Moving much slower compared to Ice... Pads stick to the gym floor a lot.

[OldSchoolGoalie]

I'm not sure if anyone has the same problem but when I go for my ice training one of the major compliments I get is how fast I can drop into my butterfly and move around, and cover the puck in the crease. Sadly when I go to play indoor ball hockey I'm running into several issues with my speed. For reference I'm using a second set of ice hockey pads sized properly for ice with my skates, so maybe with shoes it is a more bulky. When I'm dropping into my butterfly I feel like I'm unable to just snap my knees down as the edges of the pad will get stuck. Some of these floors use that rubber material (green and blue) - smooth concrete seems fine. The other issue I'm having is any lateral movement can leave my pads getting caught up and I'm just moving too slow to really respond to the plays.
 

I read up online that in general you want to play more stand-up in Ball Hockey, but honestly it just doesn't work well for me. If I stay up I get beat down low a lot, and by staying up I'm so much slower to cover the ball when near me. If I was already in the butterfly it is a matter of milliseconds to cover. I'm also not fighting with my pads getting stuck all the time to drop due to the friction. It feels like I cannot just snap my knees and flair out my feet to drop fast.

I really don't want to entertain ball hockey much at this point, but the main problem is some of my groups of friends really depend on me to come out weekly to fill the net. When I see how quick I move on ice and how slow I move in the gym with ball hockey it really becomes a major let down. I also play with pretty competitive guys so they're expecting me to move like I do in ice where I'm covering the ball as fast as possible, and doing that standing up is just really slow. Especially if the edges of my pads are glued to the floor as I'm trying to get down. I haven't considered rollerflys or anything or those edge guards for anti-friction, but I might be open to mods as these are dedicated pads for ball only.

Any advice, or should I just stick to ice?

[coopaloop1234]

15 minutes ago, OldSchoolGoalie said:

I really don't want to entertain ball hockey much at this point, ....

Any advice, or should I just stick to ice?

When I occasionally play ball hockey with buddies I play entirely differently than ice. But it's also a very casual sessions where were just there to run around and make fun of each other. So no real competitiveness to speak of. You really do need to change your playing style to accommodate the playing surface, even with rollerfly's it will never be the same as ice. 

In general though, I don't play roller or ball hockey as the issues you've listed aren't one's I'm interested in surmounting just to play in, what I consider, a lesser version of hockey. 

Plus I sweat a lot and playing in a non-cooled arena, gym, or outside is awful lol

 

 

 

[OldSchoolGoalie]

I wish the guys I played with would tone it down a bit... Some played AAA so they're not only running at you at full speed, the shots are being released faster than you can see, and on top of that they can curve the ball. Breakaways with the very fast players can be pretty daunting, and even worse when you got two coming at you. Not being able to butterfly fast is a problem because I'm trying to play the percentages as much as possible as shots up close from high leveled players are just too fast to visually react to.

Any tips, or should I just try to keep doing stand up with the occasional half pad saves, and paddle down while praying?

Also, I forgot to ask... do you get super sore from ball hockey? I find one game of ball hockey as a goalie feels like playing four back to back ice hockey games. I also find my ankles are a lot sore as well, with or without a toe tie mod.

Edited May 13 by OldSchoolGoalie

[dreadlocked1]

Maybe look into slide plates or roller fly on a dedicated ball/roller set?

[OldSchoolGoalie]

3 hours ago, dreadlocked1 said:

Maybe look into slide plates or roller fly on a dedicated ball/roller set?

Might be something to consider as I have a set I only use for ball hockey. I think I can get something pretty cheap off Etsy? I've also heard of Velcro, and even anti-friction tape.

[dreadlocked1]

Nothing beats slide plates and roller fly is a step up from that.  

[OldSchoolGoalie]

3 hours ago, dreadlocked1 said:

Nothing beats slide plates and roller fly is a step up from that.  

I've heard the best are the ones with ball bearings but those come at a premium cost. Always something to consider in the future if I take it more seriously I suppose! Right now I'm trying to avoid the net in ball hockey as much as possible. I just feel bad leaving those groups hanging with no goalie but it is what it is.

 

[coopaloop1234]

19 hours ago, OldSchoolGoalie said:

I wish the guys I played with would tone it down a bit... Some played AAA so they're not only running at you at full speed, the shots are being released faster than you can see, and on top of that they can curve the ball. Breakaways with the very fast players can be pretty daunting, and even worse when you got two coming at you. Not being able to butterfly fast is a problem because I'm trying to play the percentages as much as possible as shots up close from high leveled players are just too fast to visually react to.

Any tips, or should I just try to keep doing stand up with the occasional half pad saves, and paddle down while praying?

Also, I forgot to ask... do you get super sore from ball hockey? I find one game of ball hockey as a goalie feels like playing four back to back ice hockey games. I also find my ankles are a lot sore as well, with or without a toe tie mod.

Yea, the people I play with play bottom tier beer league if they even play. I'm definitely not in a similar scenario. I'm there to fuck around as much as they are, though they sure do get a kick on scoring on "an actual goalie". 

Sorry man, I don't have any advice to give. 

[OldSchoolGoalie]

4 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Yea, the people I play with play bottom tier beer league if they even play. I'm definitely not in a similar scenario. I'm there to fuck around as much as they are, though they sure do get a kick on scoring on "an actual goalie". 

Sorry man, I don't have any advice to give. 

All good! One of the groups I play with is very casual and is all about having a good time, but that group is over until after the summer. The groups I got now are pretty intense. Maybe a few pre-game rum and cokes with triple shots will help? Drunken goaltending!

[ilyazhito]

Get sliding plates. Rollerfly is probably the easiest to use as an occasional ball hockey goalie. You can use the Velcro straps to attach the plates to the sliding edges of your pads. You can take the plates off when you are done. They won't give you all the mobility that you have on ice, but they will give you some sliding ability. 

[dreadlocked1]

I would say that the positions can't be compared too much.  What's the point of being positionnally perfect like an ice hockey goalie when a good ball hockey shooter can simply shoot and curve it around you.  Have fun and don't compare to ice.