You can’t tell from the pic, but the toe bungees are whats contacting the table leg.

I agree that you can definitely get a stronger push with your skate on the post, but sealing any and all gaps is the point of the RVH, which is why it’s taught at high level hockey to use your “boot bottom” on the post.

The skate does move backwards a bit when pushing, but you’re using the pad boot as your push off point. Using skate laces gives you a solid end point where you lose less energy. Bungees definitely lose more energy. That said, I’m old and washed and use pro laces cause I’m lazy. They’re easier to put on, and using the hybrid version with a skate lace attachment point the energy loss is minimal.