Ice Skate Profiling
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Why a Combination Radius?
Ice skate runners come from the factory with what we call the "traditional" radius, which is one radius in the middle 2/3rds of the skate blade. This factory radius can be altered for performance gains by grinding a different radius onto the blade. While a custom traditional radius does result in performance gains over the factory radius, the skate technician must often choose a single radius that matches the exact style, ability, position, and preferences of the player. Sometimes this can result in a loss of performance in one area of skating, when trying to improve another. For example, if you want more speed, you will lose some turning ability. This is usually OK, because the radius is tuned for your specific profile. However, wouldn't it be better if the skate technician could give you better performance for all maneuvers and all game situations without losing any performance? You bet! That's what a Combination Radius does. Also, goalies, don't feel left out, we have many combination radius specifically designed to improve your pivoting, maneuverability, pushes, slides and recoveries! Combination Radius are also called Compound Radius.
What is Skate Pitch?
The Pitch of the blade is another very important part of how a skate feels and performs. When you get a custom radius, or a custom combination radius, the pitch settings can be adjusted. As you can see in the illustration above, pitch is the angle in which the blades lean toward the ice. It can be forward, neutral or reverse, and in varying amounts (in degrees or fractions of inches) For example a minor forward pitch would be .5 degrees or 1/64". A lot of factors are used to determine what proper pitch setting a skater should have. Pitch is critical because not only does it effect skating, but also body balance. If your balance is off, you'll have a poor stride. Pitch on the skates helps the knees unlock and to drop in the proper skating stance (90 degree knee bend with knees 2" forward of the skates.) In addition, if pitch is too far to the rear (a factory configuration for some model skates), you'll lose ability to accelerate. Believe it or not, the pitch of your skates also effects passing, shooting and checking. Pitch is one of the most critical components in equipment configurations. At No-Icing Sports, we'll customize the pitch along with your radius so you can achieve maximum performance in your entire game.
Ice skate runners come from the factory with what we call the "traditional" radius, which is one radius in the middle 2/3rds of the skate blade. This factory radius can be altered for performance gains by grinding a different radius onto the blade. While a custom traditional radius does result in performance gains over the factory radius, the skate technician must often choose a single radius that matches the exact style, ability, position, and preferences of the player. Sometimes this can result in a loss of performance in one area of skating, when trying to improve another. For example, if you want more speed, you will lose some turning ability. This is usually OK, because the radius is tuned for your specific profile. However, wouldn't it be better if the skate technician could give you better performance for all maneuvers and all game situations without losing any performance? You bet! That's what a Combination Radius does. Also, goalies, don't feel left out, we have many combination radius specifically designed to improve your pivoting, maneuverability, pushes, slides and recoveries! Combination Radius are also called Compound Radius.
What is Skate Pitch?
The Pitch of the blade is another very important part of how a skate feels and performs. When you get a custom radius, or a custom combination radius, the pitch settings can be adjusted. As you can see in the illustration above, pitch is the angle in which the blades lean toward the ice. It can be forward, neutral or reverse, and in varying amounts (in degrees or fractions of inches) For example a minor forward pitch would be .5 degrees or 1/64". A lot of factors are used to determine what proper pitch setting a skater should have. Pitch is critical because not only does it effect skating, but also body balance. If your balance is off, you'll have a poor stride. Pitch on the skates helps the knees unlock and to drop in the proper skating stance (90 degree knee bend with knees 2" forward of the skates.) In addition, if pitch is too far to the rear (a factory configuration for some model skates), you'll lose ability to accelerate. Believe it or not, the pitch of your skates also effects passing, shooting and checking. Pitch is one of the most critical components in equipment configurations. At No-Icing Sports, we'll customize the pitch along with your radius so you can achieve maximum performance in your entire game.