Evaluating Roller Hockey Gear

Although this entry would have been more appropriate during the off-season months, I’d like members to know that I just recently started going over some old videos and notes on my long ago roller student, Jerry Z, which caused me to stumble upon an article I did on Jerry’s roller hockey gear.  

If you can appreciate it, one can’t learn to move around the roller court (or the ice) if the skates aren’t right; nor can a player dribble or pass or shoot very well if the hockey stick and surrounding protective gear are holding him or her back. 

With that, I thought current day members would still like to consider my observations — or think along with me, especially as it pertains to one piece of gear.  It’s been a sticking point for me, but let me explain that in a little more depth…

As it turns out, Jerry Z always dressed like most guys who play roller hockey on a rec basis.  I mean, he dressed on the light side as far as gear went, wearing mostly the bare necessities.

As an aside here, it might not be a bad idea for the reader to view some of what I’ve written or shown in other posts when it comes to “over-speed training”.  To give you a shortcut version, though, let me point-out that: heavy or bulky gear is going to slow a movement (or movements); and, however we practice a movement (be it slow or fast) is going to be the way we ultimately do it.

That in mind I watched Jerry as he moved around the floor in our earliest sessions together, and I noted that nothing really obvious was either slowing or inhibiting his movements.  (For the most part — and I’m sure Jerry would agree, his early struggles had mostly to do with a lack of experience.)

Now, I mentioned earlier that my assessment of hockey equipment is an ongoing thing, and this is true no matter the atmosphere or the player. Younger players outgrow gear quickly, or they replace pieces without letting us coaches know.

Then there’s another reason I keep re-evaluating Jerry — or any other fast improving player…  What I mean is, certain things might not matter when a player is at one level, but they could suddenly have a greater impact as a given player improves.  And, such has been the case with Jerry over subsequent weeks, months, and…

Okay, I have to chuckle a bit as I type this, because my roller hockey buddy kinda drove me crazy at one point, or ever since he started feeling better about himself.  Oh, I mean that in a nice way, but he did start telling me about some of his offensive and defensive plays, and he also began asking me some questions about the game’s X’s and O’s.  

The reason I raise this point, however, is to suggest that I soon felt the need to help Jerry with his puckhandling and a few other areas of his game.  And, while I’ll have no problem showing him the right things to do to improve in this area, something now has to be done about that log of a stick I’ve let him get by with for a time.  Ya, it’s a full-grown sequoia, and I’m often heard to mutter something about maybe hurting myself when I chance to hold that thing.  Right now he’s resisting me on a move to something lighter.  But, real positive change is not going to take place until Jerry’s stick allows his hands to move much, much quicker.  (For great advice in this area, please see my video on “YOUR Hockey Stick“.

Now, I mean to tell you that Jerry has really come a long way in his skating.  In fact, I eventually started giving him some greater challenges.  And, here again, some gear that was okay in the beginning suddenly looked like it was holding him back.

What I’m talking about are Jerry’s in-line skates.  You see, in the early going I think he had enough to worry about just striding around the rink.  The most we’d done beyond that in the earliest sessions was some very basic crossing-over and a little bit of cutting towards the left and towards the right.  Suddenly, however, his skates — or should I  say the configuration of his wheels — began seemingly holding him back.

In this aside, I need to say that I pretty much pioneered the use of in-lines in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island area for the training of ice hockey players, as soon as they became available to the masses.  Long-time members know how much I value off-ice training (ever since my 1979 studies in Moscow of the old USSR).  But, as much as I love using dryland to enhance a player’s game, imagine my excitement at local students ultimately being able to skate away from costly ice-time.  Yes!

My son actually owned the first pair of in-lines in our house, these having an old Erector Set kind of arrangement that held the wheels under a real hockey boot.  My first pair weren’t quite as nice.  In  fact, I felt like a beginner in them, which caused me to seek the help of an old friend and former student, Olympic speed skating Silver medalist, Eric Flaim.  Eric owned a pro shop in Boston at the time, and he knew tons about in-lines, having used them as part of his speed skating training.

The difficulty I was having with department store in-lines had to do with a flat configuration of the wheels.  So, Eric made for me a special frame that allowed the four wheels to be raised and lowered.   And, with that, I could come very close to simulating the rocker — or  radius — shape of my on-ice skates.

By the way…  Since my students didn’t have the kind chassis Eric introduced me to, I suggested they simulate the radius of their ice blades by putting slightly larger diameter wheels in the middle and slightly worn or smaller ones on the back and front.

Back to troubleshooting Jerry’s problems, I was noticing that he had difficulty making really sharp cuts.  And he also struggled in his attempts to pivot on either skate — from forward to backward to forward.

Now,  understand that various ice skate blades are designed to meet the  unique demands of their sport.   I’m sure you already realize that speed skates are long and flat to accommodate mostly long, straight-ahead skating with minimal turning;  while figure skating blades make it easier for athletes in that sport to spin and cut.  Hockey skate blades, on the other hand, are shaped almost like the figures blades, but just a little flatter to facilitate more straight-ahead speed.

I mention all that so that my members might appreciate what I thought I was seeing as Jerry Z attempted to spin or cut.  For, once I noticed his difficulties in that area, I got down on my hands and knees to inspect the way his wheels contacted the roller hockey floor.  And, sure enough, all four wheels on each skate were touching.  In effect, he was trying to perform figures or hockey moves with the equivalent of speed skates.  Or, as I pointed out to Jerry, it’s like he was trying to do sports car moves while driving a tractor trailer.

It’s nice to have friends in high places (as with Eric Flaim).  So this time I touched base with another old friend I considered “The Man” when it came to  in-line hockey equipment.  And Mike W confirmed my suspicions, along with adding a ton of additional advice.  Yes, as it pertained to the problem at hand, Mike suggested the kind of chassis arrangement that has bigger wheels in the back and smaller ones towards the front. 

New problem:  Jerry already had that exact so-called Hi-Lo configuration.  Hmmmmmm…

Interestingly, a group of really good in-line players followed Jerry and me onto the court one Saturday afternoon after our lesson.  And, man, could those guys skate.  So, chancing to ask a couple of the better players, they told me they had no problems with the Hi-Lo arrangement.  So again, hmmmmmmmm… 

Back to working with Jerry, something else struck me:  My older Team NEHI players moved just as nicely as the guys I just mentioned, and they did it with store-bought skates (or without having to make the adjustments I used to recommend).  So, could it be that experience matters?  I mean, others are doing awesomely while Jerry surely isn’t.

Then, Jerry mentioned that he had another pair of in-lines — his “back-ups” he called them…  Would I like to see those?  Geeeeze, would I ever!

As it turned out, what Jerry referred to as back-ups were really, really nice skates.  Better yet, I discovered that only one or two wheels touched as I ran them across a flat surface.  Bingo!

Then, one thing I’ll share with you that I also mentioned to Jerry,  was that the less blade or wheel touching the ice or floor, the less glide.  In other words, there’s a trade-off.  With only a small area to spin on, he was going to have a lot more mobility.  At the same time, he would lose just a little straight-ahead speed.  And, considering the (small) size of the floor he usually plays on, I’m thinking this is a very, very worthwhile trade.

In closing, I’d like to think that most current day members have gained something from observing the processes I often use in troubleshooting hockey problems.  

Still, I’d love to hear some input from members down below in the Comments section.