For anyone looking for ways to work on their Shot, Stick handling, and/or Endurance off the ice, you should look into trying Street Hockey. Street hockey (also known as road hockey, deck hockey, floor hockey, ground hockey, easy hockey, cosom hockey or ball hockey) is a type of hockey played on foot, usually on an outdoor surface (very often a street, parking lot, or other asphalt surface).

Fortunately for you, there is an indoor rink right here in Columbus. The only pieces of gear required are a stick & gloves, but most choose to wear shin guards. The rink you play in is setup like a typical ice rink, complete with boards & glass. The flooring is made up of hard plastic tiles so your stick slides over it quite nicely. The rules on icing and the blue lines are a little different but I won’t get into that here. Just know they are easy to understand and won’t screw you up much if you come from ice hockey.

I’ve been playing D-level ice for a couple years and this season joined a Co-ed Street hockey team. The first thing I noticed is how much more tiring it is than Ice hockey. You don’t realize how much you glide in ice until you have to run everywhere on the floor. It’s non-stop walking and running around depending on how aggressive you are. You generally play with less people/team in street hockey also, so expect to get more game time than you would typically in ice hockey. For me this has resulted in increased endurance and I’ve even shed a couple pounds over the past few weeks.

Being steadily grounded and not on a sheet of ice opens up the opportunity to get really comfortable with your slap shot–a skill we all would like to improve. I’ve also noticed there seem to be more opportunities to take a slap shot while playing street hockey, something usually reserved for Defense-man in ice.

A ball is used and it’s very light and softer than a hockey puck. This results in the need for soft hands and finesse when stick handling and receiving passes. The first couple games I had a very hard time receiving passes because I was too rough and clunky with the ball. Many times it would shoot off the blade of my stick and go flying 10 feet in the air. I’ve stuck with it; the soft hands are coming along and I think it’s really helped my ice game considerably.

Overall I’ve found street hockey to be a great way, off the ice, to improve my Slapshot, Stickhandling, and Endurance. Its a great way to add another day of hockey into your schedule without a big hit on you’re wallet.  For anyone who plays “D” or “E” level ice, I think you would fit right into the co-ed level street hockey. “C” and above ice players could go competitive and be ok.

To get more information on playing street hockey in Columbus Ohio, check out OhioStreetHockey.com. And as always, please post your comments below.