#secondhandiceskates.co.uk

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Learn to Play Ice Hockey www.secondhandskates.co.uk

Learning to play hockey:

If you want to give ice hockey a go, you wont need to spend your months wage on new hockey skates equipment . All you will really need are cheap hockey skates, elbow pads, shin pads, a stick and importantly a helmet. If you look around our site's stock page you could find most items  you will need.  I would recommend a decent helmet, as you cant put a price on protecting your head. There not very expensive new or second hand. (second hand will still do the job, we wont sell you a useless helmet). For more information on what equipment you need visit our hockey equipment guide for adult & children players. In most adult leagues shoulder pads, a mouth guard, and a neck guard is optional, but are really worth every penny if you can stretch you budget that far, but  again this is usually optional. ​ You should absolutely learn how to skate first: ​ If you want to play hockey, you will need to know how to skate, turn and stop. The best way to learn is by getting a lot of ice time and finding someone to teach you. Planet ice have some very comprehensive programs to help you to learn to skate, but most skate rinks in the UK do have learn to skate lessons. I recommend planet ice as they have a very structured program. ​Also check out the videos Youtube, but I strongly suggest you find skating lessons at a your local rink.  Look for adult skating lessons, adult hockey lessons, or power skating.  ​These lessons will strengthen your skills & put you in good habits right from the start, this will make your path to becoming a hockey player much easier (and quicker).

After you have taken some skating lessons suggest you get on the ice as much you can. This means going to public skating and stick & puck sessions.Phone your local rinks:Find & call the closest rinks  in your area.  Ask if there are any open public ice sessions where the public can skate or play hockey. Public skating is usually about £6.00 - £9.00 and stick and puck ranges from £12.00 - £17.00.  Your first few sessions will feel a bit intimidating, but it’s a long path to success and you will improve more and more every time you step on the ice. ​Another good tip is to play any type of hockey you can. Play inline, street hockey, and even shoot pucks in your garden or car park. All of these things will help you improve significantly Work on your shooting and stickhandling.The three biggest skills you need to learn are skating, shooting, & puck control.Skating needs to be done on the ice (some roller blading will help improve your skills) but stick handling and shooting can be practiced at home. ​ ​All you really need is a shooting pad and something to shoot at, a hockey net is a good way to practice, but anything that stops pucks will work! For second hand ice skates check us out @ www.secondhandskates.co.uk

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How to hockey stop www.secondhandskates.co.uk

How to Hockey Stop. ​ Fast hockey stops feel great and looks great & impresses the newbies - or if you just want to spray some ice everywhere. Hockey stops are one of the trickier skills  to learn, so you will need to take it slowly and do it t one step at a time!Before your learn how to hockey stop, you will need to get used to the feel of your skates sliding sideways along the ice. To do this, hang on to the barriers allong the edge of the ice rink (players bench) where there's no glass to get in the way. Bend your knees and push one skate away from you, while keeping most of your weight on the other foot. If your skate is getting caught on the ice during the push, you will have to put even less weight on it to get a smooth push. Be sure to work on both skates.When you get a good feel for it, push your skate out more abruptly so it ends in a hard stop. Try to spray some ice! ​Next step is to stop using the snow plow. Take a few strides, glide a little, bend your ankles and knees, and point your toes together. You must try not to bend at the waist, or it will be harder to keep your balance. Pretend like your sitting on a chair with your back straight.Once you've got the basic snow plow down, twist your hips as you stop so that you turn and stop at the same time. Practising is the key for this, keep trying until you can stop at a moderate speed.The next step is the trickiest part. You will now have  to get your back foot to stop parallel to your front foot. To do this, you will 'unweight' yourself by first bending your knees deep, then straightening your legs just before you turn to stop. This will raise your center of gravity and makes it easier to rotate your skates 90 degrees. Place your weight on the balls of your feet, so that your heel edges don't catch as you turn. Return to your deep knee bend to come to a complete stop.When practicing your first instinct might be to skate towards the boards, hoping to hang on to the boards in case you fall. It's actually safer to skate towards open ice so. If you're wearing your hockey equipment, you won't get hurt! www.secondhandskates.co.uk

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Selecting your first ice skates secondhandkates.co.uk

When you decided that enough is enough with the horrible hire skates at your local rink there are a few different things you need to take into consideration when buying your first pair of ice hockey skates.Some of these may seem some what obvious but they are easly overlooked. Firstly size is the single most important thing that you need to know about. They are measured by length and also width, generally the cheaper skates tend to come in a standard with where as the more expensive skate will have a wider foot option. Another very important factor to be aware of is that each different brand of ice skate will fit very differently to its competitor. For example CCM's generaly are a little wider and cater for the arch of the foot where as Bauer are a slimmer tighter fit. Again each brands boot is different.Each brand of skates have there advantages & disadvantages. It very much depends on the skaters personal prefrence of comfort.  ​ What is boot stiffness and why is it important to know ? Well it is important to know how stiff, or how much flex your boot has when you first come to buying your skates. This is because the stiffer the boot is the harder you as a learner will have difficulty learning how to skate . Stiffer boots are for the more advanced skater e.g a hockey player or someone who has been skating for a long time. It is highly recomended that all beginers get a boot with allot of flex. This will enable you to move the boot around comfortably on the ice whilst you are still learning different techniques like stopping, crossovers, and turns.Wow those Reebok 30K's look nice, i want them!Most beginers when they are looking to move up from the horrible hire skates at the local  ice rink usualy have an idea as to what they want to buy usualy by seeing the other more advanced skaters on the ice, & taking a sneaky peak in the skate shop (been there).One important thing to remember that you will only slow down your learning progress if you go mad and buy a very expensive skate. the more expensive the boot is the stiffer the boot will be, and the less you will learn! Skate cost & features. When you are learning about the different skates on the marketplace again you wll learn that the more expensive the boot is the stiffer the boot will become. High the £ = Stiffer boot. You also do get some really good features which  will give you a better skating experience once you are at that advanced level such as: Increased ankle protection More responsive to your movements Anti lace bite cover on tongue. A full composite insole that moulds to your feet Strength of blade material, better quality rivets, & blade holders These are just a few advantages to give you an idea as to what an advanced skate will have. This is one of the reasons why we provide second hand skates, because it is so easy to spend allot of money on a new pair of skates only to be dissapointed.