uni-hockey questions

General
1

John Hamilton has been kind enough to reply to my private request for advice on
the subject of uni-hockey. Now I’m asking everyone here on the list for answers
to questions and any other advice they may care to add.

I’m looking forward to attending the National Unicycle Convention (NUC) in July.
As I told John, I played uni-hockey with some friends at a juggling convention
and although I had a blast, as a player I was probably more help to the opposing
team than my own. I had never played hockey of any kind before that so I was
doubly hampered.

So I think it might be good to buy a used hockey stick and something to bat
around and practice in anticipation of more team play. Some questions:

I went to a used sports equipment store and found sticks for sale as well as
ome interesting puck substitutes, like a puck with three one-inch ball
bearings. Package states “Turns concrete into ice.” There was also a hollow
orange plastic ball

  1. What to uni-hockey teams normally use for a puck? A ball or something flat
    (like a puck?)

    I ride a 24" and am 6’ tall so I think I need a longer stick than the one
    provided for me last time. To hold on with both hands I had to lean way
    forward. This didn’t work so I ended up swinging the stick one handed like
    a fly swatter, resulting in poor control, no power and a pulled shoulder
    muscle. I think maybe a longer stick is called for.

  2. Do hockey sticks come in different lengths and if so, what is the longest?

  3. What are the tricks of swinging the stick two handed? With both arms
    encumbered and a prohibition against high-sticking, how does one make the
    nimble turns required in this sport?

  4. What are some good skill drills for me to practice in preparation for future
    uni-hockey games?

Dennis Kathrens

2

Re: uni-hockey questions

I don’t play any kind of hockey so I can’t help you with the technical or skills
questions. My wife did translate the unihockey rules into Spanish. Instead of a
puck you are supposed to use a used tennis ball, with no more than 50% bounce.
So, if you drop it from 4 feet, it should not bounce over 2 feet.

Alberto Ruiz Ruizb@aol.com

3

Re: uni-hockey questions

On May 10, 4:51am, d.kathrens@genie.geis.com wrote:
> Subject: uni-hockey questions

> 1) What to uni-hockey teams normally use for a puck? A ball or something flat
> (like a puck?)

As has previously been mentioned, this can vary from place to place. Most of
Europe (who follow the rules on the web-site) use a non-bouncy tennis ball
whilst the British use a hollow plastic ball. The one you described sounds about
right. In a fix, a medium sized juggling stage-ball will do quite well. If I
remember correctly, the change was made in Britain as most teams found the hard
ball rather better for play - the tennis ball tended to bounce around a lot
making the game scrappy. YMMV of course.

> I ride a 24" and am 6’ tall so I think I need a longer stick than the one
> provided for me last time. To hold on with both hands I had to lean way
> forward. This didn’t work so I ended up swinging the stick one handed
> like a fly swatter, resulting in poor control, no power and a pulled
> shoulder

Yup it sounds like yours was a little short. In the old days (3 years or so ago)
before hockey took off in Britain, we started playing using field hockey sticks.
Now they are short and the game had a rather different feel to it. If you
can’t find a stick that feel right for you (and this is a personal thing. I
ended up sawing off a couple of inches from my standard ice-hockey stick) why
not buy a street-hockey blade and make a handle yourself from some scrap wood. A
bit of care and you will have a stick perfect for you. Choose a lightweight wood
as it will make the one-handed stuff less tiring.

> 3) What are the tricks of swinging the stick two handed? With both arms
> encumbered and a prohibition against high-sticking, how does one make the
> nimble turns required in this sport?

A huge swing isn’t needed. If you keep your hands a reasonable (2 foot??)
distance apart, you should be able to get a lot of power by using a flicking
action. In a lot of situations (stopping a pass, some dribbling etc) you can use
just the one hand to control the ball - let the stick slide on the ground so it
can take the weight rather than your arm!

The turning comes with practice. Hockey is really good for making your turns
quicker and smoother. The problem most people find initially is the stick. It
gets in the way and upsets your balance. Put it to your advantage though and use
it as a pivot on which to turn. If you are in a hall with walls (as is best) you
can use them to push off of to get sharp turns. Once you are comfortable with
the stick things get a lot better.

> 4) What are some good skill drills for me to practice in preparation for
> future uni-hockey games?

If you’ve got a stick and ball, draw some targets on a wall and try hitting them
from all sorts of distances. Make sure some of them are in the air so that you
practice chipping the ball. Try dribbling the ball through a slalom of cones.
Just riding in a tight slalom at good speeds is also good. Practice just riding
around with a stick - go on a ride down the street with it; dealing with all the
pot-holes etc will really help your stability. The best thing of course is to
actually play some hockey!

Hope this helps and have fun with the game…

–
Paul Selwood “Smock, smock, smock, smock, smock, smock!”
ps@dcre.leeds.ac.uk --Hobbes

4

Re: uni-hockey questions

d.kathrens@genie.geis.com wrote:
> I went to a used sports equipment store and found sticks for sale as well as
> ome interesting puck substitutes, like a puck with three one-inch ball
> bearings. Package states “Turns concrete into ice.” There was also a hollow
> orange plastic ball
>
> 1) What do uni-hockey teams normally use for a puck? A ball or something flat
> (like a puck?)

A street hockey ball - the hollow orange plastic one sounds about right.

> I ride a 24" and am 6’ tall so I think I need a longer stick than the one
> provided for me last time. To hold on with both hands I had to lean way
> forward. This didn’t work so I ended up swinging the stick one handed
> like a fly swatter, resulting in poor control, no power and a pulled
> shoulder muscle. I think maybe a longer stick is called for.
>
> 2) Do hockey sticks come in different lengths and if so, what is the longest?

You can use any ice-hockey stick except the goalkeeper’s. These are pretty long
(about 5’) - you’d have no trouble holding on to one unless your 24" is a
giraffe… I think street-hockey sticks tend to be shorter - maybe you were
using one of those. Field-hockey sticks are shorter still - you really don’t
want a field-hockey stick.

> 3) What are the tricks of swinging the stick two handed? With both arms
> encumbered and a prohibition against high-sticking, how does one make the
> nimble turns required in this sport?

With the light street-hockey ball and a long hockey stick, you don’t need to put
much force behind the swings.

Nimble turns !?! Nah. You must be playing a different game. Just flail about
until you get to where you want to be. :slight_smile:

> 4) What are some good skill drills for me to practice in preparation for
> future uni-hockey games?

In the games I’ve played (only three) it seems that control of the uni is more
important than control of the ball.

Regards, Mark.

P.S. I’ve been trying to get a team (or two) together in the Birmingham (UK)
area without much success. Anybody out there fancy a game? Previous
experience not required…

Mark Wiggins, | markw@ftel.co.uk +44 (121) 717 6255 Fujitsu Telecom Europe
Ltd,|----------------------------------------- Solihull Parkway, | I’ve been
walkin’ in my sleep, countin’ Birmingham Business Park, | troubles ‘stead of
countin’ sheep. Birmingham, | Kate Wolf. ENGLAND. |