Binnie’s has a new profile tool to add to your skating arsenal!
More than anything else, the quality and shape of your blade profile—the curve of your blade from toe to heel—will determine your agility, speed, power, and performance.
Even very tiny changes in blade shape make a massive difference to the way a player’s blades feel on the ice. Most stock blades come with a single curve profile, i.e., a 9 or a 10-foot radius. That means the effective skating surface of the blade is shaped in an arc that represents a 10’ circle. The challenge with the single curve profile is that it always involves trade-offs. Make it flatter, and you will increase your speed and stability but lose agility and initial acceleration. Make it more curved, increasing agility and explosiveness but losing speed and stability.
what is performance profiling?
Performance profiling is about strategically combining several curves on one blade to enhance skating performance. A performance profile might, for example, add a smaller radius curve at the front of the blade to increase agility and acceleration while maintaining a larger curve at the back for speed and stability. With a performance profile, players don’t need to choose between agility and stability or speed and explosiveness. By adding different curves in a combined sequence, performance profiles allow players to have it all—more agility, speed, stability, and acceleration.
HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR PROFILE
There is no magic formula for choosing the right profile. We could tell you that if you are 6’2” and play defense, you should choose the SCS2, and if you are an agile forward, you should choose the Polaris, but it really is a personal choice that depends on your skating style and preferences. The best way to choose a profile is to try a few on the ice and determine what feels best to you.
If you can’t get out on the ice, talk to Jason, who can help you make the right choice for your playing style.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU PROFILE?
If you are getting your blade sharpened by hand, you will be changing your profile every time you sharpen. You will want to reprofile at least a few times a season. If you bring your blades to an Elite blade performance center we can put your blade on our light box and let you know if your profile is intact or whether you need to reprofile.
WHY CHOOSE ELITE PERFORMANCE PROFILES?
We know you have a lot of choices, even at Binnie’s! Our Elite Performance Profile P3 system allows you to have multiple sets of steel profiled at the same time to ensure consistent, accurate profiles across all of your steel. Second, we can scan your current steel to check if it is still intact or needs to be refreshed. Last, it gives you more options to dial in your performance.
Read below to learn more about the Elite Performance Profile difference and options.
