Hi, all.

Being a newbie not only to hockey, but to ice skating, I am in desperate need for some high-quality coaching. I have heard fantastic things about the sessions with Rob Little, but his website hasn't been updated in several weeks and no morning sessions are listed on his calendar.

Does anyone know if Rob Little is offering more AM sessions, or if those are only in the summer?

Any other opportunities for getting some coaching - specifically for hockey skating skills?

I am signed up for the AHA Beginner School this winter, but I have the feeling that I'll benefit it much more if I can concentrate more on the hockey skills than the skating, so I'd like to buff up my skating as much as possible before then.

Thanks.
Dan

Hey Dan,

I started out with these guys because I hadn't skated in 20 years - and even back then I couldn't skate. I actually started with their figure skating coach - no stick, nothing. It was a huge help with all the fundamentals you'll need later. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure you can start from scratch with their hockey guys if you want.

Anyway, long story longer, I'm still doing stuff with them and I'd like to think that I'm getting better all the time. I really like their stressing of skating fundamentals, because even now, after two years skating with them every week (sometimes twice a week), I'm always using the basics they've taught me, and in turn I'm understand more of what they've taught me in previous lessons because it's so vital.

Depending on the day of the week, they work at rinks all over the metro, from Blake to Highland.

http://www.proedgeprivates.com/

Rob Little is fantastic. I believe he schedules the Skating clinics around the same time as the AHA Beginner program, although I've known C2 and above skaters to still attend.

Learning how to skate isn't a couple months process, it's a couple of years. Without a Skating clinic scheduled at the moment, I'd recommend just going to Open Skates and work on your technique. Most skating instructors are effectively teaching "Power Skating" by Laura Stamm. Might be worth a pick up, what a lot of new skaters don't realize is that the recovery in their stride is just as important as the push. Skills Coaching is great, but if you can't skate very well, you're not going to be hitting many one-timers or making a lot of 2-fake dekes, let alone being able to get to proper positioning or stopping the other player from going around you.

Don't leave out JMS / pickup or the clinics when they become available, but do try going and *just* skating sometime. It's how I learned to stop, skate backwards, do crossovers, etc.

FYI - Rob's website is http://www.roblittlehockey.com
Although, he still needs to update his schedule for this / next month.

Buzz Hockey....Sunday nights in Plymouth. I started with Buzz when I first moved here in 2004. He has helped with my skating and puck handling abilities.

http://www.buzzhockey.com/index.php?page=adult_men

All of the posts sound like great advice. Thanks to you all.

I'm not fooling myself that by getting 2 months of coaching that I'll have learned all the skills that I need. But I think that in order to get the most out of Beginner School, I should be as good of a skater as possible.

I'll check out all the links that you recommended and see what schedules and locations work out the best.

Again, thanks for all the advice and I'm more than glad to get any additional ideas that you, or others have.

Dan

Austin is right about most hockey skating clinics direct correlation to the Laura Stamm curriculum. I actually had the opportunity to attend one of her clinics last month. I couldn’t possibly say enough about how effective and beneficial Laura’s program was for me. I experienced an immediate jump in skating performance. I'd recommend it to any and all level of JMS/AHA skaters. I also think that if she received enough inquiries, she would schedule an adult only clinic at some point in the future.

Jeff, I was actually signed up to attend that class and was told in no uncertain terms that I had a wedding to attend that weekend. Ugh..Sounds like I missed out on a good opportunity.

I've been to a couple of Rob's morning sessions and really enjoyed them, but I have nothing to compare them to. How does he measure up to the AHA beginner program and some of the others mentioned?

Jthirteen,
Where do they hold the Stamm clinics and how often are they offered?
Thanks,
Dan