Does the roller hockey tiling wear down a stick's blade?

[Nastyy 0]

I play roller hockey in the spring for fun after ice hockey is over. And I was wondering if the tiles wear down a stick's blade? It may sound stupid but I don't use my normal stick and I want to start and help would be great! (blade is usually fully taped. Or far heel is left untaped)

[althoma1 574]

I use high end composites on Sport Court and trim the tape off the bottom and haven't had any issues with blade wear. Sport Court is smooth and gentle on blades - surfaces like concrete with a little grit will certainly wear blades out faster.

Some people leave the bottom completely taped, but I find that provides too much friction for my tastes; so I tape as I normally would for ice and then trim off the bottom strip with an exacto knife so that there's no tape on the bottom.

[Stewie 721]

In my experience they wear off the clear coat and make the stick bottom a little less smooth. I notice a slight difference in the blade drag when I use a new stick vs. One I've used for a few weeks. If I taped the bottom it wouldn't he an issue as the wear would go to the tape, but that also would increase how much it drags considerably more so it's not a trade off that makes sense to me.

[althoma1 574]

Yes, it does wear off the clear coat, but it's pretty minor. A blade will crack, split or break before it would wear out with friction if it's only used on Sport Court. Outdoors or on cement with grit a blade will definitely wear down and I'd only recommend ABS blades for those surfaces. I rarely play on smooth cement, but ref leagues that use this and notice the wear seems to be similar to sport court from the sticks I've seen.

So I'd say it's pretty safe to use a good stick for sport court, a coated gym floor or very smooth cement. If there's any type of grit or texture I'd stick with ABS blades.

[Vet88 674]

It also depends on the sport court tile you are skating on. If the tile is one that has little holes or squares cut into it, these can act like a cheese grater and really wear your blade down quickly and you need to tape the bottom. If it is a smooth tile then you are ok without taping. My preference is to always protect the blade as much as I can so I accept the trade off of tape, slightly more drag and no blade wear versus untaped, less drag and more wear.

[kovalchuk71 212]

They do wear slightly, but unless you are pushing the blade against the sport court for the entire game, you shouldn't have any problems (which you shouldn't be doing in the first place)

[Vet88 674]

lol, tell that to the various coaches I've had over the last few years and they'd kick you off the team. If I had a coin for every time I've heard "If the blade is in the air then you aren't in the game" then I'd be pretty well off.

[kovalchuk71 212]

lol, tell that to the various coaches I've had over the last few years and they'd kick you off the team. If I had a coin for every time I've heard "If the blade is in the air then you aren't in the game" then I'd be pretty well off.

There's a difference between letting the blade glide against the surface and pushing down on it.