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RINK-SPEAK 101:
Course Description:
A Glossary of common terms in Short Track. (For those times when you don't have a speedskater handy to ask 'what the heck does that mean'?)
Please Contact Us with suggestions for other terms to add to the glossary (and if you also have the EXPLANATION or a CORRECTION of said term, it would be much appreciated!)
Glossary:
Bend - A slight curve in the blades to match the direction of the curve of the track, assisting them with better steering and traction when negotiating turns.
Blade - The 'lethal' part of the skate… the reason short-track'ers wear neck guards and cut-resistant skinsuits. And yes, they ARE that sharp!
Block - There are seven 'blocks' on each curve, marking the boundaries. The apex block is the center one, at the widest point of the curve. The skaters' hands may cross to the inside of the blocks, but not their blades.
Boot - The upper part of the skate - the part that looks like a shoe, and attaches to the 'blade'.
Booting Out - 'Booting out' occurs when a skater leans so hard into a curve that his/her boot makes contact with the ice - this causes the blade to lose contact with the ice, often resulting in a fall.
Burr - Yeah, we know that it's a thingy that you remove from your blade after you file it down, but we don't have a clue how to describe it... help?
Charging The Block - a maneuver in which a skater passes on the inside, just as the skaters are entering a turn. Experienced skaters will force the challenger to back off, turn wide, or pinch them inside the blocks.
Cutting The Track - skating inside the blocks (boundaries), which is illegal; the most likely reason that this occurs is that a skater is squeezed out of bounds while attempting an inside pass without enough room to do so.
Cross-Tracking - looking for a simple explanation of this one, too...
Impeding - Any contact or near-contact, other than cross-tracking, where one skater intentionally or unintentionally interferes unfairly with another skater's ability to progress. A judgment of impeding will result in a disqualification of the offending skater, and probable advancement of the skater who was the victim, especially if that skater was in a position to qualify at the time of the infraction.
Repechage - This is a 'second chance' round to allow for the possibility that some racers, through no fault of their own, might have simply had bad luck in their original qualifying race. Winners of repechage rounds can still advance.
Rocker - this is exactly what you might think it is… it's the vertical curve in the blade that would resemble that in a rocking chair. It's ever so slight, but it's there…
Team Skating - Difficult to prove, and (to the chagrin of many) rarely enforced, team-skating can happen when more than one skater from a team is in a race. Team skating is suspected when one skater from the team appears to 'sacrifice' himself/herself by taking a competitor from another team out of contention (i.e., by fouling or blocking) to the benefit of his/her teammate, allowing that teammate an advantage in the race.
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