Do your toes touch the ends of your skates?

[abbi_1990]

Just wondering if your toes are meant to touch the ends of your skates or not?

Any answers would be much appreciated.

[Sessy]

Only my little toes touch just a liiiitle bit. Although the others touch if I wiggle them or pull them way up.

[abbi_1990]

so they are not supposed to touch?

basicially i just want to check if my boots are too big - my toes dont touch the end but they are close to the end. the width is fine.

[Skittl1321]

Mine do touch the end of my boot- but aren't crunched against the end. They just brush lightly against it.

[blackmanskating]

Yeah they touch the tip of the boot just a bit. I'm so used to it, I hardly notice. As long as you can wiggle your toes a bit than you should be fine.


BlackManSkating

[doubletoe]

Make sure you push your heel way down into the back of the boot as you lace up your skate. Once your boots are on, stand up and bend your knees so that your knees are lined up over your toes. If your toes are close to the end and you don't feel your foot slipping in the heel or moving around inside the boot, you are probably just fine. If your longest toe (big toe, presumably) is actually touching the front of the boot and it feels uncomfortable, you might want to go up half a size. If it is just barely touching and not uncomfortable, then it's OK. If it's your pinkie toes that are pressing against the front/side of the boot, you may need a wider width in the front of the boot, or a different model of boot that has a wider toe box.

[abbi_1990]

thankyou double toe, thats what i needed to know. i will try what you said in the morning.

my right foot slipped slightly when i was skating in them this morning (1st time i skated in them), any suggestions as to how to remedy this?

my right foot is slightly shorter than the left btw.

[Sessy]

Are you skating barefoot? If so, you could try skating in socks. I recommend socks for runners.

[doubletoe]

thankyou double toe, thats what i needed to know. i will try what you said in the morning.

my right foot slipped slightly when i was skating in them this morning (1st time i skated in them), any suggestions as to how to remedy this?

my right foot is slightly shorter than the left btw.

Hmm. . . If the right foot still slips when you have laced up your skates while pushing the heel back, they are either too long or the heel might not be narrow enough, or both. Ideally, you would want to make sure the fit is perfect before mounting the blades,waterproofing or heat molding them, since they would still be returnable then (unless they are custom, in which case they should still take them back and fix them for you).

One thing you can do is to put a custom insole into your right boot to take up just a little space. SuperFeet is a popular heat-moldable custom insole, and there's also another one but I forgot what it's called. I know they can be ordered online.

Everyone is very different when it comes to what they like to wear under their boots, but I personally like thin cotton socks because my feet tend to slip a little when I wear nylons.

[abbi_1990]

I wear thin cotton socks.

My right foot is over 5 mm shorter than the left one, so i cant get a shorter boot because if i did it would be too short on the left foot. My right foot is 2cm wider than the left, so its probably slipping because it is slightly long.

It seemed fine when i tried them on in the pro shop lol, typical!

I dont think they are custom boots, they are WIFA prima french size 34 width LL. So they are the widest boot they make, i think they only make them one demand, i had to wait quite a while for them to arrive.

I have a spare thin insole (like the ones that you put in kids shoes if they are a bit too big) so i will try that today and if it still slips i will try and get the supa feet one.

I know that WIFA makes a kind of orthotic insole for these boots, do you think that would help?

[Sessy]

My right foot is shorter too, it's about a half a size in difference. I'm not really bothered by it, I just tie the right skate a little tighter around the half of the foot that's closest to the ankle.

Thing is, as you break your skates and the padding in, get them heat-molded, get the ankles punched out, that sorta stuff, the feet sink slightly more to the back of the skate, which they didn't do at the pro shop obviously.

[abbi_1990]

Thing is, as you break your skates and the padding in, get them heat-molded, get the ankles punched out, that sorta stuff, the feet sink slightly more to the back of the skate, which they didn't do at the pro shop obviously.

i dont understand what you mean, sorry

[Sessy]

It just is. Your heel goes closer towards the back of the skate as you break in skates, leaving more space at the toes. I'm not sure how that works, I've just seen it happen a few times with the most extreme case of it after somebody had their skates punched out at the ankles.

[abbi_1990]

oh ok i understand now, sorry!

[stardust skies]

Your toes are supposed to very lightly touch the end of your skates. Sessy's skates are most likely too big if she can actually slide her foot forward to make her toes touch where they usually do not- you should not be able to slide your foot back and forth in your boot, not even slightly. And socks are horrible, because you will not get a good fit. Not to mention, you'll have to buy a boot bigger than your actual foot in order to fit the socks, and then the blade will be too large as well, and that's never desirable. Get some tights that will allow you to slide into your boots evenly every time.

I disagree that your foot "sinks back" into the boot as you break it in/heat mold it/whatever. My foot is exactly in the same place in my boot now as when I tried them on in the pro shop. This has been true of every correctly-fit boot I've ever worn in my life. The only difference in broken in boots and new boots is that you can BEND in broken in boots. the only difference between heat-molded/punched out boots and new boots is that the former fits your foot better and thus doesn't hurt.

Please don't let people think it's normal to have your foot sliding forward/backward in your boots- it's not. It can cause injuries. Your foot shouldn't move- at all. The only case in which your foot will be able to slide forward in a boot after it's been punched out, when it couldn't before, is if the boot you bought was too narrow, and thus, with the extra width coming from getting heat molded/punched out, you can slide your foot all the way in whereas you couldn't before. Of course, this would mean that the boot is *too long* and that you need a shorter one. It's pretty simple- take out your skate's insole. If your heel doesn't touch the end of the insole, and if your longest toe doesn't touch the top of the insole, your skates are most likely too big, and if your foot doesn't move in it, then it's because the boot is probably too narrow at the toes, and thus holding your foot back from laying completely flat in the skate.

[abbi_1990]

oh dear

it sounds like they are too big then

i got them from a pro shop aswell :(

[stardust skies]

oh dear

it sounds like they are too big then

i got them from a pro shop aswell :(

While it's always better to get skates from a pro shop than to get them on your own through a catalog or something...at the same time, JUST because you get them from so-called professionals, sadly doesn't guarantee good fit. I mean, I've gotten customs that were fit and traced by the owner of Harlick and they *still* didn't fit right. You can't really guarantee a good fit...that's why it's a skater's responsibility to know what feels right and what doesn't, and until you've had boots that fit well, that's really difficult to do.

I've had pro shops, when I was little, fit me for skates that were way too big, and I stuffed the back of the heel with pads and tissues (btw this is a horrible idea but I didn't want to tell my parents they wasted their money), I've had pro shops ruin a pair of $500.00 blades because they didn't know how to sharpen them right and took a piece of the toepick off...pro shops sadly don't mean much these days unless there is a trusted, tried and true fitter there, and even then, people can sometimes make mistakes.

If your foot moves back and forth in your skate, it's bad news. In extreme cases you can lose your big toenails that way and severely bruise your toes. In less extreme cases, you don't have correct support in your ankle and you risk injury to them because if your FOOT moves, then everything connected to it moves, too, and that includes your ankle. In a similar fashion, your heel shouldn't move up and down, and if it does, it should be extremely slight, never to the point where you can hear the sound of air as you push it back down. That can also injure your ankles.

If your skates don't fit, you need to get properly fitted. What area do you live in? Maybe someone can recommend a decent fitter. If you'd rather not say, you could try to ask some of the elite skaters or coaches of elite skaters at your rink, who they go to for skate fittings, and pay them a visit. Bring your skates with you and see what they have to say about them, as well..it's really hard to tell through the internet how big of a problem you have...it might be worrisome, or it might be okay to deal with...only someone who sees it in person could tell.

Good luck!

[Sessy]

Your toes are supposed to very lightly touch the end of your skates. Sessy's skates are most likely too big if she can actually slide her foot forward to make her toes touch where they usually do not- you should not be able to slide your foot back and forth in your boot, not even slightly.

No I can't slide them, but I can... how to put this... I can spread my toes out and up, and then they touch. I've got very monkey-like toes, I often pick up things with them from the floor instead of bending. :twisted: Otherwise, in rest, just my little toes touch. If I take a half a size smaller, then all my toes touch so much that it's unpleasant (except for the big toe), so I went with a half size up (I wouldn't have if it weren't necessary, because this meant I had to wait several months longer as that half size up wasn't in stock).

I actually kind of like a little bit of movement in my toes, for example if I pull up my little toes, then I get a better back inside edge than if I leave them down. Same for my forward bielman, if I don't pull up those toes, I catch my toepicks much easier. So I kinda want to be able to move them some. It's a bit like in my old lating dancing shoes, fixed like concrete at the ball of the foot but the toes can wiggle around freely. In my old skates I couldn't move my toes and my control was worse in those boots, much worse. Probably because the shape of the boot didn't really suit me.

[stardust skies]

No I can't slide them, but I can... how to put this... I can spread my toes out and up, and then they touch. I've got very monkey-like toes, I often pick up things with them from the floor instead of bending. :twisted: Otherwise, in rest, just my little toes touch. If I take a half a size smaller, then all my toes touch so much that it's unpleasant (except for the big toe), so I went with a half size up (I wouldn't have if it weren't necessary, because this meant I had to wait several months longer as that half size up wasn't in stock).

I actually kind of like a little bit of movement in my toes, for example if I pull up my little toes, then I get a better back inside edge than if I leave them down. Same for my forward bielman, if I don't pull up those toes, I catch my toepicks much easier. So I kinda want to be able to move them some. It's a bit like in my old lating dancing shoes, fixed like concrete at the ball of the foot but the toes can wiggle around freely. In my old skates I couldn't move my toes and my control was worse in those boots, much worse. Probably because the shape of the boot didn't really suit me.

Yeah, I think it must also completely depend on your foot shape - I mean for some people the big toe is longest, and for others, it's the second or middle toe, and some people have "spreadable" feet, as others do not. Then there is of course preference. I think I just misunderstood you when you first described it, because I was picturing actual sliding back and forth, and I was a little bit afraid for your feet. :(

I don't think what you're describing is bad, but I do think the OP seems like she may have a bit of a fitting problem, solely judging by her posts here.

[Sessy]

I agree, it does sound like she might... Abbi, maybe your skates are still in good condition and you could get a good price for them still?

And I guess it also matters what you're doing. If you're just learning stroking and maybe crossovers it's really not that big of a problem if they're a half a size too big or so, lots of beginner kids at our rink have skates that are a half or whole size too big at the beginning of a season.

[abbi_1990]

stardust skies - the pro shop was reccomended to me by several skaters at my rink.

they are only my 2nd pair of skates and the first pair were too long and narrow so i still dont really know what a porperly fitting pair of skates is supposed to feel like.

i cant hear the sound of air when i push my heel back down and my feet do not slide forwards once they are done up. its just that when i extend my right foot and 'point my toes' i feel the heel slipping

sessy - i have only had them for a week so yes they are still in good condition. i dont know how easily i would be able to sell them since they are REALLY wide so i dont know if they would fit many other people. plus im still trying to sell my previous pair of boots which are only 3 months old so they are in good condition too.

i am on Skate UK level 9, should finish 10 by christmas or new year so the only jump i am doing at the moment is the bunny hop and i can only do a two footed spin.