ProSharp Profiling

Tuesday, August 25, 2015 10:18 AM 0

A speed skater has a flat hollow and a long blade radius giving lots of ice contact and the best speed, but losing manoeuvra- bility and the possibility to stop fast. When picking between a long radius and short radius you have a paradox. The long radius allows for a lot of ice contact, giving you speed and bal- ance, but losing acceleration and manoeuvrability. The short radius has little ice contact, allowing for acceleration and manoeuvrability, but lacking speed and balance. The long radius does not require a deep hollow, like the short radius. A deep hollow makes a skater grip the ice, but gives up glide speed and increases there work capacity. We have tried to bridge this paradox by using our combination profiles. The combination profiles utilize up to four different radii on the same blade. Our world renowned profiles allow skaters enough ice contact to grip the ice like a deep hollow would.

In turn, the skater can reduce their hollow so they will not be digging into the ice, but instead be on top of the ice. This allows the player to gain glide speed, causing less fatigue, and the potential for overuse injuries.
The Prosharp Profile concept is based on using as flat of a hollow as possible to gain speed, while maintaining manoeu- vrability and acceleration. The normal radius in North America is around 9 - 10ft. Skating with a shorter radius profile increases the manoeuvrability, but lacks a lot in speed, balance, and increases fatigue.

While in motion, a skater wants to maximize and maintain glide speed. Therefore, the friction between the blade and
ice should be minimized by using an accurate blade profile suited for each individual skater. At the same time, we want excellent grip to transfer weight when accelerating, turning, and stopping. The blade profile should be selected based on the size of the skate and skating preferences. The bigger the skate, the more blade a skater needs to be touching the ice in order to disperse weight evenly.

A skater uses different parts of a blade to perform the nec- essary skills in skating. We have indentified four areas of the blade that are critical to skating. The front of the blade is used for acceleration, then the maneuverability part of the blade, followed by the area used to gain speed, and the back of the blade is for stability. Our profiles were created, so the skater will easily go from the acceleration phase to speed phase, without breaking the kinectic chain of stability and support.

For whom

Skaters who want to maximize performance and to ones who want to enjoy skating. We have 47 different profile templates to choose from, so if a skater does not like one, we have sev- eral others that will suffice. We will even create new ones for you. Reading this script should help minimize time in finding the right profile for the skater.

For Beginners

When children start skating at 4-6 years of age, there skates come with a factory profile that translates to a 9 ft. radius. A 9 ft. radius has 1-1.5 inches of blade to ice contact, which is to0 short for a young player who is still developing balance and agility. Therefore, it is extremely difficult learning to skate well. You can see their effort is spent on trying to stand up, instead of developing a good skating posture and stride. Profiling a radius of 15-17 ft., would give more ice contact and better balance, making “learn to skate” more effective and fun.

For Goalies

The way a goalie moves in the net has changed a lot in the last decade. Earlier, it was more moves side to side and slower in and out (telescoping), which required good stability, trans- lating into a long radius. Now a days, goalies move more up and down, plus at a higher pace. Therefore, they should also be interested in finding the right profile that supports the new technique.

For Defensemen

They require mobility, while accelerating from forwards to backwards and vice-versa. Also, stability is needed to perform slap shots and body checks. The modern defensemen has to play a two-way game, which requires a proper profile.

For Forwards

Acceleration, speed, maneuverability, balance, crossover skating, tight turns, and stops are key. The skater’s ability to master all these elements are extremely important, but cer- tain forwards need to play a specific way. So, choose a profile that will optimize each individual skater.

For Beer-League/Recreational Players
Represents an equally important decision on what profile to use. Stability and glide speed are key factors in order to avoid fatigue and injury.

Results & Benefits of Prosharp Profiling

• More powerful strides and better glide
• Higher speeds, less fatigue, and improved two-way play
• Better edge control, agility, and balance
• More flexible skating maneuvers
• Improved shooting from proper balance
• Better crossover skating
• Quicker turns and greater acceleration
• More chances to go on breakaways
• Consistency in a quality sharpening result and profiling
• Overall improved confidence and enjoyment in skating
• Easy to implement radius on a blade with the Prosharp AS 2001-Allpro
• Hands-free after you set the parameters