Engineered for pro-level accuracy and efficiency, the Elite E-P3 Blade Profiler delivers unmatched precision, versatility, and ease of use, empowering retailers and equipment professionals to optimize blade performance with confidence and consistency.
In use today with over 135+ NHL, AHL, NCAA and Major Junior teams, and over 85+ retail locations, the E-P3 is the most precise, most efficient, and most versatile profiling machine on the market today, offering the widest range of profile options.
Profiling 101 : Precision That Sets You Apart
It is becoming widely understood that the shape of your blade profile will greatly influence your speed, agility, power, and performance. Even very tiny changes in blade shape make a huge difference to the way your blades feel on the ice, ultimately affecting performance. You can hire a skating coach, you can spend hours in the gym, but one of the easiest ways to improve your skating performance is to find the profile that helps you skate your best. Knowing how profiling works – and why it matters – is the first step to unlocking your full potential on the ice.
What is Skate Blade Profiling and Why Does It Matter?
The profile of the skate blade, or the contour, is the shape of your blade from toe to heel. It is commonly measured in terms of the radius of a circle. Unlike the Radius of Hollow (ROH), measured in inches, the blade profile radius is measured in feet. Most stock blades come with a single curve profile, i.e. a 9 or a 10 foot radius. That means the effective skating surface of the blade is shaped in an arc that represents a 10’ circle.
Performance Profiling
The challenge with the single curve, or mono radius curve, is that it always involves trade-offs. Make it flatter and you will increase your speed and stability but lose agility and initial acceleration. Make it more curved, and you will increase agility and explosiveness but lose speed and stability.
Performance profiling is about strategically combining several curves on one blade to enhance skating performance. A performance profile might, for example, add a smaller radius curve at the front of the blade, to increase agility and acceleration, while maintaining a larger curve at the back for speed and stability.
With a performance profile, players don’t need to choose between agility and stability, or between speed and explosiveness. By adding different curves in a combined sequence, performance profiles allow players to have it all – more agility, more speed, more stability, and more acceleration.
Types of Profiles
There have been many performance profile formulas tried over the years, from CAG and Prosharp to Elite. It is worth finding the performance profile that feels right for your game and skating style.
Profiles are often described by the number of profile curves that are added to the blade shape. Mono profiles have one radius curve, such as a stock 10’ blade. Duos have two radius curves, such as a 7’-12’ duo, which has a 7 foot radius in the front of the blade and a 12 foot radius in the back. Triples have three radius curves and quads have four.
Another way to think about profiles is by their feel. Most profile combinations fit into two broad categories that share common characteristics. At Elite, we refer to these as Heel Glide profiles and Center Glide profiles.
Heel Glide Profiles
Heel glide profiles are those that are flatter toward the heel (to enhance glide, stability, and speed) and more curved toward the toe (for agility and acceleration). The balance point is a bit front of center and they have a bit of a pitched feel. Most performance profiles on the market today are what we would categorize as Heel Glides.
All Elite’s Duos, Triples, Quads, and the Polaris share the common characteristic of starting out comparatively rockered in front and becoming progressively flatter towards the heel. Prosharp’s zuperiors, quads and duos also fit into this category.
Types of Heel Glide Profiles
Duos
Combining two radius curves, the Duos are some of the earliest performance profiles. With a shorter radius curve in the front and a longer curve in the heel, the Duos have a good balance of agility and stability. Some players find the transition from toe to heel to be a bit abrupt.
Triples
With three radius curves, the Triples are more at the front, progressing to flatter curves at the back. Transitions are smoother than the Duos. They are fast, powerful, and solid, providing a good balance of agility and stability.
Quads
The Polaris Family
Named to acknowledge the Northern roots of its Finnish creator, Petri Hirvelä, the Polaris is the evolution of the Quad, and the newest profile family in our collection. A very agile profile, the Polaris also provides exceptional power and stability, with very smooth transitions. Compared to the other Quads, the Polaris is significantly lighter in the back which gives it extra agility. The Polaris is quickly becoming a favourite among pro players. For clients who have been skating on a Duo, Triple or Quad, we highly recommend trying the Polaris. The Polaris is now available in three options.
Center Glide Profiles
Types of Center Glide Profiles
SCS Series
This is Elite’s proprietary family of Center Glide profiles, with a sequence of flatter radius curves under the middle of the foot, and comparatively rockered toe and heel sections. The effect is a very powerful and smooth-skating profile, which provides high top-end speed and powerful striding turns while preserving agility and explosiveness.The ultimate blend of agility, power, and speed, the SCS is very popular with pro players across North America.
Center Flat Series
The Center Flats are Elite’s version of the CAG profiles, which have an actual flat section at or near the middle of a 10’ mono blade. They come in a variety of lengths of flat section, and also in neutral and more forward-pitched configurations. The flat section adds speed and stability but with a loss of agility, especially in the longer lengths. As well, the transitions onto and off of the flat section are not smooth in the longer lengths.
The SCS is a much higher performing evolution of the Center Flat design. If you have players that have been skating on a CAG, we highly recommend they try the SCS series, which has much smoother transitions.
Mono Profiles
We recommend our performance profile combinations but understand that some players are more comfortable with a stock blade, such as the 10’ mono radius. The Monos will feel familiar, but with no performance gains in agility, power, speed, or stability. Popular Monos include the 9’, 10’ and 11’.
Goalie Profiles
Goalie profiles are much flatter than player profiles, providing superior stability and lateral power, helping the goalie stay in balance and move quickly side-to-side.
Types of Goalie Profiles
Goalie Monos
These are a standard stock goalie blade. Very short release zone at each end.
Goalie Duos
The goalie duos have a shorter radius curve in the front to add more agility in the front with the same stability in the back. These profiles preserve stability, but offer a slightly more aggressive pitch forward, which facilitates quicker lateral movement and allows them to regain their feet more quickly.
How to Choose the Right Profile
The truth is, there is no magic formula to choosing the right profile. We could tell you that if you are 6’2” and play defense you should choose the SCS2, or if you are an agile forward choose the Polaris, but it really is a personal choice that depends on your skating style, and desired performance attributes.
From our extensive on-ice testing with elite players, we’ve found that most skaters naturally prefer either the slightly pitched feel of a Heel Glide or the more neutral feel of a Center Glide and then refine their choice within that family.
The best way to choose a profile is to try a few on the ice and determine what feels right to you. If that’s not possible, then start by deciding whether you prefer a more centered balance point (Center Glide) or a more forward pitch (Heel Glide), and then review the performance chart beside each profile in our list to find the attributes you want — i.e. more agility, more stability, more speed.
Both the SCS family (Center Glide) and the Polaris family (Heel Glide) are becoming increasingly popular among pro players, but there are many options. Elite offers the widest selection of performance profiles available and our retailer partners have the expertise to help you choose the perfect profile for your playing style.
For more details, click the link below to view full descriptions and performance attributes for our most popular profiles.
How Often Should You Profile?
If you are getting your blades sharpened on the Elite E-S4 automated sharpener, you don’t ever need to reprofile your blades. The E-S4 is the only sharpener that can read the shape of your blades and perfectly maintain your profile integrity. With the Elite sharpener your blade profile will remain intact for the life of your blades.
If you are getting your blade sharpened by hand, you will want to reprofile at least a few times a season. If you bring your blades to an Elite blade performance center we can put your blade on our light box and let you know if your profile is intact or whether you need to reprofile.
Profiling Basics
Ever feel increased leg fatigue, lower back pain, or just off balance when skating? Want to improve your on ice performance including acceleration, agility, speed, and stability? These could be signs that it’s time to profile your blades A blades profile (also known as rocker or contour) refers to the shape or curvature of the bottom of the skate blade lengthwise. Most skates come with a generic factory profile, typically in a 9ft, 10ft or 11ft radius.
New Steel
Although new blades normally come with some sort of profile already on them, not all new blades and profiles are consistent. More than often, new blades can vary greatly from one blade to the next in height, shape, pitch, and have many imperfections such as dips and waves down the length of the steel. The blades height, shape, the balance point, and pitch are all major factors that need to be accurate before skating on your new blades. At SkateTech, we perform a height maintenance procedure with each new set of blades before profiling or sharpening to ensure perfect symmetry between the 2 blades. It is always a good idea to profile new steel to ensure consistency and to remove any factory imperfections that could keep you from reaching your maximum on ice potential.
Choosing A Profile
There are many different profile templates from single, double, triple (Zuperior), and Quad, all of which have pros and cons that can affect your game. A smaller radius such as a 9ft, will give you greater agility and acceleration but lack in speed and stability where as a larger radius, 13ft, will give you increased blade contact resulting in more straight line speed and stability but have decreased acceleration and agility. Your skate blades are as personal as the curve on your stick. Age, height, weight, skating ability/style, and position are all factors that need to be considered when choosing the proper profile that best fit your needs as a skater.
Maintaining Your Profile
Whether you have a factory profile or a custom profile done by a professional skate technician, it is important to maintain that profile. The profile shape, pitch, balance point, and blade height can alter over time from improper sharpening done by an untrained sharpener applying too much or inconsistent pressure or speed on the grinding wheel or by automatic sharpening machines which are unable to control different variables and techniques required to sharpen skates correctly. Even with a trained professional, the profile can change over time with repeated sharpenings without proper maintenance on a regular basis. We typically recommend re-profiling your blades every 6 months with routine sharpening and every 6-12 months for the occasional rec or beer league skater.
We are happy to work with you to determine the right profile based on your style and needs as a player!