Knee Slipping out of Cradle

[srv2miker 0]

Hey All,

Stepped onto the ice the first time yesterday as a goalie, and was generally pleased in how everything felt. I didn't notice when pad shuffling or bfly sliding that my knee seemed to come out of the cradle, to the point where I felt I had very little control of the pad, and I couldn't close the 5-hole anymore.

I strapped semi-loose at the bottom working up to very loose at the top. When I felt the problem I went to the bench and tightened the knee to tight (keeping everything else the same), but then I felt it was very restrictive.

Is this a technique problem? Strapping problem? Do I need to mod the cradle somehow? These were 38" Brian's Beasts, and they seem to fit fine as far as knee placement, they just don't stay nicely in place.

Any thoughts?

Mike

[Law Goalie 147]

Glad to hear you're in the crease - and if this is your biggest concern, it must have gone well!

Could be any number of things, though you can narrow it down.

When you butterfly, it could be that your pants are pushing the pads off your knees. You should be able to figure this one out by putting on pants and pads and doing a few 'carpet-flies' in your house, but you may need to diagnose on-ice. The Beasts have a relatively chunky thigh-rise (as do my Supremes), so this could be a prime culprit.

When you say that you "tightened the knee," do you mean the elastic strap on the knee-cradle itself (ie. the knee-lock), or the strap (nylon or leather) that runs through the knee-wing?

My general advice, the first few times one wears a pair of pads, is to strap them in the butterfly position. Basically, you just lay the pads out on the floor as though a ghost were butterflying in them, kneel down into the pads, and do up the straps around your legs. You want everything to be snug in this position, though not so tight that it's pulling you out of place. Start with the knee-lock elastic, then the knee-strap, then the heel/skate strap(s), then the calf-straps, then the thigh, and finally the toe-ties. If at any point you notice that tightening a certain strap interferes with the fit of a prior one, you may have found your problem; also keep an eye out for what the pants are up to as you proceed. This should ensure that when you butterfly, you're effectively dropping down into a sling of strapping that holds the pad in place while allowing it to fully rotate.

You may ultimately need to get some knee-pads, which ain't a bad idea anyway. They're way more protective and mobile than thigh-boards, and they can help to take up a lot of empty volume in a big knee-cradle.

[srv2miker 0]

Hey Law Goalie,

Once again you're proving how valuable a resource you are to this board.

I restrapped them again at home and the pants didn't seem to hindering the pads at all. I did play with the strapping, and couldn't really find the right combo, but I did see a big improvement when I shortened the gapping knot on my toe ties. The pads moved a lot nicer after that. I'll have to give it another shot on the ice, but that seemed to address part of the issue.

Thanks for your help.

[Law Goalie 147]

No worries mate - glad to help.

The minimalist take on strapping (as conceived by 'The Goalie JR') is that you're creating "control points" for making the pad move with your leg. The knee is the obvious one; the toe is the next most important; the other are all subsidiary. You want the knee and toe to be as snug as possible without hindering rotation - having either really loose is a recipe not only for sloppy leg-to-pad integration but will actually slow you down. JR-the-Goalie has for years ordered his custom pads with (I kid you not) two straps (one knee and one diagonal calf) and toe-ties - that's it, and it works.

I don't entirely agree, hence my "sling of strapping" metaphor. Plus, since the amount your toes need to twist behind the pad (and thus the amount of slack you need in your toe-ties) is in direct proportion to the width of your butterfly (ie. your hip flexibility), the best time to dial that length in is when you're already settled in the rest of the pad.

Just keep playing with it - you'll find the magic bullet. Took me a year and a half with my Supremes. The missing piece was going to a single boot-strap, but running that strap diagonally through the two sets of slots - truly bizarre.

[jimmy 194]

I had this problem a few years back and found for me, tightening the calf strap, the first one right under the knee, very snug. This kept my knee in the cradle perfectly but didn't hinder rotation. All other straps were loose except the cradle strap.

[The_Franchise 0]

I find when I have my pads loose they are very hard to control and just flop everywhere, try tightening them up. For a couple games i played with a very loose pad and i fell out of my cradle a few times, i went back to a tighter setup and had no troubles.

All i wrote is bascially what Law_goalie wrote, but less elaborate

[Law Goalie 147]

I had this problem a few years back and found for me, tightening the calf strap, the first one right under the knee, very snug. This kept my knee in the cradle perfectly but didn't hinder rotation. All other straps were loose except the cradle strap.

That's a more important strap than most realise. I actually have two there: one that runs from the knee-block to just below the knee-break, and one elastic strap that runs around the top of the calf.

[srv2miker 0]

Hey everyone, thanks for the replies. I kept the calf strap pretty tight while the knee strap was semi loose and it seemed to work pretty well. Next week I'll tighten the knee a little snugger, but it was definitely a vast improvement.

Now if I could only pad slide properly... :)

[Law Goalie 147]

Hey, if I can score the first league goal of my life as a skater (and two in that game), you can damn well learn the butterfly slide! :)

Seriously, just grab a buddy who can model the technique for you, buy him a flat of beer, and then mimic him in slow motion on the ice for a while. If you're talking about moving laterally while already down in the butterfly, it's largely about getting your skate blade at the right angle, getting a good edge and pushing smoothly while transferring your weight to the sliding knee. Sliding out of the stance is more like a controlled fall: you push off with one skate as you collapse onto your other knee. They're really more like athletic dance moves than anything else, which is why having a partner to mirror them is so important.