Hockey parent

[Drock99]

I have a 7 yo son who is in his 3rd year of hockey. Due to covid we have only been able to practice all year. He has always been a clumsy kid, fairly tall for his age. He hasn't progressed much at all this year. About half of the time I help the other coaches on the ice to give more direction for the kids. I was able to go on the ice for the first time in a couple of months. My son falls at least 20 times in a 45 minute practice. The other kids rarely fall. He has a hard time skating backwards and stopping on his weak foot; things that he should be able to do by now. Myself having played hockey my whole life am bummed out by his lack of progression. He never complains about going to hockey so I know he at least likes it. But when he struggles, I can see he isn't enjoying it. Is there anything that he can do to better his balance to help his skating off ice? Will he eventually find his balance as he gets older? Would extra ice time really be beneficial? Any advice is much appreciated

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[Filthy Dangles]

I have a 7 yo son who is in his 3rd year of hockey. Due to covid we have only been able to practice all year. He has always been a clumsy kid, fairly tall for his age. He hasn't progressed much at all this year. About half of the time I help the other coaches on the ice to give more direction for the kids. I was able to go on the ice for the first time in a couple of months. My son falls at least 20 times in a 45 minute practice. The other kids rarely fall. He has a hard time skating backwards and stopping on his weak foot; things that he should be able to do by now. Myself having played hockey my whole life am bummed out by his lack of progression. He never complains about going to hockey so I know he at least likes it. But when he struggles, I can see he isn't enjoying it. Is there anything that he can do to better his balance to help his skating off ice? Will he eventually find his balance as he gets older? Would extra ice time really be beneficial? Any advice is much appreciated

I'm gonna assume a few things to rule out it being an equipment issue. Like he has the right skates and pads that fit him properly and his blades are adequately sharepened...If you're not sure about those things, you should talk to someone at yout LHS.

But assuming those things, it sounds like he might not have a good foundation of skating. A lot of novice and young players struggle with a good hockey stance with knees bent. That helps you keep your balance perform other skating maneuvers.

I really don't see you being able to do anything off ice with a 7 year old off ice to fix that. Maybe roller skating if that's an option? In my area, outdoor roller hockey rinks are pretty prevalent. That can help with some basics that would carry over to ice skating.

 

[Yukon Joe]

I have a 7 yo son who is in his 3rd year of hockey. Due to covid we have only been able to practice all year. He has always been a clumsy kid, fairly tall for his age. He hasn't progressed much at all this year. About half of the time I help the other coaches on the ice to give more direction for the kids. I was able to go on the ice for the first time in a couple of months. My son falls at least 20 times in a 45 minute practice. The other kids rarely fall. He has a hard time skating backwards and stopping on his weak foot; things that he should be able to do by now. Myself having played hockey my whole life am bummed out by his lack of progression. He never complains about going to hockey so I know he at least likes it. But when he struggles, I can see he isn't enjoying it. Is there anything that he can do to better his balance to help his skating off ice? Will he eventually find his balance as he gets older? Would extra ice time really be beneficial? Any advice is much appreciated

Well I don't know if I have answers but I can at least empathize. I have 3 sons playing hockey. Oldest is 10 loves it made Tier 1 this year. Second is 8 he likes it and made Tier 2. Third is 7 is pretty ambivalent towards hockey and is 7 and made Tier 6 (the lowest). It's his third year as well. He doesn't really fall but his backwards skating is weak as is stopping on his off foot.

The thing for me is: yes extra ice time will always help but not at the cost of turning him off from hockey. We've been hitting up the ODRs (out door rinks) while hockey has been on pause but my 7 year old only skates for a portion of the time before wanting to do something else. So I haven't put him in any extra camps or extra ice time like his brothers.

Get him on the much ice as you can afford and he will still enjoy, but do not push beyond that. It may be that things will start to click for him and he'll really start to take off (I've seen that happen). But I also learned assistant coaching that Tier 6 team that just because the kids aren't all that good doesn't mean they don't enjoy hockey, or they don't get super excited about scoring a goal or winning a game. Let him enjoy the game on his own terms.

Around here hockey is opening up again this weekend. So my 7 year old will be out practicing for the first time in 3-4 months. We'll see how it goes.

Last thing - for balance - just get the kid doing any sport in the off-season. Baseball, soccer, whatever - keeping him active in any way will help his balance and co-ordination. But if he's having balance and co-ordination issues outside of hockey a quick trip to the pediatrician isn't a terrible idea either.

 

[puckpilot]

As others have said, it's about the basic foundation. The more solid the foundation, the easier it will be to advance. But it might take some work with a skating coach to help him catch up. And I'll stress the word work. Hopefully, he'll be gung-ho about it, but if he isn't, there might not be much you can do.

Part of it is on him. If he doesn't have the drive to improve, I'm not too sure how much nudging you can do. So be cognizant of that.

I have a nephew who could be moving up the ranks as a really good hockey player. Until this year, he always played at about the highest level for his age. Biased uncle obviously, but he has a knack for the game and nose for the net. But he doesn't have the fire. He's happy just playing and practising and rarely does any extra work to improve, so that holds him back. But at the end of the day, no one wants to push him into anything doesn't want to do. It's his life.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Bring him to public session every week and let him just skate for an hour. Do this for a year and he will be a much better skater. Or get him a skating coach.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

One thing to pay attention to is which way he tends to fall.

When I started hockey as a kid, I fell a lot and my coach noticed that it was because I had a tendency to be upright and I would never lean forward like you’re supposed to.

As for developing balance, playing a wide variety of sports, some of which will require balance and agility will really help.

Soccer is fairly obvious, skiing/snowboarding is a good one.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

A 7yr old in his 3rd year of hockey already kind of blows my mind. One of my kids started at 7. The others at 8. I wouldn't worry about anything they do or seem interested in, or disinterested in, until they are like 11 or 12.

 

[cynicalcitizen]

Agility drills off ice help with balance and footwork. My son has always been a decent skater, but ladder drills, change of direction drills, and load drills in the backyard made a big difference. Just understanding his feet under him and how they can work better made a difference when he stepped on the ice.

Being patient with a good skating skills coach is beneficial, too.

 

[Yukon Joe]

A 7yr old in his 3rd year of hockey already kind of blows my mind. One of my kids started at 7. The others at 8. I wouldn't worry about anything they do or seem interested in, or disinterested in, until they are like 11 or 12.

That means the kid started when he was 5. In my experience that's completely normal. You can start even younger than that - although at the really young ages it's basically just learning to skate with a stick in your hand, rather than anything that resembles a hockey game.

I'm not a "my kid is going to play in the NHL" kind of hockey parent but if you or your kid are remotely competitive you probably want to start out earlier than 7. My 7 year old finally made it out on the ice again with his team this past weekend (it was glorious!). I've mentioned he's in the lowest tier for his age (and that's okay!). This is his third year of hockey, and some of those kids on his team I've known and coached for the last 3 years as well.

So I'm from hockey-mad Canada, I get it. And if your kid out of the blue shows interest in hockey at 8, 10 or 12 then it's never too late to start playing hockey (I started at age 42!). But if you think your kid is going to play hockey I think it's better to get them started earlier rather than later. I think it would be really hard to start playing hockey at age 8 when almost all of the other kids, even at lower levels, will have been playing for 2-3 years already.



And I'm mostly a hockey parent, but this is not exclusive to hockey either. We've dabbled with soccer as well, and 5-6 is the age most kids start playing soccer.

 

[MartinS82]

I have a 7 yo son who is in his 3rd year of hockey. Due to covid we have only been able to practice all year. He has always been a clumsy kid, fairly tall for his age. He hasn't progressed much at all this year. About half of the time I help the other coaches on the ice to give more direction for the kids. I was able to go on the ice for the first time in a couple of months. My son falls at least 20 times in a 45 minute practice. The other kids rarely fall. He has a hard time skating backwards and stopping on his weak foot; things that he should be able to do by now. Myself having played hockey my whole life am bummed out by his lack of progression. He never complains about going to hockey so I know he at least likes it. But when he struggles, I can see he isn't enjoying it. Is there anything that he can do to better his balance to help his skating off ice? Will he eventually find his balance as he gets older? Would extra ice time really be beneficial? Any advice is much appreciated

Your son already has the most important thing: he loves hockey so build off of that. .

Off ice, have him work on agility type of drills like ladders, karaokes, etc. Soccer is a good secondary sport to improve balance and footwork too. Games like freeze tag help with balance (on and off ice) if you play in a small area.

He will get more balance as he gets older - but some basic skating lessons will help him especially with edgework and backwards skating. Both of those aren't natural for a 7 year old so they will need to be taught to some degree.

My goal (I've been coaching for many years) with younger players is just to get them to love hockey. My older son was a wonky skater who did okay in house league up until 10 (he started skating at 3) but then a light switch went off and by time he was 12u he was a top scorer on his team and near the top in the league. Wish I could tell you what it was that threw that switch, but the general idea is that 10-12 years old is when most development occurs. Here's a good article from USA Hockey:

Cashing In On The Golden Age | USA Hockey Magazine.

 

[lorwood]

Forget the hockey for a while and go back to the basics. Skating. If at all possible get a private skating instructor once or twice a week and go to a public session once or twice. Started my grandson on skates at 3 and skated for almost three years before we ever put a stick in his hands. Today he is playing 10U travel and while he is about a year behind in his hockey skills and knowledge he is easily a year or two ahead in skating. The hockey part is easier to catch up and the skating will just keep improving.

 

[jw2]

I have a 7 yo son who is in his 3rd year of hockey. Due to covid we have only been able to practice all year. He has always been a clumsy kid, fairly tall for his age. He hasn't progressed much at all this year. About half of the time I help the other coaches on the ice to give more direction for the kids. I was able to go on the ice for the first time in a couple of months. My son falls at least 20 times in a 45 minute practice. The other kids rarely fall. He has a hard time skating backwards and stopping on his weak foot; things that he should be able to do by now. Myself having played hockey my whole life am bummed out by his lack of progression. He never complains about going to hockey so I know he at least likes it. But when he struggles, I can see he isn't enjoying it. Is there anything that he can do to better his balance to help his skating off ice? Will he eventually find his balance as he gets older? Would extra ice time really be beneficial? Any advice is much appreciated

Try other skating environments. If he is getting upset with how he performs during skating drills, maybe look for open ice skates, or stick and puck skates where just you 2 can be out there skating, not focusing on anything specific, just getting him more ice time.

 

[Jjbuck]

He's 7 and is having fun. Thats the goal. Done.

You played your whole life, already disappointed in his progress, yet here you are ... not playing pro hockey. What happened? Maybe your kid is disappointed in his old man?

Anyway. My kid didn't start skating till he was 8. Couldn't stand up for a year and a half. Didn't get a stride till he was 12. Was slowest kid on the ice till he was 14. 9th grade we hoped he'd make bench rider on JV.

He loved every minute on the ice. Ended up being one of the quickest kids on the team his senior year. Last year of amateurs lucked into a coach that loved his agression.

He started on D, filled in and started at F. And midway thru that last season was rotated in as C on D zone faceoffs.

He was also shifted against the opposing team goons when games got chippy. Even though he was a foot shorter than the goons.

When he fell 100 times a game/practice those first 2-3 years. I told him his super power was popping back up.

The other kids that never fell, never learned how to pop up.

Hockey isn't hockey till checking starts. The super fast kids in peewee tend to disappear at bantam when the hitting starts. And kids that never fell, get up a lot slower.

Let him continue to have fun. Grinders need love too! Ha!

And in the end, there's a good chance he'll end his career by never turning pro too! Just like dad.

 

[abo9]

He's 7 and is having fun. Thats the goal. Done.

You played your whole life, already disappointed in his progress, yet here you are ... not playing pro hockey. What happened? Maybe your kid is disappointed in his old man?

Anyway. My kid didn't start skating till he was 8. Couldn't stand up for a year and a half. Didn't get a stride till he was 12. Was slowest kid on the ice till he was 14. 9th grade we hoped he'd make bench rider on JV.

He loved every minute on the ice. Ended up being one of the quickest kids on the team his senior year. Last year of amateurs lucked into a coach that loved his agression.

He started on D, filled in and started at F. And midway thru that last season was rotated in as C on D zone faceoffs.

He was also shifted against the opposing team goons when games got chippy. Even though he was a foot shorter than the goons.

When he fell 100 times a game/practice those first 2-3 years. I told him his super power was popping back up.

The other kids that never fell, never learned how to pop up.

Hockey isn't hockey till checking starts. The super fast kids in peewee tend to disappear at bantam when the hitting starts. And kids that never fell, get up a lot slower.

Let him continue to have fun. Grinders need love too! Ha!

And in the end, there's a good chance he'll end his career by never turning pro too! Just like dad.

Lol are you my dad? My brother's "Career" almost went exactly like that. He was never the slowest but never had a great balance and pretty weak overall. But pretty intelligent player, could play D, wings or C and as time went he became a center version of a "mini Gallagher". He now gained a little strenght and people love playing with him (I think haha).

Myself, I was a pretty bad skater as a kid (probably still am lol). I decided to switch to goals but OP don't despair, as I was just a little crazy. I still played outside a lot as a player though so I could see my progression. Reflecting on it I think the biggest thing for me was getting lower on my skates - maybe you can try to emphasize that with your kid but obviously don't overdo it, he just needs to love skating and playing (some kids just don't want to pay attention to the details).

Also I've seen mentioned to check if the skates are sharpened correctly. I think it's worth adding to not go crazy on the sharpening either. It's a tough balance with kids (since as the kid you don't always know what you like in terms of sharpness) but I distinctly remember going onto the ice after a good sharpen and not being able to turn/stop correctly because my skates would dig into the ice way too strongly haha. Easy to fix when you know it but definitely a learning experience!