wrapped ankles

[english15x 3]

me and my friend are into an argument and I just wanted to hear some feedback.

1.I don't lace up my top eyelets and dont wrap my ankles

2.he laces all the way up, wraps the laces around his ankles and then clear tapes his skates.

I tell him he is nuts and he will be able to skate better if he tries it without wrapping his ankles.

[durke 0]

PP (personal preferance). Definitely nothing to argue about. Although I have read here that it could ruin the tenden guard on the skates and many here seem to say you shouldn't do it. It seems like it would also affect the way the skate was designed to flex.

[Guitarmy 0]

personally, I wear my skates like your friend (except I don't wrap the laces around my ankles). I find it gives me better stability and aids in my power transfer. It's all PP, some of the best skaters in the world (Pavel Bure) wear their skates like casts.

[gemini8026 1]

absolutely, I havwe gone both ways, and even after a year of going without tape around my ankles, I went back to taping for more support and "feel". I dont necessarily do it tioght, its jsut there for a little more support.

To a point it would certainly inhibit your skating if you REALLY taped em up, but theres no right or wrong way to being comfortable when playing in your skates.

[djinferno 2]

i actually tape my ankle now for support, since i had my injury, my ankle rolls in on the right side so i tape it... i do the left to but very light...

something like this but the heel is open...

http://www.csuchico.edu/~sbarker/injury/ankle/tapeankl.gif

[Monty22 833]

The only way to settle the argument would be for him to skate without taping his ankles.

[aarondevera 0]

like everyone's said already, it's really a matter of personal preference. i've seen many people lace their skates really loose around the foot, but really tight around the ankle. i suppose this would be the comfort/support way to go. in theory, however, if one can adapt to a looser ankle (like yourself), he should be able to get a little more length out of his stride, and a little more mobility. then again, for some people, loose ankles just throw off their game completely.

personally, i skate with the top three eyelets done up, but definitely looser then the forefoot. i've got CCM V.10s and Pro Tacks that help me tighten the areas independently, which is a total plus.

lace tightening is a personal preference, and every competent player will have his or her ways that'll work for them. it's like having a debate on whether or not it's better to wear your shins over or under your tongue: theories and benefits are proposed and discussed, but at the end of the day, it either works for you or not.

-aaron

p.s. tell your buddy to stop wrapping his laces. he'll either look really silly on the ice, or snap his tendon guard... or both. if the clear shin tape doesn't give enough support, tell him to use regular stick tape. it doesn't stretch nearly as much. :)

[Ogie Oglethorpe 14]

I wrap my laces and think that's just fine. Personally, if someone was worried about looking silly (not calling you out directly, Aaron) I'd think it was the person with a crap load of tape around their ankles.

The tenon gaurd thing might be an issue if you laced your skates to the very top where the "hinge" meets the boot (i.e., the part that sticks out in the back past the tope of the boot) but since you're not lacing to the top (I leave 1 or 2 eyelets undone depending upon the skate model) you're not realistically going to break the tenon guard with the laces being 1 inch below the weak spot. Let's even pretend it did happen - if the plastic breaks, who cares anyway? So long as the leather doesn't rip... if you're wearing CCM's or one of the newer models with a triangular top tenon guard it's going to break down their anyway if you skate backwards a lot.