puckpilot

I've been mulling over changing the profile in my skates. This is an area that I've paid zero attention to, so I was wondering if someone could give me some recommendations. Right now I'm in LS3 with stock profiling with a 3/8 hollow. I'm in Nexus N9000s so I'm assuming they're 9' or 10' radius. One of the issues I'm running into now is the under-push on my crossovers. It's slipping out on me a bit when I try to drive into it and extend out, and I'm losing power and stability. Now, over the last while, I've been assuming it's user error. I'm older, less flexable, and a few years ago I got sick and lost a good chunk of muscle. But I've been really focused working on that for the last few months, youtube videos studying technique, hip stretches, one leg squats, and hours and hours and hours of ice time just working my edges and crossovers with the top three eyelets undone, but I can't seem to make any progress. So now, I'm wondering if it could be my skates. I'm 175lbs, and I'm in size 4.5 skates, so I'm wondering if it could be an issue involving not enough blade on the ice or rather not enough of a flat. I'm not sure if a smaller runner has less of a flat than a larger runner with the same radius. While googling, I found a rule of thumb calculation that said if you take your weight in kg and divided by 6.28 which is 2Pi, it will give you the ball park of what your profile radius should be. My calculation comes up with a 13' radius, which seems a bit crazy. Any way, any recommendations/suggestions are welcome.

Hahhah. A high level player on one of my teams says that eating a banana helps with this. Something in the banana makes your bowels tighten up so uhhh... less sloshing in around. I find my trigger is having a little too much liquid before or during the game.

Can't help you with the insoles, but I got a small trick for the blister in the mean time. Just take a strip of duct tape and place it over the skin on the area where the blister forms. At the very least, it will reduce the size and severity of the blister. Best cast, it will prevent the blister from forming. I've even use this for a preexisting blisters in the past. I find it reduces the pain when I skate, and prevents it from getting worse. BUT, oh boy, if you're not careful, taking it off can be painful.

Yeah, I agree. When a guy shows up wearing old, worn out gear, they're usually the ones to watch out for. They're usually the ones skating circles around everyone else. As for what you witnessed, yeah, F those guys. Their moms and pops need to bend them over and show them some old-time corporal punishment. Or maybe someone needs to go into the corner with one of them and take a stomp down on their high end stick.

I find that with new skates, it takes a lot more effort to close the area around the ankle. I found as they break in, it becomes easier, but then again, I have less of a reliance on lateral support from the skate, so what's good support for me may not be enough for someone else. I sometimes train without tying the top three eyelets. One thing I used to do was use two sets of laces for each skate. What I mean by this is I would have my bottom eyelets threaded with one lace, and then I would thread the top two or three eyelets with a second lace. This separated the skate lacing into two zones. I could keep the bottom of the skate snug but comfortable, and if I needed to, I could really yank on the top lacing to close the boot for more lateral support without crushing my forefoot or instep.

For me, it's less about eating. Don't get me wrong, some carbs and/or a little something something a couple of hours before does me some good. BUT for me, the most important thing is getting a nice warm up before I hit the ice. Get the blood flowing, muscles moving, etc. I try to get to the rink at least 45 min before a game--idealy and hour. I do some stickhandling with a ball, and then I do some foot work, cariokas, a few lunges, jumping jacks anything that gets my feet moving, so I get a light sweat and can feel my heart pumping.. Five minutes of warm up on the ice is not enough for me. With that limited time, the engine is cold and definitely not ready to go.

I got the QX on release day. I was using a Super Tacks 2.0 and compared to that the QX blade felt definitely softer. Heck, the whole stick felt a bit soft. But CCM has IMHO one of the stiffest, if not the most stiff, blades and shafts on the market. But after a few ice times fooling around with the QX, I liked it more and more. Yeah, the blade doesn't have as much pop as say the Super Tacks 2.0, but I find I can shoot just as hard if not harder. And the blade doesn't affect my accuracy at all. Definitely doesn't feel like its opening up.

Ditto on the wide head. I went with a Warrior Krown. It's adjustable in all four directions. No more headaches during or after games. I think at least one other brand has a helmet that can adjust in all directions, but I don't recall which.

Wow, I just skimmed through this thread, and it's pretty cool to see you make progress. Boo on the nay sayers. As someone who when through some health issues a few years back and had to literally relearn how to skate, shoot, and stick handle I empathise a lot with your struggles. As I was skimming through this thread, I took notice of something about your stick handling, and I thought this video I found on youtube might help. It was extremely helpful to me in not only getting me back to where I was before my health issues. It helped me surpass my previous skill level. The instructor works with a lot of NHL players, and is I believe a skills coach for the Maple Leafs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgEHrq59czk Oh, if you're looking for open ice in Vancouver, check out Richmond Ice Center. They usually have stick and puck every day from 9am-3pm. Cheers.

Nertz... the per stick price is reasonable enough, but I was hoping I could experiment with different specs. Oh well. Thanks for the response. Saved me a trip down to the shop to ask.

Was thinking about maybe trying a Warrior custom. Do the custom sticks cost more than buying stock?