Bootstrap or Not ?

[Benfica44]

Hey gang , new here but thought I could get some advice .

I am just a Rec/beer league  goalie , but really enjoy playing .

just bought a set of CCM Eflex 4.5 and will be using them for the first time this coming Tuesday .

they came with the bunjie toe tie( pro laces style ) which I think I am going to love . I normally wear my boot strap preciously pretty loose , these come with the option to remove it .

ahould I go with no strap or should I leave it on loosely ? I am worried if so do remove them the pads wiill rotate off center , but have read the toe bungie should prevent that , any advice would be appreciated.

Edited March 7, 2021 by Benfica44

[dreadlocked1]

The leg channel and toe tie will keep the pad centered.  I would remove it to allow unlimited freedom of movement there.  I ditched my boot straps on my pads several years back and wish I had done it sooner.  Regardless, if you don't like it after a few tries you can always put them back on.

[seagoal]

You can always play some of your game/session with the boot strap and then then another without.  Toggle back and forth and see if there is a difference you notice or care about.

The bungee toe ties should do most if not all of the work of keeping your pads centered and properly positioned after rotating.  

Think about the original function of a boot strap: keeping pads facing forward and tight on the skate.  Do you want that?  Answering that should settle it for you.  

[Lucky Pucker]

@seagoal, who has preached on this point many times, is quite correct IMHO. To put it more bluntly, unless the boot strap is between snug and cranked, it is not physically doing anything. Consider the original intended purpose as Seagoal stated. To further emphasize that point, consider that there used to be two boot straps on some pads (see example pic). But that’s not how pads are worn now, generally speaking.
 

That said, it can psychologically reassure a goalie who is afraid to make the leap. 

[Benfica44]

Thanks for all the reassuring advice, will give it a go without them this week .

[Lucky Pucker]

4 minutes ago, Benfica44 said:

Thanks for all the reassuring advice, will give it a go without them this week .

Nice one! Forget to mention that with the advice, experience, and encouragement here, I also ditched my boot strap (which I was feeding through my Lundy loops anyway). Never missed them.

(just wanted to assure you that I practice what I’m preaching here, and it’s not a “do as I say, not as I do” kind of thing - lol! )

[WillyGrips13]

3 hours ago, Lucky Pucker said:

@seagoal, who has preached on this point many times, is quite correct IMHO. To put it more bluntly, unless the boot strap is between snug and cranked, it is not physically doing anything. Consider the original intended purpose as Seagoal stated. To further emphasize that point, consider that there used to be two boot straps on some pads (see example pic). But that’s not how pads are worn now, generally speaking.
 

That said, it can psychologically reassure a goalie who is afraid to make the leap. 

Interesting that The Cat is routing both boot straps through the back hole in the skates. I’ve always seen and assumed one boot strap goes through the back hole and the other through the middle hole of the skate. 

[seagoal]

5 hours ago, Lucky Pucker said:

@seagoal, who has preached on this point many times, is quite correct IMHO. To put it more bluntly, unless the boot strap is between snug and cranked, it is not physically doing anything. Consider the original intended purpose as Seagoal stated. To further emphasize that point, consider that there used to be two boot straps on some pads (see example pic). But that’s not how pads are worn now, generally speaking.
 

That said, it can psychologically reassure a goalie who is afraid to make the leap. 

Yep, that 's the key.  Given their function they have to be tight to work properly but that functionality is going to contradict the majority of modern goalies' preferences for how their pads work. 

My last pads with boot straps were my V6s and I would wear it so loose I would sometimes step on them on the ice.  I also had skate lace toe ties with a couple of inches of knots/slack.  So things were generally pretty loosey goosey down there and I was not getting optimal performance with rotation back to center after going down.  The boot strap was literally doing nothing for me on those pads. 

Bungee toe ties - Pro Laces for me -  were the aha moment.  After reading on this site and trying them out, that's when it hit me and it all made sense.  I then had the bravery to ditch the boot strap and things made so much more sense after that.  The Pro Laces did all the work  on their own, of course with the combo of the snug professor strap on the upper calf. 

Here's an interesting modern look at boot strap functionality: it is clearly engaged here and doing something.  But, imagine how it looks when he's standing upright -- super loose.  It is only engaged in this position.  But, his skate lace toe ties are pretty tight too and they are also engaged and working.  In fact, I would say his toe ties would work the same and that same work without that boot strap.  There is some functional redundancy going on with this set up. 

Should Fleury ditch the boot strap? Well, no.  He clearly prefers them and that's fine.  He likes a lot of straps, obviously, and he is arguably the best goalie on the planet playing right now.  But, it helps to look at his set up and think about or analyze functionality.

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by seagoal

[Maxpower29]

I am also new and trying things. Used my VE8 pro carbon pads twice now. Once with and once without. I liked the feeling of not having the boot strap but i did find the pad would ride up a bit and i didn't land my knee perfectly on the knee land part sometimes. I might put it back on and see if I notice it much.

Overall I think trying whatever you think and seeing yourself is the best option 

[seagoal]

7 hours ago, Maxpower29 said:

I am also new and trying things. Used my VE8 pro carbon pads twice now. Once with and once without. I liked the feeling of not having the boot strap but i did find the pad would ride up a bit and i didn't land my knee perfectly on the knee land part sometimes. I might put it back on and see if I notice it much.

Overall I think trying whatever you think and seeing yourself is the best option 

Exactly.  Ultimately it comes down to feel and what gives you comfort and confidence.  Optimal functionality is not really a potent motivator... Fleury and Holtby are 2 prime examples of that and look what they've done with themselves.  

Whatever gives you the best state of mind, go for it.  Great advice. 

When you say your pads are riding up, are you saying there's a gap between the underside of the pad and the top of your skate?  How tight is your upper calf strap on the inside of channel....tight enough to "suspend" the pad on your leg?

[AdamL]

I've played around with the bootstrap quite a bit, and I've found I prefer to use it, but I run it under the arch of my foot instead of under the heel.  Under the heel, even when worn loose it still puts additional strain on the ankles and that travels up through the knees and into the hips for me.  Going with the Lundy loop and ditching it altogether feel exactly the same to me, but as a previous poster mentioned, depending on the how the pad is attached farther up, you can have the issue where the pad will ride up on the leg, which reduces coverage in extended situations and can result in not landing on the knee block.  I find running the strap through the middle of the skate with a very small amount of slack doesn't inhibit my ankle mobility at all, but keeps the pad located on top of my skate where it belongs.  I really like the Vaughn solution there, though, where they have some elastic in the boot strap so it can be worn without much slack, but still gives a little.  The Velocity strap is okay, but a little tighter than the Ventus version, which I prefer.  

Edited March 8, 2021 by AdamL

[Teezle]

I've tried all the variations of Lundy loop/no bootstrap/through different parts of the skate, and I still find that I like mine running under the heel. It is loose, but keeps the pads from riding up too much when in the butterfly and moving around. 

[Naz]

On 3/7/2021 at 9:17 AM, WillyGrips13 said:

Interesting that The Cat is routing both boot straps through the back hole in the skates. I’ve always seen and assumed one boot strap goes through the back hole and the other through the middle hole of the skate. 

I put both boot straps of my Vaughn Vision 3500's through the same hole.  Crank 'em both right down as well.

[Benfica44]

So how secure do you guys use your toe strap/bungie strap?

I have Reebok skates and middle opening is one big space which would mean my pro laces would be to far forward and not enough tension, but they are pretty snug when putting them at the last space under the heel. Again this is doing a dry fit at home as my first game with them is tomorrow night. 
 

so will have pro laces pretty snug and no boot strap ( as per most the advice ) to start off and see how it goes 

[Colander]

I have CCM V04s which I suspect have the same boot as it has a large opening there as well (it looks closed but the middle "hump" doesn't touch the bottom of the boot). I made toe tie retainers for them - has worked well (as defined by the fact i can't blame it any GA on them specifically).

(Edit: sorry - no idea why the images came out soooo big)

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Colander

[Benfica44]

Well, first time out with the new gear tonight. Felt fine without bootstrap, didn’t miss it one bit. Think I had my leg channel straps a bit too snug as it felt a little too tight ( will have them a bit more  loose next time ) the bungie toe strap did it’s job and kept the pads re-Centered every time . 
all in all a good first time out with new eflex 4.5 gear.

thanks everyone for all your help and input .

[seagoal]

12 hours ago, Benfica44 said:

Well, first time out with the new gear tonight. Felt fine without bootstrap, didn’t miss it one bit. Think I had my leg channel straps a bit too snug as it felt a little too tight ( will have them a bit more  loose next time ) the bungie toe strap did it’s job and kept the pads re-Centered every time . 
all in all a good first time out with new eflex 4.5 gear.

thanks everyone for all your help and input .

Nice, well done.  Ultimately it is all about feel and comfort.

[Cool Runnings]

On 3/8/2021 at 12:01 PM, Teezle said:

I've tried all the variations of Lundy loop/no bootstrap/through different parts of the skate, and I still find that I like mine running under the heel. It is loose, but keeps the pads from riding up too much when in the butterfly and moving around. 

 

On 3/8/2021 at 12:01 PM, Teezle said:

I've tried all the variations of Lundy loop/no bootstrap/through different parts of the skate, and I still find that I like mine running under the heel. It is loose, but keeps the pads from riding up too much when in the butterfly and moving around. 

This Thread came up in a search as I'm trying to reconfigure my eflex 4s. I'm running into that shin splint pain when I play a lot it feels like the tendons are ripping off of my shin and I can barely stand up so I ditched the bungee toe tie and went back to the old school laces with about four inches of slack. So to compensate for that and the fact that the pad keeps running up and I'm now Landing South of the knee block, I'm thinking about putting the bootstrap under the arch of my foot in the large middle hole. I feel like they would allow my ankle to swivel because my toes will be looser from the front of the pad so my foot can rotate away in my narrow butterfly and the bootstrap will then prevent the pad from sliding up my leg. I feel like it will give me the best of both worlds with that combination. Haven't tried it yet but that's my goal. Thoughts?

 

Edit/Update:

I just ditched the EFlex's and went with the Supreme M5 pads.  The 5hole closes better and the calf/professor strap is better.  No boot strap needed now.  See ya CCM.  

Edited May 23, 2023 by Cool Runnings

[Scythe]

On 3/7/2021 at 8:54 AM, Lucky Pucker said:

@seagoal, who has preached on this point many times, is quite correct IMHO. To put it more bluntly, unless the boot strap is between snug and cranked, it is not physically doing anything. Consider the original intended purpose as Seagoal stated. To further emphasize that point, consider that there used to be two boot straps on some pads (see example pic). But that’s not how pads are worn now, generally speaking.
 

That said, it can psychologically reassure a goalie who is afraid to make the leap. 

Is there a c/a under that jersey? 

[Puckstopper]

On 5/20/2023 at 8:08 PM, Cool Runnings said:

Edit/Update:

I just ditched the EFlex's and went with the Supreme M5 pads.  The 5hole closes better and the calf/professor strap is better.  No boot strap needed now.  See ya CCM.  

I'm glad for you.  EF4's were the worst set of gear I've owned in the last 20 years!

[Cool Runnings]

Not the Larceny's?? Hahah.  I had Larceny's and they were alright for me but I've never seen so much hatred.  THat's when I was fairly new so I didn't know better, and frankly still dont remember what was so bad about them.  The weight?  

[seagoal]

19 hours ago, Puckstopper said:

I'm glad for you.  EF4's were the worst set of gear I've owned in the last 20 years!

But not the ugliest.  Your set was gorgeous.   I remember them.

[Cool Runnings]

Yah I actually like the E4 graphics a lot.