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bcboy

Heel Lifts & Blade radius question

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One of the top skate sharpeners in Vancouver is telling me that a lot of pros skate on 3mm heel lifts & skate with 11 foot radius's.

I've tried this setup and definitely like it but am struggling with the sharp turns. My game is all about speed and agility yet the longer radius seems to be hampering me in tight situations. Can anyone confirm that this is a typical setup?

I know I should play on what feels right but I just bought some Total One's and don't want to change the default setup until I can get some skates in on them and determine what is good for me.

BTW - I've been looking at some pics online of all the top skaters and I don't see any of them using heel lifts.

Thoughts?

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Even if it were to be a preferred setup in the pro game (and it isn't, because everyone is different) it doesn't mean that it is for you.

I was a 3mm/9' for YEARS. I actually went down to 1mm/11' a few wks ago.

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agree with JR but:

pitch is defintely a personal preference & there's no such this as "the right" setup for everyone. Generally negative pitch is counter productive though, so I'd not attemp adjusting to TOs out of the box since they sit at -1 - horrible! (I did try it though myself just for the sake of experience - not a good idea! :))

But neutral and up is all fair game - experiment what works for you, I personally tried +1, +0.5, and eventually settled at 0.

re radius though - it's hard to believe that forwards would be comfortable with 11' since it seems to impede agility quite a bit - this is pure physics & isn't subjective or personal preference, so depending on the position you play & your skating experience (beginners would certainly benefit from more blade on the ice the longer radius would provide) I'd stick with what makes sense ie 9 for forwards, maybe a bit longer for D for stability while battling & checking?

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agree with JR but:

pitch is defintely a personal preference & there's no such this as "the right" setup for everyone. Generally negative pitch is counter productive though, so I'd not attemp adjusting to TOs out of the box since they sit at -1 - horrible! (I did try it though myself just for the sake of experience - not a good idea! :))

But neutral and up is all fair game - experiment what works for you, I personally tried +1, +0.5, and eventually settled at 0.

re radius though - it's hard to believe that forwards would be comfortable with 11' since it seems to impede agility quite a bit - this is pure physics & isn't subjective or personal preference, so depending on the position you play & your skating experience (beginners would certainly benefit from more blade on the ice the longer radius would provide) I'd stick with what makes sense ie 9 for forwards, maybe a bit longer for D for stability while battling & checking?

Are the Total Ones really at -1 pitch so adding a 1mm heel lift would bring it to 0 and adding a 3mm heel lift would bring it to +2 pitch? Interesting...I will take it slow and try +1 then and see how that goes.

I skated for the 2nd time on them tonight and am liking the 9' radius. I agree that going to an 11 hurts the agility.

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agree with JR but:

pitch is defintely a personal preference & there's no such this as "the right" setup for everyone. Generally negative pitch is counter productive though, so I'd not attemp adjusting to TOs out of the box since they sit at -1 - horrible! (I did try it though myself just for the sake of experience - not a good idea! :))

But neutral and up is all fair game - experiment what works for you, I personally tried +1, +0.5, and eventually settled at 0.

re radius though - it's hard to believe that forwards would be comfortable with 11' since it seems to impede agility quite a bit - this is pure physics & isn't subjective or personal preference, so depending on the position you play & your skating experience (beginners would certainly benefit from more blade on the ice the longer radius would provide) I'd stick with what makes sense ie 9 for forwards, maybe a bit longer for D for stability while battling & checking?

Problem is it depends on the forward. If you're a guy who darts in and out of traffic, a shorter radius would work. If you are a line-to-line skater, then you can do the bigger radius.

But obviously a 9' plays differently on a size 8 than a 9' plays on a size 11.

Like I said, I'm up to 11' and didn't have any problems (and I'm the first type of forward I mentioned). I may go nuts and try 13'.

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