Deck hockey? Skates to shoes!

[spidergoalie]

I too have played for about 15 years but probably with some differences.

1. the ball. My groups use plastic wiffle balls, stuffed with a couple sport socks and wrapped with hockey tape. They are slightly bigger than hockey balls, but the players like them because they don't hurt as much. They also don't bounce and don't spin as much.
I have played with the orange hockey balls too, which have more weight to them and curve more.

2. I play on hardwood which I think would be more goalie freindly than concrete. I don't know about other surfaces.

3. Mostly we've had smaller nets, but I've also played dek with standard sized nets.

I sometimes use a boot strap so I just choose shoes with a high enough arch for that. If I use the toe ties I run them through the bottom laces on the shoes and wrap the excess lace around the shoe through the arch. I think you only need one or the other, and if your pads rotate and return ok with out either than don't use either.

For shoes I use old running shoes with a high arch. I don't like them to stick to the floor too much nor be too slippery. That is the hardest thing about getting new shoes. I used to put plastic over the toes (I would buy super cheap roller blades at thrift stores and cut off the toe) but with my velos I dont seem to get hit in the toes too often. I've alwasy wondered about getting a goalie skate boot and having a running shoe soul put on it though.


Otherswise for gear I aim for coolness. I remove the spine pad from my c/a and this makes a huge difference. I also wear the lightest player pants I can find and even then I removed some padding from the butt, to keep things cool.

I don't play any more aggressive or less for angles. The problem with getting out too far is you cannot get across as fast as with skates, so I find a happy medium. I play a butterfly block sort of game so I do go down lots, but as long as you have the aerial angle covered you are ok. Also if the players have more time they will roof it more, if they have limited time the shots won't be as acurate.

I definately feel I stop balls that would have gone in if they were pucks due to the round shape and lightness allowing shots you barely touch to deflect away, where a puck would continue on in.

I make it a major priority to control rebounds. I cannot stress enough how much that helps things.

The ball does travel way faster than a puck too.

As with any of it though...have fun!

[pthuman]

Ball Hockey or deck Hockey LOVE IT!!

I just started this year. I use alot of old equipment that is lighter and easy to jump around in. And that's what I do,,jump around. The balls we use have a liquid core. If someone has a mean slice when they golf, it shows here.

A few of the older members of our team tell me my reflexes will improve when I make the jump back to ice hockey. Can't wait to test that out!

Have a BALL!
Paul of the north

[Matt The Hammer]

I played USARS "Junior Olympic" ball hockey forever. Most tournaments had seperate Ball and puck divisions - we'd play both.

We used the dark pink gel filled ball that was hard as a rock. Heavier than a mylec ball.

Always remember the first game I played. We warmed up with the orange mylecs.

The first game shot felt like a cannon ball hitting me.

Miss the ball.

[theeagle]

Last night I went back on skates for a drop in session after the day before playing with the ball and on shoes. I tell you what my focus and puck tracking was much better. The ball travels so wicked and crazy that the
puck seemed ..lazy or slower. If that sounds right or seems possible. Maybe it was just mental thing. I was more relaxed playing against the puck . The ball was traveling like crazy and dipping and hooking on me the day before and the puck was more precise. I think I am going to play in the deck league for its cardio and other purposes becuase last night on skates I felt much better for some odd reason. Pretty fun.

[Matt The Hammer]

Originally Posted by buffay34

Wait, I am supposed to use toe ties and a boot strap

Toe Ties? You don't need no stinking toe ties!

[OilFanInCowtown]

Hi, I've just moved to a deck hockey league that requires CSA approved gear.
I went out and got the Mission Helium Elite set (discontinued, cheap and still available at hockey giant).

I'm having a problem with the pads not rotating back into position after I stand back up. I have the calf straps fairly tight, and the top straps somewhat loose. I put the boot strap around my shoes (they have enough clearance) which helps, but I've removed the toe ties completely.

Does anybody have any recommendations on what I can do to help my pads rotate back properly?

PS - I love the Missions, the nylon thighboard and knee stack give a small amount of sliding that really helps getting across the net when already down.

[spidergoalie]

If the boot strap doesn't make them re-centre, then you have to use toe ties.
when I use them here is how I tie mine:

[OilFanInCowtown]

Thanks.

I see you chose the toe ties instead of the boot straps.
I started with neither (bad idea) and moved to just boot straps (better, but not perfect).

I'll try both at my game on Thursday and see how it goes.

[dukes]

I put up simliar pics sometime around summer of last year here...won't bother trying to find it again. But I do the Nike Shox combo as well (thought I wast he only one for a bit). Toe ties are wrapped around the shox columns similar to a skate then tied ontop of the shoe. The boot strap would go through the columns as well afterwards. Works great for me, I have enough rotation and it still feels secure. I highly recommend it over having the boot strap that goes under the arch. But I'm sure if it works well for you and others it'll be fine.

Edit: actually I found it, Ball Hockey HELP on SportCourts

[spidergoalie]

Most of this season I went with a boot strap and no ties, only because it is faster...I leave the boot strap done up and just sort of step into it
However velocity bootstraps are not well placed for shoes, so I had to be creative to make it work.

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by Matt The Hammer

Toe Ties? You don't need no stinking toe ties!

Matt, at Perani's in Flint they actually have the mold used by Cooper for those pads hangning from the ceiling.

[Roddy Rod]

Originally Posted by dukes

I put up simliar pics sometime around summer of last year here...won't bother trying to find it again. But I do the Nike Shox combo as well (thought I wast he only one for a bit). Toe ties are wrapped around the shox columns similar to a skate then tied ontop of the shoe. The boot strap would go through the columns as well afterwards. Works great for me, I have enough rotation and it still feels secure. I highly recommend it over having the boot strap that goes under the arch. But I'm sure if it works well for you and others it'll be fine.

Edit: actually I found it, Ball Hockey HELP on SportCourts

I actually took it one step further, first with an old pair of Jordan 3's and then with a pair of Shox. I actually drilled a hole right through the toe region of the sole and then proceeded to to use a baseball glove re-lacing tool to pull my toe laces through the hole. This allows my toes to be covered by the front of my pads and make sure I won't take a hard clapper off the toe of any sort. I then ran the laces back through the middle of the Shox or in the case of the Jordans, through the air pack that I destroyed, and laced them on top of my shoe, exactly as I would with my skates. I then ran the strap through the Shox and boom, it felt exactly the same as they would had I had on my skates!

I have done this set up for a bunch of customers that come in that play ball hockey and it has always worked like a charm. I will try and dig out my sneaks when I get home and snap some pics of what I have come up with. The only thing you need to watch is not to drill to high up on the sole as you don't want the laces sitting inside the actual shoe. You may need to spray some WD40 on the laces to get them through the hole.

[ZenGoalie31]

I got into hockey playing on sport court and a ball...skaters in inline. I had a pair of those Nike hightops...saved my toes on more than one occasion. I must say that my mentor and good luck charm was always at the other end of the rink. Just made some youtube footage of him. Check out what he does with his stick...it's just effective/sick insane. Watch and learn from the master. My friend the Amazing Drew...

YouTube - Drew Inline Highlights



Oh, and his equipment? Glove and blocker cobbled together from parts of a baseball glove. I wish I was half as good as he was back in the day!

[CKeelty]

Itech 900s!!

Have I expressed my love for those ball hockey pads?

My own pair is heavily modified. Maybe when I get back from vacation after Memorial Day I'll post up photos of the various things I've done to them.

[VCH]

I don't use boot straps or toes ties. I just kinda flick them back into place with my leg.