taping ankles

[raygunpk 0]

I feel like I have issues with an unstable foot that is a bit wobbly, like for instance when I go to shoot off one foot. There's no real heel slippage and I tie to the top eyelet already. Would taping the ankles provide more support or is it purely an ankle strength issue?

[Evomike1 0]

Usually ankle taping is reserved for athletes who have ankle instability issues due to injury. I would recommend strengthening your ankles using thera-band exercises. Considering the inherent ability of a skate boot to help support your ankles, taping is not necessary unless you are recovering from injury. Plus it would be really hard to do a effective ankle tape job on yourself.

[Hipster 5]

I think you'dfind that if you taped the ankle to your tendon guard you would either restrict your forward flexion if there was a bunch of layers of tape, or with a proper flexion, you would snap the tape if it was only a strip or two.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

Alex Kovalev tapes his ankles, so do other players, it's personal preference. I used to tape my ankles, but actively tried to get away from it and it was one of the smarter hockey based decisions I have made as I noticed a difference almost immediately for the better (almost immediately because it took a few games to gain the confidence).

But I don't know that it would necessarily help your problem

[Evomike1 0]

Haha! I though you where talking about taping your ankles... Not taping around your skates. My bad.

[automorph 0]

Marian Gaborik tapes his and he is a phenomenal skater......all personal preference

Although the "kids" nowadays will call you a "bender"

[ebladeshockey8 0]

bender

[thejackal 46]

I tape my ankle for other sports when my left ankle acts up on me in terms of pain and swelling, but on skates I don't because the boot gives me enough support. definitely try to strengthen your ankles first.

[raygunpk 0]

yes i meant taping skates around the ankle area, sorry for the confusion.

[OldNSlow 3]

Most of the best skaters of all-time, especially the European stars, taped their tendon guards to their shinpads... Bure, Fedorov, Mogilny, Gaborik, and Coffey, for example. I'm not sure what benefit this provides; though I suspect these players generate much, much more power in their strides than the average NHL player, therefore they are able to flex forward despite the taping.

Note that I'm not talking about taping around the ankle bones like I so often see. This past weekend I was watching a AAA bantam player trying to turn quickly and he almost went flying sideways into the boards because he couldn't laterally turn his ankles as he needed because his ankles were taped wrapped.

[K9 Unit 1]

Most of the best skaters of all-time, especially the European stars, taped their tendon guards to their shinpads... Bure, Fedorov, Mogilny, Gaborik, and Coffey, for example. I'm not sure what benefit this provides; though I suspect these players generate much, much more power in their strides than the average NHL player, therefore they are able to flex forward despite the taping.

Note that I'm not talking about taping around the ankle bones like I so often see. This past weekend I was watching a AAA bantam player trying to turn quickly and he almost went flying sideways into the boards because he couldn't laterally turn his ankles as he needed because his ankles were taped wrapped.

i do that because i like my foot skate and shinpads to feel like their part of each other if you get what i mean, also the same reason i don't skip eyelets and why i put my socks over the tendon guard

[Jarick 5]

I accidentally did this a couple weeks back and got on the ice, had no clue what was going on because I couldn't bend my leg forward at all.

[jjmills22 0]

don cherry encourages it- http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Sports/CBC's...ID=1351279363... he says its for protection but i guess thats what the tactics socks are for now

[wingsfan 0]

Most of the best skaters of all-time, especially the European stars, taped their tendon guards to their shinpads... Bure, Fedorov, Mogilny, Gaborik, and Coffey, for example. I'm not sure what benefit this provides; though I suspect these players generate much, much more power in their strides than the average NHL player, therefore they are able to flex forward despite the taping.

Note that I'm not talking about taping around the ankle bones like I so often see. This past weekend I was watching a AAA bantam player trying to turn quickly and he almost went flying sideways into the boards because he couldn't laterally turn his ankles as he needed because his ankles were taped wrapped.

I love the fact that we group Coffey in as a European!?!

[Jordan 13]

Most of the best skaters of all-time, especially the European stars, taped their tendon guards to their shinpads... Bure, Fedorov, Mogilny, Gaborik, and Coffey

They all did this in an era when skates were quite soft and flexed much more easily as compared to today's skates. I think that a XXXX or an Easton composite skate untaped is much stiffer than a taped skate from the eighties.

Funny thing about mentioning Coffey...I happen to have seen both of his sons on the ice recently, and he doesn't have either of them taping their tendon guards.

[Jarick 5]

Here's Gaborik taping up his XXXX's

I'm assuming he wants to prevent energy loss in his stride...he's a hell of a skater so it must work for him.

[OldNSlow 3]

Most of the best skaters of all-time, especially the European stars, taped their tendon guards to their shinpads... Bure, Fedorov, Mogilny, Gaborik, and Coffey, for example. I'm not sure what benefit this provides; though I suspect these players generate much, much more power in their strides than the average NHL player, therefore they are able to flex forward despite the taping.

Note that I'm not talking about taping around the ankle bones like I so often see. This past weekend I was watching a AAA bantam player trying to turn quickly and he almost went flying sideways into the boards because he couldn't laterally turn his ankles as he needed because his ankles were taped wrapped.

I love the fact that we group Coffey in as a European!?!

Except that is not what the sentence does.

Most of the best skaters of all-time, especially the European stars, taped their tendon guards to their shinpads... Bure, Fedorov, Mogilny, Gaborik, and Coffey

They all did this in an era when skates were quite soft and flexed much more easily as compared to today's skates. I think that a XXXX or an Easton composite skate untaped is much stiffer than a taped skate from the eighties.

Funny thing about mentioning Coffey...I happen to have seen both of his sons on the ice recently, and he doesn't have either of them taping their tendon guards.

These guys continued to tape their tendon guards after they moved to stiffer skates... see Bure, Gaborik, Fedorov. The stiffness in skates today are around the ankle bones. They didn't tape around the ankle bones. They taped the tendon guards to their shin pads (i.e. above the ankle bones).

As far as Coffey's kids go, depending on how old they are, they are probably not strong enough to flex forward through taped tendon guards. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone because I think you have to be a supreme power skater to get the benefits of taping your ankles. Look at Selanne, he never taped his skates and he is a good of a skater as any of these guys.

[Law Goalie 147]

Or you could be like Marty Biron and use a roll of clear per game per ankle: 15min both ways. Food for thought for the soft boot + tape theorists; seems like a good way to add a fairly consistent but controllable amount of resistance back into the skate if it's *too* soft to begin with.

I think a lot of it has to do with how the play in question skates, technically speaking: not in terms of 'how well', but the way they move. I'm sure you could tape some guys' ankles and they'd tear through it in an effort to get out. On the other hand, I'd swear Alfredsson skates without moving his knees or ankles: it's all in the hips. For him, there'd be zero advantage to keeping his skates and shins distinct except as a constant angle of bend.