Why flop hockey skates

You asked "right now I have them unlaced down to the 4th eyelet and I have them folded over and taped down. Will this help me out". Why dont you just wait and find out if it makes the tongues flop?

Or now that they have been tied for a while un fold them and find out what happened? Seems like a silly question. Do you want to know how to properly flop? I read that water will help a tongue flop, but personally i think it looks really dumb, i skate tongues tucked under my shins. My Vapor tongues are really, really stiff, and I could never get them to flop. I ended up preferring them in the tongues.

If I had way more time and money and wanted to experiment, I'd try a pair of white felt tongues and have them installed. I'd imagine ironing or steaming them while flopped over would probably help put a nice big crease in your tongues, just like a pair of pants, shirt, baseball cap, etc I take no responsibility for what that does however. Being the loser that I am, I tuck them under my shin pad and then proceed to pull my socks down over the tongue, tendon guard, and most of the heel. Aye, I did it for my roller set.

Left for a day or two. Used them, did it again. In a week they were doing it permanently from then on. Good luck flopping vapor tongues. I'd say your best bet if you wanna flop is throw out the tongues and get some big white felt ones. I tried to flip my 30's, woudnt work. Also, I don't flop because of the way it looks really, it started because i always wore my tongues out but not flopped, eventually when I got high end shin pads they were too bulky for my tongues to go outside so I decided flopping would be the best way to go about it.

I like the way it looks, but I mostly do it for fee. Having adequate motion in the ankle is key to efficient, safe movement in sport. While each sporting context differs, high-level athletes must have sufficient range of motion to 1 get into the most advantageous body positions for their sport, 2 produce safe and efficient movement from these positions, and 3 absorb incoming forces from these positions.

Limited ankle dorsiflexion has been linked to several lower extremity injuries in athletic populations , including ACL tears [1, 2], Achilles ruptures and tendinopathy [3, 4], patellar tendon pain [], and ankle sprains [8].

Poor performance during complex tasks which require substantial ankle dorsiflexion has also been associated with lower extremity injury risk.

A few examples of this phenomenon are provided below. Mauntel et al. The researchers had a group of individuals perform single-leg squats and categorized them as having medial knee displacement, or not [10].

Those identified to have medial knee displacement during the squat also presented with limited ankle dorsiflexion ROM. The researchers suggest that the limited ankle dorsiflexion ROM resulted in neuromuscular compensation during the single-leg squat pattern, exhibited by the medial knee displacement i.

Significant medial knee displacement i. In a cohort of basketball and floorball athletes, Raisan et al. Similarly, having a high frontal knee projection angle was associated with a 2. Lower extremity frontal plane projection angles FPPA are frequently used as a measure of dynamic knee valgus during functional tasks, such as the single-leg squat [38].

Increased dynamic knee valgus is observed in people with knee pathologies including patellofemoral pain [39] and ACL injury [40].

In fact, a recent meta-analysis of 17 studies by Lima et al. The authors concluded that lack of ankle dorsiflexion ROM may be related to harmful movement patterns of the lower limbs [15]. There are various other studies which indicate this notion, including recent works by Malloy et al. Malloy et al. In a single leg jump landing task, Dowling et al. Ultimately, Dowling et al. Howe et al. Additionally, the recreational athletes with limited ankle dorsiflexion ROM exhibited frontal-plane compensations via increased lower-extremity peak frontal plane projection angle FPPA , [19].

As touched on previously, high FPPA indicate knee valgus [38]. Knee valgus [42] and stiff landings also observed in this study [41] have been associated with non-contact lower extremity injury risk. The authors speculate that the observed movement compensation strategies may allow athletes to better manage the vertical forces experienced during landings, but at the expense of increasing lower extremity injury risk during landing activities [19].

So, ankle dorsiflexion ROM appears to matter a lot for athletes that perform on land. What about athletes that make their living on-ice? Recently, Renaud et al. They used a camera 3-D motion capture system to identify differences in joint kinematics during maximal skating sprint starts on-ice. High-caliber skaters performed the skating start in a significantly shorter time than low-caliber skaters , despite no differences in lower body power as estimated from long jump distances. High-caliber skaters generated significantly greater peak accelerations in the vertical direction 9.

Upjohn et al. Data was captured using four 1. Really make sure to get the two surfaces flat against each other no air bubbles or wavy spots so that the tongues and the felt can really stick to each other. If your worried you have a bubble, peel the felt off before it can stick and re-spray and re-apply until your happy with the result.

As you can see, the felt is pressed nicely against the tongue. Nothing to do now except wait it out a bit for the glue to harden up. Turn on the TV, crack open a pint, watch some puck and give the glue a period or so to firm up before you move onto the next step. Now that our glue has firmed up a little bit, we want to trace an outline of what we want our flop to look like.

I went overboard here, generally an inch or two is plenty of extra flop, but what you decide to cut out is up to you. Maybe start by going with more than you want, tie them up and go from there, its always easier to trim a little more off than it is to add more. We have trimmed up our tongues maybe do a better job on the edges than I did here…gimme a break my scissors sucked.

Remember to try and keep everything as uniform as possible so that it looks good. If your skates ever get to a point where they look like one of these photos, it is crucial that you replace the steel on both skates, even if only one is damaged. When skates get used and sharpened, the steel gradually becomes shorter. So, putting new, taller steel on one skate and leaving old, shorter steel on the other skate will throw off your balance, which will put serious strain on your hips and knees.

Players in Bauer skates with TUUK LightSpeed Edge holders standard on all mid-range skates and up should absolutely keep a backup set of steel on the bench in the event of mid-game damage. Always keep the worst case scenario in mind - if you block a shot off your skate on the first shift or at a clutch moment of the game and your steel snaps in half - you'll be on the bench for the rest of the game. LightSpeed Edge holders use a trigger release system to eject and replace the steel in a matter of seconds, getting you right back in the game.

Bauer also made a convenient carrying case that holds two pairs of additional steel. The spacers inside lock the steel in place, preventing them from making contact with each other, and keep your edges in pristine condition. Players who don't have TUUK LightSpeed Edge holders can still replace their steel, but it requires two screwdrivers, much more time, and will be difficult to replace on the bench mid-game.

Just take your skates to your local hockey shop's repair center to get them replaced. Photo credit: John Leyba, Denver Post. Some players, such as defensemen or those recovering from a foot injury, may need some additional protection when blocking shots. Skate Fenders makes high-quality polycarbonate skate guards to protect feet from pucks. They are easily attached and removed from the skates by using two Velcro straps. Losing an edge during the middle of a game will happen to every player at some point.

A lost edge is when a skate's blade becomes dull on one side, making turns and stopping on that side extremely difficult. Even worse, this can happen at a clutch point in a game. You can't just get off the ice and get your skates sharpened - so what do you do? This handheld tool has a ceramic "V" on one end that helps create a new edge on the skate's steel with three to five swipes down the blade.

On the other end, there is a stone to remove burs and small nicks. Although a re-edger can create a new edge on your blade, it is NOT a suitable replacement for regular skate sharpenings and should be used only on an "emergency" basis.

Constant use of the "V" side of a re-edger can cause damage to your steel. Rivets are the part of the skate that connect the boot to the holder. Skates have about 10 to 14 rivets, depending on the size and manufacturer. Rivets need to be replaced when they start to rust because eventually, they'll fall out and your boot and holder will be disconnected. The easiest way to prolong your rivets' lifespans is to dry off and to air out your skates after every time you skate.

You can check the lifespan of your rivets by removing the footbed and examining the flower petal-shaped pieces of metal inside the skates. Ideally, there should be no orange rust on or around them. If rust has formed, take your skates into your local hockey shop to get the rivets replaced.

While a little bit of rust won't make your skates disintegrate, it's better to get them replaced sooner rather than later. Arguably the hottest skate accessory on the market right now, the Adrenaline Powerfoot Performance Skate Inserts should be in every player's skates.

At first, they seem like they are "just another footbed" until you realize they go on the top of the toes, not beneath.

Once they are attached to the inside of the toe cap and your foot slides in the skate, you can already feel the difference. Your toes now feel as if they are comfortably resting against little Tempur-Pedic memory foam pillows. The Powerfoot skate inserts are more than just comfortable - they also serve a purpose in performance. They help eliminate the empty space above the toes and lock the front of the foot in place, resulting in an overall skating improvement.

This empty space is prevalent even in properly fitting skates.