Tendon guard question. Can someone pls explain?

[ridiska99 1]

Can someone please explain to me what taping your tendon guard to the back of your leg give you ?

I see a few players like kovalev, gaborik and few others do it but can't understand what's the purpose for it? What does it do? provide? Enhance? Contribute?

Pls dot say personal preference As i'm not refering to their tape color om their stick.

Everything has a reason and an explanation and Id like to hear something that makes sence .

Thanks in advance guy

[ponder 0]

You mean where it's wrapped around the shin guard and/or skate tongue on the front, to all the way around the tendon guard on the back? Gives a firmer hold around your ankle, basically the opposite of leaving your top eyelet unlaced. Gives you a bit more power on toe flicks/the end of your stride, but also makes it harder to get a good knee bend, and depending on how you do it, can be a bit tough on the tendon guards.

*Edit: meant "knee bend", not "need bend", obviously :)

[ibeck 38]

It is a really different way of skating. It's like your whole leg (knee down) is immobolized. It's really hard to get used to and just ads support to your body.

[dsjunior1388 81]

Don Cherry and many youth coaches advocate this style to prevent achilles injuries like what happened to Robert Lang.

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index.php?/topic/54660-taping-ankles-inquiry/

[interpathway 9]

I've always subscribed to the idea that taping your tendon guard to the back of your calf forces you to "kick" the toe of the skate at the end of each leg's stride.

By keeping the tendon guard attached to your calf with tape, at the end of each stride the taped guard forces your foot to fully complete its stride. Tough to explain I know...

When forward flexing through your stride, the tendon guard and tape are stretched a bit because of your body weight and position... at the end of the stride where there is not much body weight placed on the skate/guard/tape, the tape keeps your tendon guard back, almost forcing your toes to point behind you, thereby finishing a "full stride".

[lampliter87 8]

As mentioned before, it limits your forward flex and provides the ankles with a little extra support.

[ridiska99 1]

I've always subscribed to the idea that taping your tendon guard to the back of your calf forces you to "kick" the toe of the skate at the end of each leg's stride.

By keeping the tendon guard attached to your calf with tape, at the end of each stride the taped guard forces your foot to fully complete its stride. Tough to explain I know...

When forward flexing through your stride, the tendon guard and tape are stretched a bit because of your body weight and position... at the end of the stride where there is not much body weight placed on the skate/guard/tape, the tape keeps your tendon guard back, almost forcing your toes to point behind you, thereby finishing a "full stride".

So it's a good thing ?

[interpathway 9]

IMO, yeah sure, but that doesn't mean I do it.

Bure, Gaborik,:young: Kovalev... sense a trend here? Master skaters.

It does limit your forward flex, but no amount of tape is going to keep those guys from getting a deep knee bend out of their strides.

The ROI is at the end of each stride.

[ridiska99 1]

So it's a good thing ?

Also a bunch of top players did it like bure, kovalev , gaborik and few other big guns

[ridiska99 1]

IMO, yeah sure, but that doesn't mean I do it.

Bure, Gaborik,:young: Kovalev... sense a trend here? Master skaters.

It does limit your forward flex, but no amount of tape is going to keep those guys from getting a deep knee bend out of their strides.

The ROI is at the end of each stride.

but does it hinder quick turns in any way? I can maybe see where straight line acceleration might be benefited but what about quick turns?

And why do only few but true elite of elite level players only do this?

IMO, yeah sure, but that doesn't mean I do it.

Bure, Gaborik,:young: Kovalev... sense a trend here? Master skaters.

It does limit your forward flex, but no amount of tape is going to keep those guys from getting a deep knee bend out of their strides.

The ROI is at the end of each stride.

but does it hinder quick turns in any way? I can maybe see where straight line acceleration might be benefited but what about quick turns?

And why do only few but true elite of elite level players only do this?

[lampliter87 8]

Try it for yourself. If it works, stick with it; if not, do whatever you did before. It's not a magical quick-fix that will dramatically improve your skating.

[ridiska99 1]

Try it for yourself. If it works, stick with it; if not, do whatever you did before. It's not a magical quick-fix that will dramatically improve your skating.

I would, just afraid I'll break my tendon guard that's all

[$m0k3 0]

I would, just afraid I'll break my tendon guard that's all

Not a problem with MLX skates, flexible tendon guard.

[ridiska99 1]

Not a problem with MLX skates, flexible tendon guard.

But if it's flexible pribably doesn't make sence , the fact that tendon guard is hard provides more stride power, I could maybe understand that, but flexible tendon guard? Might as well not tape it probably

[$m0k3 0]

Yeah i know what you are saying, ive always wanted to tape my skates for the reason stated above but it limited my movement where it was better to keep it untaped. Taping with MLX skates gives me just enough forward flex but still gives stability.

Ive only done it for the last few games and haven't got the tape job proper yet so still in the testing stages, you might be right though i could end up going back to untaped. Im wondering if i could wreck my ankle if i land funny having it stuck or am i better off having it taped?

[caseyjones 26]

This is a very old thread, but im sure some people still have questions regarding this topic. I love this site and always cruise through the message boards and they are always very helpful so i finally decided to create an account. This is a topic that ive experimented with a lot, yet im still even stuck with questions. Hopefully, i can shed some light on the subject.

For me, taping the ankle of your skates does a couple of things. Note i am talking about the ankle and not only the tendon guard. The difference between this would be to take a look at pavel bure, marion gaborik or brian leetch vs. Sergei Gonchar, Alexei Yashin and Sergei Fedorov. The former tape the whole ankle where the latter tape only the tendon guard. There are numerous ways in which you can tape your ankles and different skates will give you different feels when taping the ankles. You can also experiment with the size of your shin pads as well. I have done this in Bauer Vapor 10's and Graf Ultra G7's. Two completely different skates. So each gave me a little bit different feel.

Pavel Bure would tuck his shin pads under his tongue and then heavily tape his ankle, completely binding the tendon guard to his calf. He has done this in Graf Supra 707's, Micron Mega's and then in Bauer VApor 8's and 10. Its talked about by some how you should never tape your ankles because it inhibits knee bend, it can cause knee problems, etc....I cant speak on the knee problem aspect. That may be just as much coincidence as it is anything else. Its not all that hard to pick out a hockey player who's had knee problems. Not every player who taped their ankles developed chronic knee problems so that my just be people using that to support their own case of why they dont reccommend it without having real factual evidence. Anyway......

The main reason i think players tape their ankles and from what i've personally found is that it can aid in giving you explosive acceleration. This is purely speculative, but i would compare it to the way a stick flexes when you shoot the puck....the snap back generates most of the force that propels the puck. Thats how taping your ankle feels to me. By applying force through the leg and ankle it feels like there is that snap back effect that propels you forward with ease. It seems to take less effort to move around. For me its very comfortable, supportive and it generates force.

Now the difference in skates you use, how you choose to tape the ankle, how you lace your skates and how and what size shin pads you use all affect this greatly. So unless someone is wearing the same skates, laced the same way with the same shin pads worn the same way and tape their ankles exactly the same wont necessarily have the same experience as the next guy who has claimed to tape his ankles

In my vapor 10's which are very stiff and rival most top of the line skates today i almost felt as if i was back on my heels, which is something you dont really want. Kind of felt like i would fall over backwards with ease and it did inhibit my forward flex. The Vapors are a higher cut boot than the Graf G7's and much stiffer. So i found that skipping the second eyelet allowed for a little more forward flex. As far as it ruining the tendon guard, i have skated enough times like this in my Vapor 10's where there were no ill affects (really great skate btw). I cant speak for other models though. I havent exprimented enough with my vapors to get that perfect feel yet, but with my Graf's i have. I would assume that if i experimented with my Vapors the way i have with my Graf's that i could acheive a similar feel.

The G7 boot is designed for mobility in the ankle. Its a super comfortable boot that is as good as they come as far as foot support yet it is equipped with a soft ankle area that allows for easy forward flex. So one might ask why the hell i would buy such a skate if i prefer to have the ankle support, but the combination of the soft boot and a taped ankle created the perfect storm. I found that wearing a smaller shin pad tucked underneath the tongue and then taping the ankle worked perfect in these skates. I dont know why, but for whatever reason the smaller/more narrow shin pad felt much better than my jofa knee pads which were one inch bigger and much bulkier. The knee pad was put on and only went about an inch underneath the tongue. I then taped my ankles up the way bure would. It also looked like Pavel Bure as well.

You can play around with the ankle taping to get the feel you want. You can tape the ankle tight, you can tape it a little looser, you can flex your foot forward slightly and then tape it or you can choose to put one strip around your ankle and leave the top of the tendon guard exposed or wrap the whole ankle and cover the whole back of the tendon guard. Each of these methods will give you slightly different feels so you can experiment to see what feels best. For me, i try not to wrap it like a mummy. That will give you more of the feel where people describe that your skates are not ski boots and you shouldnt feel like your foot is in a cast. If you give your foot a little forward flex and/or dont wrap them extremely tight along with playing around with lacing methods you should be able to avoid this most of the time and get that supportive feel you desire. In my experience with ankle taping you want to feel the support but you dont want to feel heavily restricted in your movement. In my Graf's i can still flex plenty forward so i dont feel like im on stilts. As long as i can still flex foward, i dont see why there should be such negative backlash for using this method. A lot of the top of the line skates today are so stiff, that if you lace them up completely they alone will restrict your ability to flex forward in your skates and it can also hurt.

Lastly, which also gets asked....taping your ankle does make you feel more supportive, especially for people with skinny legs who have a lot of lateral (side to side) movement in the ankle area of their skates or who like to feel the front of your shins pushing off something rather than using strictly leg muscles to propel you forward. Comfort, support and acceleration to me would be the biggest benefits of taping your ankles. If you look at guys like Gaborik and Bure, (even Afinogenov), they had/have amazing acceleration, but they werent cutting on a dime like Paul Kariya or getting that extremely low stride like Taylor Hall. Taping your ankles can also restrict you from quick stops and starts imo. So if you play like Paul Kariya, it may not be the best thing, but if you want someting to instantly improve your acceleration then taping your ankles may be for you. Theres a little give and take when it comes to taping your ankles and ultimately all boils down to personal preference.

This is all my experience when it comes to taping your ankles and tendon guards. Hope this can help some people out there as so many of these threads have helped me.