How do you teach an eight year-old to stop on ice skates?

Question

Has anyone come across a technique that has worked to teach kids to stop on ice skates (other than just slamming into the boards).

My son has played hockey for a year and a half, and still doesn't know how to lean into a stop.

Answer 1

It's probably a confidence issue. It's hard for a kid to have the confidence to unweight the skates and turn them 90 degrees sideways, and believe that he can do that without falling. It's also awkward to learn this "gradually", because you sorta have to either just do it or crash trying.

I would suggest having him try to learn how skates can slide perpendicular to the blade's length while standing still. i.e., Have him unweight one skate and "scrape" the ice with it. Have him do it over and over and over until he gets used to that feeling.

Then get him to try that while moving, only with just one skate. He will then be able to slow himself with that somewhat, anyway.

After he does that many times, he, hopefully, will get comfortable enough with it to attempt the hockey stop with both feet.

Even if that method doesn't work, he'll eventually get confident enough with his skating abilities to try it on his own anyway. (Probably while nobody's watching, so he isn't embarrassed about falling!!)

Hope this helped. Hockey is a GREAT sport!

Answer 2

Im a pupil coach for training like that am my rink im 16 so i dont have a baby yet I labored helping the little ones. First seem at how massive the communities are there might want to be a max or 8-10 children in accordance to team yet then there might want to be a coach and a helper if that many. also operating with little ones I realized maximum of them like to in hardship-free words sit down on the ice and others are scared to enable the ice contact them. Its good and undesirable. He ought to easily no longer be concentration or understand the instructor attempt to confer with whoever runs this methodology and ask if a helper can help your son. i imagine your son likes it with the aid of him no longer desirous to go away so perhaps you and him can go on a public consultation jointly and help eachother even if you cant skate that is going to likely be good for him and verify out asking him to coach you some thing he realized. what I did to help them become act like I didnt comprehend the thanks to skate and performance them attempt to coach me. for now he purely needs to pay interest to the ice so dont problem too a lot with age he will study I propose conserving him in it till he ask to offer up. You under no circumstances comprehend you've were given a destiny figure skater or hockey participant :)

Answer 3

Enroll them in lessons or put them on a team! They'll learn pretty quick just by watching others do it. If he can't stop after being on a team for a year and a half then his coach is terrible!!!

Answer 4

well he will just have to learn. put him on roller blades, that will help some. take him ice skating and teach him over and over how to do it in slow motion.

Answer 5

If you figure this one out, I know a forty year old who needs the same kind of instruction.