How to Practice on Hockey Floor Tiles

How to Practice on Hockey Floor Tiles

Depending on the type of hockey floor tiles that you have, you can practice in different ways. Whatever you do, don’t let this pandemic stop you from practicing. While the rest of the players are sitting on their couches watching TV you can be up and around getting stronger and better than ever. If you are new to the concept of hockey flooring that you can install just about anywhere, this is an insightful little article that is designed to get you going in the right direction towards making the most out of your hockey flooring.

Synthetic Ice Flooring

Out of all of the different types of hockey flooring materials, synthetic ice has to be the best one. The reason why is that it is designed so that people can ice skate on it. Other types of flooring, although great, will not allow for ice skating. Artificial ice, on the other hand, was developed and designed so that ice skaters could enjoy skating in a place where the ice doesn’t’ melt and the building does not have to be refrigerated. Sometimes synthetic ice comes in the form of tiles. This is where hockey floor tiles get confusing when talked about. Hockey tiles can be made out of different materials and still be considered hockey floor tiles. Synthetic ice that is in the form of tiles is hockey floor tiles. With this kind of flooring, you are free to use ice skates and practice your game as if you were practicing on real ice.

Dryland Hockey Floor Tiles

An alternative to synthetic ice is dryland hockey flooring, also knowns as slick tiles. This type of hockey flooring usually comes in the form of tiles that are one foot by one foot squared. Dryland tiles are easy to install because they are small, and they have an interlocking tab system built into the sides to connect easily and tightly together when they install. The way they bond together allows for an almost seamless bond that brings out a totally smooth surface that the pucks can easily glide across just like they would if they were sliding on ice. This creates an environment that is much like a real ice rink. The only problem is that dryland tiles are not made for ice skates. You can’t ice skate on this type of flooring without ruining the tiles and hurting yourself. Although you can’t ice skate on the flooring, you can still shoot pucks just like you would in the rink.

Practicing on Hockey Floor Tiles

If you have been following along with the article you will already know that you can’t ice skate on dryland tiles, but you can definitely ice skate on synthetic ice. It is important to note that you can’t rollerblade on synthetic ice, but you can use land skates on dryland tiles. Now that this little detail is out in the open it is pretty obvious that the way that you can practice on each type of flooring will be considerably different from one to the other. When you practice on the floor tiles you will notice a slight bit more resistance in everything that you move across it than you would typically have on real ice. Although these surfaces are made in order to replicate real ice as closely as possible, neither one of them are exact. As for the synthetic ice, if you skate on it, you will notice that it is just a little bit more difficult to maneuver across than real ice. This is OK for a couple of reasons. The main one is that you will build muscle and stamina from having to push a little extra in y our efforts. This is how champions are made. They push harder and get stronger.

In the End

Although there are pros and cons for each of the different flooring types,l in the end the best thing about them is that they will allow you to continue to practice right at home throughout this whole pandemic ordeal. When you stay sharp and focused, so does your game. Practice hard every day and while the other players are laying around whining about the pandemic, you will be getting stronger and better in everything that you do.