Taping your ankles for more support

[Chadd 916]

Guys, look how Fedorov tape his ankles.

http://www.innovativehockey.com/main.html

He is only taping his shin pads in place.

[#94 3]

Guys, look how Fedorov tape his ankles.

http://www.innovativehockey.com/main.html

He is only taping his shin pads in place.

Wrong, but not completely wrong, Chadd. As you can see, as I said before, Fedorov, as many other Russians do, tapes around the upper ankle/lower shin region and around the back of the tendon guard of the skate which gives you much better toe snap, acceleration, and quickness. This isn't only Russians (Bure, Kovalchuk, Datsyuk, Fedorov, Kovalev, Saprikin, Afinogenov, Gonchar, Mogilny) but Slovaks such as Gaborik Canadians such as Yzerman, Briere, Gretzky, and Messier do the same.

Try it sometime. Don't tape around you ankle itself, but around the top, away from the eyelets. More around the tongue/tendon guard region. It really does work.

[Chadd 916]

Doing that will snap the tendon guard on virtually any retail skate. There's an equal number of guys who do it different ways, it's all just personal preference.

EDIT:

At some point Gretz stopped.

http://cache.gettyimages.com/comp/51233006...21B2AC3A62513D3

[MDE3 0]

My son used to tape his ankles like that around the tendon guard, and for sure it used to rip the tendon guard off...both on inline as well as ice skates.

I think it's more a habit from youth, and as your ankles become stronger this practice no longer gives you as much benefit as it did earlier in your career. My son stopped doing this when he was about 14 and it certainly has not hurt his skating speed. He can skate quite comfortably with his skates completely unlaced.

As far as the "wobbling" goes from the original poster...at slower speeds and with new skates..maybe he is referring to the skate "track wobbling", which may not be not a question of weak ankles so much as not having a correct grind on the skate blade or even "bent blades"

This will cause the skate to flip back and forth at fairly high frequency in the longditudinal plane....and I could see someone calling the phenomenon "wobbling".

[Dan_The_Man_16 0]

Doing that will snap the tendon guard on virtually any retail skate.

Only certain skates will break the tendon guard. New model Vapors, Grafs, Externos, and the older Bauer Supreme models all have ones that are tape-able. I do it with my Grafs, and did it with my old Bauer 3000's. I find it helps the ankle snap some, but I think it's mostly habit now, because I used to do it when my dad had me in Bauer Chargers when I was little (no ankle support...at all).

[Accord 0]

Doing that will snap the tendon guard on virtually any retail skate.

Only certain skates will break the tendon guard. New model Vapors, Grafs, Externos, and the older Bauer Supreme models all have ones that are tape-able. I do it with my Grafs, and did it with my old Bauer 3000's. I find it helps the ankle snap some, but I think it's mostly habit now, because I used to do it when my dad had me in Bauer Chargers when I was little (no ankle support...at all).

What about a pair of '04 Pro Tacks? I definitely want to tape them like suggested above but I also don't want to break the tendon guard.

[Dan_The_Man_16 0]

If the back is plastic or really, really hard...then probably not.

[prenny207 1]

jay and accord... still not completely sure yet... but i believe that graf laces are made by Textile Manufacturing Co Ltd in toronto. laces are called TexStyle. molded tip and waxed... great lace. I believe they are the same, but i'll keep checkin.

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

Prenny's right.

Center Ice (www.centerice.on.ca) sells Tex-Style laces and they are the same laces as Graf.

[sherwood21 0]

Bud putting raminating tape along ur ankles will actually help improve some of you forward mobility because its holding the filangian muscle which is just below the genebs

There's no such thing as the filangian muscle, the phalanges are bones, in both your fingers and feet though. There's a phalangian (spelling ?) in/near your throut.

[hockeydude2003 0]

yeah i meant the bones in the foot the philangen. i put muscle by accident and its right below the genebs. I find by giving that bone more support allows for better mobility thats where the raminating tape gives the support but doesnt restrict your movement.if anybody wants more infor send me an im

[bulletproof_funk 0]

Maybe the rest of us could use a crash course in foot anatomy first.

[BackhandTopShelf 0]

I have never taped mine.

I also took a Laura Stamm Power Skating Class, and the first thing she did was tell players to take the tape off their ankles. She said that you need to be able to "roll" your ankles to be aware of your outside and inside edges. Once you really get technical about skating, you wouldn't want your ankles taped...which is why it always suprised me to see excellent skaters like Brian Leetch with them taped.

[#94 3]

It's all preference. Not taping them will not make you a better skater. I mean who's a better skater than Fedorov, Yzerman, Gaborik, Bure, Afinogenov, or Kovalchuk. I'm not saying guys like Modano arn't great skaters. Obviously he is one of the best in the show.

[Biskitindabaskit 0]

Im Russian and i dont tape my ankles :lol: Ive never tried it so I cant offer an opinion. I dont lace my last eyelet up and I tie the laces arround the back of the skates. I put my shinpads over the toungue of my skates. I put some sock tape on my shins just under the knee and a some a few inches above the tendon guard. Ill prolly do it this way forever. Its just my preference.

[lee92 2]

i tried the feodrov taping method one practice with my graf 703's and it didnt work well at all. i felt it restricted my ankles from flexing from the resistance of the tape. as well, it bent the tenon guard all outta whack. i used the tape around my ankles back in the day up untill peewee/bantam, but don't anymore. the 703's fit my foot perfectly, and there's no spot on the boot that creases or bends when flexing my foot. everything just moves all together. very nice in my opinion as my 502's creased and eventually broke down in about 6 months.

[c_joblin 0]

I would caution you against tying you laces around your tendon guard it will break it down over time and cause it to be floppy.

I find that sometimes people complain of having "weak" ankles because they wear ill fitting skates. If a skate is too wide your foot will be flopping around it in and it will seem like your ankles can't hold you up, but it's only because your foot and ankle is shifting around in the skate. This most often occurs with CCM's and Easton's due to their greater width around the ankles.

[Sven 1]

[...]I have actualy skated with my skates fully untied.[...]

Hey that is something i wanted to ask but i always fotgot about it...

So, ive heard from some guys that your skates should fit so well that you could skate without lacing them ?! I couldnt believe it !

My skates have the best fit ive ever had but when i dont lace em up and im standing in them, i dont have like ANY stability

Just being curious.

[delpiero81 0]

I've tried them all, first with the tape, but it fell apart after 20 minutes, then i buyed more long laces to tie them all around the skates, but then my ankle was too restricted, finally i've started skating better and no more need of support...

I think that you have to tape, or whathever you want to do for have more support, only as a last resource, maybe try some different skates.

Anyway i think that it's all about preference!

[Chadd 916]

[...]I have actualy skated with my skates fully untied.[...]

Hey that is something i wanted to ask but i always fotgot about it...

So, ive heard from some guys that your skates should fit so well that you could skate without lacing them ?! I couldnt believe it !

My skates have the best fit ive ever had but when i dont lace em up and im standing in them, i dont have like ANY stability

Just being curious.

Time to work on your ankle strength. The stability should come from you, not from the skate.

[troybruins89 0]

Would skating without tying your skates help develop ankle strength? And SB said something about balance boards...what are some decent brands and things to look for in one?

EDIT:For the skating without tied skates thing I ment at an open skate. Probably isnt the greatest idea doing it during a game or practice.

[ktang 34]

[...]I have actualy skated with my skates fully untied.[...]

Hey that is something i wanted to ask but i always fotgot about it...

So, ive heard from some guys that your skates should fit so well that you could skate without lacing them ?! I couldnt believe it !

My skates have the best fit ive ever had but when i dont lace em up and im standing in them, i dont have like ANY stability

Just being curious.

I heard that Mark Howe used to lace his skates so loosely that he could put a finger under the laces... but I suspect that this was only below the flex point.

I have always skated with looser laces because I was too weak to pull the laces tight when I was 5, and I got used to the freedom in the ankles (my parents tied my skates from ages 3 to 5, my mother too loosely and my father too tightly). I was also lazy and the laces were short, so I didn't do the top eyelets. Also, these were used leather Tackaberry and Bauer Supreme skates (with the steel tube blade holders!), so their ankles were not as stiff as modern skates'.

Nowadays I see parents cranking the laces for their kids before practices, and I guess that is what they are becoming accustomed to. Then, after one lap skating backwards, they all have foot cramps...

[Sven 1]

[...]I have actualy skated with my skates fully untied.[...]

Hey that is something i wanted to ask but i always fotgot about it...

So, ive heard from some guys that your skates should fit so well that you could skate without lacing them ?! I couldnt believe it !

My skates have the best fit ive ever had but when i dont lace em up and im standing in them, i dont have like ANY stability

Just being curious.

Time to work on your ankle strength. The stability should come from you, not from the skate.

Yeah.

I tried the search, but i couldnt find anything usable...

My left ankle is kinda sore, when im in shoes everthing is fine, but when im in skates (off or on-ice) they hurt when i bend them into a certain position.

I guess i really have to strengthen them.

Could someone help me out ?

[Neo5370 132]

It's all preference. Not taping them will not make you a better skater. I mean who's a better skater than Fedorov, Yzerman, Gaborik, Bure, Afinogenov, or Kovalchuk. I'm not saying guys like Modano arn't great skaters. Obviously he is one of the best in the show.

Exactly. Scott Niedermayer and Mike Gartner in their skating prime might've beat all of the mentioned in a foot race and (scott) does not tape his tendon guard or ankles and (mike) sometimes left the top eyelet unlaced.

There is no right way, but if I were to teach a little kid or first timer, I'd tell them not to tape their skates up so they can easily achieve proper skating posture and a deep knee/ankle bend.

The more advanced/stonger/whatever a skater gets, he/she MIGHT feel the preference for a little more support via stiffer skates or taping.

At least that's how I see it.

[Jason Harris 31]

Nowadays I see parents cranking the laces for their kids before practices, and I guess that is what they are becoming accustomed to. Then, after one lap skating backwards, they all have foot cramps...

Yes, Kevin, but we quickly learn after the first episode of our six-year-old howling because of tying her skates too tightly! :o

Nothing's worse than trying to calm your kid down when it's your fault. Of course, every time I tie the skates I ask, "How does that feel?" "Fine." Twenty minutes later, "Daddy, my skates are too loose." And that's when the flashback to taking the skates off three weeks ago occurs, and you start wondering, "Man, am I gonna feel like a heel again?...."