How to slide on sport court

[kdedesko]

I am a butterfly goalie on ice.

I find roller hockey to be very difficlut because of the inability to slide laterally (i.e. butterfly slide).

Any thoughts or experience on how to treat leg pads so they can slide easily ?

I am currently using Tour GTL pads, to :

a) save my velos and Koho 560's from being chewed up
b) until I get the hang of roller.

I play on a sport court surface.

[KDB]

If you dare apply any foreign substance to your pads to improve your sliding, I know several goalies that will gladly string you up by the leg straps of said pads. The end result is the crease becoming slippery and dangerous...

That said, nylon will slide the best. You can either get nylon pads (which are relatively cheap), or get nylon covers made for your current pads. Or you can try some of Mont's creative plastic solutions...

Most importantly, you just have to realize that roller and ice are two different beasts, and you don't get do move like you do on ice. If you can't deal with that, then get off the surface...

[Aussie_Goalie]

Hey man try be a little nicer. He wasn't dissin the sport.

Yeah nylon slides awesome, but yeah please don't apply any liquids to your pads due to player's and goalies busting up their knees and ankles. Nothing you can really do to get ya pads to slide, pretty much just technique over time, if your training for roller alot, just practice new things, and eventually you will get the hang of it. Good luck

*Aussie*

[kdedesko]

Thanks Aussie

The other guy was certainly a bit of a dick head. Acutally, not a bit, but quite a large one. He should learn to read rather than jump to conclusions that I was dissing the sport.

I was thinking more along the lines of what Mont did rather than treating them with a substance that leaves a dangerous residue.

According to what I read of Mont, his kevlar addition to the inside allows the pads to slide nicely.

I was just wondering if anyone else came up with something creative and safe.

KD

[Mudbug33]

check your pm

[thematrix]

I'm not sure what Mont's solution was be here's what I do and it helps a lot:

Get yourself some industrial strength velcro, you can get it at Wal-Mart, stick strips of the soft side along the inside of the toe and 5-hole areas of your pads where they make contact with the floor. This allows you to slide quite nicely when executing the b-fly and actually protects the inside of the pads some. I have never put any on the outside of the pads to assist with the 2 pad stack, though.

If you only play roller and not ice, the adhesive will hold up for quite a while. If you play ice the velcro will come off quite quickly once it gets wet. I would remove it prior to playing ice. I haven't had it really damage my pads when I take if off either.

Hope this helps.

[MetropolisPt31]

The oddest thing....

Because I started playing goalie in roller hockey, I learned to play the position without sliding. I pretty much just quickly pump the ol' feet until I get across. I'm starting ice hockey today and I've been practicing a bit, but I have the opposite problem. Whereas in roller hockey I can get across with one huge push, that same huge push has wreaked havoc on me on ice. I've ended up near the boards a couple of times. Anywho, if you find a way to make your pads slide - awesome! If not, be prepared to change your game a bit. Best of luck!

[jase28]

thematrix -

what side of the velcro do you stick to the pad?? I assume the hard plastic side??

thanks for the help...

jase

[Aussie_Goalie]

Hmm

Maybe if u get some candle wax and rub it onto the parts u need to slide??

Alot of the players put wax on the bottom of their sticks to help them slide better, and doesn't seem to leave any slippery parts on the rink.

*Aussie*

[KDB]

Bite me.

I never said you were dissing the sport. You asked how to "treat the pads", which to me means a foreign substance. Having played through too many games after some doofus did just that, it's a serious pet peeve of mine...

And if you look at the middle paragraph, I gave you perfectly legitimate advice...

[Huntster]

Battram makes a pad that has hard plastic to protect and facilitate sliding.

Have never had them myself but it seems like a good idea.

[thematrix]

jase28-

I've been using the soft side but I guess either will work.

thematrix

[WERNER 1]

I too had this problem a while back, and came up with a couple of solutions.

I started out with the velcro, and this gave me the effect that I was looking for.......except when I played ice, the snow would build up in the velcro causing me to stick to the ice.

I then made some nylon covers for the inside edges of my pads. This didn't work quite as well as the velcro, but it was removable, and didn't effect my ice playing.

With the velcro I used a combonation of both the soft and hard sides on each pad.

Here's a link that gives some insite to what went on :

Applying dust to your pads.

[Colin]

Originally posted by KDB
Bite me.

I never said you were dissing the sport. You asked how to "treat the pads", which to me means a foreign substance. Having played through too many games after some doofus did just that, it's a serious pet peeve of mine...

And if you look at the middle paragraph, I gave you perfectly legitimate advice...

For what it's worth, I was with you, KDB.

[kdedesko]

To all the repondents who offered constructive, useful advice, thanks very much.

I'll try the velcor or nylon covers.

KD