What are the regulations for floorball blades?

The International Floorball Federation (IFF) determines the regulations for floorball blades worldwide. The same regulations apply to the Swedish Floorball Federation when playing in Sweden. All equipment approved by the IFF must be tested and verified by SP, the Swedish Technical Research Institute.

Approved floorball blades

For a floorball blade to be approved, it must meet the regulations established by the IFF. Most of the rules concern various measurements. The primary purpose of these regulations is to ensure that the equipment used in floorball does not cause harm to players.

The following requirements must be met by a floorball blade:

• The blade must be made of PE, PP, or PA plastic.
• It is permissible to use other plastics or laminates in the blade, but they should not exceed 1/4 of the blade's length.
• The blade must not exceed 27 cm in length from tip to heel.
• The blade must have a minimum height of 7.2 cm and a maximum height of 8 cm. The blade's height must pass the measurement tool for blade height provided by SP.
• The thickness must be at least 8 mm.
• The blade's edge radius must be at least 2 mm.
• The blade tip should not penetrate more than 2 cm into SP's penetration measurement tool.
• The concavity must not exceed 12 mm.

In addition to the above, there are a few other requirements that must be met:

• The blade must not leave marks on the floor higher than 10% (approximately the same requirement as for indoor shoe soles).
• The blade must not have sharp surfaces. This means that if the underside of your blade is severely worn, it may no longer meet the approval criteria.
• The hook on the blade must not exceed 30 mm. This rule pertains to the gameplay itself and is not a material regulation. You can adjust the hook yourself. However, if a blade has an excessively large hook from the manufacturing stage, it will not be approved for play.

Modifications to the blade

It is permissible to adjust the hook on your blade as long as you stay within the hook regulations. However, other modifications to the blade are not allowed. You cannot remove ribs, cut out filled areas, or spray-paint the blade in a different color.

Taping around the blade

It is acceptable to apply tape around the joint between the blade shaft and the stick. However, the tape should not extend more than 1 cm onto the blade neck. Also, keep in mind that many sticks have their approval markings near the blade, so do not tape over them.