Question about a inline vs. hockey skating.

[johnny1976]

Hi all. I have a 8 year old that loves to play hockey. This summer we are doing a lot of hockey camps and leagues. The other day he said he would like to get some inline skates for his birthday. So I have been reading up on inline vs hockey skating and found out that it takes time to adjust from one to the other. So my question is would it be wise for me to buy him inline skates? Can an 8 year old make the necessary adjustments back and forth? With the amount of hockey he will be playing this off season should I even buy him the inlines?

Thanks for any help in advance.

Click to read more...

 

[Hartford Mike]

At age 8 its not going to be the end of the world bouncing between inline/ice.

Especially for someone who is going to be taller and heavier 6 months down the road who will be likely out growing gear at a pretty quick pace. I also think that some people make a bigger deal out of it than it is. You'll end up developing muscle memory over time based on the surface your on.

Though as someone who plays both I found that using a Sprung suspension for inline was closer to my normal ice stride that I didn't have that awkward looking kick at the end trying to compensate for the longer wheel bed length.

edit- I also think the majority of differences in stride are when you take someone who has only been doing 1 thing for 10+ years then all of a sudden throwing them into the other (ice/inline) and wondering why the skating approach is different. If you are doing them at the same time I think its much less of an issue.

http://www.sprung-inline.com/

I also used the Reebok/CCM tri D for a number of years and it wasn't the end of the world when switching for a bar league game at 11pm and then stick time at 6am the next day.

 

[AIREAYE]

If he's just starting roller, I assume that he'll be playing outdoors on conrete or ashphalt? If that's the case then get some lower-end skates that offer harder wheels designed for outdoors. He'll grow out of them soon, so it doesn't make sense to buy anything pricier than $150

 

[mhkehoe]

I wouldn't have been half the skills I have if it weren't for all the play time inline provided for me. There will be a few kinks with skating, but when I was playing around that age, I didn't notice them. I just had fun.

 

[budster]

This is a topic I am very passionate about. I don't know where the myth started, but I think it's silly. Of course inline skating is a good idea. Avoiding inline skating would be as silly as avoiding a pencil because transitioning to a pen would completely mess you up. I mean look how bad Shaun White's snowboarding suffered because he skateboards. He probably should have never got on a board with wheels. Oh wait, he's an olympic gold medalist.

I wish to proclaim once and for all that inline skating HELPS you train for ice hockey, probably more than any other sport. There's so much more to being a smart hockey player. Passing, dekes, shooting, sportsmanship, positioning, conditioning, etc. Here's an article I wrote on this very subject that was picked up by USA Hockey Inline. Sure, players can pickup a few bad habits on rollerblades, but the benefits far outweigh the negative consequences.

 

[jwitz04]

they are essentially the same thing. during the summer I play roller all day, then my mens league ice game at night with no problem transitioning. Skating is skating, playing roller will make him better on the ice and vice versa.

 

[member 30781]

they are essentially the same thing. during the summer I play roller all day, then my mens league ice game at night with no problem transitioning. Skating is skating, playing roller will make him better on the ice and vice versa.

Not true in the least. I have been playing roller for 4 years now and didn't even try to play ice. Now I just got into ice and while there are some similarities, the differences are a little bit harder to adjust to. Especially stopping.

 

[jwitz04]

Not true in the least. I have been playing roller for 4 years now and didn't even try to play ice. Now I just got into ice and while there are some similarities, the differences are a little bit harder to adjust to. Especially stopping.

stopping is the only difference.

 

[budster]

stopping is the only difference.

I dunno if it's the only difference. Edge control, transitions, and strides are different, but the point is: they are similar enough. Most of my ice team consists of former inline players who have been on the ice for less than a year. We do just fine.

 

[mbeam]

I played inline for most of my life, just on the street after schools about every day. I only started playing Ice when I got to university. The skating is definitely different. (Stopping is not really different depending how you do it. I did ice-stops in inline, chews up your wheels pretty good!)
The biggest difference for me was carrying your weight to your outside edges and crossovers. But having the experience of inline skating my whole life I was able to transition to ice pretty easily. But now that I'm completely comfortable on ice and skating properly, I never want to go back to roller! Not sure how switching back and forth on a regular basis will effect development, but at that age everyone just wants to get out and play, so why not?

 

[Thresh]

I'm 23 and never really skated much my whole life - just rollerbladed casually as a child which i loved for a year or two.

I've just started doing both inline hockey and ice skating (ice hockey training sessions are short and very expensive where i'm from, so i'm not starting them until i have all the skating fundamentals down) and i find the transitioning of surfaces isn't affecting me at all.

In fact, i think despite a few obvious differences, it's actually helping me. It means i can get more time skating and essentially learn twice as fast. If i was doing hockey on ice instead of just skating, it would especially be improving my positioning and stickwork, because they're the things that never change between the two sports.

Because your son is young, like anything, he'll pick up things a lot quicker and easier than adults can. So i'd encourage it really.

 

[jwitz04]

If your son has trouble transitioning, you should just take initiative and beat him.

 

[CGNY87]

this is going to be completely subjective but here is my experience. I started in roller, played for about a year then switched to ice. Going to ice was not an easy transition in terms of skating (outside of crossovers and transitioning to backwards skaing it was pretty different). I was however a step a head of some other beginners because I knew my positioning better than them.

Recently I tried to go back to roller and it was a really werid experience. For me I kept on wanting to use my edges (which doesn't work the same in roller). Turns are different and so is stopping.

IK some people who can switch back and forth but for me it felt too werid going back. Ice seems like a more fluid game than roller.

 

[darkmoon1196]

i've played roller my whole life, and have never played ice. i have my reasons, mostly because there's a roller hockey rink right around the corner, but i have a lot of friends/teammates that go back and forth

where i play, it's 4-on-4. The more open rinks helps you learn skating, rushing, dekeing, etc. its a very free-flowing game. for example, i play defense, and my d-partner and i are leading the team in goals. this is because in 4-on-4 the best skaters and the guys who control the team play D.

if you want your kid to get skills like that, i say go for it. and if you're worried about the transitions, dont. whenever i go ice skating i have no trouble.

and if he's serious about getting into a roller league, tour makes the best skates. but if he's not so serious about it yet, i would get a cheap pair of missions. not the best skates around but they're cheap and good starter skates. if he ends up switching to tours later on it'll take some adjusting because the skates are balanced differently, he'll fall on his heels a lot.

 

[jacko23]

this is going to be completely subjective but here is my experience. I started in roller, played for about a year then switched to ice. Going to ice was not an easy transition in terms of skating (outside of crossovers and transitioning to backwards skaing it was pretty different). I was however a step a head of some other beginners because I knew my positioning better than them.

Recently I tried to go back to roller and it was a really werid experience. For me I kept on wanting to use my edges (which doesn't work the same in roller). Turns are different and so is stopping.

IK some people who can switch back and forth but for me it felt too werid going back. Ice seems like a more fluid game than roller.

this. although i played roller for alot longer than a year, i have been playing ice for just under a year and going back to roller is definitely weird for me. the skating thing is fine. i havent lost any of it. i do feel a HUGE difference in stopping though. as in, i FORGOT HOW. seriously. i cant do it, and i dont know where to start to refresh my memory.

 

[biturbo19]

i'm always immensely frustrated when i'm on inline skates because i can never cut as aggressively and solidly as i can on ice. could be that i've never taken inline seriously enough to get the proper wheels or something...but there is definitely something to be said for a sharp blade carving into a sheet of ice that just lends itself to aggressive direction changes and sudden changes of momentum.

as long as i remember to keep the limitations of inline skates in mind, i don't find the adjustment particularly difficult though. just frustrating that i have to 'dumb it down' to some extent. the changes just make it feel so much less solid and powerful. i would suppose that i do alter my stride somewhat as well, but when it comes to skating...i don't really think about it at all. it's just ingrained...even when i have to adjust to inline. just have to constantly remind myself to make less aggressive cuts because wheels are all slippy and slidy in comparison to ice.

 

[member 30781]

I dunno if it's the only difference. Edge control, transitions, and strides are different, but the point is: they are similar enough. Most of my ice team consists of former inline players who have been on the ice for less than a year. We do just fine.

All these are HUGE differences when it comes to switching from inline to ice. I've been playing ice for a few weeks now and I can't get enough of it. I think I am just sticking to that and playing inline every once in a while.

 

[ahabian]

If inline skating and ice skating are the same, inline skating would improve his on-ice performance. He'd get a lot more time on skates.

If inline skating and ice skating are not the same, inline skating will still enhance your kids athletic ability. At a young age, you should engage in as many different sports and activities as you can, and inline skating would fall under that umbrella.

 

[Seanconn*]

pffffffffft. who ever told you it might throw him off (in a bad way) by playing both... is just plain wrong. roller skating and ice skating is totally differen't, but hockey is hockey except most leagues do not use pucks

when I was growing up I played inline hockey every summer in a league, and I think that helped me even more than summer ice time at hockey schools.

you might get thrown off for the first 5 minutes stepping onto the ice after a month of roller hockey, but that's about it.

when it comes down to it, roller hockey is way better than playing street hockey... you hone your skills, and work out your leg muscles, and have a ton of fun doing it!

get him a good pair of hockey roller blades, and he'll be a very happy kiddo.

 

[StrykerB]

I wish to proclaim once and for all that inline skating HELPS you train for ice hockey, probably more than any other sport. There's so much more to being a smart hockey player. Passing, dekes, shooting, sportsmanship, positioning, conditioning, etc. Here's an article I wrote on this very subject that was picked up by USA Hockey Inline. Sure, players can pickup a few bad habits on rollerblades, but the benefits far outweigh the negative consequences.

Nice article. Particularly the point about rockering the wheels which I will give a try in the spring.