Hockey tape is used to ice hockey players, often wrapping around their ankles, wrists, and shins to keep the ice cold on their blades. It’s also used to secure their skates—sort of like nailing boots—to the tops of their feet.
While there are dozens of different brands of hockey tape, we’ve put together a short list of the best and most essential pieces for your rink.
Table of Contents
Ankle Tape
Ankle tape is crucial for any hockey player as it prevents shin guards from sliding down and getting lost during play. There should be at least three layers of tape on your ankles; the outer layer should be thick enough to hold up under heavy strain while the inner layer provides better touch sensitivity for the player.
There are several different types of ankle tape with different qualities and purposes, so find one that suits your needs and starts your hockey tape collection.
Shoulder/Armpit Taping
Shoulder taping should be done in a way that prevents your shoulder from sliding when you reach for the puck or defend against a shot. It also helps keep your arm raised high when you’re shooting or checking; high shooting or checking arms can lead to more goals and wins.
As for the arm pit tape, it’s important to have enough of it on your upper arms to prevent shirt gapping when you’re pulling on your sweater and even under heavy strain during play. While you don’t need to have several layers like the shoulder tape, it’s better to have more layers—again, depending on the type of sport and the conditions—than to limit your movement due to lack of taping.
Wrist Tape
Wrist tape is vital for keeping your skates on your feet and under control during gameplay. Like the ankle tape, there is a wide variety of wrist tape out there, so find one that suits your needs and starts your collection.
Once you have your wrist tape, it’s important to double-wrap it for best results. Doing so prevents slippage and keeps your skates on your feet even when your adrenaline is pumping during a game. Most importantly, wrapping your wrist tape once or twice around the knob of your wrist will make the difference between a smooth gameplay and an uncoordinated mess on the ice. Also, make sure that the tape is long enough and keeps its shape under heavy strain; if it gets bunched up, it could impede your playing ability or even worse cause you to lose a limb.
Shin Taping
Shin taping prevents injuries to your shins and helps keep the ice cold on your blades. There are several different types of shin tape, so find one that suits your needs and starts your collection.
Many ice hockey players like to have the shin tape along the front of their leg, just above their boots, to keep the ice in contact with the front of their shins and prevent their legs from being frozen stiff. Doing so can help improve your game greatly; you’ll feel more comfortable on the ice and won’t miss any goals because your legs are frozen stiff.
As for the backside of the leg, you don’t need to have any tape there as long as you don’t plan on wearing shorts during the summer months. The most important thing is that your shins are not resting on the ice surface at all times during play; if they are, you’ll start experiencing problems like ankle sprains and knee buckling. As a general rule of thumb, always have your shins raised above the level of the ice when taking a swing at the puck or when defending against a shot.
Binding
Binding is essential in most types of snowboarding and skiing as it prevents snow from being rubbed off the top of your plastic or metal skis and snowboards by the friction created from sliding on the ice or wet snow. There are several different types of binding, including toe, spring, and backcountry bindings, so find one that suits your needs and starts your collection.
Toe binding is the most common type of ski binding and is, in fact, what you’ll find on the bottom of most ski boots. Toe binding works by clamping your toes in place against the boot, usually using either a metal or plastic spike or a series of straps and buckles.
Spring binding works by using a pair of interlocking metal plates that you push together to lock your feet in place during play. The advantage of spring binding is that it requires very little maintenance as it doesn’t get clogged with snow like toe binding does, especially in dirty or wet snow conditions. However, spring binding has one major downside: it’s extremely slippery and tends to cause you to overbalance and fall off the snowboard.
Backcountry binding, also called crampons, are similar to hiking boots and provide you with better traction on both snow and ice, allowing you to climb up and down steep slopes easily. Like climbing boots, backcountry bindings have spiked heels that dig into the snow or ice as you push off.
Regardless of which type of binding you choose, make sure that it is safe and comfortable enough for the type of skiing or snowboarding that you do and that it will stay in place during gameplay. If you get bored of the conventional bindings, you can always upgrade to more advanced ones that are integrated with the ski mask or helmet.