Advice: Getting into Hockey as an Adult

[heavymetalthunder]

Hey guys, so my cousin from Sweden just moved to the states and has convinced me to start playing hockey with him! I always wanted to play as a kid, but the gear and ice time was too expensive so I've mostly just been a fan. I'm 26 now (he's been playing pretty much his whole life), and I'm basically a complete beginner outside of a little bit of roller hockey as a kid.

I finally bit the bullet and ordered some skates, but my skating is pretty atrocious. I can move around, but I'm definitely not ready for any drop-in games without embarrassing myself (and probably pissing some people off). Once I get my skates in the mail, my cousin is gonna take me to a stick and puck at a rink nearby and shoot some pucks around and show me the ropes. He's got all the extra gear for me to use aside from skates.

I'm excited to play, just a little bit nervous about my skating skill level. Any others out there start playing/skating as an adult? How good should my skating be before I start playing with others? Any other do's/dont's at the rink I should know about? Any advice would be much appreciated!

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[Filthy Dangles]

I would say you might want to have this checklist of skating skill before trying to drop in on Open Hockey.

-Can forward stride comfortably without losing balance or falling down
-Can turn (not on a dime) but well enough that you're not making a tractor trailer wide turn and struggling to keep balance and crashing into the boards. You need to be able to change direction efficiently.
-Hockey stop with at least the lead foot. Again not on a dime and not where you have to spray snow in someones face but where you can comfortably stop and slow down without crashing into the boards or other players
-I'd also say maybe a foundation of basic backwards skating (where you can pivot from front to back and glide going backwards without falling down) and vice versa.

The only suggestions are to get out on the ice as much as you can. Maybe look for a clinic at your rink or area if they have any. That and stick and puck

 

[shoeshine boy]

Most rinks offer learn to skate for hockey classes.
Here’s the most advice: when you go to public skate to work on your skating, wear a helmet and hockey gloves MINIMUM. I’d also add shin guards and elbow pads under track pants and a hoodie but please, please protect your head.
The hardest part of that is not caring what others think or say.
Hockey is a difficult sport to start as an adult because it’s impossible to hide the fact that you suck. Put in the work though and you’ll get better and have a whole new view of the game.
Oh, and don’t go to public skate or stick & puck in skinny jeans.

 

[BruinDust]

Hey guys, so my cousin from Sweden just moved to the states and has convinced me to start playing hockey with him! I always wanted to play as a kid, but the gear and ice time was too expensive so I've mostly just been a fan. I'm 26 now (he's been playing pretty much his whole life), and I'm basically a complete beginner outside of a little bit of roller hockey as a kid.

I finally bit the bullet and ordered some skates, but my skating is pretty atrocious. I can move around, but I'm definitely not ready for any drop-in games without embarrassing myself (and probably pissing some people off). Once I get my skates in the mail, my cousin is gonna take me to a stick and puck at a rink nearby and shoot some pucks around and show me the ropes. He's got all the extra gear for me to use aside from skates.

I'm excited to play, just a little bit nervous about my skating skill level. Any others out there start playing/skating as an adult? How good should my skating be before I start playing with others? Any other do's/dont's at the rink I should know about? Any advice would be much appreciated!

My advice is don't worry about the bolded. In my experience in adult rec hockey, the vast majority of players are encouraging and supportive and don't care if your good, bad, or whatever. They get this is just for fun.

 

[Yukon Joe]

@heavymetalthunder I started playing about 3 years ago in my 40s. It's been a blast!

If you can see if there are any adult learn-to-play programs in your area - and just googling for Denver suggests there are (who knows with Covid though). The reason is it's always re-assuring to be with other people going through the same struggles - to know that it's not just you, that learning any new sport is tough.

Drop-in shinny games are kind of hit or miss. It's not that you're going to suck (you are), and it's not that anyone is going to be pissed off (in my experience). But it is that even when the other players are taking it easy on you you can tell they're taking it easy on you and it gets discouraging. Once you're up and running see if you can get into slightly more organized rec hockey where teams are tiered according to ability.

 

[BoardsofCanada]

I got into rec. hockey later in life - (that was 15 years ago) - and here's my advice:

-take a power skating class (multiple times a week) for at least one season before joining an organized game. Power skating will teach you to get low and drive with your legs. I see so many beginners standing upright where you can't generate any power in your stride.
-hit the gym and start building leg muscles. When I first started, I was slow, weak and had little stability. After two-three years doing leg lifts, squats and 30 mins on my stair climber, I was much more stable on my skates. Even though I wasn't nearly as good as other guys in puck handling and playmaking, I could keep up with them in speed and mobility.

 

[its josh]

Dont set expectations
Just keep skating.
See if one of the local rinks has a program for beginners (not a zamboni league, but beginners). You dont have to do this yet. You can go to open/free skates to get comfortable skating around before you worry about hockey. Once you can do most aspects of skating without thinking about it, you can transition to hockey activities.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Focusing on skating really is the only answer. You have to be decent in order to compete and ultimately enjoy yourself. Most rinks have open skating (not hockey related) and that's where I would start. Work on your balance, stride, and turns first. Then you can practice skating backwards and hockey stops. Once you have a solid skating foundation (it will take a few months depending on how many times a week you can skate) you can then introduce the hockey elements.

 

[ScaredStreit]

If you can afford them take skating lessons. Skating is by far the most important skill in hockey...it's easily more important than all the other combined.

 

[JustJokinenAround]

i started at 18 and have been playing for 5-6 years now. its not as easy given the times but the best advice is to skate and play as much as you can. if you are on the ice as much as humanly possible you will see yourself getting better everytime. i started just playing pond with my buddies who all played hockey growing up and just eventually got better over time. skate as much as you can. don't get discouraged, its a hard game but its the best game we got

 

[Yukon Joe]

The other thing that has helped me a bunch is coaching minor hockey.

Now as someone new to the game I'm not coaching high level hockey - but as my kids went through their U7 / U9 I was out on the ice with them. I was leading very basic hockey drills - which meant I was having to demo and practice the drills myself. This fall (before things were shut down) I was coaching on 3 different teams, which meant 4-6hours per week in addition to my own games.

And minor hockey is so desperate for coaches they really don't care if you're not an expert.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I'd also suggest roller skating for when you wanna play but can't get on the ice. Definitely helped my ice skating over the years.

Rollerskating plus an outdoor stick on a smoother concrete surface so you can handle the puck as well

 

[Richard]

Time management-when you go to stick time DONT TOUCH THE PUCK. Work on your edges-especially your outside edge. Look up drills on youtube but you should be practicing forward and backward crossovers, doing figure 8 and one foot edgework drills.

Do an hour of edgework a month would do more for your skating than 2 or 3 pickup games a week.

Likewise, before everygame in warmups do edge drills to get going.

You can always get a feel for the puck and get those wrists going off the ice. You can't get a feel for skating unless you're skating (don't rollerblade as stated above, its a completely different motion and style. Everyone knows the guy who started with rollerblades and they arent great skaters (though Joey Mullen made a hall of game career out of it)).

Most important----HAVE FUN

 

[Richard]

Hey guys, so my cousin from Sweden just moved to the states and has convinced me to start playing hockey with him! I always wanted to play as a kid, but the gear and ice time was too expensive so I've mostly just been a fan. I'm 26 now (he's been playing pretty much his whole life), and I'm basically a complete beginner outside of a little bit of roller hockey as a kid.

I finally bit the bullet and ordered some skates, but my skating is pretty atrocious. I can move around, but I'm definitely not ready for any drop-in games without embarrassing myself (and probably pissing some people off). Once I get my skates in the mail, my cousin is gonna take me to a stick and puck at a rink nearby and shoot some pucks around and show me the ropes. He's got all the extra gear for me to use aside from skates.

I'm excited to play, just a little bit nervous about my skating skill level. Any others out there start playing/skating as an adult? How good should my skating be before I start playing with others? Any other do's/dont's at the rink I should know about? Any advice would be much appreciated!

Take the skates to a professional and verify they fit if you ordered them online. Non-properly fitting skates will lead to extremely bad habits and bad skating. You need the perfect fit, especially as a beginner and most especially to find your edges.

 

[kij]

Have fun.

As long as you aren't jumping into higher-level adult league games, the guys will usually be supportive and welcoming of you joining. In my small town rec-league we are a one size fits all group and the guys that played juniors/college go hard on each other and easy on the guys that didn't. We all get excited when the lower skill guys make big plays, thats just the mentality we have going.

 

[heavymetalthunder]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the advice. Went to my first stick and puck tonight and had a good time! Definitely intimidating when everyone there is such a good skater, but my cousin and I just stayed to ourselves on one end of the rink while the rest of the guys played pickup on the other end. Towards the end of the hour I was starting to feel somewhat comfortable on my skates and turned around to catch a pass that was behind my skates and twisted awkwardly and fell down. Feels like i bruised my rib, definitely gonna invest in some hockey pants and pads before next time! (yes I was the kook in the jeans).

Also, found out that the rink offers beginner hockey classes that are actually still open despite covid. I think I'm gonna sign up and keep going to stick and puck with my cousin, get as much ice time as I can! Glad to have taken the jump into the world of hockey and learn to play my favorite sport like I've always wanted to.

 

[heavymetalthunder]

Take the skates to a professional and verify they fit if you ordered them online. Non-properly fitting skates will lead to extremely bad habits and bad skating. You need the perfect fit, especially as a beginning and most especially to find your edges.

Yes, I took the skates to a shop and had them bake and sharpen them for me. Skated on them tonight and while they hurt a little since they're new skates, it felt like the fit was good. Not super loose or toes getting jammed at the end of the skate.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Oh, and don’t go to public skate or stick & puck in skinny jeans.

This is the best advice you will ever get for multiple reasons.