Hockey Skate Profiling

WHAT IS SKATE PROFILING?

Profiling skates is the customisation of the steel skate blade contour to provide speacialised performance benefits. Skate profiling customises the blade shape to each player’s body position, skating ability, and stride. By doing this, players can maximize the their blade’s contact to the ice, and the 4 key aspects of skating - acceleration, transition, speed, and stability.

There is no single right or wrong performance profile, it is a personal preference. The profile you choose is informed by everything from skating style, size and weight, pitch and even style of play. We aim to help you find your best skate profile by helping you better understand four key points:

What is performance profiling?
Key performance benefits of profiling your skates
When to profile your skates
The best skate performance profile for you

WHAT IS HOCKEY SKATE PERFORMANCE PROFILING?

Hockey Skate performance profiling is the process of shaping your skate blade steel from heel-to-toe.

By changing the blade shape to fit your individual specifications and preferences, you create the proper ice contact to make the most of your body positioning, skating ability and stride. Profiling your skate blades properly helps you get the most out of them during the four aspects skating:

Acceleration
Transition
Speed
Stability

Skate sharpening, on the other hand, determines how your skates contact the ice surface. Deeper hollows, for example, put more pressure on the edges of the blade and cause you to dig more into the ice. Shallow hollows distribute pressure more evenly throughout the blade, which causes them to sit more on top of the ice.

The Four Zones of Every Hockey Blade

Image: The Four Zones of Every Hockey Blade The Four Zones of Every Skate Blade When you have a pair of properly profiled skate blades, this directly improves the alignment of your body and is what ultimately helps you take advantage of every part of your blade.

As you think about profiling your skate blades, there are four zones to consider:

Acceleration Zone: This part of the blade is under your toes. You use it during your first three strides from a standing position. This zone is optimized to help you generate momentum quickly.

Transition Zone: This part of the steel runner is under the ball of the foot. You use it when you’re moving from acceleration to top speed or changing direction, front to back and exploding out of tight turns. This zone is designed to improve pivoting and support agility motions for quick on-ice adjustments.

Speed Zone: This is the largest zone, from under the arch of the foot to the heel. This zone has more ice contact, and you use it to get to top speed. It also helps you stop abruptly when pushing through the arch of your foot. This zone is engineered to maximize power through the length of the stride to enhance top speed.

Stability Zone: This part of the blade is under the heel and helps with overall balance in every situation. It is built to stabilize and control yourself at the heel of the blade, helping improve your balance.

Summary: The 4 key zones of a hockey skate blade:

Acceleration zone - For more speed, momentum
Transition zone - For pivoting and agility motions
Speed zone - For maximizing power and speed
Stability zone - For improving balance

KEY PERFORMANCE BENEFITS OF PROFILING YOUR ICE HOCKEY SKATES

Your ice skate profile makes a big difference in how your blades feel and perform. Proper blade-to-ice contact in these four zones can enhance your skating ability and add confidence to your overall game. The benefits of skate profiling are easy to see and feel:

Quicker take-off and acceleration, faster top-end speed, improved agility and better stopping, balance and stability
Improved acceleration, transition, speed and stability
Reduced rate of hollow when sharpening, increasing efficiency and glide while reducing fatigue
More confidence in your game with increased performance from your blades

What’s your perfect skate blade performance profile? The answer is different for everyone. To find the right answer for you, think about how you play your best hockey.  The Four Zones of Every Hockey Blade Image: PROSHARP BAUER's most popular profiles PROSHARP BAUER Performance Profiles

Using industry-leading technology, PROSHARP BAUER has developed comprehensive performance profiles to help you decide which skate profile best matches your style of play. There are three primary profiles: Quad profile

Quad Skate Profile

This profile is best for a long powerful stride that pushes into the ice. It uses the specific radius  in all four skating zones for maximum support without wasting any power. Zuperior profile

Zuperior Skate Profile

This profile is best for skaters who rely on agility. You’re a quick and nimble skater who plays more on your toes. You want better acceleration, top speed and stability while staying on top of the ice for explosive movements. Ellipse profile

Ellipse Skate Profile

This profile is a natural balance point between power and agility based on your skating mechanics. This profile encourages use of the entire blade, giving you a seamless feel from toe to heel and back. The Ellipse delivers greater blade contact through each zone and maximizes the skater’s ability. Puck Stop Tip: Within each of the three primary profiles, there are additional profiles to help you further dial in your profile. Speak to our team in store to help first identify your primary profile to suit your game, stride, slating style.

WHEN TO PROFILE YOUR HOCKEY SKATES

There is no one answer to how long a skate profile lasts. That answer will vary based on how much you practice and play, how you sharpen your blades, the quality of the blades, and general wear and tear. PROSHARP Bauer Automated Profiling and Sharpening will maintain your profile as it sharpens, while hand-sharpening can round out your profile in as quick as one pass. Puck Stop Tip:

We recommend profiling your skates three times per year: at the start of your season, at mid-season and before the playoffs.

Can I Change my Skate Profile or is it Permanent? It’s changeable. You can profile your skates regularly to maintain your preferred profile, or you can change the profile completely. As long as your skate steel is in good condition, it’s up to you. So have fun experimenting with what gives you the best performance edge.

THE BEST SKATE PROFILE FOR YOU

When considering a profile, you must also consider your radius of hollow. Some experts say you should not change your hollow right away, since changing more than one aspect of your blade at a time can make it difficult to diagnose any issues or complaints.

Puck Stop Tip: We advise against changing both your skate steel blade’s profile and sharpening at the same time. Som combinations may not suit your playing style. Change one first, try it out a few times, then change the other later.

GOALIE PERFORMANCE PROFILES

Prosharp Bauer goalie profiles Image: PROSHARP BAUER's goalie skate profiling options PROSHARP BAUER offers two profile options specifically designed for goaltenders' needs: GOALIE SAM Profile This profile enhances footwork in the crease, making it easier to cut off angles, and providing an aggressive, agile feel in net. GOALIE ELLIPSE Profile This profile improves stability and provides shorter toe contact - for quicker up and down action and faster shuffles - offering a dynamic and seamless feel on ice. Want to get started on profiling your hockey skates? Visit us in store and speak to our team.