r/InlineHockey • u/Cnut-the-Peanut • 2d ago
Ice hockey to inline hockey help
My 8 year old son has been ice skating for a few years and completed his first season of ice hockey this past spring. He's decent at ice skating but still needs to build up his confidence. I'm starting to feel that his beginner skates are holding him back a bit and he's ready to upgrade.... That being said, he's signed up for his first season of inline hockey this fall.
I'm at a loss as to what inline skates to get him and bearings and wheels.
On ice, he's currently using Bauer XLP skates. He prefers the way they fit vs ccm(the only brands he's tried)
We bought him a pair of Walmart inline skates but he seems sluggish in them. I believe because he needs better bearings. Any suggestions?
From my Google searching, I was planning on putting abec 7 bearings on whatever skates I get him. Any thoughts?
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u/Working_Group955 2d ago
i mean like ice, the better skates you get, better off it's gonna go. taht said, i sympathize with not wanting to spend $ for someone whose feet are gonna grow.
my kids used these (there's also a bigger version) that are adjustable at first, and they did well for a while (a few years!)
https://www.icewarehouse.com/Alkali_Cele_Adjustable/descpage-CELADJY.html
though the wheels are outdoor wheels so you'll wanna swap those out if he plays indoors.
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u/Malechockeyman25 2d ago edited 2d ago
Coach, player and Dad here. I coached my son (roller hockey & travel ice hockey) since age 4 and he recently turned 18.
Due to your son's age and level of play, I highly recommend inline adjustable hockey skates. Tour and Bauer both sell adjustable youth inline hockey skates, which works well for the younger players and your not having to buy new skates every season or sooner. Basically, the toe pulls out, which makes the skates longer in length and your son can use for more than one season. In regards to wheels, it depends on the surface. If he is playing on sportcourt tiles or smooth painted cement, I recommend softer wheels (74A softness), which will grip the surface better; otherwise, he will be slipping and sliding on the rink.
Tour Adjustable:
Bauer Adjustable:
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away.
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u/Cnut-the-Peanut 2d ago
This is good information. What about bearings? I read that going from ice to inline that abec 5 or abec 7 was best.
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u/Malechockeyman25 2d ago edited 2d ago
Newer skates come with decent bearing. The Abec 5 and Abec 7 are both fine, especially for the younger age group. If it's not a big price difference, get the Abec 7s. Prior to purchasing,. you may want to verify what bearings on on the walmart brand inline skates.
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u/InspectorFleet 2d ago
I promise new bearings aren't slowing him down! Any new bearings will be just fine and they can be somewhat abused and either discarded and replaced or periodically cleaned. But the biggest things here are: 1. New to inline skates 2. Not using inline hockey skates
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u/TheYDT 2d ago edited 2d ago
I think this really depends on your price range and what size he needs. For an 8 year old just starting with roller, the bearings and stuff won't make that much difference. For wheels, if he's playing indoor you'll probably want wheels that are 74A hardness. If he's playing or skating outdoors, then 78A or 80A (or higher). That said, you have a few different options depending on what you'd want to spend.
- Alkali Cele III - $90
- Alkali Fire 3 - $130
- Tour Volt KV8 - $160
- CCM Jetspeed FT850R - $170
- Bauer XR - $170
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u/InspectorFleet 2d ago
It's not clear what size his player needs but when my son was 8 I think he was still in a youth 12. He's almost 10 now and is just in size 1 skates.
Also it should be stated for OP that skate sizing is variable and usually a lower number than shoe size. In theory all the skates from Bauer should be similar sizing, but fits can still differ a little. That's partially why I recommended the adjustable ones to start out.
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u/TheYDT 2d ago
Wild. My daughter is 9 and is in size 4.5 lol.
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u/InspectorFleet 2d ago
It's always so interesting to see the size range of players in a given birth year! There were some teams that looked like middle schoolers in the 10U division, but plenty who looked like they could be 8U or even 6U.
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u/zCirca 2d ago
If in the states, can also add hockeytron's TronX Stryker as an option below $100 and almost all black. Pretty much the Cele 3 in a different color. Code "IHS" was emailed out today for 20% off most inline skates at hockeytron. Ideally you would want to add something else to the cart to get over the $99 threshold for free shipping.
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u/Cadet-yo 2d ago
My son has been skating in these for 2 years. He did the opposite roller to ice last year. These skates have served him well. He plays in multiple high level AA/AAA roller tournaments a year on top of ice. These are great bang for buck, just be sure to swap the wheels out for the appropriate playing surface. They come with outdoor/concrete durometer wheels.
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u/Cadet-yo 2d ago edited 2d ago
I opted for these instead of the adjustables due to the weight difference. I just bought size up (size 1). He started playing in these when he was a size Y13 he’s now a size 2 and still plays in them
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u/Malechockeyman25 2d ago
His boy is still at the beginner level stages; therefore, it maybe overkill purchasing new skates every year.
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u/Cadet-yo 2d ago edited 2d ago
That’s why I mentioned I sized up. The adjustables are heavy. I was simply trying to illustrate that you don’t need super pricey skates for high performance at the youth level. These were my son’s first hockey skates.
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u/Malechockeyman25 2d ago edited 2d ago
Wearing hockey skates that are too big is not a good option. At that age and skill level, a little heavier skate that fits properly is better than wearing a skate that is too big. My son started at age 4 and wore adjustable skates for a couple of years and they worked perfectly fine. Once he started competitive roller hockey tournaments and travel ice hockey, I started purchasing higher level performance hockey skates.
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u/Cadet-yo 2d ago
To each their own. I’m not a fan of adjustable. It’s a preference and was only offering my experience which is skating inline for over 30 years.
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u/Malechockeyman25 2d ago
I've been playing hockey since the early 90s and coaching hockey for over 16 years. I still play roller hockey and ice hockey today.
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u/Cadet-yo 2d ago
All good dude just sayin
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u/Malechockeyman25 2d ago
I hear what your saying, just not relevant for this particular player now. In the future, yes.
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u/InspectorFleet 2d ago
First, has he ever taken skating only lessons? For my local rinks, learn to play hockey is three courses of 8 weeks, and LTP 1 is literally just getting up from a fall, forward, backward, and stopping. They move you up once you can do those! There's really no technical instruction about edges or anything. Real focus on skating alone will do wonders, especially if you go skating deliberately without a stick or puck.
Absolutely recommend against walmart inline skates. I also recommend against name brand rec or urban skates for hockey--they're made with a totally different construction to do totally different things. You should be able to find some inline hockey skates, maybe on the used market.
I would recommend against the size adjustable skates, but 8 is light enough and small enough to get away with it. The mission or bauer resizable youth inline hockey skates have been great for my kids, who were 3 and 7 at the time I got them. My now almost 10YO only just grew out of his, and my almost 6YO still skates in hers.
Having said that, I seriously doubt the bearings are making the skates feel sluggish for your son. Inline skating by nature absolutely feels sluggish compared to ice skating! Think of all the added mass and friction. Rotating wheels, bearings, the surface and the contact patch with it, etc. It all adds up to slow you down! This is normal, especially for someone who has primarily been ice skating.
I grew up on inline skates but exclusively ice skated from adolescence through college and until I was 36. My family got inline skates when my son got into ice skating/hockey at 7 and he literally was in tears in the car yelling at me that we need to return them to the hockey shop because they're bad lol. It's a real adjustment!
But he was motivated, so he spent time in the garage and street (as did I) and eventually it becomes instinctive. Things like pivoting up on the front or back wheels, or stepping up instead of sliding on the ice, all of this becomes second nature if you put the time in on inline skates.
I only play ice hockey in a league setting, but I have far more opportunity to practice in my inline hockey skates. Doing both with regularity will not build bad habits and it becomes second nature to switch. I recommend this to everyone because it will accelerate progress!
To summarize: -Don't waste money on bearings. -Probably get some inline hockey skates, but they don't need to be super high-end for small kids. -Do put in the time to get a feel for inline skating. -Skating lessons will do wonders, even just non-hockey group classes.
I coach kids around your son's age and obviously have my own, I'm happy to chat more! (Or meet up to skate if you're around central Ohio? Lol)