The Secret Weapon on Ice: How Customized 3D-Printed Insoles Are Transforming Performance for Ice Hockey Pros

Something interesting is happening in Swiss ice hockey. HC Davos, one of the most storied clubs in the National League, sits at the top of the standings. The players look sharp. Their first steps are faster. Their directional changes more precise. What changed? We can't say for certain, but the hottest foot gossip in Swiss arenas suggests the players are carrying a secret weapon inside their skates.

What we do know: moxxis is equipping HC Davos players with fully customized 3D-printed insoles. And you can see it in their game. From the forward who needs explosive acceleration to the goalie who demands absolute stability in the crease, these athletes are experiencing what happens when your full power actually reaches the ice.

Coincidence? Maybe. But once you understand the science behind it, you might see things differently.

Why Insoles Make the Difference in Ice Hockey

Most ice hockey players think about fit, blades, and boot design when choosing their skates. But here is the point almost everyone misses: the stock insole in your skate is generic. It was made for nobody in particular, which means it doesn't truly work perfectly for anybody.

Sounds like a small detail? It isn't.

Inside a skate, your foot is locked into a tight, rigid shell. When the arch isn't fully supported during dynamic loading, when the heel shifts even minimally, or when pressure concentrates on isolated areas of the sole, energy can be lost with every stride. These losses are barely noticeable in the moment, but they accumulate over the course of a game, a season, an entire career.

Customized Insoles for Ice Hockey: The Physics of Power Transfer

Skating at the highest level is a question of forefoot force. Studies using instrumented insoles have shown that elite athletes load the forefoot significantly more effectively during acceleration than amateurs. This precise force application through the front of the foot is measurable, and it separates good first steps from game-deciding ones.

The biomechanical problem lies in pressure distribution. A generic insole concentrates the load on a few points. This creates localized peak pressures that are not only uncomfortable but also costly in terms of energy. A precisely fitted insole addresses exactly this: it distributes plantar pressure more evenly across the entire sole and locks the foot into a biomechanically neutral position.

The theory behind it is clear. When the arch is fully supported at the moment of push-off, a direct power pathway is created. The energy from hip and knee extension flows without detour through the insole into the skate and onto the ice. No parasitic movements. No foot yielding inside the boot. No energy dissipating into gaps between foot and shell.

The result is a more compact, more reactive movement pattern. During repeated accelerations, crossovers, stops, and directional changes, even marginal improvements per stride add up to noticeable advantages: faster breakouts, more precise edge work, sharper direction changes at full speed.

This is exactly where moxxis comes in. Instead of your foot touching the boot at just a few pressure points, the entire sole makes full contact. Full surface. Full control. The foot is locked into a neutral, stable position, and suddenly the skate feels like an extension of your body. In theory, that means more energy reaches the ice and less energy is wasted in micro-movements inside the boot. Practice shows whether the theory holds.

What Ice Hockey Pros Say About Customized Insoles

Simon Knak, forward for HC Davos and member of the Swiss national team, describes his experience:

"Since I started wearing moxxis, I no longer have any pain in my skates. I feel a much better connection to the ice, can push off with my entire foot, and move faster and more explosively as a result."

As a forward, Simon Knak's game is built on repeated explosive accelerations from a standstill. His position demands constant directional changes at high speed. For this type of load, the quality of power transfer is not a side note. It is central.

The "better connection to the ice" he describes is biomechanically explainable: when the entire foot is in contact with the insole and the insole sits flush inside the boot, a closed power pathway is created with no gaps where energy can dissipate.

Between the Posts: How Goalies Benefit From Insoles

Contrary to what you might expect, it's not only the skaters covering the entire ice surface who benefit. The goalie faces an entirely different challenge. And in many ways, the case for customized insoles is even stronger in the crease. Sandro Aeschlimann, goaltender for HC Davos, reports:

"Since I've been wearing my moxxis, I feel noticeably more compact in my skates. My power transfer is better and I use less energy. What I appreciate most: they're fully adapted to my foot, for the perfect level of comfort."

Sandro's game as a goalie is built on controlled micro-movements. Lateral slides. Butterfly drops. Explosive pushes off the post. All of this demands extraordinary stability and precise edge control from an almost static position. When your foot isn't perfectly aligned inside the skate, these micro-movements become less precise and more energy-intensive. Over sixty minutes, that makes a massive difference.

With a moxxis insole tuned to the specific needs of a goaltender, the entire game between the posts becomes more compact. More controlled. More efficient.

Beyond the Ice: Recovery Starts With Your Feet

Several HC Davos players wear their customized insoles not only in their skates, but also in training shoes and everyday footwear. The reasoning: biomechanical consistency.

When the foot is supported in a specific position on the ice and the body adapts to that alignment, but that support disappears off the ice, a constant switch between different loading patterns occurs. This can create additional stress on joints and muscles.

Through continuous support, even during the recovery phase, the biomechanical pattern stays constant. In theory, this could support regeneration and reduce cumulative load over a season.

Your feet carry the weight of every practice, every game, every off-ice session. Giving them the same precise support consistently is not a minor detail. It is intelligent recovery management.

Not Just for Pros: Relevant at Every Level

But don't worry, you don't need to play in the National League to benefit from everything described above. The biomechanics of skating work on the same principles at every level. Power transfer, pressure distribution, and alignment: these are not factors that only matter for elite athletes. They are always relevant.

What differs is the magnitude. A professional player operates at margins so fine that every small optimization counts. A recreational player has bigger levers for improvement, but the underlying principle remains: when energy is lost inside the boot instead of being transferred to the ice, that's inefficient, regardless of the level.

If you feel pressure building in your skate after twenty minutes, if your feet go numb during a game, if you feel like you're using more force than necessary, the problem probably isn't your skating technique. It's the interface between your foot and your boot.

The access to the technology is the same. The 3D scan works identically. The printing process is the same. The orthopedic expertise behind it is the same. What was developed for HC Davos players is available to everyone.