Bauer S27 leg pads rotation and knee block issues

[CoastieJeff]

I’ve got a new pair of Bauer S27 leg pads with the offset toe. I’ve got two skates on them and am trying to figure out why they won’t return to square after I get up out of the butterfly. Is anyone else having the same problem?

I’ve got three knots of slack in the toe-tie. Been messing around with the strapping, (pretty loose all the way around) but haven’t quite found the right combo yet. 
 

Any suggestions welcomed. Thanks.

Edited May 4, 2021 by Chenner29
Merge & consolidate

[CoastieJeff]

Trying to dial in my new S27’s, and finding that my knee will fall off the side of the knee block from time to time.

I’ve tried the knee strap around the back of the knee, and I’ve tried it attached down on the calf pad. Still having the same issue. I’m thinking of getting some knee stacks/wedges thinking that maybe that will force the knee deeper into the knee block?

any advice welcomed.

[seagoal]

8 hours ago, CoastieJeff said:

I’ve got a new pair of Bauer S27 leg pads with the offset toe. I’ve got two skates on them and am trying to figure out why they won’t return to square after I get up out of the butterfly. Is anyone else having the same problem?

I’ve got three knots of slack in the toe-tie. Been messing around with the strapping, (pretty loose all the way around) but haven’t quite found the right combo yet. 
 

Any suggestions welcomed. Thanks.

If you are certain that the general strapping is not too tight, it most likely is your toe ties NOT doing their job.  Toe ties have a specific purpose and they need tightness to fulfill that purpose. 

The job of toe ties is to keep pads properly anchored to the front of skates, so that when we move our feet, the pads follow.  With three knots in your toe toes, your pads are not engaged properly to your skates.  After the pads turn sideways when you drop down to your knees, they are staying sideways when you stand upright because the three knots never allow your toe ties to get taught and pull the pads straight.  There is enough friction between the pads generally and our legs that there needs to be some force fighting through the friction to get that back straight once on you've returned to your feet. 

I totally get why you (we) put knots in your skate lace toe ties.  But, with too much slack, you're preventing them from doing their job.  

2 solutions:

-get rid of some of the slack and make them tighter so that they pull your pads back straight when you return to your feet.  This will decrease the amount of flexibility and mobility for your feet when down on your knees. 

-upgrade to bungee toe ties.  Given the job of toe ties, bungee cords allow flexibility and stretching when needed down on your knees, but, also pull the pads straight when you return to your feet.  These were invented because one day goalies realized that tight skate lace toe ties are too restrictive and create too much strain on our bodies, so then we put knots of slack in them.  Oops, now guess what, pads don't rotate back straight because there is nothing to pull them there.  Alas, there is something that does both: bungee cords. 

Another thing that will help is using modern, nylonish hockey socks as opposed to knit socks.  Having less friction will be better for rotation all around.

Give these a try and see if it helps. 

Edited May 4, 2021 by seagoal

[Chenner29]

Merged threads for ease of discussion. 

Sounds to me like these two issues are related.

You'll want to dial down all your strapping.  Calf, knee, toe.

Pads these days are designed to rotate well on their own and don't need to be worn loose to perform.

Pictures of your strapping and toe with your gear on will be helpful as well

[CJ Boiss]

As Chenner said, modern pads are designed to rotate fairly well, but if your strapping is really tight through the leg channel it might not have enough room to. I'd look at loosening up your channel strapping a little bit; realistically, you only need the pad to anchor well at your toe and knee, the rest is fairly extraneous in terms of keeping the pad square on your leg. If you want to keep the pad tightly anchored at your toes you can take some slack out of your laces or switch to elastic toe ties, as seagoal suggested.

(personally, I wear my Vaughn pads very "sloppy" with my lace toe ties. The weight of the pad pushes off the front of my skate when I'm upright, which keeps the laces taught and the pad square; a leather strap behind my knee keeps me from falling off the back of the block, and a pair of leather calf straps keep the pads responsive. Easier to do this with soft pads and an open leg channel, which your S27s are not and don't really have, so this probably wouldn't work for you)

Regarding your knee block issue, are you using an elastic strap to lock the pad in behind your knee? Because the S27 use a single internal break below the knee a nylon or leather strap (something that won't stretch when you put pressure on it), which runs behind your knee and above the break, should keep your knee from falling off the back of the block. You'll want it tight enough that no amount of force on the pad will create enough space between it and your knee that you land off of the block.

I don't like relying on elastic straps to keep my knee on the block, they tend to fail during scrambles and pile-ups. Like what happens to Merzlikins on this play, at 14 seconds: https://youtu.be/IFWz7HgHtZE

[CoastieJeff]

Thanks for all the input. I do appreciate it. (That was a bad day for Elvis, btw )

With the new off-set toe bridge on the Bauer's, it makes sense that no toe tie slack is really needed as was used when the toe bridge was in the center of the pad. The off-set IS the slack, I guess. 

I'll remove the slack altogether and see how that works.

Thanks again. Good stuff.

Edited May 4, 2021 by CoastieJeff
Image added

[Puckstopper]

9 hours ago, seagoal said:

-upgrade to bungee toe ties.  Given the job of toe ties, bungee cords allow flexibility and stretching when needed down on your knees, but, also pull the pads straight when you return to your feet.  These were invented because one day goalies realized that tight skate lace toe ties are too restrictive and create too much strain on our bodies, so then we put knots of slack in them.  Oops, now guess what, pads don't rotate back straight because there is nothing to pull them there.  Alas, there is something that does both: bungee cords. 

Another thing that will help is using modern, nylonish hockey socks as opposed to knit socks.  Having less friction will be better for rotation all around.

Give these a try and see if it helps. 

I agree with both of these points.  Bungee toe ties are an absolute must!

[01t4r]

On 5/3/2021 at 4:23 PM, CoastieJeff said:

Trying to dial in my new S27’s, and finding that my knee will fall off the side of the knee block from time to time.

I’ve tried the knee strap around the back of the knee, and I’ve tried it attached down on the calf pad. Still having the same issue. I’m thinking of getting some knee stacks/wedges thinking that maybe that will force the knee deeper into the knee block?

any advice welcomed.

I have the exact same pads. I had the same issue as you with my knee coming out of the cradle and smacking the ice. I found that the elastic was stretching too much and the knee, allowing my knee to come clear out of the knee stack and hit the ice. I ended up using a leather awl and attached a nylon strap to my pad just below the knee cradle. Having a nylon strap with a buckle has kept my knee from hitting and I can adjust how much slack I want. This was the only thing that stopped my knee hitting the ice...different toe tie setup made no difference 

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by 01t4r