Learning to skate

Wing It

I played Street hockey for the first time friday night
( :hurt: )...and i went out and winged it....I scored 3 goals that night....The best thing to do is get a hold of skating first, learn how to skate forward, backwards. Then use a stick practice Speed and moving the stick around...then maybe try with a puck. Just believe and you can suceed...southpark:
 
I wish I scored 3 goals in my first game. I left my first game early when I tried to transition backwards and wound up on my ass, hurting my tailbone and whole assmuscle area.
 
so i figured id ask this question sense i havnt seen it anywhere else in the thread

any tips on stopping, especially during play while say chasing the puck into the corner

i got back on the ice for the first time in at least 10 years and played a pick up game at bay harbor, everything came back pretty quick but i noticed that from the 10 years of playing roller and no ice i picked up alot of bad habits when it comes to stopping
 
I just went ice skating Saturday down in Escondido, and I am also considering buying my own skates. Does anyone know of any good places to go buy some in the San Diego area? I want new, not used and I was wondering if they have hockey skates for women or you just have to buy a small size? When I go skate I use a size 6 hockey skate. I always have to ask for hockey skates or they just hand me figure skates. I can skate foward ok and a little bit backwards, but the one thing I cannot do for the life of me is stop. Also for some reason my right foot always kills me. I wonder if its bc its my weaker foot, or if I favor it more i dont know... but at IceOPlex they are offering classes at 11 dollars an hour, once a week and im really thinking about doing it. Cause those little 8 year olds that skate better than me really p*ss me off!!
 
silentbutdeadly said:
I just went ice skating Saturday down in Escondido, and I am also considering buying my own skates. Does anyone know of any good places to go buy some in the San Diego area? I want new, not used and I was wondering if they have hockey skates for women or you just have to buy a small size? When I go skate I use a size 6 hockey skate. I always have to ask for hockey skates or they just hand me figure skates. I can skate foward ok and a little bit backwards, but the one thing I cannot do for the life of me is stop. Also for some reason my right foot always kills me. I wonder if its bc its my weaker foot, or if I favor it more i dont know... but at IceOPlex they are offering classes at 11 dollars an hour, once a week and im really thinking about doing it. Cause those little 8 year olds that skate better than me really p*ss me off!!
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There are several places online to buy skates at a better price. If you can find a place there to get the right size then order from Greatskate.com or Hockeygiant.com always have weekly specials of clearance items.

I suggest take the class. 11 bucks is nothing if you really want to learn.
 
HOCKEYAHOLIC said:
There are several places online to buy skates at a better price. If you can find a place there to get the right size then order from Greatskate.com or Hockeygiant.com always have weekly specials of clearance items.

I suggest take the class. 11 bucks is nothing if you really want to learn.
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No no no. Don't buy online your first time. You need to try them on and get a good fit and service if you need adjustments at a later date. You should be able to find a decent pair for around $150 for your first pair...
 
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pkd88 said:
Personally, I buy gear from Vic at the Skating Edge. He is a wonderful guy who seems to give me a discount on everything I buy. Plus you can ask him about playing in the NHL. He is a really nice guy.

Vic may just like me because I showed him how to find NHL games on the internet lol. Ask him about chasing Bobby Orr :)
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Vic was my coach at one point and i grew up playing with his son, Vic is a standup guy.

I just started playing pick up on monday nights at the skating edge (or bay harbor as i have always referred to it)
 
SirJW said:
No no no. Don't buy online your first time. You need to try them on and get a good fit and service if you need adjustments at a later date. You should be able to find a decent pair for around $150 for your first pair...
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That sounds reasonable, there are a couple of stores in SD that im going to check out, are there any kind of skates that I should just completely stay away from? Any bad experiences or anything? Once I get some skates its off to lessons for me.
 
SirJW said:
No no no. Don't buy online your first time. You need to try them on and get a good fit and service if you need adjustments at a later date. You should be able to find a decent pair for around $150 for your first pair...
Click to expand...

I said try them on somewhere near you first then buy online but I guess you're right, it doesn't mean they'll have the same fit as the ones you tried on.

I got a pair of CCM 652 Tacks @ Encore sport on Ventura, maybe called something different now, but got em for $99 and paid 30 bucks to have them heat molded to my feet. With torn Lig's in both ankles that made such a difference.
 
imamonsta said:
so i figured id ask this question sense i havnt seen it anywhere else in the thread

any tips on stopping, especially during play while say chasing the puck into the corner

i got back on the ice for the first time in at least 10 years and played a pick up game at bay harbor, everything came back pretty quick but i noticed that from the 10 years of playing roller and no ice i picked up alot of bad habits when it comes to stopping
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The best thing to do is hire a coach to work with you at sticktime (or even a figure skating coach to work with you at public skates). You may not have to hire them for long periods of time, hopefully only 2 or 3 sessions since they're only tweaking the stopping skills of a player who already knows how to skate.

Somebody who knows what they're doing has to watch you to figure out your flaws, and you have to be able to watch them demonstrate it right. It's tempting to wish and hope that someone can type words on a message board that illustrate what you're doing wrong in your skating/stopping, but I don't think it can be done right that way (also why books on skating are futile).

Coaches typically run $60-$100/hour (group sessions are substantially less), but you knew this was an expensive sport when you started, right?

What rink(s) are closest to your home / work?
 
beingbobbyorr said:
The best thing to do is hire a coach to work with you at sticktime (or even a figure skating coach to work with you at public skates). You may not have to hire them for long periods of time, hopefully only 2 or 3 sessions since they're only tweaking the stopping skills of a player who already knows how to skate.

Somebody who knows what they're doing has to watch you to figure out your flaws, and you have to be able to watch them demonstrate it right. It's tempting to wish and hope that someone can type words on a message board that illustrate what you're doing wrong in your skating/stopping, but I don't think it can be done right that way (also why books on skating are futile).

Coaches typically run $60-$100/hour (group sessions are substantially less), but you knew this was an expensive sport when you started, right?

What rink(s) are closest to your home / work?
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thanks i was already debating on some lessons if that part doesnt come back to me as easily in the next few sessions i skate.
i live in the south bay so im close to TSC, Bay Harber & Ice Chalet in PV
 
Alright, you guys have motivated me to try and learn to ice skate. I'm going to call a few places and get some more info. I'm moving to Fountain Valley next week or so. Does anyone in the area go to public skates or do lessons during the week? I don't really get home until 6:30 or so during the week so I can't make anything before 7pm usually. Just curious.
 
There have been some excellent things passed along on this thread.

A few of my comments.

If you are going to learn to skate I suggest that you set yourself up to skate REGULARLY. There aren't any substitutes for regular ice time. Ideally you could grab one stick time/pick up game and one skating session per week.

Yes getting instruction on what to do right (aka don't start out with bad habits) is a fantastic idea. I am a student of Laura Stamm's so I'd advise getting her books and the video. This is particularly useful to read before you get skating session time. That's where you can experiment on your own time and begin to incorporate things you learn. MANY of the simple drills I can usually only focus on at skating session time can really improve your skating ability. They can make a huge difference on my lower body strength and the results of my skating.

As you improve it might be good to find out when some of the Bantam or Midget teams practice and get a close-up look at what they are doing.
 
Finally got around to going to Westminster Ice today. Had a blast, but boy were my feet cramped as hell in those rental skates. I decided I'm probably going to sign up for lessons as soon as I buy some of my own skates. I'm a little flat-footed, and I've heard it can cause foot cramping without proper skates.

Anyone here skate there? I'm probably going to sign up for beginning adult classes on Saturday mornings.
 
Defgarden said:
Finally got around to going to Westminster Ice today. Had a blast, but boy were my feet cramped as hell in those rental skates. I decided I'm probably going to sign up for lessons as soon as I buy some of my own skates. I'm a little flat-footed, and I've heard it can cause foot cramping without proper skates.

Anyone here skate there? I'm probably going to sign up for beginning adult classes on Saturday mornings.
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Have you signed up yet? Let me know what class & I'll join you if I can.
 
i have played roller hockey for 13 years and the reason i never tried ice is because the closest ice rink is over 2 hours away.

i recently moved to Northridge for school and really want to learn to ice skate so I can start playing some ice hockey.

One question I have is this. In roller hockey, we wear pants, but I know in ice, obviously they where the big socks and shorts. It is really necessary to switch to the shorts and socks for ice? Or i could I stick with the pants while I am still learning to skate?
 
This is a wonderfully useful thread!

I'm buying my first pair of skates this weekend. My goal is to be in a beginner league come June/July. I've never played in my life, and I can understand Chinese better than I can skate.

I'll try to keep you posted on my progress. And i'll check back for any further skating/learning tips.
 
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