Since I started skate a lot of things have change. We've gone from quads to inlines. 2piece uniforms to one piece uniforms. 72mm wheels to 110mm wheels. We've even changed helments. We learned double pushing. And even got that little pylon going back into the relay box.
Personally I think all of these changes are great. I love to race and go fast. All of these changes help the atheletes go faster. Hey i'm all for going to bigger wheels if it will let us go faster. I know a lot of people want to say, "Well it's not fair for a smaller person who can't push them." As far as I know, no time in the history of sports has there been a time when a sport stopped evolving because someone might not do as well. When the clap frame was introduced for Long Track some people were terrible on it. They either learned to skate on it, or got left behind. I'm ready to go to 3x125mm wheels if that's gonna let me go faster,2x150's.. sign me up. So this is how I feel about changing for the better, which actually brings me to the point I was trying to make...
With all the changes we've made in the last 20 or so years, why do we skate indoor on a track that was designed to be skated on quads??? I know a lot of people that have been in this sport for a long time will say there's no need to change. But what a lot of people in this sport don't realize is that the top guys in the sport don't sprint. They can't. The track we skate on doesn't allow you to go at a full sprint. The top guys go a top speed, but that's not pushing as hard as they want where they want. It's pretty much a constant battle to stay in control on a liminting track. Do I have an easy answer as to what we should do... Unforutnatly not. But I really think we should try to make a track that's not limiting or atleast so limiting. Don't we want our top atheletes to go out there and see whos the fastest person on the track? Not just see who can handle the corners without slaming into the wall. Now days, most of the younger kids are just attacking the straight aways and rolling into the corners.
So what do I think the answer is.... I don't know. There's the Oval/Nira track, which i definatly think is a step in the right direction. However, the turn is a little tighter than i think it should be. Plus I don't like the way it's easy to protect the inside lane. Making it almost impossible to pass at high speeds. Then there's always an option of going to a larger track. Which could work at some places, but on small floors(like all of my region) would the floor be able to handle a bigger track. Who knows.. maybe someone will read this and come up with a simple solution. But i do think we have about 2 or 3 years of technology getting better before the speeds are just too fast for the standard track. Throw around some ideas people. Lets see what we can come up with. Because in the long run.. I really just wanna go faster(I don't mean lap time, I mean speed)
3 comments:
Cheex,
Good question...Thinking outside the box is always good...there has to be another way to build a better mousetrap ;)
Perhaps you and Joey have already been trying out some tracks, just as you test wheels???
How about a one pylon track, placed on corner entry only? One each end of the track.
Would this be an advantage for a certain skater? Would this track allow for more time spent on the side of the wheel as to lean and accelerate, and less on the top of the wheel in the straight.....Less coasting???
What has already been tried with stopwatch?
Any other thoughts?
its funny that when you think of the fastest guy in the world, that he might not really be the fastest, just the fastest on the track that we have. you never really remember so many changes. i'm so used to the 110's that its weird to think of bigger wheels or even how fast they have developed since the 72's that i first started skating on. btw, are you coming to the auburn meet?
Money... money money money is the problem. We have a niche sport. Imagine the costs to research and develop a new type of track - then you have to build not just one, but build them all over the place so people use them to make it a standard. How are you going to do that when most rinks are barely surviving (and surviving on Jam nights, not speed skating).
Can you jam skate on such a surface? Probably not - so the rinks won't be interested. Therefore, you'd have to build new venues and attract skaters - who's going to pay for that in this sport? Nobody will.
Innovation would be good, but our sport has a LONG way to go before you can take on bigger issues that demand big dollars. That's why all the innovation has been in skate equipment, on a individual basis, because its about the only thing that is doable in our sport.
Possibly in Europe it could be done where there is more interest... I don't know. Maybe world cup races? But I can't see it being done on a local level.
I think our main concern right now is attracting more people to the sport, and new types of tracks won't do that. Our best bet to get people into the sport is via outdoor skating from fitness/rec skaters. That's where we really need some outside the box thinking.
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