No Ice This Summer? Do Roller Blades Translate To Your On-Ice Skills?!

Luke Croucher

Jun '25 (edited) • ❓Questions

Big thanks to

@Kevin Emond

for this week’s community question — I know a ton of players deal with this every summer, so let’s break it down.

How do you train during the summer without ice?

A lot of people freak out when they have no ice during the summer. But honestly you shouldn’t stress out, the big focus during the off season is being maintain the fundamental “touch” and continue to progress your fitness capacity. If you still have access to equipment off the ice such as a place to stickhandle, shoot pucks and workout. That’s more important than having the ice itself. And yes ice can help with having a bit more “feel/touch” but sometimes being off your skates for 2-3 months may be the reason why you don’t overuse your muscles and actually stay healthy year round. There’s a lot of players I see and have seen go way too crazy in the summer (skating 3-5X per week) just to burn out in July and August. And remember the goal isn’t to peak in July - it’s to peak in September and October so make sure you account for that. Don’t get me wrong, hard work and your off-season training is essential but it’s more important to peak at the right time. And a bonus; as you age, the more your off-season will rely on developing more strength and power which isn’t necessarily an on-ice requirement. Obviously having ice is great but it’s not the end all be all. Play more sports (I play soccer), get athletic and continue to work on the little things that you can control.

2. How can I integrate roller hockey drills that translate to on-ice skills? What off-ice drills do you suggest?

Think of using your roller blades like using your gloves while you’re shooting pucks in your basement. A lot of hockey players hate using their gloves but in reality you shoot with them on while playing so you might as well do it off the ice. So yes, it’s a pain to strap the blades on but because roller blades have similar height.

Would recommend all of you who want a structure shooting schedule to check the #BH to FH Quick Release - Introduction Video 6-Day Shooting Course in the classroom section. Do this with roller blades on or off. It’ll help a ton.

Direct link to 6-Day Shooting Course https://www.skool.com/myhockeytrainingcommunity/classroom/efe64963

Now let’s say you DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO ROLLER BLADES; grab a stool, bench or bucket and start to learn how to shoot off of one leg. The reason why you can shoot off the ice better than on the ice, is a stability issue. You need to learn how to get better shooting off one leg. So that also means getting stronger off the ice by getting into the gym and doing single leg stability exercises.

Other common questions players ask ⁉️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️

Can I keep my conditioning up without skating?

100%. Use sprints, hill runs, shuttle runs, or bike intervals. Mimic shift-style efforts: 10-30 sec high effort, 90 sec rest.

2. Do roller mechanics help or hurt your stride?

Don’t think it helps or hurts it. Think the your mechanics of your skating will always get better the stronger, more balanced and powerful you become on one leg. If you really want to work on skating, you have to work on skating. That’s it.

🛼 Thank you for taking the time to read this! If you have thoughts, questions or concerns about this topic or others - drop your comments below!

👉 Each week I’ll answer one big question from the community — so if yours didn’t make it this time, no stress.

💬 Drop your question in the comments and it might be the next one I break down.

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