Hockey stop?! ((snowing)) please help me :)?

Question

hey, i've been pretty much everyday since November, and recently got hockey skates. i can cut, and go backwards, step over, and stop to some degree. I can stop but i always end up doing a spin, and i cant seem to grasp the sharp stop where you "snow". Ive asked my friends who work down there and they say i don't distribute the weight on my feet and thats why i turn..but i dont understand how I can fix that, because when i try...i still end up turning. Id reallllly like to be able to do the "snow" where the shaved ice comes off the blades and you can "start and stop". any advice is welcome :)

ty

-Sarah

Answer 1

Hey,

I usually stop with my lead foot. Try out which foot you feel more comfortable with, then start sliding that foot in gradually when you want to stop. Angle your foot in, using your other foot for balance.

Eventually you'll be able to do this faster untill you can stop in about a second. (A sheet of ice will spray up in front of you ;-))

Keep this up, and when you feel very comfortable stopping on one foot, start with the other. To stop with both feet you'll want to angle them both in the same direction so your feet are parallel. This is harder, because your weight is not distributed so evenly. Now gradually build up stopping with both feet, untill you can do it in about a second again!

Good luck with this, and practise makes permanent, so keep up with the right technique and you'll be sprayin' up that ice in no time.

=]

Answer 2

I dunno about hockey skates, but I do know that it can be a bit hard, this stop. Bend your knees, bend bend bend your knees. You always do this on your stops, come to think of it (I'm working on my one foot side stop and I'm horrible, lol), but anyway, try pulling at the railing while pushing your feet against the boards, bending your knees, trying to get the position. Try to have even pressure on both the front and back of your skates, otherwise you turn on your toe and do a spin. If you do it on the heel, you fall back. Try the middle. That's the most advice I can give =]

Answer 3

ooh i had some real trouble with this kind of stop but you will be able to do it,if the stop you want is a snowplough stop then when you want to stop really push your feet out to the side and your blades into the ice ,but don't let your ankles drop in keep trying this and you'll soon get the hang of it

good luck ^_^

Answer 4

Mentally, this helped me.  Have you ever had bags of groceries in your arms or a toddler on your hip, and you close a car door by hitting it with your hip?  It's kind of similar.  

You also can't do it half-way or your blades don't bite the ice enough and you turn.  So maybe you have to make it more of a quick, decisive movement.