Rubber or plastic, soft or hard: how Shore hardness, colour code and surface determine your ice stock's running behaviour — and how to set it up cleanly.
The basic rule is short: on ice a rubber sole runs, in summer on asphalt a plastic one — and the higher the Shore hardness of the plate, the harder the material and the faster your stock runs [1][2]. Everything else is fine-tuning along exactly that axis.
The honest news for everyone despairing at their technique: a large part of your spread is material, not ability. Two identical stocks with different running soles run so differently that you have to recalibrate your swing lengths completely — whoever doesn't know that hunts the fault in their own lunge step for weeks.
And because a lot of half-knowledge circulates here: the colours of the running plates are labels for hardness grades [2] — but the order of the colour scales is not consistent between sources and manufacturers. What is binding is the printed value and your manufacturer's specification, not the colour your club mate has in his head.
The modern ice stock has three parts — handle, stock body and running sole [1] — and only the third changes with the season. Winter running soles are made of rubber, summer soles of plastic [2].
In summer you mostly play on asphalt, concrete or increasingly on concrete paving [3]. Those surfaces differ from each other about as much as ice and asphalt do in the rough — ask at the club which sole is usual on your lane.
The higher the Shore value, the harder the plate and the faster the stock runs on the surface [2]. That is the entire physics you need in your head.
Translated into practice: a harder plate gives you more distance for the same swing — and less margin for error, because it also carries every over-powered attempt further. A softer plate brakes earlier and forgives more, but costs you reach into the rear of the target field.
So you aren't choosing "good or bad", you're choosing "fast or controllable".
Colours are assigned to the hardness grades [2] so plates can be told apart in a range. Only: the published colour orders contradict each other depending on source and manufacturer [2].
The consequence for you: note manufacturer, colour and Shore value together for every plate. Only that triple is unambiguous — "I play the yellow one" is not.
Lane, temperature and the state of the surface change running behaviour continuously. So the right question is never "which sole is best?" but "which sole suits this lane today?".
Use the first two or three attempts of every session as a measurement: medium swing length, watch how far the stock runs. If it comes up clearly short, the plate is too soft for today; if it regularly runs through, it is too hard.
There are three things you can change, in this order of effect: first the running sole (the biggest lever [1][2]), second the weight via the stock body — under the rulebook between 2.73 and 3.83 kilos, complete stock at most 5.46 kilos [1] — third the handle, classically ash, modern carbon or titanium [4].
Whoever starts at the handle is optimising the third decimal place while the first is still wrong.
After every sole change: shoot a reference series before you judge anything about your technique. Ten attempts, identical task, deviation noted. Only then do you know how the new plate affects your three swing lengths.
And one rule detail that counts in competition: in the distance competition all athletes play with the same running sole [5] — there, material choice is deliberately not a competitive factor.
Material work is safety work: a loose running sole or a slackened screw changes running behaviour abruptly and can make the stock tip away uncontrolled. Check sole and screws before every session and after every change.
During the change itself: put tools away properly, leave no loose parts at the edge of the lane, and lay the stock down to work on it instead of holding it at hip height. On the lane it still holds: firm, grippy footwear, and nobody in the running lane while a stock is on its way.
And as always: this guide explains material and motivates — it never replaces the supervised club or course where somebody shows you which plates actually work on your lane.
Keep a sole logbook: date, surface, rough temperature, plate (manufacturer/colour/Shore) and the swing length that carried to the Daube that day. After one season you have a table that tells you in thirty seconds which plate to fit in any weather — while everyone else is still calibrating.
A rubber sole on ice, a plastic sole on summer asphalt [1][2]. Within the plastic plates you choose via Shore hardness: the higher the value, the harder the plate and the faster the stock runs [2]. Which hardness is usual on your lane is something the club knows best.
The colours mark hardness grades [2]. But careful: the published colour orders differ by source and manufacturer [2], so there is no universally valid colour scale. Rely on the Shore value and the manufacturer's specification, and always note colour, brand and value together.
Through three levers in this order: running sole, weight of the stock body (rule frame 2.73 to 3.83 kilos, complete stock at most 5.46 kilos) and last the handle [1][4]. In practice you shoot the first two or three attempts of every session as a measurement: short means too soft, running through regularly means too hard [2].
Not everywhere. In the distance competition all athletes play with the same running sole [5], so distance rather than material decides. In the other formats sole choice is part of your preparation — which is exactly why a logbook of surface, temperature and plate pays off.
Summer ice stock sport: playing on asphalt and what changes