I just finished the spring season of my floor hockey league and and joined a ball hockey league (full rink, 5v5) and was wondering if you guys could help me out with some tips.

I'll be going from a 3v3 floor hockey league with a small gym where I played goalie and once in a while on the floor as a "skater". I plan on playing wing in ball hockey and I've watched a ton of hockey but have never played it on a full rink competitively, so this will be all new to me. I'm kind of lost on positioning other than the standard "get in front of the net and play the crease" aspect of the game. I'm not sure where I should be on forechecking, backchecking, defense, etc.

Due to the lower-skill level night filling up, my team (comprised of our floor hockey guys who haven't played a ton of ice/ball hockey) will be playing in the skilled division.

I'm not going in here thinking that I'm going to just rack up points or win, I just want to have fun and be able to learn a different game. I know I'll be doing a lot of running, but we'll have about three forward lines rotating so I'm not too worried.

If you guys have any tips or know of some online resources, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

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I played wing on a 4-on-4 ball league last year, and it was my first playing experience too. I'm no master, so I'm just going to stick to a few basic principles that helped me with positioning.

First of all, on defense, your job is to cover the point man. Unless told otherwise, stick to that guy like glue, eliminate any passing lanes to him, and get in the way of any shots. Make sure he doesn't cut to the net. But when your man has the puck, pressure him, don't give him too much space. In ball hockey on a small court with few players, people will take shots from everywhere. Don't get caught floating between the guy with the puck and your own net because you might screen your goalie if that guy shoots. Either pressure the puck-carrier and block the shot, or give your goalie a clear look at the shot.

Staying with the point guy is a good start. Eventually, you'll start to recognize times when you might need to go help out your defense down low. But be careful, because when you leave "your" guy unattended, he always seems to get a great opportunity in the slot.

Offense is a bit more of a creative art, and the right play often depends on what your strengths are. As a wing, you tend to want to give your defense an outlet along the boards when you team has the ball in your own zone. In the offensive zone, you want to either get open for a shot on goal or to give your teammates an option when they're being pressured (that's when you don't have the ball). When you get the ball, you want to either shoot or find the open man for a shot. Ball-handling for me is the hardest part of the game, so I tend to not try to stick-handle the ball through traffic. But some people are good at that. As a starter, I'd advise against trying to stick-handle through the defense and instead concentrate on getting open for a shot or getting it to your best offense teammates.

When you're forechecking, if your the first one in, pressure the ball carrier, but cheat towards the boards to take away that lane for the guy to advance the ball (off the boards or to someone up the wall). That forces the ball-carrier to make his move or pass towards the middle, where your second forechecker should be. If you are supporting the first guy in on the forecheck, take away the middle of the court by placing yourself around the blueline in the center of the court. You'll have a chance to pick off many bad passes from the opposing D, or get a good shot if your teammate gets the ball.

That's enough for now I think. My biggest advice is run a lot if you want to get better in a hurry. It's a lot more tiring than you think playing at full speed, even if you're only out there for a minute and a half shift. You'll come off panting and gasping for air. Even the people in the best shape come off a long shift totally out of breath. Cardio, cardio, cardio.

Basically in ball hockey, if you're a forward, you will cover the point man, unless you play center, in which you cover the slot area. Always block the pass to the point and cover your man, if he goes in deep leave him alone cause the center will pick him up. You'll be open if that happens, but it probably won't.

Forechecking, rush in and forecheck as much as possible. The center will stay back. But it really depends on the situation.

Rushing in, you'll probably be receiving a pass. Usually I go for dump ins cause I like getting physical along the boards, I love me some board play.

As Stu said, lots of cardio. I always keep moving cause staying still will completely bone your team over, but that really makes you tired. Cardio will help your conditioning. Good thing for the 3 lines, though.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

Making the transition can be tough. We usually play 4 on 4 (underground parking lot so add in concrete pillars) but it is a fast transitioning game. I play D, so adapting to this style, I just hung back and watched the play unfold and got to know everyone else’s style. As everyone else has mentioned, cardio is key as even in the D position, I've seen myself spinning on a wheel so to speak, trying to upset a 3 on 1. But yeah, if I can recommend a position to learn a new style of game, it would be D just so you can see the plays unfold and can adapt to everyone else’s style then grow from there.

Overall, just have fun with it!

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Thanks a ton guys! I appreciate the help a lot.

I'm going to try and focus on the basic things first as far as just sticking to my man/area at the point and trying to set some things up. My stick handling skills aren't the best, especially playing goalie the past five seasons with my floor hockey league, but they'll improve over time. I plan on running my ass off as we'll have three forward lines so I'll get some chances to rest.

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If you want tips, honestly, just watch some basic ice hockey skills and breakouts and stuff on youtube. Same thing will apply of course.

I know where wings and centers need to be, but I play Defense in my ice league. But as everyone said, your job as a winger is to cover the point, and DO NOT EVER get below the hash marks on the circles, that is the D's job to take any guys in that area. If you drop low you better make sure either a center or that D is moving into your spot. As you play longer with each other you will figure that out, same as if you follow your man to the slot and the center's man goes into the point, you either switch guys or you stay on your guys but switch positions.

You need to be available for the start of a breakout pass, especially if you're on the wall side of the play, or strong side, so you can get the puck and either skate it up or pass to a streaking center or the other winger leaving the zone.

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Thanks for the help again, guys. I really appreciate everything. I'm excited for it to start. I just talked to our "coach" who is another goalie in my floor hockey league that wants to be behind the bench, and he had me penciled in on D because of the skill we have up front.

So I guess I might be looking for tips on D now. I know a bit from playing a lacrosse although I played goalie pretty much the entire time. I don't know about positioning, aggressiveness, etc. other than in lacrosse you always want to force the shooter towards one side of the field and then to the outside and low to reduce the angle for the goalie. Other than that I'm not familiar with the position at all.

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Usually playing defense in ball hockey, if you get the ball you take a slapper if you have a decent shot. Other than that, passing and dumping really helps. Taking away the passing lanes and pressuring them is key, but don't try and full out attack them because they can move around ya. I've only played D a few times before, so maybe a few others could offer some more strategic nuggets.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

D is my forte on the ice. Literally press the man, if this isn't on skates just make sure to read his hips and eyes always.

If this is on skates then still watch the eyes, never watch the ball. Basically, if you're not in the play side your job is the front of the net. If you're in the play, try to not charge into a corner always, especially since it's not gonna be a checking league you have no point in smashing into the corner like a mad man. Take away a passing lane there if they are trying to use it to their advantage.

Also, this isn't too much pertaining to you, but dump and chase is pointless in a nonchecking league. Only use that if you need a clear or something.

Also on pinches, make sure you have a good support system, if your team is experienced enough, you'll have no worries about not having a point guy. On those pinches, only go if you're absolutely sure you're getting that ball, if it's a 50/50 chance, better just stay away from it. It can burn you.

Only question to you is if this is on skates or is it on feet?

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Thanks guys. We're playing on feet, so I'll try to focus more on his hips and eyes than the ball. Also, when you talk about pressing him, you mean be aggressive and give a little push?

Just so I have an understanding too, my job when my guy doesn't have the ball is take away the front of the net. The center gets the slot, the wings up top at the point, and my other D guy has the other side/front of the net down low, right?

This is less of a man-to-man defense that I'm used to with lacrosse and more of a zone-type of style, correct?

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Pressing him means to get close and into his face, basically taking the man here and don't give him room to do anything.

Yes, that is exactly what it means. It is a zone type of D in hockey, but you sorta play the man also.

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Check and see what the icing rules are. In my league, there was no icing since we played on a small court (a tennis court). If that's the case, you might think about dumping-and-chasing as a way to take off pressure in your own end.

Here's their icing/offsides rules.

"Our offsides rule is known as "red line offsides." If you're not familiar with it, as long as you don't pass the ball from your defensive side of the red line to one of your players who is already on the offensive side of the red line, the play is ONSIDE. This also means that you can have your players in the offensive zone and you can carry the ball across the red line onside. Once you gain the red line, you can pass to any of your other players in the offensive zone.

Also with red line offsides, you cannot take a shot on goal from your defensive zone while you have players in the offensive zone. You can shoot and miss, but if you shoot on goal from your defensive zone while you have players in the offensive zone, the play will be called offside.

We don't enforce icing."

Kind of a weird offsides rule, but whatever works.

Not sure if I mentioned it, but there is no contact.

Here's the league site if you guys are interested. There are a lot of videos on there too.

http://www.rochesterballhockey.com/

I guess Randy Cunneyworth and Rory Fitzpatrick play in the league too (or at least have played during the winter months).

Our first game is on Tuesday.

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I play in a roller league that has that exact same offside rule, so my guess is that it's not all that uncommon.

I play in another roller league that has no offside rules. I hate that.

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@TJLuckman550

As a beginning defenseman, that no icing rule could be your best friend when you're under a lot of pressure in your own end. Just remember to keep your clearing attempts to the sides (not in the middle!).

The other thing on D, if you are on the left side and you see someone going up the right side wide open, don't make that pass through the middle, it will get picked off. Never in front of the net.

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My first game was last night. We ended up winning 3-1 against a decent team. It was a lot of fun and was much different from what I'm used to playing in a small gym with a plastic puck from stick handling to positioning.

I ended up erring on the side of caution for most of the game and hanging back to prevent any breakaways because I saw quite a few of them in the earlier games. Oftentimes, I'd move back past the center line when their wingers would get the ball and drop in while giving them space, mainly because I wasn't used to where I was on the floor yet and I didn't want to get beat. Most of the times this worked, but a few of the guys said I need to step up more. I had a few good clears and passes, and almost set up a goal down low too.

It was a pretty fun night and I'll be playing in net next week which should be tough since I'm used to being able to slide and there's no way to slide on this floor material.

Thanks for the help guys!

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What kind of floor is it?

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Girgensons for captain. Team Keep Nick DesLauriers forever.

@TJLuckman550

Sportech? (sp?). It's like a perforated almost plasticy surface. It's not all totally flat either and certain parts are slippery like there is water on it, but the floor is dry. It's harder to stickhandle and get a good shot off on the floor.

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Seems weird to me.

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