Usually the new ideas come from the athletes. Sport scientists often find themselves in a forensic mode: they try to understand "why" without asking "what if?" The work of van Ingen Schenau, de Koning and colleagues from the Netherlands is an exciting example of sport scientists in a proactive mode. Their comparative and integrative approach over the last decade has sparked positive change in a sport that, technically speaking, has been at an evolutionary standstill for generations. About the revolution in speed skating through the development of slapskates.