I’m totally new to the game of hockey. By totally new, I mean I just went to my second learn-to-play class for adult beginners. I’ve never played before and can barely skate.

There are a couple of tips that you really can only learn by experience, so thought I’d share.

Practice Getting Suited up at Home

There are a lot of videos out there on how to suit up. BUT I found out the hard way that I still should have tried it at home first instead of in the locker room.

Why??

Well in my case, I had the order of what to put on all planned out in my head, based on the below video. I knew individual components fit properly, but had never put everything on together.

In the video, you’ll see that he puts his socks on first so that he can hook the tabs to the flaps on his shorts, then he puts on his shin guards and pulls the socks down over them. Simple.

BUT in my case, I had gotten mesh socks instead of knit because I read reviews that said they are a lot more comfortable to wear. What I didn’t know is that the mesh socks have a smaller opening at the bottom. So the opening was NOT big enough to pull them down over the shin guards from the top. Up from the bottom like normal socks, yes, but not down from the top.

I spent about 10 minutes trying to wrestle my socks down over my shin guards and was late to the class.

Also: I bought a girdle instead of normal hockey pants. I was planning on wearing jill shorts under the girdle so that I could hook my socks to them. I didn’t realize that the girdle is way more snug than hockey pants and it was hard to get them on over the shorts. Also the girdle already had a flap for socks, so I really didn’t need the jill shorts at all (other than to have a pelvic protector, but I’m not worried about needing that in a learn-to-play class.)

I would have discovered all these things if I had practiced putting on all my gear ahead of time at home. (But just don’t tell anyone if you do or they’ll call you a HOME DRESSER.) 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgizauEVjt8

Bring Water

I didn’t get the memo on this, but you should bring a water bottle. Everyone else brought a bottle that could squirt water into your mouth through your helmet cage. They all had their bottles sitting on the edge of the bench wall for when he called a water break. One guy offered to share his with me. Hockey people are really nice, BTW, especially to beginners.

I’m the kind of person who almost never drinks water. I only bring water with me when I go hiking if it’s going to be a very strenuous hike. At the first class, there weren’t any water breaks. But today, I found I was really thirsty.

Most had a Gatorade bottle. The guy who shared his water with me said those squirt really well. Oh, actually David Hopfer in the video above also has a Gatorade bottle in the background.

Assume a Co-Ed Locker Room

Remember, I’m totally new. I did a lot of research online and discovered that some people like to play wearing absolutely nothing under their equipment other than a jock/jill. So I was expecting there to be a separate locker room for women vs. men.

But there isn’t. Fortunately I already had my base layer on when I got there: Under Armor leggings and a Bauer compression top.

I asked a woman today who had been playing goalie for 15 years if there is any locker room etiquette a newbie should know about. One thing she said is if she has to put on undergarments, she does it in the bathroom stall because she knows the locker room is co-ed.

Give it a Couple of Classes Before Deciding if you Like it

The classes I signed up for were through a hockey organization in my state. I have to admit, after the first class I was ready to quit.

Not because it was hard, but honestly it was a little lame. The class was combined Adult Learn-to-Skate and Youth Skills, so there were a lot of kids; the youngest was probably around 5. The head coach did not give any kind of instruction at all. He just had us do drills but never really taught us how to do what he was asking; he just demonstrated it. And the drills were not geared towards beginners at all.

For example, “We’re going to practice stops. I want you to stop at the dot, again at the blue line, and again at the red line. I want a fast start–you can run on your toes to start or do a cross step. Go!” (And as I mentioned, no water breaks).

Now, I can barely stand without falling over, much less do a hockey stop or run on my toes.

But the second class today was much, much better. There were less people and a different coach. He actually started with the basics (forward stride, passing) and taught us how to do them. And told us to get water twice.

Don’t Forget your Stick

Yeah, I know. Kind of obvious. But they have a stand outside the locker room for sticks, and I walked out to my car when class was over without it. Fortunately I missed it before I drove away.

So that’s about it for now. If anything else comes up, I’ll add it.