Ice stride in relation to Sprungs

[Sprungster 5]

I am not an ice skater. I'm only barely a roller hockey player, but I love doing it. I can only skate in my frames, so I'm not a good example. With that said, I think a healthy future for roller hockey and ice hockey includes more roller. NHL and Juniors level roller hockey would be nice to see. I'm told it already exists in Europe... and scattered around here and there. I'm for it.

So, this thread is about crossing over and cross-training, because what I've heard from the earliest Sprung prototype skaters in '97, through this last weekend in IrvineSoCal, was the just-like-ice thing.

If Sprungs are in fact that good for ice players, it seems wise for me to turn and face the strain. What do ice players do for cross-training that these might help? Can these things help roller hockey by dragging more ice players into the sport? Can they help ice players play better roller hockey? And the big question, can they help make better ice hockey players.

And here's another question. Can I go out on an ice rink and skate around like an ice skater because skating on Sprungs is like skating on ice?

[Zamboni 6]

And here's another question. Can I go out on an ice rink and skate around like an ice skater because skating on Sprungs is like skating on ice?

No, you will need to learn your edges first, overall balance etc. You should have a jump start on stride, athletic stance (knee bend)....have you never been on ice?

I was sitting with(translate-pounding beers :P ) 3 top skating instructors in Ontario-discussing off ice training, skating treadmills et al. I mentioned your chassis, inline skating-no one had heard of Sprung but lots of interest. Where are Sprungs available in Ontario or Quebec?

[Rustpot 1]

I'd love to give your chassis a run and try it out, but I don't have the cash to pony up for new boots and frames.

I think the biggest difference is like Zamboni said- edge control. The chassis may give better feel and "cut" like an ice skate, but the ability to pivot without moving and bite into the ice is a huge part about skating on ice.

It may not hurt, and it may be great exercise, but "bad" habits would be learned and there would still be a transition phase.

I do think it will help the sport in a great way. Bringing roller and ice closer together means more players changing geographic locations can pick up the version they aren't as familiar with, ice rinks can be more readily converted to roller in the summer when the cost of maintaining ice skyrockets.

I would love to do more off-ice work, but given that all I have right now are some cheap recreational inline skates, the difference is too great and I feel very strange on them to the point where I can't stand and maintain balance as easily, and I try to cut and pivot like I would on ice and fall over myself.

[Aussie Joe 0]

Speaking from experience I loved the effect the Sprungs gave me for my inline game alone. I can turn corners better and stop harder. In saying that its my firm beleif that inline and ice will always be seperate for many and varied reasons.

The Sprungs are a great step and a great product, but hardly "close to ice". The only thing for me thats close to ice, IS ice.

Though, in closing I would like to say you are doing a bang up job Keith, keep up the good work, you are a gentleman.

[Viking 1]

I have to say I find it very hard to believe that they'd feel like ice at all. I've skated on inline skates before, and just never found it felt anything like being on ice - I just didn't feel I had control over where I was going. It was more like I was just letting the skates do the work, and I would turn, but starting and stopping felt more like it was the skates' decision than my own. I played two seasons of roller hockey and was not a big fan. That said, I have considered trying Sprungs, just from the recommendations on here and hearing that it feels more like being on ice. As of now, I have an extra pair of my ice skates sitting in a closet waiting for me to get around to making the conversion and trying them. I don't know when that will actually happen, though. Even if I did want to play roller hockey, I don't know anyone else that plays it, or any leagues around me, so the skates would probably still be more just for training and tooling around on them.

[Spreedizzle 1]

I have to say I find it very hard to believe that they'd feel like ice at all. I've skated on inline skates before, and just never found it felt anything like being on ice - I just didn't feel I had control over where I was going. It was more like I was just letting the skates do the work, and I would turn, but starting and stopping felt more like it was the skates' decision than my own. I played two seasons of roller hockey and was not a big fan. That said, I have considered trying Sprungs, just from the recommendations on here and hearing that it feels more like being on ice. As of now, I have an extra pair of my ice skates sitting in a closet waiting for me to get around to making the conversion and trying them. I don't know when that will actually happen, though. Even if I did want to play roller hockey, I don't know anyone else that plays it, or any leagues around me, so the skates would probably still be more just for training and tooling around on them.

On your points on turning on a typical inline chassis, a fixed frame will only allow one wheel traction during the final phase of your push....that being your toe snap. With Sprung however you will have 2 wheels on the surface for your toe snap, and when you "load" your heels of your skates like you do on ice for a hard cut....the Sprung chassis will load your rear wheel and allow more pressure to be exerted onto your 3rd, and possibly 2nd wheel also...depending on how level your keep the soles of your feet. You are correct though....nothing can perfectly mimic ice....but my Sprung chassis is certainly the most "ice-like" inline chassis that I have ever skated on.

[Sprungster 5]

The headline on this thread is a grabber, because anybody that looks at has to know it can't be true. It's the word "just" that's confusing even though it's the one used all the time. There's enough things about Sprung performance that push the similar to ice button. How similar to ice are they?

My partner, Joe Noris, was an NHL and IHA player. That doesn't make him the definitive of anything, but he feels there's about 70-75% of the ice performance capability with Sprungs. For bright-young-things, I think there's even less difference. I've heard this number quite a bit, but I do not know, as a non ice guy. Somebody posted on the roller side that on first use they were maybe up around 50% of his ice performance. How much better than a reg roller chassis is that? Probably a lot, cause roller hockey players like them too. They don't have an ice performance to refrence.

My neighbor does punky rock videos and he wants to vid my first time on ice. I'm just waiting for the next shipment of Torspos to get here. I'll go skating on a pair before I pull the blades off to convert them. I want to get on a rink with gloves and stick. I've never even whacked a real puck!

As far as getting Sprungs, They're in a few shops in the NE, and SW. Everybody gets them off our site, mainly. There's lots of Sprungs in Canada, but it'll take time and crossover use to get into the LHS's. We'll probably have a Canadian distributer by the end of the year. Same for Europe.

I usually send shops a couple of pair to stick on prime suspects, so if there's a shop near you, you can help get some in their hands.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

There's lots of Sprungs in Canada, but it'll take time and crossover use to get into the LHS's. We'll probably have a Canadian distributer by the end of the year.

I don't know what it's like elsewhere - say, the West Coast, but in the Toronto area there are essentially NO stores selling anything but a trifling of inline hockey stuff. You might find skates, but you'd be lucky to find anything else. A few years back I thought about trying roller. I was looking for a girdle and pants, and could only find them at Toronto Hockey Repair. They had almost no selection, which was still way more than any other store. Just Hockey sold inline skates, but pretty much nothing else, and when I came in looking for wheels and spacers, their eyes went glossy. Nobody at (then) Toronto's biggest store knew anything about inline.

I asked a local league where to get equipment, they pointed me to one of their sponsors, a PIAS. They had one set of wheels. I inquired with some guys who played in a different roller league, and they all told me they ordered their stuff from the US.

I'd imagine getting your chassis into Toronto area LHS would be a pretty tricky sell since none of them seem to be catering in the slightest to the inline market.

[AWE46M3 0]

I've not personally used Sprungs but have played ice and roller simultaneously, and found starting, stopping, and turning as the most challenging aspects of transition. I would agree that it has to do with using edges, something I believe no roller chassis could teach.

Sprungs may help smooth the transition, but in no way will it eliminate it. I think when you go out on the ice for your first time, it'll be a very different experience; perhaps more so than you anticipate.

Pure inline players like Sprungs over traditional chassis, Im sure a lot of that has to do with preferences; I know back when you could "rocker" your straight inline chassis, I tried it and did not like that feel though it was supposed to be closer to ice feeling, however, some people I knew who only played roller liked it.

I dont know that Sprungs alone will help bring more people into roller hockey but Im sure it wouldnt hurt. I think there is always the factor of what supporting equipment is available and is there even a place (indoor or otherwise proper facility) for these potential roller players to go and skate? I think these factors as well as others will have more to do with bringing more people into roller; as mentioned above, in some areas people simply dont have access to roller equipment or perhaps a facility, so even if they wanted to play and had Sprungs, what would they do or where would they go?

[sdcopp 1]

I think that roller is going to grow more than ice as ice time continues to increase in price. A decade ago it really didn't matter where you skated, people were playing. As the sport grew, and became more specialized in it's equipment, people started wanting more and more indoor facilities with sportcourt and abadoning the street and parking lot games they grew up playing. Inline is still cheaper than ice and probably always will be. With so many complaints about the high cost of entry to ice being a prohibitive factor, the smart bet is to support both. Get kids on wheels early, and when they are ready to stick with it, invest in ice. Regardless of how they get there, grow the freaking sport of hockey one way or the other.

Sprungs are as close an approximation to ice as you can get with wheels. Just like a Hi-Lo is distinct, and a Hummer is distinct, so too are the Sprungs which just happens to make them the closest to ice. There are numerous top level players that play both roller and ice, and many college prospects from a few years back where often found playing Narch during the summer. Brett Sterling comes to mind, a current AHL all star and former Colorado College standout. Milan Hedjuk plays in the off season when he's at home in the Czech Republic. Why continue to have the roller vs ice and instead pair them up and grow the damn game. If the Sprung chassis is what makes it most comfortable to transition between the two, lets get them in the hands of players who have only known ice and improve the size and quality of leagues and tournament series.

[Sprungster 5]

I am once again blown away by the intelligence of the posts on MSH. I don't think anything roller will be anywhere until the rinks start doing roller in the down time. It's something that has to be beneficial to the coaches, the equipment makers, the stores, the concession owners, the refs, the etc., etc. What players want is down there somewhere. Once there is a choice, and the ice world does not explode and fly apart as predicted, and skaters are miraculously un-harmed by the experience, anyone who wants will do both, and ice will be less expensive or not. Everyone has to make a living.

I know there are ice boot companies that think about this sometimes. It's almost easier for companies with no roller products at all, cause they haven't tasted the inexpensive, habit-forming frame de jour. If you come into roller at a different level, even in small amounts, you are different from everyone else.

I don't know if the pure roller companies think of it like we are discussing. They would all like to have an ice product to give them the added cache of ice. That's what a maple leaf means, right? Mission. for sure, has been going at ice as long as I've known them, say 1997. They have always prided themselves on being different from everyone else. They were smart enough to produce my first prototype with me.

Relatively speaking, most of the world is about a thousand times more likely to grow roller than ice. Local teams playing on an outdoor rink in Shen Zhen, China could draw a 600 person audience every night of the season. Indoor, year around. These are factory kids and they stack up at the local store to watch the soaps. And the jock quotient is way high.

Ice hockey could end up as that arcane sport you see on old video downloads, mostly the fights, while roller hockey is what you play. B)

RE Ice Time: I will definitely have my butt and elbow pads when I get on the ice, and I fully expect to put them to the test. I've watched local beer league, where fairly good players are on their ass within ten seconds of coming on the rink. Everybody laughs and points. I can do that. :)

[gxc999 7]

Here's one syllogism, which might help. On my old Mission skates, I had Labeda Millenium or Dynasties, anyway, the point is that when I got my Soldiers with the hot shot wheels, it felt like I was skating on ice the first two games... But then I got used to it and like these wheels more. However, when I go ice skating and have to hop back to inline, it feels like I'm skating dead again (like using those old wheels now as compared to the hot shots.

I really don't think there's going to be anything that exactly mirrors ice, 70% would really be impressive to me since ice is just so much more fluid. The two are really night and day.