How to Hockey Skate

While hockey skating is different than figure skating or speed skating, many of the basic techniques are similar. Before you try to skate on ice with a pair of hockey skates, you’ll first want to spend some time practicing how to balance on the edges of your skates’ blades. Once you’re comfortable balancing in your skates, go ahead and try stepping onto the ice. The most important thing to remember when you’re skating on ice is to keep your center of gravity low by bending your knees.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Learning How to Balance

  1. After you slip on your skates and lace them up, stand up in them to get a feel for how to maintain your balance. When first starting out, use a chair or other stable object to pull yourself up and lean on. As you become more confident, gradually shift your weight to your blades and try to maintain your balance without holding onto the chair. [1]
    • Try not to be embarrassed about using a chair or other object to help yourself stand up in your skates. Using a chair will help you learn how to balance in your skates more quickly and help keep you from falling over.
    • Practice standing on a soft surface, rather than a hard surface, to avoid damaging your skate’s blades.
  2. If you look at the end of your skate’s blade, you’ll see that its bottom is curved inward in the middle and that the blade touches the ground on its 2 outside edges. Once you’ve become comfortable standing in your skates, try to lean in them so that you’re standing on just 1 of the 2 edges on each blade. [2]
    • Practice leaning on both the inside edges and the outside edges and switching back and forth between the 2 edges.
    • Keep a chair, or other stable object, nearby so that you can catch yourself if you lose your balance.
    • Distinguishing between these edges is important because you’ll use them for different skating motions.
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  3. Staying low to the ground will help you keep your balance on the ice. If you stand ramrod straight, your center of gravity will be higher, which will make it more likely that you’ll fall over. [3]
    • Keep your chest and head up and centered to keep your balance.
  4. Maintaining a wide stance will also help you keep your balance. If you skate with your feet closer together, you’re more likely to topple over. A stance wider than shoulder-width, meanwhile, increases the risk that your skates will slide out from under you. [4]
    • To help remind yourself to keep your feet in the proper position, imagine that 2 long rods are tied to your skates and shoulders.
  5. If you feel your skates sliding to the outside, you can stop this by leaning on the inside edges of your skates. Transfer your weight to your skates’ inside edges just like you practiced before stepping on the ice. [5]
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Moving on the Ice

  1. With your knees bent and your skate leaning on its inside edge, point your toe outward. Keeping your skate at a 45-degree angle is necessary to give your push enough power to give you the speed you need. [6]
  2. Before pushing off, make sure your left-foot skate is in the right position. Keep your knee bent and your skate pointed where you want to go. [7]
    • If you don’t aim your skate in the direction you’re pushing, you may trip.
  3. Once you’ve gotten your 2 skates in their proper positions, push back. The harder you push back, the faster you will glide forward. [8]
    • If you’re just starting out, push back with gentle force so you can get a feel for the motion.
  4. After you push off and are gliding across the ice, bend the knee of your outstretched right leg to get it back into the starting position. The faster you bring it back under your body, the sooner you’ll be able to start another push. [9]
    • As you glide across the ice, keep your left leg bent so you can keep your balance.
  5. Once your right leg is back under your body, angle your left skate 45 degrees in the same way you did before with your right skate. Then, push back just as you did before to continue gliding. [10]
  6. Once you become comfortable with the motions of skating, you can gradually increase your speed by pushing back harder and pulling the outstretched leg back under your body more quickly. Remember to keep your knees bent and stay low as you push off and glide. [11]
  7. When turning, keep your skates approximately shoulder-width apart to give yourself a stable base. Lead with your right foot to turn right and your left foot to turn left. Position your stick and hands in front of you to maintain balance. [12]
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Skating Backward

  1. Keep your skates shoulder-width apart and bend your knees over the caps of your skates. Make sure your head and chest are up and square to the ice. Lean slightly forward in your stance so that your body weight is centered over the balls of your feet. [13]
    • If your weight is centered around your heels, you’re more likely to fall when you try to skate backwards.
  2. Once you’re in an athletic stance, put both of your hands on the barriers. Then, push off to get a sense of what it feels like to glide backwards across the ice. [14]
    • Remember to keep your weight centered over the balls of your feet as you push off the barriers so that you don’t topple over.
    • Continue to push off the barriers until you feel confident gliding backward.
  3. Once you feel comfortable gliding backward on the ice, you can try to push yourself back without the aid of the barriers. To do this, push the inside edges outward and then bring them back inside, as if you’re tracing the shape of a lemon with your skates.
    • Start slowly and then gradually speed up once you feel more comfortable and confident doing this motion.
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  • Question
    What’s easier, hockey skating or figure skating?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    Skating coaches say that hockey skating is easier to learn, since you don’t have to worry about learning to use toe picks and rockers. However, figure skates will allow you to do certain things more easily, such as turning, jumping, and spinning.
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  • Question
    How do you increase your speed?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
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    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    One way to improve your speed on hockey skates is to increase your hip mobility. Try exercises like goblet squats, rear foot elevated split squats, and goblet side lunges to open up your hips and improve your ability to execute moves on the ice. To accelerate while skating, you’ll need to be able to push back hard with your rear leg.
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  • Question
    Where can I learn to hockey skate?
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    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    Do a search for an ice arena in your area. Many arenas offer skating lessons, and some offer hockey and “pre-hockey” classes to help you learn the fundamentals of hockey skating.
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      References

      1. ↑ http://howtohockey.com/how-to-ice-skate/
      2. ↑ http://howtohockey.com/how-to-ice-skate/
      3. ↑ http://howtohockey.com/how-to-ice-skate/
      4. ↑ http://howtohockey.com/how-to-ice-skate/
      5. ↑ http://howtohockey.com/how-to-ice-skate/
      6. ↑ http://howtohockey.com/how-to-ice-skate/
      7. ↑ http://howtohockey.com/how-to-ice-skate/
      8. ↑ http://howtohockey.com/how-to-ice-skate/
      9. ↑ http://howtohockey.com/how-to-ice-skate/
      1. ↑ http://howtohockey.com/how-to-ice-skate/
      2. ↑ http://howtohockey.com/how-to-ice-skate/
      3. ↑ https://youtu.be/2YU-dTvnFJw?t=122
      4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XILrZn1Qys&feature=emb_logo
      5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XILrZn1Qys&feature=emb_logo

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