admin Most hockey players are always on the hunt for a new and exciting way to be sure that they can get their on the ice training in even when it’s outside of the colder months. Sometimes it can take a bit of creativity but with the right tools, it just takes a little bit of effort on your behalf. One thing that is incredibly easy to implement may actually come as a surprise to you. That thing is, as you probably gathered from the title of this article, synthetic ice.
Many people that are new to the concept may be scared off by their preconceived notions that it would be hard to set up in their own home, but that couldn’t be more wrong. It’s definitely understandable why some people might assume that a rink made up of synthetic ice, or as some people call it “artificial ice,” would be a long and complicated process, especially if their knowledge of setting up an ice skating rink is limited to one that’s made up entirely of real ice. Today we’re going to give you five reasons why it’s actually much easier than you probably think.
1. Artificial Ice Comes In Interlocking Tiles
The way that artificial ice is manufactured actually makes a huge difference in how easy it is to assemble your home ice skating rink. Instead of it coming as a giant sheet of plastic, it actually comes in multiple tiles that are designed to interlock with one another. That makes setting it up a breeze. Setting up your home skating rink using artificial ice is a lot like doing a jigsaw puzzle with no wrong answers. It doesn’t get much easier than that, and in most cases you can have your entire rink set up in anywhere between half an hour and a few hours, depending on how big your rink is going to be.
Of course, you do need to take some care to make sure that all of the tiles are flush. If you don’t it can cause issues for anyone trying to skate on it because of the uneven surfaces. Realistically, that’s the most difficult part of getting your rink set up. Even this part of the process is pretty easy so long as you pay close attention to what you’re doing while assembling the rink. It can be made even easier if you partner up with a friend and use teamwork to make the process go along even more quickly.
2. Most Manufacturers Make Their Tiles Weather-Proof
Many people fear the process of having to tear down their artificial ice skating rink at any sign of bad weather, and for good reason. If it takes time and effort to set up, it would take time and effort to tear down. On top of that, you’d need to find a good place to store it during the particularly bad weather events that would call for you to have to take such action. Most people would rather get their rink set up somewhere on their property and just forget that it exists any time that it’s not in use.
Fortunately, that’s exactly what you can do with most brands of artificial ice. A lot of the manufacturers of this product understand full well that most people don’t want to have to go through all of that effort every time the weatherman says it’s going to be a day with a lot of rain or extremely hot, and as such they make sure that their tiles are weather-proof so you don’t have to worry about that. Most artificial ice tiles are made to withstand heat, cold, rain, snow, and even hail. That means that you can actually do exactly what you want to do and just set up the tiles and not worry about them when bad weather days come.
3. These Ice Tiles Are Easy To Store
Another thing that people seem to worry about when it comes to synthetic ice is that it would be difficult to store if they needed to do so for any reason. Maybe they have family coming over for a holiday and they don’t want to have to worry about Uncle Tony taking a slip by accident on their artificial ice skating rink. There are numerous reasons why you might want to take it down, and when you do you won’t want to have to worry about where you’re going to put it while it’s taken apart.
Fortunately, synthetic ice comes in relatively thin pieces, meaning that you can pretty easily stack it up when you aren’t using it. That means that you could store it in the garage, in the empty space in your linen closet, in your storage locker, or even just wrap it up with a tarp and leave it stacked up on the side of the house where most people aren’t going to go unless they’re smokers and trying to be as considerate as they can be without entirely leaving the get together to indulge their addiction. With that in mind, storage can be a piece of cake.
Some people will even go so far as to get a special chest or series of chests to store their artificial ice tiles when they aren’t in use. You can find pretty big chests to make this easy and that can make it a lot better if you’re worried about how a giant pile of stuff covered in tarp would look to your guests. There are numerous options for you to easily store your rink out of the way when you need to, and setting it back up is still going to be just as easy as the first time you did it.
4. Place Your Rink Wherever You Want
If you’re worried about where to put your artificial ice skating rink, this one is especially for you. You could realistically set it up anywhere that the ground is level enough to support it. Most artificial ice tiles do require some plywood to be put under it, so assuming that you aren’t trying to put it over a creek or something equally treacherous, you’re good to put it pretty much anywhere you have the space to do so. That opens up a lot of possibilities, even if you have somewhat limited space to set this up. It also opens you up to different shapes that you might not have had the thought about creating.
For example, let’s say the only space that you have to give to this is long and narrow. You can do that pretty easily, and that can be excellent for setting up some basic practice for hitting the puck while having skates on. That can also be used for some useful speed training exercises, it’s a win-win. If you have more space to use, you could realistically set up a mini ice skating rink, or even a full-sized ice skating rink if you have a lot of space to fill up in your backyard.
Really, no matter how much space you have to work with, you can set up your artificial ice skating rink and make it work for you and for everyone that ends up practicing on it. It’s that flexible to your needs.
5. Tear Down Is Just As Easy As Set Up
Some people worry less about setting up their artificial ice skating rink and more about tearing it down. There are any number of reasons why you might have to do so. Maybe you’re moving and you need to get it torn down to accommodate your move, you could be having company and it’s taking up a bunch of space, or maybe you just want to sell it because it’s not getting any use anymore. No matter your reason, you probably want to be sure that you can do so without too much hassle on your part.
Fortunately enough, it’s actually just as easy to take the tiles apart as it is to put them together. Many people might even consider the teardown to be easier because they don’t have to worry about how to tiles align, which means you have to pay a little less attention to what you’re doing. Just take it apart and put it wherever you plan on storing it and you’re done. It could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on the actual size of your rink.
Get the Best Tools to Make Your Practice a Breeze
People want to make sure that they get good practice for their sport, regardless of if they play basketball, tennis, or hockey. Hockey is, unfortunately, the trickiest sport to get practice in most of the year. Fortunately, with a little ingenuity, you can get all the practice you need with ease once you put in the necessary work to make it possible. Hockey players the world over are grateful that artificial ice exists so they can have the easiest time possible getting practice while wearing their ice skates.
