Hockey Newbies: Getting Started with Skates and Safety Tips

Hockey is a highly entertaining game that attracts fans and aspiring future hockey stars. If you are among these groups of hockey lovers, there are some basic things you need to understand.

Today, we will discuss two of the essential aspects of this game: the Skates and ensuring your safety while playing hockey.

Without wasting further time, we will start with the things you need to know about hockey skates.

Things You Ought to Know When You Shop for Hockey Skates

When it comes to shopping for hockey skates, the sheer volume of options often makes it a difficult task. It becomes even more challenging when the differences in sizing standards for shoes and skates become obvious.

Choosing skates that are just right for you is an art that takes some experience to master. Use these tips to get started on the right foot when you must buy your next pair of hockey skates.

Homemade Skates

A perfectly fitting hockey skate can be hard to find. A proven method for making your skates fit well is to use a process called skate baking. Baking is the process of physically putting the skates in an oven and wearing them until they cool off.

This softens them and causes them to mold to the size of your feet. You can burn yourself or ruin a good pair of skates if you do this at home and aren’t careful.

Instead, take them to a pro shop to be safe. This baking method is almost like having a custom pair of skates made to fit your feet specifically.

Used Skates

You can save money by buying used skates if money is extremely tight, but you should take great care with this option, just like when you’re betting on NHL odds. Blades must be regularly sharpened, and most must be replaced occasionally. Replacing the steel can be almost as costly as buying a new pair of skates.

This means that skates that have been used heavily may not be worth paying for. Also, remember that used skates have already been broken into someone else’s foot and may never fit you comfortably. You’ll probably discover that unless the deal is too good to pass up, it’s probably a better idea to pass it up.

When you purchase hockey skates, you should find out if any additional services are included in the price.

For instance, skates require frequent sharpening and must be sharpened immediately after purchase. Some specialty shops will throw in sharpening when you buy a pair of skates.

These small shops can often make adjustments if the skates are too small. Unfortunately, the only option for large skates is to exchange them. A unique feature in a few shops is molding or baking; it helps mold the skate to fit your foot better. It’s important to ask before buying the skates, as most shops charge extra for these services.

Why Choose a Suitable Skate?

When on the ice, your skate will become an extension of your feet – they are the tools that give you great speed, flexibility, and agility. Choosing a good pair is essential, but it may take a little time. Keep these things in mind, and you’ll have a much better time. For hockey players, this is only one of many skills that will need to be developed over time.

Once you have your hockey skates, it is advisable to keep them in top shape.

3 Hockey Safety Tips To Prevent Serious Injury On The Ice

Irrespective of the kinds of sporting activities or games you participate in, either as a leisure activity or as a professional, you’ve got to be aware and look after your safety.

If you are playing basketball, for instance, you’ll need a proper pair of basketball shoes, or if you are playing soccer, you will require a pretty good pair of soccer shoes or boots footwear to protect your feet. You have to keep in mind that safety always comes first.

In this section, we will be looking at safety tips for the increasingly popular sport, Hockey.

If you know nothing else about hockey, you probably know how dangerous it is at all levels of play. The ice provides plenty of opportunities to become injured in this sport. One particular aspect of hockey is “checking,” which can easily lead to injury.

Checking is allowed in hockey, including the lower age groups; it involves one player purposely crashing into another to impede or stop forward movement. When checking takes place, almost anything can happen. A player can hit the ice or crash into the boards, and many fights have erupted over a check. We’ll explore several hockey safety tips that can help reduce serious injury.

1) Know and Use all Hockey Safety Gears

The key to preventing injury lies in adequate preparation and extensive knowledge of hockey safety tips. If you are new to the game, you need to know all the safety gear properly that hockey players use. Though, you probably already know why this is important if you have played the game before. However, it would be best if you still ensured that all your hockey safety equipment is in working order and can offer protection. If your safety equipment is damaged from a previous game, you should consider replacing it.

2) Ensure You’re Properly Padded

The pants for hockey also provide essential protection. Hockey players wear breezes as a form of padded protection from hits, falls, sticks, and pucks. You don’t want to get side-lined from a painful hit that could have been dulled by proper padding.

The tailbone is also well protected by padding in the rear. You’ll probably be laughed at when your tailbone has been bruised or broken. A bruised tailbone can keep you out of action for a while so it can heal, and it is painful. Also, you won’t be able to sit comfortably on benches with a broken tailbone.

3) Ensure to Wear Your Protective Visor

The protective visor is one hockey safety gear that isn’t used often enough. Despite this, you will often see pro hockey players who are smart enough to use them. The visor is made of hard plastic, which helps defend your face and eyes from injury.

You can get severe injuries if you get hit by a flying hockey stick blade or a puck, which isn’t as rare as you might think. There isn’t a piece of safety equipment that is 100% infallible. But they sure can drastically reduce the likelihood of serious injury when worn adequately.

When it comes to hockey safety, you need to get all the facts. These facts will help prevent many injuries.

We’ve come to the end of this content, and we hope it will help you prepare for a good and safe hockey career.   

Featured Image: Pixabay