Problem with APX 2's (left skate)

[gobears19 0]

I sent an email to Bauer but never heard anything back. I was hoping you guys could give me some insight.

Here is the email I sent:

Hi,

I recently purchased a pair of EE Bauer APX 2's.

I play NCAA D3 hockey and I got them through my coach (who got them through Bauer). I had them heat molded, sharpened, and contoured at a reputable hockey shop.

I have skated in Bauer's my entire life and have never had a problem.

Before the APX 2's I have owned, XX's, XXX's, and X60's and loved them.

With the APX 2's, I love the way the RIGHT skate fits and performs. However, I have noticed that I have a very hard time pushing off of the inside edge of my left skate. My left foot also suffers from considerable pain against the boot on the outside of my foot (just before the toes). Walking on the skates off of the ice, my left foot tends to wobble and my ankle rolls outwards. When I took the steel out of the holder, I could visibly tell that the steel was warped. When I stand straight up in the skates, my left ankle tends to roll outwards and I feel like I am on my outside edge (when I should feel neutral). When I push off with the right foot and glide on the left, the skate seems to wobble along the ice and it is hard to do crossovers to the right (its hard to do the toe flick). I have worked at a number of power skating camps and I have always prided myself on my skating ability. Thus said, I do not believe that my edge control problems with the left skate are the product of poor skating form.

Looking at the skates from the bottom, I can see that the left holder is aligned slightly more towards the inside of the outsole than the right holder is on the right skate. If I place both of the skates flat on the outside of the boot on a desk, you can see that the angles of the steel in relation to the boot are far from the same.

I have attached a video for your reference. (The skate on the right in the video is the "bad" left skate.

I have skated on my current pair about 5 times a week for a couple of months and have noticed no improvement in the left skate.

Once again, I've used Bauer's my whole life and I love the way my current right skate feels. I was wondering what you would recommend to solve the problem I am having with the left one.

Thank you!

------You can watch the video here:

Is this a fairly common problem? What would you recommend doing to fix the discrepancy without getting a new pair?

Thanks!

[Davetronz 109]

It's somewhat common, usually a bit worse on the lower models though from what I've seen. Depends on how they mount the holder (and to an extent, how they last the boot).

You could get a good shop to re-mount the holder, although, they will need to re-drill, and you might be bothered by having two sets of holes in your new skates.

It all depends on how much things need to move over...

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

I can see them being redrilled however there are ways to do it not to make it so bad. And to keep the integrity. What do you feel when your skating? Thats more of the issue then if it "looks" off. If its a feel more than the look then yes it can easily be adjusted. What school are you at?

[gobears19 0]

DaveTronz and Oldtrainerguy28, thank you for your time and help.

I went into my LHS today and they said that the left skate blade was bending...so they straightened it out. They also punched out the front/outside part of the left skate, which reduced the pressure I was feeling there.

Next, they had me stand on my feet (without skates) and looked at my weight distribution. Apparently, the inside of my left heel was barely touching the ground and all of my weight was on the outside of the foot.

They said that orthotics would probably do little to compensate for the uneven weight distribution. Instead, they recommended getting the skate shimmed, placing the shim on the right part of my left heel in order to make up for the discrepancy. (moving the holder more to the outside was deemed impractical because there is little room to place it on the boot) Unfortunately, they said that they didn't have any shims in the store and referred me to the Syracuse Crunch's equipment manager. The team is on an away trip right now, so I will have to wait a little to make contact.

@oldtrainerguy I play at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. My problems are only on the left foot. When I am skating, I feel like I have a hard time with the toe flick at the end of my stride and when I am gliding on the left foot it seems to wobble and want to take me on my outside edge. I also have a hard time leaning on the middle-front part of the blade when I do crossovers clockwise around a circle. When I do quick starts, the skate seems to slip out from underneath me and go straight back.

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

Well if you remove all the front rivets you will find the whole that is out. If you remove all the rivets except the rear coppers then you can see if it can be shifted slightly. A trick I learned from the Chicago trainer was to use 2 coppers in the 2nd front 2 holes. Holds better and keeps the holder from shifting.

As for the shim I would have to see the whole situation. I personally do not use shims. In my opinion if you do not shim both the front and rear on th same side you will torque the holder.

I prefer to shift were needed.

But the Crunch guy is good. So you cant really goo wrong there.

[KoT 2]

gobears19

Post (photo) u insoles and photo both holders upright?

[gobears19 0]

I went and talked to my team's athletic trainer and he thinks the problem has to do with a leg length discrepancy. My left leg is functionally longer than the right one. He thinks the problem is stemming from my right hip being (inverted?).

KoT: I am using the Shock Doctor insoles that are in a lot of hockey shops. I don't have my skates on me at the moment, but the holders are perfectly aligned (I had my LHS make sure before I left).

oldtrainerguy28: Thats a good point about the holder torquing. I think what you described in terms of shimming both the front and back of the skate is what they meant (I just said it the wrong way). The LHS said that the rivets seemed to check out but that they couldn't move the holder over to the outside of the boot any further because it would crack the boot. Does this sound reasonable?

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

With out seeing the bottom of the boot in front of me it would be hard to say. With the leg length I have the same issue. When I put a small lift front and back on the one skate it made a word of difference and skated my best when I did do that. Since I have not done it again I have never skated as well.