Clap skate

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Clap skates (also called clapskates, slap skates, slapskates, from Dutch klapschaats) are a type of ice skate used in speed skating. Unlike in traditional skates where the blade is fixed to the boot, the clap skates have the blade attached to the boot by a hinge at the front.

Clap skates were developed at the Faculty of Human Movement Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, led by Gerrit Jan van Ingen Schenau, although the idea of a clap skate is much older; designs dating from around 1900 are known.

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The clap skate was first used 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 female team started using the skates with great success. The rest of the skating world soon followed suit, causing a rain of World Records in the following seasons, including the 1998 Olympic Winter Games at Nagano, Japan. Nowadays, all top level long track speed skaters (and many amateur enthusiasts) use clap skates.

Clap skates allow for better lap times because with every stroke the skate maintains contact with the ice longer, thereby distributing the energy of the leg more effectively and efficiently.