Time for new skates?

[dc00 0]

First off, I never skated.

My son (18 yo) has been using his current skates for a year and half. They were top of the line Bauer skates but no longer have the same stiffness as in new. There is a noticeable difference when I squeeze both sides on top. I'm worried that it would affect the performance. We already have a new pair of the same model but he refuses to switch.  He's going to a USHL camp next month and I don't want this to be a factor. Any advice? 

[stick9 881]

If the player already has a new pair and refuses to switch, don't force the issue. He may actually prefer a softer boot. 

[mojo122 529]

Depends on the model and construction of the skate.  Not necessarily a softer boot now, but potentially that the skate is breaking down or has broken down.  Boot breakdown can require more energy and effort when skating.  Just my thoughts from many years of skating.

[dc00 0]

The skates are Bauer 2S Pro.

[mojo122 529]

2S Pro is a pretty stiff skate so they may not be broken down.  Basing that off my having 2S Pro's and was skating in them 4 to 5 times a week when I switched to the Ultrasonics. My 2S Pro's were still good after over 2 years of use.

[caveman27 208]

4 hours ago, dc00 said:

First off, I never skated.

My son (18 yo) has been using his current skates for a year and half. They were top of the line Bauer skates but no longer have the same stiffness as in new. There is a noticeable difference when I squeeze both sides on top. I'm worried that it would affect the performance. We already have a new pair of the same model but he refuses to switch.  He's going to a USHL camp next month and I don't want this to be a factor. Any advice? 

You already have a second pair of the same model? Is he complaining of any issues with his current skates? If not, there's no reason to switch even if you manually have squeezed the skates and noticed a softer top.

He may have gone through a rough break-in period (took longer than usual) with the first set of skates and doesn't want to go through that again. 

[switcheroo 0]

5 hours ago, dc00 said:

First off, I never skated.

My son (18 yo) has been using his current skates for a year and half. They were top of the line Bauer skates but no longer have the same stiffness as in new. There is a noticeable difference when I squeeze both sides on top. I'm worried that it would affect the performance. We already have a new pair of the same model but he refuses to switch.  He's going to a USHL camp next month and I don't want this to be a factor. Any advice? 

That's to be expected.

 

A top of the line Bauer skate should last years. At 260 lbs and a very good skaters  I really lean into my 1X's and they were just  broken in at 1 1/2 years. 

If he's not complaining don't worry about it. 

 

Cheers

[mojo122 529]

1 hour ago, switcheroo said:

A top of the line Bauer skate should last years.

Not if you don't take care of them.  I see many high end skates with rotted liners and rusted, falling out rivets from lack of care.

[Vet88 673]

It depends but I come at this from a different view point. If his current skates are in good shape (no rips or tears in the eyelets, rivets intact, liner intact, edge holder still holding the blade straight etc) and he still skates well in them then the softer boot should not be an issue. I'd even suggest that putting him into a new, stiffer boot will disrupt his skating because of the change it makes to how his ankles will move in the skate. The stiffness of the boot should not be an indicator of how well you can skate.

But if you have seen a performance fall off as his boots have got softer then there is an issue and it's skate related but in a poor way, he is relying on the skate to skate well and that is a sign of issues with his fundamental technique. A quick fix is putting him into the new skates.

fwiw I am currently working with 6 players in our tier 1 league who have just changed skates recently (mainly going from well worn 1S or 2S pros to Ultrasonics). All of them are really struggling atm to adjust and their skating has turned to shite (even with their old profiles fitted). We are starting to get somewhere as they drop eyelets to release the ankle.

[dc00 0]

Here's some background on my concern. 

A year and half ago, my son's skating coach suggested us to replace the skates because they had lost the stiffness with the same sign. My son seemed to have no trouble adjusting to the new skates and his game took off right after the switch. There were other factors at the same time, a new team and new coach. So I can't say for sure it's the new skates. But I wonder if switching to the new skates now could have similar results. However, my son doesn't want to do that. He never wants to change any of his equipment. I have to say that the skates are still in good shape and probably don't have to be replaced. But I don't want to miss any opportunity for potential performance gain.

By the way, my son weights less than 170 lbs and never use the top eyelets. So maybe he's right.

[puckpilot 312]

Don't discount the value of comfort and the mental aspect of things. For example, if someone believes that wearing their red shirt to every game is the reason they're on a point streak, then it's the reason they're on the point streak. It doesn't matter that it's superstitious mumbojumbo. What matters is that wearing the shirt puts them in a comfort zone where they're confident and believe.

If you're not comfortable in your equipment, and aren't confident that that equipment will allow you to do what you want to do when you want to do it, it can have just as much a negative impact on ones performance as having sub-optimal equipment, maybe more.

Just a thought.

[flip12 699]

Maybe sneak the idea in there so he has a chance to see what the difference is.

It can be a good idea to have a backup pair of skates for someone skating that much and if you present that angle to him, maybe he’s be up for trying them out at a stick and puck or a practice where he has his usual pair on the bench. It just takes a minute to change skates, and then he can get a sense of how game ready his boots are, both pairs.

Maybe he doesn’t notice the increased give at the top of the quarters because he already laces lower to have more range of motion there. He may just be lacing a little more snug as the boot has softened up, achieving a similar level of support as he would in a fresh pair. In that case, it might be a possibility to get the new pair in on a rotation, so he doesn’t go through a full break-in and break-down cycle in one pair and then have to start all over again. If you can show him some upsides of giving the new pair a try, he may see a benefit in switching to the new pair himself and decide to retire the current pair.

On the other hand, if he tries them and doesn’t see any benefit from the increased stiffness you’ll have as good an answer to you lingering question of whether he’s leaving performance on the table or not as I think you can get.

I disagree with the notion that any give in a boot means it should be replaced. There is a broad range of ankle support required to skate one’s best. Some players need a new pair of skates as soon as they open up a bit, others lace in ways to ensure their ankle range of motion is unhindered. Just look at Kirill Semyonov, who just signed with Toronto out of Omsk. He skips two eyelets in Vapors and his career doesn’t appear to be suffering at all due to his skating style.

[BenBreeg 488]

Just summarizing:

-your son is a pretty good player and is happy with the skates he is in

-his skating coach previously recommended new skates because he were getting soft but nothing about the fact that it was impacting his skating

-his game seemed to improve after that but there was no way to attribute that to new skates

-you notice that the top of his skates are getting soft when you squeeze them (which honestly may have little correlation to how they are affecting his skating once on his foot and laced, even down an eyelet) but are simply worried it will affect his performance

Seems like there is nothing to see here, performance should be the indicator as well as player preference.

[dc00 0]

Thanks all for the inputs. I'll take the advice and not to force the switch at this time.

[psulion22 402]

I'll echo what the others have said and say that softness in the ankle of the skate isn't necessarily a bad thing, or an indicator that the skates need to be replaced. With a composite boot, I'd be more concerned about any delamination or softness in the heel, quarter, and especially outsole.  And with a Bauer skate with an Edge holder, I'd be looking for movement from the steel in the holder.  I have 2S Pros that are a little softer in the top as they were when I bought them, but like your son I also don't do the top eyelet and prefer a little more flex.  I definitely don't think I have lost any performance in them with the softer ankle, in fact I think I'm skating better now. But these skates replaced a pair of MX3s where the outsole had delaminated and the steel was flexing in the holder.  I definitely was losing power and performance from that, and the change to the new skates was immediately noticeable.

[SolarWind 23]

"if it ain't broken don't fix it", we as parents tend to overthink things quite a bit when it comes to our kids, even when there is no objective reasons to do so.

@ 18 yo a player generally develops pretty good awareness of their preferences, I'd not mess with it. Look @ McDavid ignoring last 3 generations of skates & still skating in original JetSpeeds which are Much softer than the current versions of FT2/FT4 pros...

As everyone already commented on 2S Pros are plenty stiff even for very large strong men, so unless completely neglected there is just no way they would become 'too soft' for an 18 yo after a year and a half.