Entries Tagged 'Technique' ↓

With the post Winter Olympic buzz still in the air and the recent opening of Icehouse in Melbourne’s Docklands, I got together with a couple of friends at works for a skate on tight a$$ Tuesday last week. I also backed this up with another skate there on Sunday with the family.

The first time out on the rink was ‘Tight A$$ Tuesday’ which is half price entry (but not half price skate hire). I hired ‘premium’ hockey skates and hit the ice with a Canadian (ice in the blood?!) and another work friend who used to play ice and inline hockey. Just a note on the Tuesday night session…it is BUSY. I asked on my return visit on Sunday how many they put through the doors Tuesday night and they said 700 skaters…HUGE. Previous weeks had been between 250 to 400 skaters.

I haven’t ice skated for about 10 plus years and last time I did I was terrible at it, so I had low expectations when I got out there this time. I did however have a lot more inline experience under my belt including playing some high level inline hockey.

I got out on the ice which I am told was reasonably hard and good quality (better than the last times I skated at Ringwood or Oakleigh…from memory). At first I was a little shaky when I got on the ice, but I felt at home after a while.

After about a half an hour or so, I decided it was time to figure out the difference between ice and inline hockey stops. I knew the way it needed to be done was essentially the opposite to inline, and there were some other old friends at the rink I knew from my inline hockey days that gave me some tips on the differences. I started to get it working to the left, but the break through didn’t come until I was reminded to bend my knees more. By the time I had it sussed, it was time to go home.

I headed back the the Icehouse on Sunday with my family after my brother invited me. My daughter has spent minimal time on inlines lately (too much BMX) and my ‘wife’ (no we are not married, but partner doesn’t sound right) also skated and played inline hockey. So they picked it up OK. My brother even got out and did some spins on the hire hockey skates to upset the figure skating dude that was there.

The covers were also down on the main Henke rink (aka rink 1) where I assume a lot of hockey and figure skating will take place. They were still working on the ice there, as apparently roof leaked in the crazy weather we had on the weekend and set them back. There are only stands on one side of that rink which I find odd, but I guess they may have been space and budget constrained.

On the whole the facility is good. The cafe prices are OK and not as high as I expected. The DJ had no real idea how to run a session so I guess he may be an outsider, but ice rinks also don’t seem to run their sessions quite like roller rinks. There was a comment from another experienced skater that the management has no idea how to run an ice skating facility, and I would agree at this point in time. They seem adamant to get as many people through the doors in as many sessions as possible while the buzz is there. But the way they are operating is making it very easy for patrons to just sit around between sessions and skate the whole day after their first admission (trust me, I saw it happen first hand). We will see what happens in time.

Given that there is a fair bit of government support behind this facility it should last, especially since it is home to the Winter Australian Institute of Sport. But if Australia doesn’t start getting hockey teams, figure skaters and curling teams into medal contention at future Winter Olympics, will it be fully privatised?

Here is a little video with some of the Tuesday night session and my attempts at hockey stopping for the first time, and some pictures of the rinks.

http://www.icehouse.com.au/

Video

Pictures

I first came across this video a few years ago on cskroller.com (which appears to now be defunct). It is a great guide by skater Luc ‘Bitum Walker’ Bourdin on how to initiate a slide. You start with a good tight turn whilst getting over on the fat part of your wheels. From this, you start tightening up the turn until it essentially become a quarter flick turn that you slide with.

The only thing this video doesn’t show is how to make it a quick stop like a hockey stop. To do this, you need to transition to stopping more towards the pointy top part of your wheels rather than on the flatter sides. You can start out by transitioning from the flat side to the point in the stop to get an understanding for the dynamic of a faster stop.

Doing a Cess Slide/Hockey Stop on inline skates is truly for the advanced skater, especially outdoors. This technique for stopping on inline skates is very hard on your wheels, and I use it sparingly (or sometimes for something fun to do!). I will use it as an emergency stop, but more out of habit from my days of playing inline hockey.

Note that the term ‘Cess Slide’ is used more in reference to a trick done on inline skates that is similar, but is still valid when talking about stopping.

 

The powerslide stopping technique for inline skating is hard on your wheels. It relies entirely on the friction from your wheels to stop you, and that equals wheel wear. You will also need solid one foot balance and the ability to turn from skating forwards to backwards to do a powerslide.

 

Here is a video of the stepping stop on inline skates. It is essentially the only stopping technique that, if done properly, has no impact on wheel wear.

 

Here is the first of four videos (or five if I get around to doing a T-stop video) on ways to stop on inline skates without a heel brake. This is the slalom stop.

It is not as hard on your wheels and most other non-heel brake stops, but also not as effective. Your kinetic energy is mainly absorbed through bending the knees in each turn, and partly through some wheels scrub.