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Synthetic Ice?

Wilch

Wilch

Unregistered User
Mar 29, 2010
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Just wondering if anyone actually skated on synth ice before or played hockey on there?

I never tried and I have a few questions about it if anyone can answer them:

1. Durability? Can you go all out, skate fast and stop on a dime on there without completely ruining the synthetic ice flooring?
2. Cost? Is it expensive?
3. And does it simulate ice well?

Thanks
 
Wilch said:
Just wondering if anyone actually skated on synth ice before or played hockey on there?

I never tried and I have a few questions about it if anyone can answer them:

1. Durability? Can you go all out, skate fast and stop on a dime on there without completely ruining the synthetic ice flooring?
2. Cost? Is it expensive?
3. And does it simulate ice well?

Thanks
Click to expand...

It's awful. Really is. I'm a goalie and this dry land place my squad used to train at had a small portion of it for the goalies to be on while the team did other activities. I can say it was nothing like real ice. Ruins your skate blade, too much friction, no slide, just doesn't feel like even the worst real ice you've ever skated on. This was several years ago so perhaps synthetic ice has improved but I hated that stuff.
 
I have a friend who has more money than God and has a small rink in his back yard. it's roughly about the size of a standard neutral zone. I find it very similar to skating on really soft ice. it takes a few scooter pushes to get going but once you start moving you can skate pretty much like you can on regular ice. it really makes you use proper form in order to achieve any real speed at all. stopping is a lot easier than you would think it is. backwards skating is VERY difficult. I know my friend got a tremendous deal on his and STILL dropped about $25K on his setup. another down side is that you need to sharpen your skates after pretty much every session on the synthetic ice.
 
Oh wow, sounds like a terrible deal. Won't even make sense for those who live in areas with no ice, because then you'd have to buy a sharpener as well. Cheaper than ice but expensive nontheless. $25k for just the neutral ice sounds like a pretty hefty investment.
 
It is very, very expensive for sure, but obviously not as expensive as maintaining a real ice rink. It's not the same as real ice, but I thought it was not bad at all to skate on. Tried it out when I bought my "Base" stick (they have a little fake ice rink where you can shoot around and demo the sticks before you buy), AFAIK there's quite a range in quality in terms of the fake ice, but whatever they had was nice. Takes a few minutes to get used to, but pretty quickly I felt fairly natural, even when turning hard or stopping. Does dull your skates more quickly than real ice, leaves little plastic shavings on your skates, and I wasn't too comfortable skating backwards on it, but if I had the money I'd definitely get a nice synthetic ice surface in my basement.
 
Synthetic ice is OK but its not exactly like real ice. You dont get as much glide on it as you do on real ice.
Still, for people who dont live in places that have natural outdoor ice, I think its a good thing because its better than no ice time at all.
 
ponder said:
It is very, very expensive for sure, but obviously not as expensive as maintaining a real ice rink. It's not the same as real ice, but I thought it was not bad at all to skate on. Tried it out when I bought my "Base" stick (they have a little fake ice rink where you can shoot around and demo the sticks before you buy), AFAIK there's quite a range in quality in terms of the fake ice, but whatever they had was nice. Takes a few minutes to get used to, but pretty quickly I felt fairly natural, even when turning hard or stopping. Does dull your skates more quickly than real ice, leaves little plastic shavings on your skates, and I wasn't too comfortable skating backwards on it, but if I had the money I'd definitely get a nice synthetic ice surface in my basement.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I also skated around at the BASE hockey office, definitely took a bit of adjustment but it's not so bad if you don't mind the sluggishness compared to real ice. I'd love to have that little ice rink in my basement!
 
based on the reviews it seems like you might get more explosive speed by practicing on synthetic ice. If you are skating well on this sluggish ice, wouldn't you start skating way faster once you skate in a rink? Sounds like a great practice idea to me.
 
I have never skated on it but the guy that runs the pick up hockey in San Diego has skated on it and he said it is a bit sluggish to get started. Many people use it as a warm up similar to using weights on your baseball bat. When you use the real ice after warming up on the synthetic you will have a large burst of speed.
 
shoeshine boy said:
I have a friend who has more money than God and has a small rink in his back yard. it's roughly about the size of a standard neutral zone. I find it very similar to skating on really soft ice. it takes a few scooter pushes to get going but once you start moving you can skate pretty much like you can on regular ice. it really makes you use proper form in order to achieve any real speed at all. stopping is a lot easier than you would think it is. backwards skating is VERY difficult. I know my friend got a tremendous deal on his and STILL dropped about $25K on his setup. another down side is that you need to sharpen your skates after pretty much every session on the synthetic ice.
Click to expand...

I second this.
 
Hi

Thinking of getting a mini pad, has anyone played on any synthetic ice in the last two years, like from manufacturers Global, EZ Glide 350 or Xtraice or others.

Just wondering if the technology has come on it the last couple of years, I know its never going to be like real ice but as long as it is similar.

Aware now, its hard to go backwards, more friction, flakes of plastic, wears down blades quick.

Anyone played on the Hockey loft setup?
 
icebandit said:
Hi

Thinking of getting a mini pad, has anyone played on any synthetic ice in the last two years, like from manufacturers Global, EZ Glide 350 or Xtraice or others.

Just wondering if the technology has come on it the last couple of years, I know its never going to be like real ice but as long as it is similar.

Aware now, its hard to go backwards, more friction, flakes of plastic, wears down blades quick.

Anyone played on the Hockey loft setup?
Click to expand...

I have a Global Synthetic setup in my basement for goalie training purposes and I am very satisfied with it. I would compare the surface to that of an ice rink after 20 minutes of use.

The one thing that I've been very pleased with is that it doesn't dull my blades nearly as much as I was expecting it to. I figured that after a 30 minute skating session that my blades would be completely dull, but I have been able to play a full game the next day without getting the blades sharpened.

It is difficult to skate backwards, but it really forces you to get deep into your stance, otherwise you are going to have a very tough time going backwards.

One of the "dangers" is that if you track any of the shavings from the surface to any floor that isn't carpeted, it becomes very slick from the lubricant in the synthetic.
 
If you have no access to real ice then getting on synthetic ice is your best option. I personally do not like it for much more then stationary shooting. Given the slight resistance that you get from the synthetic ice it could over time change your stride and cause other problems/bad habits.

Think of if you were playing basketball, that sport is played on a hard surface. If for some reason you could not find a hard surface to practice on then you would make do with what you had, like a grassy surface.

Hockey is played on ice, basketball on a court. Try to stick to the ice and it will limit you from picking up any bad habits. If that is ALL you have to practice on then again make do with what you have.
 
Coachtdoig said:
If you have no access to real ice then getting on synthetic ice is your best option. I personally do not like it for much more then stationary shooting. Given the slight resistance that you get from the synthetic ice it could over time change your stride and cause other problems/bad habits.

Think of if you were playing basketball, that sport is played on a hard surface. If for some reason you could not find a hard surface to practice on then you would make do with what you had, like a grassy surface.

Hockey is played on ice, basketball on a court. Try to stick to the ice and it will limit you from picking up any bad habits. If that is ALL you have to practice on then again make do with what you have.
Click to expand...

Completely disagree with you about changing stride and creating bad habits. Does skating on a sheet of ice after 20 minutes of use change your stride or cause bad habits because of the extra resistance compared to a clean sheet?

Frankly the day after I workout on the synthetic I find my movements on the ice to be more explosive because you have to work harder on the synthetic.
 
I'm having a hard time thinking synthetic ice would be any better than just getting a pair of roller blades. Especially when considering cost.
 
pelts35.com said:
Completely disagree with you about changing stride and creating bad habits. Does skating on a sheet of ice after 20 minutes of use change your stride or cause bad habits because of the extra resistance compared to a clean sheet?

Frankly the day after I workout on the synthetic I find my movements on the ice to be more explosive because you have to work harder on the synthetic.
Click to expand...

Like I said it was just personal opinion and what I have found from experience. Skating for 3 hours on normal ice still wouldn't give you the resistance you get from synthetic ice. If you feel it is something that works for you and what you teach then that is awesome.

Ciao,
TD
 
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