I am lucky to have a 3 head retail Blademaster in my garage. I probably do a couple dozen guys around my neighborhood. I have been moving all of them to 9/16 and flatter. Most guys have no clue unless you tell them. When the ice is soft it makes even more of a difference. ✌🏽✌🏽
I know you mentioned that you skated with loose skates and that a player should be able to skate without laces but what are your thoughts on doing laceless training or loose skate training? What age would be a good age to introduce this if you do recommend it? My power skating coach as a kid would have us skate for like 10 mins before sessions without tying our skates to build ankle strength and told us not to tie the top eyelet for better ankle mobility. I've since seen a lot of mixed reviews on this but I personally feel that it absolutely increased my ankle strength and because of that I prefer my skates looser. As you mentioned I use wax laces and tie the bottom fairly tight but leave the top rather loose and skip the top eyelet. Thank you for the great video.
I went from a 9/16'' to a 1'' hollow. I watched your video and thought no way! Then you said to give a try before commenting. Well, here we are. First I went from 9/16 to 5/8 and didn't feel much of a difference. Then I jumped to 3/4 and liked the speed bump. I played about 4-6 games with it and then wanted to try push it further so I went to 1'' and have been loving it. Most of the guys at the pro shop thought I was nuts! All except one and he said I was the only one who knew about how skates work. Little did he know, I just learned it! I have so much more speed now and my hips are much happier. I've noticed how open they feel after games without any tightness. I'm at a point where I don't know if I want to try 1 1/8 or try a 3/4 flat bottom V. I only have one pair of steel so going back and forth is very inconvenient. I'm a big fan of the 1'' but wish I was able turn tighter at times. One thing I love about the shallower hollow is that I'm better able to access my outer edge for punch turns and such (even though I'm not very good at them yet). I'm considering buying a Sparx so I want to nail down my preference first so I don't have to get a bunch of rings that never end up getting used. I'm currently transitioning my 8 year old son to a shallower hollow. I was going to try cold turkey and go 3/4 for him but the guy at the pro shop convinced me it was better to slowly transition so I've been doing 1/16 increments with each sharpening. I do it before a stick time so he doesn't go into a game without having a session or two feeling it out first. We started at 1/2 and are at 5/8 currently. I've been noticing more speed from him as well. Thanks for the insight!
Brilliant! I used a 1" hollow for a long time and found that I could perform better and with no discomfort. I'm using FLAIR blades right now and they have a 1/2" equivalent hollow. Recently I've noticed discomfort in my right hip and a bit of tenderness in my groin. I'm super glad that I watched this video and will get back to 1". I before I do that, I will check out 3/4". Thanks a ton for the fantastic advice!
Been noticing that Im just generally faster, more agile, and less fatigued when my skates get duller. Really interesting video. Definitely going to keep this up but so far its a pretty big difference. Thanks man!
I have a Sparx at home and tried my 10 year old on 5/8 radius and he loved it. He still finds them a bit too sharp when I sharpen them fresh. Do you think trying a 3/4” would be good for him? He’s a great skater and is close to 100 lbs. I changed mine from 1/2 that I’ve always used to 5/8 and noticed a huge improvement and much less effort. I’m good on my edges and oddly I found they had the same if not more bite which surprised me
Would you be able to elaborate a bit more on what you mentioned about baking skates with thick socks, then thinner socks and eventually no socks? I didn't quite understand that part. Do you bake them at home, or you need some sort of gear? Is there a certain stance you want to be in when baking them?
hey love your videos. i think most of my womens hockey team are using sticks that are too stiff for modern shooting. can you speak in a video sometime about different technique when using felxy sticks such as hand placement when receiving passes etc thanks!!!
Do you use the same size grid for all ages? I have a 11 year old and a 15 year old and wondering if they each need a different sized grid. Also thanks for making and sharing these videos John, great content!
Excellent tutorial. I have also noticed that kids skates, specifically the blades, are too tall, often as tall as an adult skate. This means that they have a much harder time controlling the side flex of their ankles since it is a much larger moment length from their ankle to the bottom of the blade, than an adult, who has much more strength in their ankles, not to mention technique. I'd like to see kids skate blades much shorter which would help immensely with their learning.
Does ice condition not come into play as well? Of course some rinks have softer or harder ice so wouldnt the hollow become a fsctor. I always skated on 3/4¨ hollow but found at rinks where the ice was harder I seemed to slip a little when transcending from skating backwards to forward thus losing a step....
Could you go over the skating component combine with dangling? For example pulling the puck to one side, then taking a stride, before pulling it to the other side when the D commits? Thanks
It’s common for the toe drag to be over utilized since typically the first learned. However as a coach its ones obligation not to discourage the use of a move “full stop”…An opposing player will do that. Use constraints to let them discover (and discourage) where or when to attempt the move. When a move goes right (or wrong) discuss and question how it happened and what might be an alternative..Players need by discovery of its pluses and minuses the moves uses. ✌🏻
I like skating on a large hollow 1 inch or more , unforntunately its extremely dangerous during game play cause it's so unstable . you get pushed so easily
With respect, the toe drag isn’t dead. It’s alive and well and all over this video. Any pull with the toe of the stick is a toe drag, it’s not limited to 12-to-6, it’s not even limited to the forehand. What we’re doing here is a simple stick handle before a more lateral toe drag to make the drag more deceptive
So the tape line that goes off at a 45, just to confirm, that would be for a "pull", one of those modern Matthews-esque shots where you offer-the-puck-then-toe-drag-it-back-to-the-baseline-for-a-snap-shot? Apologies if I just missed that part - I watched twice.
Great share. Calling it 'toe pull' is new. There are 3 vids of the players in the show at the beginning of this vid. In each example the player uses the backhand to move the puck laterally prior to the 'toe pull.' The demos use the forehand to 'present' the puck then pull back by either the backhand heelish or toe. This is a huge distinction, if not completely different actions and movements. There is not one demo that reflect what the videos show. Do the best 'toe pull' different than what people think or assume?
The videos are of pro players. They do a move prior to the pulling that creates lateral deception. If you are learning the movement we need to regress first and just learn toe control first.
@@SwansonX7Hockey Regressions and progressions, right. You have the right mindset and track for coaching. I don't agree with statement about pro's making 'a move prior to the pulling' as the 'toe pull' and see it rather as one movement to get around a player or stick. The backhand is accompanied by a small rotation in the top hand which shows up as spin on the puck. That preps the 'toe pull' to bring the puck into the backet of the blade using the spin of the puck as it's move laterally. The pulling is also rarely seen by any pro in game. It's just another lateral movement that looks more like a circle when viewed from above then a forward or backwards movement.
@@mathewmartin9803 I played pro hockey myself, players pull the puck at the pro level. The progression I am teaching is a phase 3 progression they have to master. The move you are referring to is commonly performed by Patrick Kane however when teaching a Mite/Squirt we would work in this order. 1. Dribbles. 2. Reaches. 3. Heel To Toe 4. Toe Pull Then we would put a move like you are describing however that move to teach initially is far to many skills stacked together at once for a beginner or younger player.
@@SwansonX7Hockey Thanks and makes sense. Again, the lack of common language is what I may guess is causing some of the confusion. Toe pull doesn't have a rightful place in hockey vernacular, yet. Kane does exactly what I'm describing, and you picked that out perfectly. Thanks for sharing your progression for the Kane drag.
I have a question, hopefully u see this. I wear a size 7 Ribcor 88K atm. I baked it once but it still feels a little loose. Would a tounge upgrade to the 10 mm help. Also should i bake them one more time? Their not huge it just feels like my ankle area could use some snugging up.
This video was EXTREMELY informative. The way u spoke was very easy to understand but the subject matter was brilliant. Your a great speaker...u must be a PHENOMENAL coach
Moved my son’s skates to 3/4 today. From 1/2. He’s a AA player but leg fatigue and speed has been alittle noticeable off this spring. Gonna give it a shot. Hopefully can move him to a 1” by summer.
This is great going to try this with my 8 year old it’s his first year in hockey and just found out about different skate hollows before finding this gem thanks for the info
I'm 47, 6'1", 225# been on 5/8" forever. I skate every day. A couple of months ago I went to 9/16" just to see how it worked, no big deal. Last week I went to 1/2" to experiment, see what would happen. It's noticeably slower, less glide, like drag brakes, and digs in too hard, too quickly before the skate is leaned over. Now, it's time to experiment the other way, 3/4", 7/8", 1". I'm pretty sure I know where this going. Everything you said makes sense.
This is awesome! This is something I’ve been working on with my son. This concept of building/installing confidence is covered in multiple performance books like the talent code and hidden potential. I’ll definitely be sharing this
I really like your content but the advise on how to determine what side your kid shoots is never 100% accurate. I remember when my dad took me to buy my first stick and everyone thought I'd shoot left because my dad and brother did and I'm right handed. No one believed me at first when I said I had a better feeling with the left hand on top. Now I play on a beer league team and we have at least 50% of the players shooting right. Something I've never seen and there may be some left handed guys in there but most are right handed. I actually have to play my off side because we have too many right shot defenseman, that's how common it is now.
Top hand is dominant on a stick. If the child is right hand dominant then they will most likely play hockey left handed. Kids will play whatever hand they are given at a young age what I’m describing is how to make their skill development easier.
@SwansonX7Hockey thanks for your reply but from my personal experience I would disagree that you can just choose your top hand according to your dominant hand. First sticks I had didn't have a curve and I instinctively chose to shoot right and I could never picture myself doing it any different. I know lots of guys playing all kinds of levels that are right handed and shoot right and developed just fine. There is a video on here on a channel called "district 5" where he's giving an in depth look at the differences between shooting left or right and whatbit means in combination with what hand is your dominant hand and I think this might interest you since there is an indication that right handed people who shoot right are better at shooting but maybe a bit worse at stick handling.
Great video man! As someone who works with pro, college, junior, and minor players primarily on their mental game, I definitely love this entire breakdown!
