Lacing The Top Two Eyelets Of The Skate Good or Bad ?

[Widdog 1]

I don't lace the last two eyelets of my skates. I was wondering if this is a bad habit? Maybe I'm making myself more susceptible to ankle injury. Also maybe I'm not getting full benefit of the ankle support.

[Vet88 673]

It all depends on who you talk to. However I go with the training techniques used by some European ice teams, they train with the top two eyelets undone so that you learn to balance / skate over your feet and not use your ankles / boot for support. After watching ice and inline speed skaters play hockey in their boots and do everything that a player would in their high sided boots, I came to the conclusion that the top of the boots are there more for puck and slash protection than helping you to skate.

[Souldriver 64]

Personal preference.

My new missions have one less top eyelet and the top lace is lower than my old skates. I like the lower feel much better now that I tried it.

I also think hockey skate sides are. Igger bc there is much more lateral movement in hockey than in speed skating.

[kerr 1]

I saw Teemu Selanne skip the second and lace the top one. I gave it a try it seemed to have more range of motion compared to skipping just the top. You might want to try that if you are concerned with injuries.

[Souldriver 64]

Hard to argue with what Teemu does. As fast and elegant as you can get .

[flip12 701]

I saw Teemu Selanne skip the second and lace the top one. I gave it a try it seemed to have more range of motion compared to skipping just the top. You might want to try that if you are concerned with injuries.

Lots and lots of guys do this at all sorts of levels, with clear success...Keith Yandle, Sidney Crosby, Brandon Saad.

Also, you (the OP) are not alone with not lacing the top two eyelets: Jason Zucker skips the top two and man can he fly.

There are also all of those skipping the top eyelet.

Boots seemed to get significantly taller than speedskates in the 60's to provide more lateral stability. Then plastics came into play increasingly important roles in the and 80's, 90's before getting really fancy in the 00's. After all that, it seems skate companies had to do all they could to compete with Bauer's hyper position on the stiffer, higher, lighter evolution.

It all depends on who you talk to. However I go with the training techniques used by some European ice teams, they train with the top two eyelets undone so that you learn to balance / skate over your feet and not use your ankles / boot for support. After watching ice and inline speed skaters play hockey in their boots and do everything that a player would in their high sided boots, I came to the conclusion that the top of the boots are there more for puck and slash protection than helping you to skate.

I was seriously thinking about this just yesterday for a few hours. Five years from now I think hockey boots will essentially be more protective short track speed skates. There are better ways to protect the ankle area, as recent injuries (Karlsson, Markov) have shown. It could even be we'll be zipping up plastic insert lace covers to protect the top of the foot from blades and pucks.

I think the height of the boots now is also for getting kids hooked while they're young. But they end up being there only to protect the foot while they hinder its movement.

Today's skates are just too much skate for anyone to handle. Only a few guys I can think of, namely Viktor Stalberg, Jannik Hansen and Mikkel Boedker, really lace their boots all the way and do it tight and are still excellent skaters.

[Widdog 1]

Thanks for the great answers. I have another question that kind of relates here. I wrap the extra skate lace around my skate/ankle. I don't think it makes a difference but I hear such things as "The Skate Was Not Design For That" and "It Could Break Your Ankle". Also I hear it void's the manufactures warranty. Like I said I don't think it matters but I would like to know the true facts about this practice.

[Hoffer 0]

I think skipping eyelets as well as wrapping the laces behind the back, etc. is all personal preference. I use to wrap the laces around the back as I felt it gave me extra support, but don’t anymore. Also some people I know wrap the laces around the back because of the length of their laces, not for a specific believed performance benefit or what have you.

[Souldriver 64]

I used to wrap around the back but I stopped that and after a game you get used to it and are easy better off. Doing this usually doesn't allow you to have much forward flex and it also puts a lot of pressure on the back of the skate and I've come to think that breaks the skate down a bit

[Meals 2]

I saw Teemu Selanne skip the second and lace the top one. I gave it a try it seemed to have more range of motion compared to skipping just the top. You might want to try that if you are concerned with injuries.

I have not been lacing the top eyelet, to get more knee bend ect, but I will try this tonight. I never knew about this aproach

[customskateworks 39]

In my opinion, doing something because a pro does it, is generally not a solid approach. Everyone's foot is different and everyone skates differently. A professional hockey player could most likely skate in any brand of skate, laced in dozens of different ways, better than the rest of the general population of the world. A properly fitted boot can be laced all the way up and not inhibit forward flexion. Not lacing all the way or altering the lacing in some way is often an attempt to "fix" something the boot is not providing. But, sometimes it's just habit. It's hard to break a hockey player of the "I've never laced my skates all the way up and I always wrap my laces" mentality.

Do I recommend that a player always lace their skates all the way up? No. If that's what it takes to get the feel you are looking for, then fine.

Do I recommend that a player have an open mind and try a skate that truly fits their foot (regardless of brand, color, and who wears them)? Always.

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

I saw Teemu Selanne skip the second and lace the top one. I gave it a try it seemed to have more range of motion compared to skipping just the top. You might want to try that if you are concerned with injuries.

Not only that, Selanne's boots were shipped without the top 3 eyelets installed, and he would place them himself.

However, customskateworks is exactly spot-on here.