Floor hockey tiles are becoming pretty popular these days with all of the changes that have been happening during this pandemic. People who used to enjoy the fun of playing hockey with a team in a rink somewhere are now stuck at home with no way to practice. However, with the help of some great hockey tiles, anybody can turn their home into a hockey training area that can be used by the best of the players. What are they? Well, that depends on the way that you look at it. Let’s explain.
Synthetic Ice Panels
Back in the 1960s, synthetic ice became a brand new way for ice skaters to try and enjoy ice skating on flooring that wasn’t made of ice and would not melt. We use the word “try” because it took a while for the developers to perfect the kind of artificial ice that we are familiar with today. In the beginning, synthetic ice had to be constantly lubricated with an outside source in order to be effective. Today, synthetic ice has its own built-in lubricating system that allows for smooth, graceful skating. Synthetic ice comes in the form of tiles or panels. Depending on the needs of the customer either way can be useful. Tiles are generally small squares of the material in a 1 foot by 1-foot tile. Panels are usually larger pieces around 2 feet by 4 feet or so. If the synthetic ice comes in tiles, they can be referred to as hockey tiles. See where this is going?
Dryland Hockey Flooring
Dryland hockey flooring, also known as slick tiles, is a type of hockey flooring that is very similar to synthetic ice, but much different. This kind of flooring comes mostly in the form of square tiles and can be easily installed in any place that has a flat hard surface to put it on. Althougnh it is made of a special polymer that is much like artificial ice, it is not the type of flooring that people can ice skate on. In fact, if you try to ice skate on it you will most likely land on your face. Imagine trying to ice skate on a linoleum floor. It would be similar to that. The skate blades simply can’t glide across the surface. All that will happen is the steel from the blades will grip the tiles, and you will not go anywhere except down.
Hockey Flooring
The type of hockey flooring that is available on the market today may differ in some ways, but as for the way that the puck, the stick, and the training aids glide across them it is much like the way they would slide across real ice. The goal of each type of flooring is to create an environment that is relatively close to playing hockey on ice. Although you can’t ice skate on slick tiles, you can use a shooting tarp to practice shooting pucks all day and it will seem just like you are shooting the pucks on an authentic ice flooring. When you practice on a great quality hockey flooring platform and use other tools like the amazing puck rebounder you have the opportunity to train in the exact way that you would on a real hockey training rink. Although the flooring is not exactly like ice, it is close enough to give a great training session and give the resistance needed in order to build the core parts of the body that allow for a great hockey player.
The Lowdown
In all truth, the only way to get a decent practice is to make it happen in your own home these days. Seek to discover the different options that you have available to you, and if you can, install some hockey flooring so you can stay sharp and strong.