Although slick tiles have become a pretty hot topic lately, there is a little bit of confusion about what exactly they are, and how they work. Sniper’s Edge Hockey created the slick tile by adding a bit of slickness to the standard dryland hockey flooring that many players are familiar with. Because of the slick property of the tiles hockey players can practice on the flooring with regulation pucks and sticks and be able to experience the ice-like slickness of a real ice rink. When we compare dryland slick flooring with synthetic ice, the answer depends on the needs of the person asking the question. Which type of flooring is better? Keep reading and you can be the judge.

What Exactly Are Slick Tiles?

As we mentioned above, “slick tiles” are the Sniper’s Edge Hockey version of dryland hockey flooring. What makes these tiles stand above other tiles is that they are built to last longer, and they are built to provide a surface that is close to traditional ice as possible. Dryland hockey flooring can vary in quality depending on the manufacturer, and what kind of use they will have. Some dryland flooring is manufactured only for playing Dek hockey with a ball and sneakers. Since the flooring is only to be used for hockey balls, there is no need for it to be slick.

Slick tile flooring, on the other hand, is created to be more versatile than standard dryland flooring. You can practice with pucks and sticks on the platform and have an experience that is comparable to the slickness of real ice.

Although the tiles are indeed slick and give the player an ice-like experience, they are not build to withstand ice skating. The largest difference between slick dryland tiles and synthetic ice is that you can not ice skate on slick dryland flooring tiles. You can rollerblade, and play in sneakers or even barefoot…but you can not use ice skates on them.

Synthetic Ice

Synthetic ice panels were designed with the ice skater in mind. Back in the early 1960s, a group of people developed the first synthetic ice platform. Back in those days, the plastic that was available to work with was not nearly advanced as it is today. 

For the first instances of artificial ice, the flooring had to be constantly treated with a gliding agent so that there would be adequate lubrication for the ice skates to glide across the flooring without stopping and skidding.

This gliding agent was formulated using a silicon material that caused buildup to form on the surface of the flooring that had to be scraped up in order to prevent injuries or other problems.

Since those days, synthetic ice has come a long way and can now almost mimic real ice. Not quite though. However, when ice skaters skate on high-quality synthetic ice panels, they can skate just as well as they can on real ice. There is a slight drag and a little bit of resistance, but not enough to be a real problem. People that install synthetic ice flooring in their homes end up benefiting from it because the added bit of resistance to the skating experience builds muscle and stamina for the players as they continue to practice.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the best type of flooring will depend on what the person is looking for in terms of use. If you prefer ice skating, then it is definitely better to install some synthetic ice panels. If you are more into dryland hockey with inline skates, then dryland slick tiles are the best choice. Either way, make sure that you get only the highest quality flooring that is available on the market. Otherwise, both types will be wrong.

***Sniper’s Edge Hockey loves Canada! We proudly ship all of our products to Canada and offer the same return policies as we do for everybody else. We realize the exchange rates for the Canadian dollar are not the best right now, so we’re trying to help by giving you free shipping and no customs/duty.***

If you are in the hockey world, you’ve almost surely seen slick tiles. You may have seen them on YouTube hockey training videos, in trick shot videos on Instagram or Tik Tok, or maybe even in an off-ice training area at a rink complex or a friend’s house.

If you don’t have slick tiles at home and have never used them, you’ve probably asked yourself, what are slick tiles used for? These smooth tiles have a few different uses and are a great addition to any home or other off-ice training area. Here are a few different things slick tiles are used for.

Slick Tiles Simulate the Feel of the Ice

One of the biggest reasons people use slick tiles is that using them to train on is one of the closest things to training on real ice. The puck or ball and your stick will glide smoothly along your slick tiles just like they would on ice. Your shots and passes on slick tiles will feel right too and the puck will come off your stick smoothly. You can even train with a regulation puck with no problems so your training will translate better and quicker when you get back on the real ice.  

Slick Tiles Turn Any Area into a Training Area

Any flat surface can be turned into a hoe off-ice training area with slick tiles. This means your driveway, garage, basement, deck or patio, or even a flat dirt or grass outdoor space. When you put slick tiles down on these areas, you can start training with real equipment using your sneakers or even inline skates (you just can’t train in real skates, you need synthetic ice for that). The tiles are easy to set up and disassemble if you use them outdoors and strong and durable enough to leave set up in a basement or garage and still use that space for other things.

Slick Tiles Protect Your Equipment 

Training off-ice is necessary to become a better hockey player but doing so can damage your equipment. The biggest issue is obviously protecting your best sticks. If you don’t have slick tiles, your options are either to bang up your good sticks or use a lesser stick to train that you don’t mind dinging up. With slick tiles, you don’t have to make this choice. You can use your game-ready stick so your training truly simulates real hockey conditions.

Slick Tiles Protect Your Space 

Anyone who’s trained at home or had someone train in their home knows how badly floor surfaces can get scuffed up in these situations. Inline skates, pucks, and hockey tape can leave ugly black marks on the floor and it only takes one too many slap shots to take a chunk out of concrete or asphalt. Slick tiles protect any surface they cover so you can train without worrying about damaging the space. Just remember, slick tiles don’t help protect your walls or garage door if you miss the net! You’ll need a shooting tarp for that.

Conclusion 

Slick tiles are a must-have for any home training space. They make your training more realistic, allow you to train almost anywhere, and protect both your equipment and your space. To get a few slick tiles to train on or to create an entire home slick tile rink, check out the best price per square foot in the industry at Snipers Edge Hockey’s website.

***Sniper’s Edge Hockey loves Canada! We proudly ship all of our products to Canada and offer the same return policies as we do for everybody else. We realize the exchange rates for the Canadian dollar are not the best right now, so we’re trying to help by giving you free shipping and no customs/duty.***