Clap skate
Hinged skate blade that revolutionized speed skating.
The clap skate—also known as clapper skates, clapskates, slap skates, or slapskates, a term borrowed from Dutch—is a speed skating boot with a blade attached by a hinge at the front, rather than fixed rigidly as in traditional skates. This hinge lets the blade stay on the ice longer because the skater can extend the ankle at the end of each stride, allowing a more natural motion that spreads the leg’s energy more effectively and efficiently.
Researchers at the Faculty of Human Movement Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, led by Gerrit Jan van Ingen Schenau, developed the modern clap skate, though the concept itself is older: designs from around 1900 exist. The skate first appeared in the 1984/1985 season but was not taken seriously until the late 1990s. In the 1996/1997 season, the Dutch women’s team used it with great success, and the rest of the speed skating world quickly followed, leading to a wave of world records in subsequent seasons, including at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
The idea of a hinged skate was described and patented in 1894 by Karl Hannes of Raitenhaslach, Burghausen. Van Ingen Schenau independently re-invented it, starting work in 1979, building the first prototype in 1980, and completing his PhD thesis on the subject in 1981. His premise was that the extended blade contact would let the calf muscles contribute longer to the stroke. The hinge design was refined with help from Viking. In 1985, Ron Ket became the first to race with clap skates in an officially timed event—a 500-meter sprint at the Jaap Eden baan, recording a promising 40.65 seconds. In February 1986, Henk Gemser, then coaching the Dutch national speed skating squad, said he planned to begin training with the skate, but no trials followed. During the 1986–1987 season, a few marathon skaters tried using the clap skate competitively, but officials banned it, citing an increased risk of injury in falls. Top Dutch professionals Ids Postma, Bart Veldkamp, and Rintje Ritsma were unimpressed.
For the 1994–1995 season, 11 skaters aged 14 to 18 from South Holland began using the clap skate in competition. They improved their times by an average of 6.25%, compared to 2.5% for skaters using traditional skates; ten of them qualified for the national championship. In the 1996–1997 season, use of the clap skate took off at the highest level. In 1997, Tonny d
- field
- Speed skating equipment
- known_for
- Hinged blade that remains in contact with the ice longer, enabling faster times
- first_use
- 1984/1985 skating season
- developer
- Gerrit Jan van Ingen Schenau, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam
- earliest_design
- Around 1900; patented in 1894 by Karl Hannes
Lore & Background
The idea of a hinging skate was described and patented in 1894 by Karl Hannes, from Raitenhaslach, Burghausen. It was re-invented by Gerrit Jan van Ingen Schenau, who started work on a hinged speed skate in 1979, created his first prototype in 1980 and finished his PhD thesis on the subject in 1981 on the premise that a skater would benefit from the extended movement with the skate on the ice, allowing the calf muscles to longer partake in the skate movement. The construction of the hinge was refined further in collaboration with Viking. In 1985 Ron Ket was the first to ride the clap skates in an officially timed setting, a 500-meter sprint on the Jaap Eden baan, clocking in on a promising 40.65. In February 1986 Henk Gemser who was coaching the Dutch national speedskating squad at that time expressed his intention to start training with the clap skate, though no subsequent trials were run on the new skate. In the 1986–1987 season a small number of marathon skaters intended to use the clap skate competitively, but its use was prohibited by match officials due to increased risk of physical harm to the skaters in case of a fall. The then current Dutch speed skating top professionals Ids Postma, Bart Veldkamp and Rintje Ritsma were unimpressed by the skate.
Reader's Guide
The clap skate was used first in the 1984/1985 skating season. It was, however, not until the late 1990s that the idea was taken seriously. In the 1996/1997 season, the Dutch women's team started using the skates with great success. The rest of the skating world soon followed suit, causing a torrent of world records to be broken in the following seasons, including the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. For the 1994–1995 season, 11 skaters from the South Holland 14–18 age category started using the clap skate competitively. Those 11 showed an average improvement of 6.25% on their times, compared to 2.5% of the other skaters using regular speed skates. Ten of them placed for the national championship. In the 1996–1997 season, the use of the clap skate caught on at the highest level, and in 1997 Tonny de Jong was the first European all round champion using the clap skate, leaving Gunda Niemann, the defending world champion, in second place. Niemann remarked that the skate was illegal, and should be outlawed. In the following years the clap skate started to dominate the long track speedskating landscape. The design was banned from use in short track speed skating. Research completed in 2000 by Dutch sport scientist Han Houdijk showed that the speed gain from using the clap skate does not originate in using the calf muscle to stretch the ankle, as was assumed in the creation of the clap skate, but in the fact that the point of rotation is moved from the tip of the skate to the hinge, facilitating the transfer of power to the ice.
Did You Know?
- The clap skate was developed at the Faculty of Human Movement Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, led by Gerrit Jan van Ingen Schenau.
- The idea of a hinging skate was patented in 1894 by Karl Hannes.
- In 1985 Ron Ket was the first to ride the clap skate in an officially timed setting, a 500-meter sprint on the Jaap Eden baan.
- The clap skate was banned from use in short track speed skating.
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