I want to play hockey (never skated before)

[Victory Ali*]

Hey Kids,

So I want to learn to play hockey and eventually some day join a rec league. The only problem is that I'm twenty-one years old and I've never so much as had ice skates on before. I have a really cool ice arena literally within sight of my apartment here in Seattle that seems to be a local hub for all of the recreational hockey players. I go in every once in awhile and watch the young kids play and also watch the old guys with beer bellys play when there's no hockey on TV. So what's my first step?

I know a lot of you were probably born with skates on your feet, so that's why I pose the question.

The Canucks need a power forward for the Sedins and need an enforcer and I think I'm the guy. (kidding)

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[octopi]

1. Get ice skates that fit.Wear a helmet.You will be spending a lot of time on your butt. Dress accordingly.

2. Join a learn to skate class, if possible. If not possible go for public skating, or to an open outdoor rink when noone else is there to practice.

3. Get used to skating. It will hurt your ankles initially.

Once you have gotten these down pretty well(It may take months) you can then learn to skate while holding a stick. Rec hockey is pretty low level, but try to join a beginner group if you can, and prepare to get your butt kicked. Even if you are pretty good at floor hockey, there is a whole different element in shinny/rec hockey.

 

[Crosbyfan]

Have fun. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[hexrae]

Be prepared for the long haul. While learning to skate does take some time, doing so effectively in game situations is another level altogether. Along with a helmet, it may help to wear knee and elbow pads, this way you push yourself further without fear of falling.

 

[#2eddieshore]

just learn to skate first, forget about the hockey part for now.

once you can go forwards, backwards and stop then its time for hockey.

 

[BringBackHakstol]

biggest rules is: don't get discouraged. learning to skate is probably the hardest thing to pick up in all of sports skills. hockey is an extremely complex and layered sport skill-wise, so putting it all together is going to take time and practice.

you at least should have a good idea on the mechanics of the game from watching a lot of hockey, however putting it all together while also trying to learn the basic skills is going to be an entirely different beast. practice practice practice.

 

[nikebauer]

Playing some roller hockey in the summer will also help!

Learn to roller blade. it's similar but obviously not the same, either way it's a good first step towards ice.

A lot of the muscle movements and stick skills will be the same, so get those into your muscle memory.

 

[technophile]

A lot of places have Learn To Skate/Learn To Play Hockey classes that are a great introduction. I started taking LTPH classes when I was 26(?) and I've had no trouble fitting into a local C-level rec league.

(I did play roller hockey for several years before that, though--so I'd definitely recommend you start out with a Learn To Skate type class, if you aren't fairly confident on skates already.)

 

[Jeffw-13]

There's alot of good advice in this thread. I started at age 31 so if I can do it so can you. Just stick with it, put in the work and don't get discouraged if it doesn't come quickly.

In time you'll look back and realize it was worth it.

 

[Snap Wilson]

I second much of the advice on this thread. Get your legs, and the rest will come.

A friend of mine, a pretty damned good rec league goalie, is absolutely terrible at skating somehow. We watch him skate out to the net to see if he'll fall over, that's how bad he is. But once he plants himself in the crease, he's great. Go figure.

 

[Slick]

A guy made a similiar post to this here:

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=313181

Not flaming ya, just figured it would give you more advice.

I'll copy my reply in that thread here since you are in the exact situation I was in December last year. I'm 22 and wanted to finally give hockey a shot. I couldn't skate, didn't own a single piece of equipment, but decided it was worth it. I went to public skates in the afternoons during the week at my local rink. I did this because no one was there during this time. I'm in college so I didn't have class at this time, it's tough if you work though. Since barely anyone was there I had run of the ice and didn't care how much of a fool I looked. I just kept practicing over and over on stopping, switching from forward to backwards and back again. Finally I practiced backwards crossovers by going around the circles of the rink. After getting my confidence up, I went to open hockey/stick time. I played for about a month and a half until winter ended. I stopped all spring/summer/fall unfortunately and I just played my first open hockey yesterday. I got my *** handed to me by a bunch of 16-17 year old high school kids, but it's my own fault for not playing during summer. I'm certainly not the most skilled out there, and have absolutely no slap shot (its pretty embarrasing when I try), but I can still play and have fun and that's the most important part. Continually seeing some sort of improvement in your game is very rewarding.

Anyway, keep your head up man. I've had a ball playing, very few people I've met have had any kind of attitude at open hockey everyone just goes to have a good time. It took me about a month of going to free skates about 3 times a week before I had the confidence to go try hockey, and even then it helped having my buddy also playing for the first time. Best of luck to you, I started going to the free skates mid December and was playing hockey in the middle of January. If you're already starting now I'm positive you'll be able to play some hockey this year. Good luck!

 

[LVIsles*]

reading some of these posts has me feeling good, I am gonna be 27 in a few days and always wanted to play, I skated a few time in my teens but havent skated in at least 10 years,,, I think the one thing holding me back is the embaressment of going by myself to a public rink trying to learn to skate all over while 13 and 14 year olds do laps around me while laughing,,

 

[LVIsles*]

also kind of a Pejorative Slured off-topic question,, but I bought a pair of skates a few years ago, I think I got them sharpened but never used them, should I get them sharpened again? How do I know when to get them sharpened?

 

[Ti-girl]

also kind of a Pejorative Slured off-topic question,, but I bought a pair of skates a few years ago, I think I got them sharpened but never used them, should I get them sharpened again? How do I know when to get them sharpened?

As long as they were never used and there's no rust on the edges it shouldnt be a problem...

 

[Victory Ali*]

reading some of these posts has me feeling good, I am gonna be 27 in a few days and always wanted to play, I skated a few time in my teens but havent skated in at least 10 years,,, I think the one thing holding me back is the embaressment of going by myself to a public rink trying to learn to skate all over while 13 and 14 year olds do laps around me while laughing,,

That's what I'm terrified of as well.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Learn to rollerblade first - you can do it in more relative privacy, and from there it's a pretty straightforward transition to ice skating.

I was in the same type of situation as you - Seattle-area guy new to the sport, so I taught myself how to rollerblade my junior year at WWU (I did it at night, and if people asked why I couldn't stand up well, I told them I was skating home from a party. )

 

[WhoozYerrDaddy]

reading some of these posts has me feeling good, I am gonna be 27 in a few days and always wanted to play, I skated a few time in my teens but havent skated in at least 10 years,,, I think the one thing holding me back is the embaressment of going by myself to a public rink trying to learn to skate all over while 13 and 14 year olds do laps around me while laughing,,

It could be worse.

You could have 6 or 7 year olds skating circles around you, pointing and laughing.

Just trying to help.

 

[The Gabe Blade]

Hey Kids,

So I want to learn to play hockey and eventually some day join a rec league. The only problem is that I'm twenty-one years old and I've never so much as had ice skates on before. I have a really cool ice arena literally within sight of my apartment here in Seattle that seems to be a local hub for all of the recreational hockey players. I go in every once in awhile and watch the young kids play and also watch the old guys with beer bellys play when there's no hockey on TV. So what's my first step?

I know a lot of you were probably born with skates on your feet, so that's why I pose the question.

The Canucks need a power forward for the Sedins and need an enforcer and I think I'm the guy. (kidding)

I was 28 when I decided I had to play. I had never skated before.

I bought some skates in November and I skated in my living room on the carpet for an hour. Then i dared to go to the school yard and skate! In December I joined a league and was playing.

It was so funny! I was in this beginner league and didnt know how to turn to well. I would make these huge arcing turns and by the time play was coming back I would have to start making another huge arcing turn.

Get your gear, join a league, have fun.

 

[Slick]

I had a 6-7 year old skate up to me in public skate, turn around and go "Hahaha! You can't skate!??!"

So I threw him into the boards. Just kidding. But really, I did.

Try and go to a public skate earlier in the day if you can (or on lunch break) when no one's there if you're self concious (I was). If you can't, then you gotta suck it up.

Learning on rollerblades would be a big help if you can't skate at all (and as mentioned more private); however if you can skate a bit then don't wait too long before jumping on the ice skates. It's important to work on all aspects of your skating (almost at the same time).

Also, LVIsles, the skates should be fine so long as the blade hasn't been resting on concrete or something for years, or as Ti girl said no rust. If you're worried about it, go get them sharpened. If you haven't skated in a while you will have a harder time realizing they are too dull, like me who tried learning to skate on ice skates that had never been sharpened (was told they were).

 

[Slick]

I bought some skates in November and I skated in my living room on the carpet for an hour.

You have ice in your living room? You're the first person I've ever talked to who learned to skate in their living room. (I'm assuming you mean roller blades haha). Cheers.

 

[The Gabe Blade]

You have ice in your living room? You're the first person I've ever talked to who learned to skate in their living room. (I'm assuming you mean roller blades haha). Cheers.

Roller blades are those things with stoppers, I didnt buy those. I use the boards as stoppers.

 

[Gentle Ben Ken0bi]

also kind of a Pejorative Slured off-topic question,, but I bought a pair of skates a few years ago, I think I got them sharpened but never used them, should I get them sharpened again? How do I know when to get them sharpened?

I would get them re sharpened no matter what. If there are knicks in the blade you will be frustrated. it only costs a few bucks but do it anyways. I sharpened my skates every 5 games or so. When you skate on a regular basis you will know when it is time to get them sharpened and what hollow to get. But take them in before you skate.

 

[Joretus]

also kind of a Pejorative Slured off-topic question,, but I bought a pair of skates a few years ago, I think I got them sharpened but never used them, should I get them sharpened again? How do I know when to get them sharpened?

First of all as some1 mentioned you should check if those have rust, that's first step. If not, then those should be ok. You can have couple of tests when you should sharpen up your skates again.

Take one of your skates and turn it so you can use one of your fingernails for test how sharp blades are. You should pull your finger so that blade could slice your fingernail. Blades are sharpen enough as long as those will slice your fingernails. You can try couple of areas like that, ie. front of blade, middle of, back and of course both sides(inside/outside).

There is some other things too which should be considered when you are playing "for real", but when you are just starting that's enough.

Note for any1 who is starting skating take always some rag with you when going to skate, then after skating dry your blades. Then when you will go at home put those skates ie against some wall and dry again a bit later and then you won't have any rust.

Good luck for any1 who is starting to learn skating/hockey, it's hard ,but a lot of fun. I personally learned to skate at age of 2 and I think I fell down a lot back then. And as others have pointed out, first you should learn skating well before taking stick with you.

 

[Gino 14]

Don't let your age hold you back from starting to play, I was 42 when I started, my daughter got me to start. Spend some extra money and get a good pair of skates and get them fitted properly, it's the best thing you can do to get started. Skate every chance you get, open skates, LTP, whatever. Find some equipment and start learning to skate with it on. Just knowing that you won't get hurt so much when you fall will allow you to skate better. Don't get discouraged, there's a lot more folks out there than you realize that are going through the same thing. good luck.

 

[Jeff Goldblum]

I am 21 and I'm actually taking a developmental ice hockey class at the University of Pittsburgh next semester. I played roller for like a year a while back and it was demoralizing, but fun. I think being around other players who are just learning will be helpful. I had always wanted to take a developmental class, but there just aren't any that I could find for adults in the Pittsburgh area. It's good to know some people are in a similar situation.