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I don't have any internal insight either. Like you, I've worked in product development for the last 25 years. I'm the guy in the lab building the prototypes and running the tests.

Concluding thoughts on these. They are remarkably similar to Flare, not better, not worse. The Flare provides a better angle of attack but as the Flare gets sharpened that attack angle changes where the XC Blade remains constant. Has anyone else tested them? Would love to hear other peoples thoughts and feedback?

Think about it, it may not seem obvious but the S&C coach's #1 priority has to be keeping guys on the field/ice. If you are explaining to coaches why guys are hurt or banged up from the weight room, you aren't going to be working for long. Check out The Hockey Strength podcast, tons of NHL and NCAA S&C coaches on there talking about their experiences and approaches. Yeah, they are 100% always open to learning and trying new things, but managing workload, stress, etc. is always in the equation. Guys like Joe DeFranco and Jim Wendler hardly ever squat or do straight bar deadlifts with their guys, either because they are training vets who are so beat up from years of playing and training, or because they learned new things. Wendler coaches HS kids now. He said he switched them to TB deadlifts, and when they would periodically test their squats, they were going up. So he is increasing whole body strength in a way that doesn't have the risk of a traditional back squat. This is coming from a guy who was an adherent to Westside, so that tells you how open minded you need to be.