BenBreeg

I would say this about the analogy, nobody said crap skates, but the relative minutiae between one good enough pair of skates and another good enough pair of skates isn’t going to matter much to a beginner. i think the better analogy may be, given a basic vehicle that is good enough, the better driver is going to win the race.

From my perspective from someone who does this periodically, you are going to learn something that first lap out. You will get feedback on how you are placing you weight on each skate (good chance it isn’t perfectly equal). You will start to understand better how the different muscles of the foot contribute to controlling the skate and applying pressure within. If you have a specific issue, like turning one way or the other or a certain edge, it will make it worse but you will get magnified feedback on where things are going wrong.

What is odd about addressing things fundamentally first?

Out of curiosity, why not just use more copper rivets as a matter of course? I am sure there is a price difference relative to non-copper rivets but it is a drop in the bucket when compared to high end skate cost.

No, you have biomechanics, can’t be avoided. They are either contributing to or detracting from your skating. We all have dominant sides, habits that we have developed over the years. My right foot pronates AND i am left leg dominant. Even off the ice if I am standing I tend to default to weight on my left foot. I skate unlaced at public skate now. If you pay attention to whats going on when you do this you will make quick improvements. I am 45 and have been skating since I was about 10 and was able to ID several issues right off the bat. You get feedback that a tight, stiff skate laced up will hide. I have seen improvement after only doing this only a handful of times, can’t imagine what I could do if I did it once or twice a week. I am still in an old Bauer Supreme 7000 which by this point is probably a fraction of the stiffness of these new skates and don’t feel it is holding me back, although I will be forced into new skates soon since they are literally starting to fall apart. Just because everyone doesn't teach a certain thing doesn’t it is or isnt valid. Laces undone has been done for a very long time.

This scenario, it seems....familiar.... 🙂

Best wishes and hope everything works out for the best. Great that you were able to move down there and be close.

Rationalization is a beautiful thing.

Learn the players’ personalities (you probably have a leg up there). Know which players respond to overt criticism and which ones need to be coached in a private side conversation. As mentioned, be valuable to the coach. Do all the little things on and off the ice that lets him focus on his core coaching responsibilities. i was in a somewhat similar situation when I was assistant for a college club team. Expectations weren’t explicit so I just defined it myself. I started running dryland and all S&C activities including designing the program and creating a web site for it. I put up bars in the office to hang the jerseys, took them home and washed them after every game (my wife lovvved that...), put together a first aid kit with spare helmet parts, designed and ordered helmet stickers and game pucks, delivered the line up to the scorer before the game, etc.

No need to stay with a line, mix and match. Don’t leave out STX, I think they provide great value and have multiple price points.

Yeah, the muscles atrophy. I remember getting a full leg cast off as a kid and my knee maybe had 15-20 degrees ROM. The wrist has a lot going on inside. Keep at it and hope to see you back on the ice ASAP!

The post does nothing to explain how this would help. The lace in inside out lacing and the lace in outside in lacing both cross the tongue with half the lace crossing from the top (or outside) of the facing and the other end exiting from the bottom (or inside) of the facing. Changing how you lace it is just reversing the order it enters and exits, not the amount of pressure on the tongue.

Gotta be placebo because it will be alternating “high-low” and “low-high” as it crisscrosses so really no difference.

Sorry to hear that, at least you got a positive diagnosis though.

The lace enters the boot outside in, exits the eyelet on the inside, crosses the tongue, and enters the other side on the outside. The lace is still crossing the tongue travelling from an outside to an inside eyelet, it is the same pattern just instead of inside-outside it is outside-inside. The only difference is how you perceive you are lacing it, the order you traverse the pattern. If you wanted to change the pressure, you would have to lace so that the lace never exited the inside before crossing.

Still not sure how this alleviates lace bite, the pressure is still the same on the foot, it is basically just upside down lacing, what am I missing? The lace goes through the same pattern as inside out, just in opposite order.

I don’t think so either. The slightest change in movement pattern can have an effect on how the tendon is moving and the forces being applied to it.

Which tongue design is that?

Good to know, I had questions about that as well. I had to have the shoemaker who used to work on everybody’s skates put extra felt in mine because of my boniness 🙂

Looks like some similarities to the lines of the new holder.

Sounds like it isn’t so much the solution but the process of determining the parameters of the solution. You can shim and profile to your heart’s content but it pretty much completely trial and error at this point.

Mark, Wondered where you have been! I have had tendinitis and tendinosis in various places throughout my life. Running, hockey, bass playing, computer work, etc. it can be frustrating as hell. You go to PT, do all the work, rest, etc. and it feels good. Then you restart the activity and instantly you are back to square one. The jury is still out on a lot of the bands and KT tape but when dealing with frustrating injuries, some things that are low risk are worth trying. I have the most success with ART, which is a type of soft tissue therapy. Lots of chiros are certified. good luck!

So is it something only applicable and available to high level pros given the analysis needed to determine the parameters for the “shims”?

Yeah, the site is brutal. Tried watching the demo but unless they showed something at the end it said absolutely nothing, couldn’t finish it. Guess you just have to know what it is...

Great article, I love to read stuff like that.