抄録
Slap skates became popular after the Nagano Winter Olympics and came to be one of the main factors in shortening time records. There have not been enough studies on slap skates but recently they are becoming more popular. The purposes of this study were to measure the strain applied to the skate blade, and to investigate characteristics of the blade reaction force to ice surface and their relationships to the skating place. The experiments were carried out at the M-wave skating arena, where speed skate competitions were held in the Nagano Winter Olympics. In the experiment, first a strain gage was attached to the blade, then data was collected with a compact recorder. The position of the strain gage was the outside of the blade. The gages were attached at four places (Front, Hinge, Middle, and Rear) of both sides of each blade. Two of these places were selected arbitrarily from the eight places when measuring. The results are summarized as follows.•At each of eight places of measurement positions, dynamic strain showed plus or minus values with the progress of time. It was found that the strain of the Hinge (under the axis) became greatest.•The strain at the Hinge of the left blade showed minus value while skating the straight section. The strain during the curve section showed plus value.•The strain at the Hinge of the right blade always showed minus value.•Differences in skater's strokes in the straight and curve sections clearly appeared in the interval of wave patterns. This was confirmed by the relation between strain and time.
