Sloppiness in Knee Lock

[srv2miker 0]

Hey All,

Been playing more and more in goal and am really enjoying it. But, seeing as I have no coaching or friends who play, I turn to you guys :)

I find that unless I wear my 8ks super tight at the boot strap and knee straps, I get a lot of sloppiness in the knee lock. Unless the boot strap is absolutely clamped down on my skate, then my knee slides vertically down towards the bottom of my pad (or the pad slides up my leg) and I occasionally land in between the landing gear and the calf pad. If I strap even one notch looser, then I get this problem. Standing straight up, the landing gear seems to sit in the right place, so I don't think it's a size issue.

If I don't strap the knee straps tight, then my knee has a tendency to slip away from the pad and land on the ice - not fun.

I know the RBKs are typically worn quite loose, and I do tend to have problems getting the pads to square up to the ice, so I'd like to loosen the straps, I'm just not sure where to go from here. Anyone have a similar problem? Any advice for me? The pads rotate fine, I never come down on the front of the pad or anything, they just don't seem to get great pad seal at the top of the pads.

As always, any help is appreciated.

[McDougalfaschnitzer 32]

What size are the pads, and what is the measurement from your ankle to the middle of your knee?

[Law Goalie 147]

As far as I know, he's correctly sized in the pads.

Did you get knee-pads, in the end? That could not only protected your knees, they might improve the fit by taking up some extra volume in the knee-lock.

The problem with sealing the butterfly to the ice at the top of the pads when the boot-strap is tight is DIRECTLY a result of that tightness. Because of the round medial (inside) gusset, slightly tapered boot and calf-wing design of the RBKs, if you put pressure on the boot (eg. because of a tight boot-strap), you will cause the pad to slightly tilt forward in the butterfly (ie. under-rotate, in effect), and the top of the thigh will be angled and raised off the ice.

IIRC, the 8K does have movable buckles - that being the case, try moving the upper buckles as far down the pad as possible, so that the thigh- and knee-straps run at an angle, higher on the inside of the pad, lower on the outside. If necessary, you can run the knee-strap AND the upper calf-strap through the same buckle: there's usually *just* enough room to do it. If it's still a bit tight, just file or sand the rough underside of the strap a tiny bit. This setup lets you keep the straps relatively tight without getting in the way of your leg as the pad rotates, and it still limits your knee from sliding down the pad.

Beyond that, it's time to get yourself a sewing awl and sell yourself to the pagan god of mod...

[srv2miker 0]

My ATK is 19.5, and I'm in 37" 8Ks.

Just to sate my own curiosity, I actually went to my local used sporting good store, bought a set of 35" 8ks, and tried them on last night. Despite all odds, I had the exact same problem unless I strapped the boot strap super tight (although obviously I was landing much higher in the knee lock). But, if I wore the bootstrap looser (or ran it through the back of skate instead of the instep) I landed n between the landing gear and the calf wing.

Dunc, I've already moved the buckles as far down as they'll go, and it definitely improved the rotation. I also bought some basic Brians knee pads, and it did seem to make things a little more stable.

What I noticed when I was trying on my pads dry-land last night was that my knee sits just fine when I'm standing, but as I drop into my crouch and get deeper and deeper, my pads ride up my legs until my knee is below the blocks. Even in the 35" pads, and even if I have the bootstrap tight. If I drop into a bfly without the strap tight, I hit below the block, but with tight straps my feet must force the pad back down into proper position.

I found that when I wear the pads loose and adjust my technique going down - if I shot my feet out hard while I dropped - the pads settled in okay. But, it still didn't feel quite as comfortable as when I have them tight, and didn't seem to work 100% of the time.

I'm not necessarily complaining about how they feel, because I love how they rotate and Im pleased with how they allow me to move around the crease. The pads sealing at the top is probably more aesthetic than anything else. I just know everyone recommends wearing the RBKs loose, and I can't seem to get them to work that way. Is this just the wrong pad for me?

[Law Goalie 147]

It could be. Basically, the RBK is a tool that is designed to stop pucks: it doesn't accommodate you, you just learn how to use it. There's a little bit you can do with strapping, sure, but it is what it is.

This is going to sound odd, but have you tried altering your stance?

A while back, Ian Clark was working with Luongo to adopt a more relaxed, upright, and slightly narrower stance. Luongo being the poster-boy for RBK, and Ian Clark being who he is, a lot of RBK's goalies soon followed suit. Basically, set the feet a little closer together (still wider than the shoulders), with the feet a little pigeon-toed (pointing inward), bend the knees and bring them together until the tops of the pads are touching or overlapping (personal preference), making sure your knees are still right on the knee-block, then drop the tailbone and 'sit down' just a little until you find a balance point, and then incline the chest forward.

This will feel really, really weird at first. It will seem like you're playing half-assed - it feels like the stance of a lazy or over-tired or plain unathletic goalie. The reason it works - apart from the fact that it is fairly economical - it because of the pads. You don't need to do any work to make RBK's rotate: they just do it. Just drive your knees down together, and the pads will do the rest. Because you're built the stance around placing the knee in the right spot, you should land perfectly every time.

Combine that with your small mechanical adjustment - shooting your feet out hard as you drop - and you may have better success.

(If you do decide to give up on them, start looking for a pad with a completely flat boot and a sliding toe-bridge, because that's exactly how you build a pad to keep the skate snug against the underside of the boot while still allowing it to move as it needs to in the butterfly: that'll be Smith and TPS, mainly, but Battram and Viper can do it too.)

[Oykib 0]

Hey All,

Been playing more and more in goal and am really enjoying it. But, seeing as I have no coaching or friends who play, I turn to you guys :)

I find that unless I wear my 8ks super tight at the boot strap and knee straps, I get a lot of sloppiness in the knee lock. Unless the boot strap is absolutely clamped down on my skate, then my knee slides vertically down towards the bottom of my pad (or the pad slides up my leg) and I occasionally land in between the landing gear and the calf pad. If I strap even one notch looser, then I get this problem. Standing straight up, the landing gear seems to sit in the right place, so I don't think it's a size issue.

If I don't strap the knee straps tight, then my knee has a tendency to slip away from the pad and land on the ice - not fun.

I know the RBKs are typically worn quite loose, and I do tend to have problems getting the pads to square up to the ice, so I'd like to loosen the straps, I'm just not sure where to go from here. Anyone have a similar problem? Any advice for me? The pads rotate fine, I never come down on the front of the pad or anything, they just don't seem to get great pad seal at the top of the pads.

As always, any help is appreciated.

I have noticed that the new style pads fit differently. I used to torque down the bottom 3 straps and loose knee. With the way the pads are designed now I have a tight knee and tight through the skate. I recently bought Vaughn Epics and I am really enjoying the stacked knee pads and a loose strap through the skate. The pressure on my knees are considerably less.