G1 Extreme Slideboard Review
from HockeyReviewHQ.com
What you get with the G1 Extreme Slide Board
The G1 Extreme includes:
1 - 5' x 10' board.
2 rotating discs
2 slide board end stops
1 medium pair of Footwear (shoe size 8 to 11)
1 carry bag
1 training DVD
2 G1 Extreme Passers (optional) |
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Used by some of the leaders in hockey development today including Scott Livingston of the Montreal Canadiens, Peter Freisen of the Carolina Hurricanes, NHL goalie Jocylyn Thibault and others.
G1 Extreme Slideboard Overview
Here we will give you a brief overview of the G1 Extreme including the purpose, price, and some training that you can do with it.
Purpose:
The slideboard is designed to help develop and improve lateral movement, agility, balance, and coordination. This is done by producing an environment that is similar to what hockey players experience on the ice. In order to properly use the slideboard with the rotating discs, a hockey player must perform an action that is very similar to the action used for skating on the ice. Performing this action off the ice will help players build the necessary muscle memory needed to effectively perform the actions on the ice.
What Can the G1 Extreme Slideboard be used for?
There are a number of applications for the slideboard, some of which include:
Stickhandling and puck control (while sliding, or while standing off of the board)
Shooting (while sliding to practice weight transfer)
Skating stride (sliding side to side, or forwards and backwards)
Passing
Face-offs
Price
The G1 Extreme 5' by 10' Slideboard sells for around $440 US
Assembly
There is not much assembly required for the G1 Extreme slideboard.
Lay the slideboard down on a flat hard surface, the best material is the rubber mats that they use at the gym, but the slideboard can also be used on short cut carpet. Once the slideboard is down, you can insert the stoppers. There are round discs and rectangle stoppers. The discs are used if you want to practice your forward and backwards stride and the rectangle stoppers are used to practice lateral movement.
To put the stoppers in place, all you need to do is align the white part on the bottom of the stopper with the appropriate hole in the slideboard. Once the white part is in the hole you just nudge it into the groove and this will lock the stopper into place.
Testing out the G1 Extreme
I set the G1 Extreme up in my basement because there is not much room anywhere else in the house. The slideboard is 8 feet long by 5 feet wide so you need a good amount of space to use it. The first thing I wanted to test is how well a puck slide on the board. I gently slid a puck across the slideboard and it slid right off the other side; I was pretty impressed.
Using the Rotating Discs
The next thing I did was put in the rotating discs. This was easy to do and I was sliding from disc to disc in no time. The feeling of sliding is pretty cool, but I do not really see a real benefit for me in doing it.
Sliding Laterally
There are two rectangle shaped stoppers that can be inserted into the board. I put one in each corner to give me close to 8 feet of room to slide. I was able to slide back and forth, but I did not feel comfortable giving hard pushes. The stoppers are only half an inch tall and it feels like if I give a really hard push my foot might go over top. The board also seems to move a bit with each slide, but this is likely because I am using it on a carpet.
Stickhandling
Stickhandling is pretty fun on the Slideboard, there are a few options if you want to practice your stickhandling. You can just run around the board and practice some moves while you are moving. You can use the rectangle stoppers and slide laterally while stickhandling. Or you can put on the booties and just move your feet around on the board while moving the puck.
I like to run around the board to practice stops and starts and quick movements. The lateral sliding is good for toe drags and using the booties is a good way to practice moves that involve using your feet. Overall I think a hockey player could learn and practice a lot of moves, especially if they have a good imagination!
Overall Thoughts
Overall I like the slideboard. I think that younger hockey players will get the most use out of it because it would help them develop a lot of fundamental skills. A player with a big imagination could think of a lot of uses for the slideboard. There were a few things that I liked and a few I didn't like. I will outline the pros and cons below.
Penalty Box
The slideboard is a pretty cool training tool, but I have to assess a few minor penalties. The first one would be the price. $440 is pretty steep! There are more affordable slideboards on the market, but none of them offer the size of the G1 Extreme or serve multiple purposes.
The next penalty is for ergonomics. The stoppers used on the slideboard are made of hard plastic, and do not seem to be designed to stop feet. I would have liked to see stoppers that are more comfortable. After using the slideboard for a few minutes, the outsides of my feet started to hurt a little bit.
Scoresheet
There were a number of things that I liked about the G1 Extreme slideboard. I will outline them below:
Large surface is great for sliding and stickhandling
The slideboard allows hockey players to practice a number of skills
Easy to install stoppers
Very smooth
The slideboard is a good multi-purpose unit that allows hockey players to practice a number of skills. With the G1 Extreme you can work on the fundamentals of skating in addition to stickhandling and shooting. The main advantage of the G1 Extreme is the size and variety of drills you can perform. If you are simply looking for a slide board to work solely on conditionning, I recommend the PowerSlide.
Video Review:
