How to choose your hollow: 1/2", 5/8", 3/4" and beyond

Walk up to any sharpening counter and the first question is almost always the same: "What hollow?" If you have never thought about it, the honest answer is usually "whatever it was last time," which may or may not be right for you. This guide explains what the number means, how to choose a sensible starting point, and how to adjust from there without guessing.

What a hollow actually is

A hockey or figure blade is not flat across the bottom. The sharpener grinds a shallow, curved groove down the length of the blade, which leaves two edges, an inside edge and an outside edge, standing up on either side of the groove. That groove is the hollow.

The number you hear, 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", is the radius of hollow, often shortened to ROH. Picture the groove as a slice of a circle. A 1/2" hollow is cut by a wheel dressed to the curve of a circle with a half-inch radius. A 1" hollow comes from a much bigger, flatter circle.

That leads to the one rule worth memorising:

What deeper and shallower feel like

A deeper hollow (3/8", 7/16", 1/2") lets the edges dig further into the ice. You get grip on tight turns, quick starts and crossovers. The cost is drag: more edge in the ice means more friction, so you work harder for the same speed, and the edges can feel "grabby" when you want to glide or stop.

A shallower hollow (5/8", 3/4", 7/8", 1") sits on top of the ice more. You glide further on each stride and stops feel smoother. The cost is grip: if the hollow is too shallow for you, edges can wash out on hard turns.

Neither is better. The right cut is the one that gives you enough bite to trust your edges without making every stride feel like skating through sand.

Start with your weight

Body weight does more to the feel of a hollow than anything else. A heavier skater presses the edge into the ice harder, so the same 1/2" hollow bites more under a 200 lb adult than under a 90 lb kid. That is why the starting point moves shallower as weight goes up.

Here are the starting points the BladeBuddy setup quiz uses for forwards and defense:

• Under 100 lbs: 7/16"
• 100 to 140 lbs: 1/2"
• 140 to 180 lbs: 9/16"
• 180 to 220 lbs: 5/8"
• Over 220 lbs: 3/4"

These are starting points, not prescriptions. Every adjustment from here is one step on the ladder: 3/8", 7/16", 1/2", 9/16", 5/8", 3/4", 7/8", 1".

Then nudge for what you want

Once you have a starting point, three things move it one step at a time.

What you want more of. If you want quick turns and agility, go one step deeper. If you want power, top speed and glide, go one step shallower. If you want stability, or a bit of everything, stay where you are.

The ice you skate on. Cold, hard rinks are tougher for an edge to get into, so they take a step deeper. Warm, soft or outdoor ice lets the edge sink in on its own, so go a step shallower. We cover this in more depth in hollow and ice temperature.

How experienced you are. Newer skaters are steadier with a little less bite. A grabby edge catches when your balance is still developing, so beginners usually do better one step shallower than their weight alone suggests.

When two nudges point in opposite directions, they cancel out. A heavy skater who wants agility on soft ice may end up exactly where they started, and that is fine.

Goalies and figure skaters play by different rules

Goalies need their pads to slide on a lateral push, not grab. Goalie cuts sit on their own shallow range, usually 5/8" to 1". The quiz starts goalies at 3/4" and goes a step shallower over about 180 lbs. If you want the long version, read goalie vs. player profiles.

Figure skaters use a different blade with a toe pick and a much more curved rocker. Their hollows still follow the same "smaller is deeper" rule, but the starting point depends on whether you want grab for jumps and edge work. See what's different about figure skate sharpening.

How to test a new hollow

Changing your hollow is a bit like changing your stick flex: give it more than one skate before you judge it.

1. 1Change one thing at a time. If you change your hollow and your profile on the same day, you will not know which one you are feeling.
2. 2Skate it for at least two or three sessions. Fresh edges always feel sharper for the first hour.
3. 3Pay attention to stops and tight turns. Washing out means go a step deeper. Chattering or feeling stuck means go a step shallower.
4. 4Write it down. Note the hollow, the shop and how it felt. Over a season this is the single most useful record you can keep.

When to talk to your sharpener

A good sharpener has seen thousands of skaters and can watch you skate or ask the right questions. Use your starting point as the beginning of the conversation, not the end of it. Tell them what you want more of and what is bothering you now. Our guide to talking to your pro shop has a short script you can use.

If you want a starting point built from your own answers, the blade setup quiz walks through weight, position, ice and experience and explains each step of its reasoning.