newbie?

[quoth the Raven]

Is this place close to you? Phone them

http://maps.google.ca/maps/place?hl=en&resnum=0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=nashville+hockey+shop&fb=1&gl=ca&hq=hockey+shop&hnear=nashville&cid=15247597370982671319

Hah, yeah that's super close to me! I think they have moved though, but they moved into the rink I am going to skate at tomorrow, so talk about super convenient. I will definitely look at their sticks, but from my memory the stuff there is pretty expensive. We have two Play It Again Sports stores real near me so they are great options (that's where I got all my gear). However do you guys recommend any on this site? They are only $15 and I am already getting other stuff so the shipping would essentially be free.

http://www.hockeygiant.com/stick---shafts---blades-wood-hockey-sticks.html

(Btw... I think I will need a junior stick. That's what my regular stick is, a junior with an extension that's about 2-3 inches).

EDIT: I want to go as cheap as possible since it's just for practice in the backyard.

 

[HawksFanInBoston]

Figured this was a good place to post this -- OP, I have no experience at all so I can't help you there.

I'm a 22-year-old girl who never, ever played any form of hockey except the occasional roller hockey when I was a kid. I figure skated for a couple of years when I was very young (think 6 or 7 yrs) and while I was pretty good back then, I just recently started skating again for the first time. It's been coming back to me pretty quickly, except for back crossovers -- for some reason I just can't get them to work! Any advice/tips on how to pick this up?

 

[Gino 14]

Figured this was a good place to post this -- OP, I have no experience at all so I can't help you there.

I'm a 22-year-old girl who never, ever played any form of hockey except the occasional roller hockey when I was a kid. I figure skated for a couple of years when I was very young (think 6 or 7 yrs) and while I was pretty good back then, I just recently started skating again for the first time. It's been coming back to me pretty quickly, except for back crossovers -- for some reason I just can't get them to work! Any advice/tips on how to pick this up?

Keep your head up and practice.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Keep your head up and practice.

On that note, any tips for handling the puck/ball without looking at it?

 

[Bring Bak Damphousse]

Is it okay to use my stick on the concrete? I have a tennis ball I can use in the backyard but I'm so protective of my new stick that I don't really want to ruin it on the concrete.

I've got a plastic blade for playing street hockey or just screwing around on concrete. It's a one piece stick, not one of those were you just screw a plastic blade onto a shaft. I prefer plastic on cement because it obviously dosn't splinter the way wood does and it slides across cement alot easier than a wood blade.

 

[Jarick]

Get a Smarthockey ball and stickhandle in your garage/driveway/basement/etc with your head up. Go back and forth working on "quiet" hands (shouldn't be a smack every time you touch it), then you can move it around, side to side, front and back, figure 8's, around objects, and keep your head up.

If you're shooting off concrete, pick up some lexan, either from a shooting board, or at the hardware store, or even a rink that might have old boards sitting around. Saves the stick.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Get a Smarthockey ball and stickhandle in your garage/driveway/basement/etc with your head up. Go back and forth working on "quiet" hands (shouldn't be a smack every time you touch it), then you can move it around, side to side, front and back, figure 8's, around objects, and keep your head up.

If you're shooting off concrete, pick up some lexan, either from a shooting board, or at the hardware store, or even a rink that might have old boards sitting around. Saves the stick.

Thanks, that helps a bunch.

 

[Devil Dancer]

If you're practicing off-ice, wear roller blades. The feel isn't exactly the same, but as a beginner it's similar enough that you will benefit from wearing the skates as you do the stick handling/shooting drills/practice.

 

[FinHockey]

Whenever you start working on you're crossover's, remember to work on the weak side more than the strong side. God it's silly that i crossover like a pro to the right. To the left it just feel's unnatural. Same goes for backward's. I crossover perfectly to the right hand side and almost uncapable of crossovering to the left.

What does crossover mean? I know this sounds stupid but I'm not that much into hockeyterm in English. Could you please also post the Finnish word for crossover.

 

[quoth the Raven]

What does crossover mean? I know this sounds stupid but I'm not that much into hockeyterm in English. Could you please also post the Finnish word for crossover.

Would it help if I explained it?
When turning, instead of just angling your feet in the direction you want to turn, you pick up one foot and put it over the other one, i.e. "crossing over" the other foot.

 

[FinHockey]

Would it help if I explained it?
When turning, instead of just angling your feet in the direction you want to turn, you pick up one foot and put it over the other one, i.e. "crossing over" the other foot.

Ok, I got it. Thanks.