printed by Kendall M, Zanetti K & Hoshizaki TB. School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa. Ottawa, Canada A Novel Protocol for Assessing Skating Performance in Ice Hockey Introduction In ice hockey, the ability to skate swiftly and with skillful precision is most predictive of players’ proficiency in the game 1. Although skill development is key, performance in ice hockey is a product of the functionality of the equipment used in addition to the athlete’s characteristics. The optimal hockey skate should provide both: a) stability, for support while stopping, accelerating, and turning, and b) the ankle to have a full range of motion in the anterior-posterior plane. Current hockey skates on the market squeeze the foot tightly to prevent the blade from moving independently from the foot. As a result, the foot experiences a reduced ability to produce forces in the medial-lateral plane. Prior research aiming to understand the patterns and mechanics of skating has focused on measuring kinetic and kinematic variables at play during the movement 2,3. While force plates have long been the gold standard for the measurement of force output, their use is limited to a laboratory environment and thus a simulated skating environment for the athlete. An alternative to this approach, employed in the present study, are insole pressure measurement systems such as the Tekscan (Inc.) system (See Apparatus section). Purpose The purpose of this study was to establish a novel protocol for evaluating ice hockey skating performance through direct in-skate measures. Three measures were used as a proxy for hockey skating performance: (i)Plantar force production; (ii)Impulse; (iii)Center of force variance – in anterior-posterior and medial-lateral axes. Methods Five competitive-level hockey players completed three skating acceleration trials from rest on a regulation ice hockey rink. Tekscan Inc. insoles were placed into a hockey skate equipped with a novel technology designed to optimize force transfer and control (NS), followed by participants’ own skates (OS). Peak plantar force, impulse, and center of force (COF) variance (in the anterior-posterior and medial-lateral axes) were measured by the insoles after calibration to pressure levels to be observed during skating trials. Participants were instructed to start skating as quickly as possible and attempt to reach maximal speed until told to stop. Three trials of this drill were completed for each of the two conditions. An in-skate pressure measurement system (Tekscan Inc.) was used to obtain force production and distribution data from subjects (Figure 1). Two-tailed, one sample t-tests were used to determine statistical significance between the NS and OS condition. Significance level was set at p ≤ References 1.Upjohn et al.(2008). Three-dimensional kinematics of the lower limbs during forward ice hockey skating. Sports Engineering. 7(2). 2.de Koning et al. (1995). The start in speed skating: from running to gliding. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, 27, Stidwill et al. (2010). Comparison of skating kinetics and kinematics on ice and on a synthetic surface. Sports Biomechanics, 9(1), Behm et al. (2005). Relationship between hockey skating speed and selected performance measures. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 19(2): 326– Kawamori et al. Relationships between ground reaction impulse and sprint acceleration performance in team-sport athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Discussion & Conclusions Maximization of dynamic stability while skating is crucial to achieve high plantar force and impulse. Impulse in particular has been identified as an important performance parameter in sprinting sports as well as skating 4,5. Acting to optimize dynamic stability, the higher COF variance indicates a greater ability to move the body through the stance phase of skating in a controlled manner. A greater range of force distribution in the A-P axis may indicate an increased ROM at the ankle joint. Thus, the results of this study show that direct measurement of these dynamic variables may be important indicators in evaluating skating performance in ice hockey as it relates to skate design or skill development. University of Ottawa Results Significantly higher vertical plantar force and impulse were found in the NS condition when compared to the OS condition for all participants (p ≤ 0.05) (Fig. 2 & 3). COF variance and A-P COF displacement were also significantly greater for the NS condition (p ≤ 0.05) (Fig. 4). Figure 1. Set-up of wireless in-skate system for force and impulse data collection Figure 3. Comparison of impulse values within subjects between both skate conditions (NS vs. OS). Figure 2. Peak Force values per subject for both skate conditions (NS vs OS) Figure 4. Comparison of CoF variance within subjects between both skate conditions (NS vs. OS).