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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.498



The same technique is used in the stick turn.  The skater uses the same
combination of tight turn and stick friction, but instead of using the
stick as a mere brake, uses it as a pivot point to make a tighter turn and
continue on in a new direction.
____________________
Goalie Techniques //  The best bet for goalies, in many cases, is simply
_________________//  not to wear skates.  A sneakered goalie has
side-to-side mobility and backwards control that are difficult to match on
skates of any kind.  As long as the goalie doesn't leave the crease for
extended periods (i.e. Ron Hextall lead-the-rush-up-ice maneuvres), this
makes for fair and fun gameplay.

As previously mentioned, hard plastic Mylec street hockey leg pads are
recommended.  A good goalie can fearlessly slide about in them, making for
a more ice-like game.


SURFACES """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Generally speaking, you're stuck with whatever your area offers.  For
economical reasons, we've been playing on street-hockey decks, which have
asphalt or cement surfaces and decent boards all around.  One such surface
is quite good; very smooth cement approaching tennis court quality.  It's a
decent drive for most of us, but worth it; we've played on a rougher
surface and it's exhausting.

There are also commercial venues available in our area.  One huge indoor
facility has a perfect surface, good nets, an electronic scoreboard, you
name it.  It's also $70/hour, but with enough people playing a real game,
this can be cost-effective.  I imagine similar facilities exist in most
major metropolitan areas.


RULES """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Our goal is to be as ice hockey-like as possible.  In the reduced size of
most street-hockey decks, 4 skaters per side is probably the realistic
maximum.  And we'd like to someday have enough players for full 60-minute
change-on-the-fly games, but for the time being it looks like three 10
minute periods with no line changes and frequent timeouts.

When we can, we aspire to NHL rules.  With 10-minute periods, half-length
penalties are probably best (1 minute or 2.5 minutes).  Enforcement of
offsides and icing are a matter of taste; they make for less fluid gameplay
and are a distraction for single refs without benefit of linesmen.  I'd be
interested in hearing how other players deal with this.

Best of luck to anyone getting started in the game; may you find all the
players you need and a prime surface.  If you live in the Philadelphia/
South Jersey area, we invite you to join us!  Interested parties can Email
me directly, or reach me on the Cellar BBS (the number is in my .sig).
We play Sundays, are still organizing for fall, and would welcome any new
participants.

PRACTICE TECHNIQUES """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Can't round up 8+ skaters and 2 goalies for a game?  Here's a basic game
you can play with as few as 4 people that's fun and great practice for
basic hockey skills.

'  "Hockeyball"
'
'  Gear: Inline skates, sticks, pads, ball, chalk.
'
'  Play Surface:  Ideally, you'll want an area with clearly-defined edges.
'  A low-traffic street, school driveway, or the like is ideal, since
'  passes can be bounced off the curbs.  With chalk, mark off end lines
'  150-200' apart (depending on skaters' respiratory health and number
'  of players), as well as a faceoff mark at centre ice:
'
'  curb -> ========================================================
'              |                                               |
'  end line -> |                       x                       |
'              |                                               |
'          ========================================================
'
'  The rules are simple.  To score a goal, a skater must cross his
'  opponent's goal line WHILE IN CONTROL OF THE PUCK/BALL.  If the
'  ball goes over a team's end line with no one in control, that team
'  takes the ball back into play from behind the line (the puck must
'  then precede them over the line coming back into play).
'
'  If the ball goes out of play, a faceoff will take place at the point
'  of exit.
'
'  After every score, begin again with a centre-ice faceoff.
'
'  Play to a predetermined point (first to 7, for instance).  No time
'  limits.

Besides being a total blast (the Canadian equivalent of urban half-court
pickup basketball), this game is good practice for a variety of skills
including skating, passing, puck control, checking (the way we play it,
anyway -- this is optional) and basic strategy (crossing over and the
like).

If you want a different challenge, or to handicap a side, try playing
against a team with one or more players on sneakers instead of skates.
You'll be able to outrun them in long hauls, but they can kill you with
sudden stops/direction changes/accelleration/etc.


CREDITS """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Thanks for the following for their field testing and other assistance in
the preparation of this file:

Anton "Slapshot" Shepps (LW), Dan Reed (LW), Chris "Nate" Collins (G),
Earl Scheib (D, no relation), Rachel MacGregor (D), Steve "Doc" Roth (D),
Rob "Franchise" Tedesco (RW), N.Y. State Assemblyman Allan K. Race (C,
Democrat), Heather "Hanover" Pfister (LW), Robert Jennings (G), and
"Pittsburgh" Bob Safier (C).

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^\\\^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Thomas A. Darling \\\ Fact HQ Studio * record production * dance re-mixing
[e-mail] \\\ music for film * The Cellar BBS:215/654-9184 * FACT
v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~\\\~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~

===========================================================================

From: [e-mail] (Nancy Piltch)
Subject: Selection of hockey sticks
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 3 Dec 91 21:46:00 GMT

Sometime in the past Phil asked if anyone could write a guide to
selecting hockey sticks, which has apparently been met with
resounding silence. I think I can help, at least for those just
entering the sport. Bear in mind, though, that while I've played a
good deal of intramural and pick-up hockey, I've never had any
formal coaching, so I'm sure there are others more knowledgeable.
This will be especially true of the subtle differences among sticks
that will matter to expert players.

Please feel free to correct my misstatements, clarify what is unclear,
and add what I've left out.

The main criteria in selection of hockey sticks are "handedness",
lie, length, and curvature.  All of these are largely a matter of
personal preference.

1. "Handedness": A hockey player will decide whether s/he prefers holding
the stick to the left side or the right. There appears to be no
strong correlation to the person's handedness. A new player should try
it both ways, and find the one that feels most natural. Sticks are
labeled either L or R, but since French-speaking Canada generates large
numbers of hockey players, the stick may be labeled G (gauche) or
D (droit). Some sticks carry both letters, i.e. L/G. A few sticks are
neutral and can be used either way.

2. Lie: This refers to the angle the stick makes with the blade. A higher
lie is closer to upright than a lower lie. While there are lots of
exceptions, a player who prefers to skate more upright will prefer a
higher lie, and a player who prefers to skate more bent over will take
a lower lie. Taller players also generally use higher lies. Again, a
new player should test several different lies to see what feels
comfortable. The most common lies are 5, 6, and 7. This is the rest
of the labeling on a hockey stick: a 6R means a lie of 6 in a right
handed stick. Exaggerating the drawings:

         .                 .
       .                  .
     .                   .
____                ____

 5                    7

3. Length: I've been told that a stick should come up to about the
player's chin while wearing skates, but I find this uncomfortable.
I think it's more realistic to have it come to about the armpit or
a little below; again, this is preference.

4. Curvature: A more curved blade allows the puck to be flipped more
effectively for better shooting, but at the price of poorer passing
and receiving. A beginner should start with a gently curved
stick. A neutral stick, which I referred to above in the section on
handedness, has no curvature.

The blade of a stick should be taped. This helps prolong the life of
the blade and improves puck-handling capability. It's always black
tape, never white. The conventional wisdom is that a goalie can't
see the puck as well against a black blade, but my feeling is that
a good goalie will see the puck. My personal opinion is that it is
black because of tradition.

The wear pattern on the tape can show whether a skater has selected
the proper lie. If the wear is toward the heel/toe of the blade the
skater should try a lower/higher lie.

A lot of players also tape the top of the blade for better grip.

Sticks also differ in weight; again this is personal preference.


Nancy Piltch            [e-mail]
NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland Ohio 44135


From: [e-mail]
Subject: Sticks and Pucks (was Re: Selection of hockey sticks)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 4 Dec 91 18:17:48 GMT

Some other stuff to augment the stick info:

I often tape my sticks with white tape!  I think the tape matter is more
whether you use the friction tape (normally black) or the general
cloth tape used for taping around socks, skate tops, and equipment, which
is usually white, but comes in all colors.  I prefer the smoother white
tape
to the friction tape on my blade.  There are a fair amount of players on
our
team that like this too.  It is really a matter of preference.

I had never heard that the black tape makes it hard for the goalie to
see the
puck coming off of your stick, but this makes a lot of sense!  I should
start
buying the cloth tape in black just for my stick blades!

I use black friction tape to tape the top end of my stick, for a good
grip.  This deposits black gunk on your gloves, but the grip is good.
Players will often wrap a ball of tape called a "butt-end" to the very
top of the stick to
stop it from slipping out of your hands.  Another trick is to roll up a
long
piece of tape lengthwise into a long string, and wrap it around the top
handle of the stick (kind of like a barber shop pole) prior to taping up
the stick top.  This gives you a spiral stripe grip underneith the flat
tape, that also helps you hold onto your stick better.

For roller hockey, I use the plastic Mylec blades (cost about $2.50)
attached to shaft from an ice hockey stick that had a broken blade.  I
just saw off the broken wooden blade, and attach the plastic replacement.
Mylec (and others) sell plastic bladed sticks with wooden shafts.

The stick manufacturer "Montreal" makes a stick that is supposedly for
street and ice hockey.  It is basically has a hard graphite housing
around the whole blade and lower part of the shaft of the stick.   These
are expensive, and I've never seen anyone use one for ice hockey, but a
lot of
the street hockey players like them because they stay stiff like wooden
blades, not flex a lot like the plastic ones.

Some other sticks that are availble for ice and street hockey are
aluminum shafts.  I use an aluminum stick shaft for ice hockey now.  The
blades are wooden with a glue on the top end.  One heats the end of the
metal shaft and the glue end of the blade with a powerful hair dryer and
then you slide the glued end into the shaft.  When it cools, the metal
contracts and the combination of this with the glue holds the blade in
place.  When the blade breaks, you heat it up again to remove it, and
put on a new one.  The blades themselves cost a little less than a whole
new stick, and the shaft is a one time charge.  They have also come out
with these for street hockey, using blades similar to the Montreal
sticks described above.

Some players like the aluminum shafts because they are light, and can
come in more flexible or more stiff grades.  This allows a player to
have a stick with the feel s/he likes and also have at least the shaft
portion of the
stick be consistent, since only the blade is replaced.  Even two of the
same
brand and model stick can be different in weight and flex, since the
wood may be from 2 different trees, etc.

Whew, my original intention was not for this to be so long winded, Nancy
covered most of the stick stuff (very well too!) in her post, but since
I'm on a roll..........

Pucks and Balls:

 In ice hockey, one uses a hard black rubber puck, 3" in diameter, and
(I think) 3/4" in thickness.   The puck is usually frozen before a game
so it's temperature matches that of the ice, and it can slide better.

For street/roller/floor hockey, there are more options.  I've used 3
types of pucks:

1) very hard plastic pucks -- These can be use for street or floor
hockey, but usually aren't as they are really hard and hurt a lot if you
get hit with one and have little protection (usually the case with
street hockey).  This is
all we had when I was little, and looking back, I can't believe we used
to use these things all the time!  On hard surfaces, these skip up etc.
when new, but as soon as the edges get chewed up a bit and round out,
they slide
pretty well, even on asphalt.

2)  soft hollow plastic pucks -- These are only good for really smooth
surfaces..  We use these on gym floors.  They don't even work very well
on tennis courts, which is where we usually play roller hockey.  They are
great for floor hockey in a gym though.

3)  softer plastic pucks with rollers -- These were an attempt to make a
lighter puck that would slide better on rougher outdoor surfaces.  They
aren't great, but are better than (2) above outdoors.  They often end up
rolling on their edges, or coming apart at the seams if someone takes a
hard shot!  All in all, not great.

Hockey balls:

Hockey balls are usually used for street hockey and DEK hockey (a game
played in rinks built with a special plastic surface by Mylec).  The
balls are
hollow flexible plastic, and work well on all types of surfaces.   They
come in different hardnesses for different weather conditions, surfaces
etc. (softer for winter and less abrasive surfaces, harder for summer
and more abrasive surfaces).  They require slightly different skills
than using a puck
though.

=END OF PART 3=================================================================
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From: [e-mail] (Tony Chen)
Subject: rec.skate Frequently Asked Questions (Part 4 of 7)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Followup-To: rec.skate
Sender: [e-mail] (Tony Chen)
Supersedes: <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Tony Chen)
Organization: University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
References: <[e-mail]>
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Posted-By: auto-faq 1.23
Archive-name: rec-skate-faq/part4


REC.SKATE FAQ - PART 4:  WHAT AND WHERE TO BUY

Table Contents
  - list of in-line mail-order places
  - After-market Add-ons
  - poles
  - ski buckle modification

================================================================================

                       LIST OF IN-LINE MAIL-ORDER PLACES
                       ---------------------------------
                           (plus some regular shops)

                           (last changed Aug 23, 1992)

General skating stuff:

Skates on Haight [phone] / Skates Off Haight [phone]
P.O. Box 170010
San Francisco, CA 94117-0010

Inline USA [phone]
419 Monterey St.
Morro Bay, CA 93442

In-line Skate Accessories (ISA) [phone]
1800 Commerce St.
Boulder, CO 80301

Roll With It [phone]
920 Manhattan Ave
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

South Windsor Arena (800) hockey1
585 John Fitch Blvd.
South Windsor, CT 06074

Boston area:
Murray Sandler's on Concord Ave in Belmont 484-5100 has inlines, quads, and ice
Ice House in Wellesley 237-6707 has quads and ice as fas as I know.
Beacon Hill skates, 482-7400 has inlines quads and ice. Ask for Chris.


Hudson Bay Inline [phone]
5405 College Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618

Courtesy Sports
4856 El Camino Real,
Los Altos, CA 94022
415-968-7970
Orders 1-800-729-1771
FAX [phone]

Northland Ice Center in Cincinnati Ohio (513) 563 - 0008.

More speed-skating oriented:

Skate Pro in S.F. [phone]
Built for Speed [phone]
SMR Sports [phone]

Competition Skates [phone]
c/o John Skelton
501 Springville Cr.
Birmingham AL 35215

Trailways Skate Rental [phone]
c/o Tom Sehlhorst
611 Palm Bluff
Clearwater FL 33515

Montrose Skate [phone]
c/o John McKay
1406 Stanford
Houston TX 77019

Shop Skate Escape [phone]
c/o Janice Phillips
1086 Piedmont Ave
Atlanta GA 30309


================================================================================

                       After-market Products for In-Line Skates
                       ----------------------------------------
                        Copyright (C) 1991 Philip A. Earnhardt

Permission is granted to copy and distribute verbatim copies this document,
provided that copies are distributed freely or with a nominal charge for the
copying medium. This copyright notice must remain attached to the document.

This document will be updated in the future; comments are welcome.  Please
send comments to: Phil Earnhardt, PO Box 7174, Boulder, CO 80306-7174.
Electronic mail can be sent to [e-mail]

OUTLINE

Introduction -- why to buy
   Safety
   Parts wear out
   Retrofit indoor compatibility
   Better performance -- NOT necessarily faster

Drive Train
   Bearings
   Wheels
   Spacers
   Brake Kits
   Brake Pads

Support
   Orthotics
   Removable/Permanent Ankle Support
   Laces and Boot Liners

Non-skate Products
   Protection
   Hockey Sticks
   Poles
   Packs and Water Bottle Carriers
   Night Lighting
   Tools for Maintenance


Introduction -- why to buy
   Safety

Many of the in-line After-market products will increase your safety.  There's
the traditional protection: helmets, knee pads, wrist guards, elbow pads.
Adding a second brake to your other skate may help improve your safety -- it
may be dangerous to wear out your only brake completely at certain points.
Getting reflectors and night lights can make dawn/dusk/night riding safer.
Carrying spare parts, tools, and other supplies with you in a pack adds a
safety margin to those long-distance trips.

   Parts wear out

If you keep using your in-lines, parts will start wearing out.  Depending on
use, brakes can wear out rapidly. Wheels and bearings will start showing signs
of wear and tear. Eventually, laces and boot liners may need replacing.

   Retrofit indoor compatibility

The newest in-line skates are "indoor compatible" -- they should cause no
damage to the floors of Skating Rinks. Kits are available to make some
existing skates rink-ready. Non-marking brakes are also becoming available.

   Better performance -- NOT necessarily faster

New wheels can give you better cornering, shock absorption, and more speed.
New bearings can make your skates faster, too. On the other hand, some new
bearings will be slower, but they will work maintenance-free for a long time.
Retrofitting old skates with ankle support may make them more comfortable for
long distances.

Drive Train
   Bearings

There is one size of bearing that's used in all in-lines: the 608 bearing.
This same bearing is used by skateboarders and in many industrial
applications; they should not be difficult to find. Traditional
in-line/skateboard bearings lines are GMN, NMB, Peer, Powell "Bones". These
are all shielded bearings -- they resist contamination, but are not sealed
against it. All of these bearings are around an "A" grade bearing -- good
speed. Of the bunch, the Powells are the most precise, they may deserve an
"AA" grade. The Powells are the easiest to maintain, since they are shielded
on only one side. They are also more expensive.

Powell manufacturers a bearing lubricant, Speed Cream. It's an emulsion with
an oil component and a grease-like component. Speed Cream gives good speed and
lasts for a long time; one small bottle will easily last for a season.
[Comments? Any oil-only recommendations? Any other grease recommendations?]

[Does someone have the information about the industrial bearing grades?]

Industrial bearings are generally more precise than the stuff used on skates.
They are also much more expensive and may not be suited for an outdoor
environment. Completely unshielded bearings are also available; they should
only be used in very clean environments.

There are also sealed bearings available: GMN, NMB and other bearings with
seals and a fairly heavy grease. These are slow bearings -- wheels will not
spin a complete revolution with sealed bearings in place. On the other hand,
they appear to be waterproof and dirt-proof. Rollerblade sells sealed bearings
under the Max Trainer name [who is Max?]. They are more expensive in the
Powell bearings, but should enjoy a long, maintenance-free life.

   Wheels

As near as I can determine, there are 2 mainline manufacturers of wheels:
Hyper and Kryptonics. These manufacturers will create custom runs of wheels
for in-line manufacturers, but they're still made by one of these guys. Jenex,
a company making roller ski products, makes a specialty wheel; see the bottom
of this section for details.

Many of the original equipment in-line wheels are inferior: they use
lower-grade wheel material and/or inferior hub design. Specifically, I don't
like the Rollerblade 608 wheels, which are also distributed as an after-market
wheel. Since these wheels are often more expensive than other recreational
replacement wheels, they should be easy to avoid.

Generally, skate runners have enough clearance for a certain maximum diameter
of wheel. Some racing skates (e.g., Zandstra Skeelers) will take wheels up to
80mm. Rollerblade's Racerblade and Aeroblade will take wheels up to 77mm --
it's expected that non-Rollerblade models will soon appear in this size. Most
everything else will take wheels up to a 72.5mm diameter.

Wheels are available in a variety of hardnesses; these are described by a
100-point "A" scale where 100 is the hardest wheel. In general, the fastest
speeds will be attained on a smooth track with the hardest wheels.
Unfortunately, most surfaces are not smooth enough for hard wheels; the softer
wheels will give a much smoother ride on rougher surfaces. A reasonable
hardness tradeoff is around a 78A wheel; some may prefer an 82A wheel. Some
skaters will use slightly harder wheels on the front and back of the skate
with softer wheels in the middle.

Currently, Kryptonics markets 3 lines of wheels: recreational, hockey, and
racing. The recreational wheels are 70mm in diameter; 78A, 82A, and 85A
hardness are available. These are good all-around recreational wheels; they
are also the cheapest in the Kryptonics line.

The hockey wheels are available only in 70mm 82A. Besides being good hockey
wheels, they have good cornering because there's a large surface in contact
with the surface. These are the widest wheels that are available for in-lines.

The racing, or Turbo Core, wheels are available in 3 sizes: 72.5mm, 77mm, and
80mm. They're available in 3 hardnesses 74A, 78A, and 82A. (Note: availability
of the 72.5mm wheels is currently very limited; the first runs were only
distributed in an 78A hardness). These are great wheels for most anything --
the hub design minimizes mass, but gives a good connection between the outer
wheel and the bearing. These are the wheels that most racers used in 1991.
They are a bit more expensive.

Hyper makes "normal" and "ultralight" wheels. As near as I can tell, there's
never a reason to go with the "normal" wheels; the "ultralight" guys are
plenty strong. Hyper wheels are available in 72mm, 76mm, and 80mm. The 80mm
wheels are available in 75A, 78A, and 82A. The 72mm and 76mm wheels are
available in 78A, 82A, 85A, and 93A. Unless under another label (e.g., Bauer
wheels are made by Hyper), these wheels are fairly difficult to find; some
mail-order shops carry them. The one obvious advantage over the Krypto skates
would be to use the hard 93A wheels on banked speed-skating tracks (of which
there are 2 in the whole USA! Sigh.).

Jenex, Inc., a company that makes roller ski products, is selling in-line
wheels intended for cross-country ski training. The wheels are 70mm 82A nylon
reinforced with glass fibers. The company has been successful with this wheel
chemistry on roller skis; it should work well for in-lines.

Included with each wheel is a pair of "dual contact type" seals "the most
effective seals available" (from their glossy). These sound like the Max
Trainer bearings available from Rollerblade. A pair of 2 wheels with bearings
has a MSRP of $28.95. This is a bit steep, but not completely outrageous if
they significantly outlast normal wheels and bearings.

Jenex recommends using only 2 of these wheels on each skate, leaving normal
wheels in the inner positions. For folks who like to maximize their workout
(i.e. outrageously slow skates), put a set of 4 on each skate.

The number for Jenex is [phone]. (Amherst, NH, USA).

   Spacers

Most skates have a solid axle -- typically, a bolt -- running through the
center of the wheel. The axle should have a tight fit with the wheel's spacer
-- the small plastic tube that's sandwiched between the two bearings.

Several companies are manufacturing integrated axle/spacer systems.  The
spacers are machined aluminum shaped like a plastic spacer on the outside.
Inside, they are threaded; the kits include pairs of bolts that screw into
each side of the kits. Some of the kits include replacement parts to the
Rollerblade oval spacers.

The spacer kits appear to make wheels spin a bit better; this may be because
the metal spacer cannot be compressed, eliminating a pre-load on the bearings.
[Alternate theories are welcomed.]  The kits generally have much smaller bolt
heads; such heads should make the skates much more acceptable to indoor rink
operators. [Question: are bolts on the Blading Edge kit somehow mounted flush
to the runners?  (i.e. no possibility of the bolt heads damaging rink
surfaces).]

Spacer kits are available from some mail-order shops and some skating
retailers. These kits cost anywhere from $20 to $40.

   Brake Kits

Virtually all in-line skates come with at least one brake. Some come with two.
All Rollerblade skates and some other brands sell a brake kit. These allow you
to mount a brake on the other skate.

A second brake gives an added margin of safety -- if the first brake fails
(e.g., wears out, etc.), the second is available. Aesthetically, a second
brake makes braking a symmetrical activity. If you're adept at using a single
brake, you will have an interesting experience teaching yourself how to
effectively use the "other" brake.

   Brake Pads

For Rollerblade skates, there are 3 types of brake pads available: standard,
TRS, and polyurethane. Standard brakes tend to be fairly screechy and wear out
the fastest. TRS brakes, which come in gray, last much longer and don't
screech as much. They're more expensive than standard brakes. Polyurethane
brakes, which come in bright blue and pink, last about as long as TRS brakes.
They don't screech at all.  They're also non-marking. This may be a feature if
you use your skates at rinks; it may be a non-feature if you're into macho
brake marks.  Poly brakes are about the same price as TRS brakes.

Rollerblade brakes sell anywhere from $3-$5 each.