HOCKEY
Ice hockey is known as one of the world's fastest and most dangerous sports. That said, participation by male players is well over a half million athletes and women are approaching (if they haven't already passed) a quarter million.
Ice hockey is a sport that epitomizes high speeds, sharp turns and abrupt stops, all while requiring incredible eye-hand coordination while performing impeccable stick handling. Needing to be "one with the skate boot", the interaction of the foot and ankle for ultimate stability and propulsion is at a premium. Full and firm contact with the foot and skate boot is not a choice, it's a requirement. Any access movement between the foot and skate boot will deter from both efficiency and injury prevention.
Sole Supports orthotics are casted in a 5 step MASS Posture (Maximum Arch Supination Stabilization) process to allow a footprint that captures the true medial longitudinal arch, lateral longitudinal arch and transverse arch of the foot. Therefore, a MASS Posture orthotic offers full contact with the foot, both weight bearing and non weight bearing. What does this mean? It means that there is no lapse in support, unlike other orthotics. With Sole Supports weight and activity based calibration system, the orthotic will assist (not stop) the biomechanics of the foot within the skate boot. What it won't do is offer a lapse in support/contact resulting in impact friction between the foot and the device.
The Sole Supports orthotic creates the ultimate posture for your foot inside the skate boot, without any wasted movement. This ideal posture allows you to function efficiently resulting in proper form on the ice. Again, Sole Supports offers a full contact and weight calibrated orthotic in every phase of the skater's motion.
Heat molded, skate boot inserts and other orthotics are often too soft or do not offer full contact with the foot and allow motion of the foot within the boot. This motion results in an unstable foot posture and negatively affects the function and form up the athlete's kinetic chain.
The sport of hockey requires the skater to move forward, backward combined with multiple directional changes and there is only one true solution for the hockey skater to be "one with the ice", that is with the assistance of Sole Supports orthotics.
What also must not be forgotten is that while the athlete hones their skills and physically stresses their body while on the ice and in the weight room, improvement comes during the rest cycles. When the athlete is not practicing, they are resting. Perfect posture during the rest period leads to proper function and form throughout the kinetic chain. To enhance your athletes recovery and promote performance, be sure to check out our Pro Set for Maximum Performance.