Hello there! I am a new skater who has begun skating, using the hire skates at the rink.
I try to go once or twice a week and was pleased with the regular steady progress i was making and was advised that getting my own skates would be beneficial to me as I would also like to start taking lessons.
My husband was sweet enough to buy me some Risport RF4's, and I used them for the first time last night and the toe pick's gave me quite a bit of trouble! and a few bruises, but I have been told thats most likely to be expected with the transition from Hire skates to New and also the person was kind enough to ive me some pointers.
I was so excited and happy to receive my new skates and i was a little disheartened but it won't put me off but I am concerned that perhaps I have the wrong skates or won't be able to get the hang of them!
Help!

Own skates are usually always better than hire skates, unless the hire skates are real figure skates....and not the hard robocop plastic molded monsters.

Get your skates sharpened by a pro regularly, or get your own skate sharpening tool, such as the Pro-Filer.

You're not expected to be used to the feel of your new skates immediately. It takes an adjustment period to get used to the different feeling.

The toepicks on rentals (hires) are usually smaller than on ones you purchase. You should get used to them in no time at all. I went through the same thing and must have splatted quite a bit at first.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

What kind of blades are on your new skates? That will be what you are struggling with, you'll get used to them in no time. And if the skates are new then you will be a while breaking them in before they are really comfy, so you may aquire a few bruises while they are still pretty new.

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Hurrah for Desert Skaters! YAY for Jeff Buttle and Virtue and Moire!

When I went from my Riedell 220's to the Jackson Competitor with MK Pro parabolic blade I had such a time getting used to them. The biggest thing was making sure that they weren't laced all the way up - if you're not able to get knee bend you might be compensating by pitching forward on the picks. Leave the top two or just the top hook undone until you break them in a little. I don't know anything about Risport models but if you got a beginner model you should be used to them in no time.

Risport RF4s are great starting out boots and I'm sure you'll love them, but as others have said, you will need to get used to the slightly larger toepick that comes on the blades. Don't be discouraged. In no time at all you'll wonder what you were worried about!

Nicki

Thank you so much everyone, you've really put my mind at rest! I was definitely a little worried! but I feel a lot better, I guess perseverance is the key! and erm... maybe some knee pads!
Thanks again!
Can I just say how sweet and friendly this board is!
Hugs
Sammy xxxx

DITTO. If you're having problems tripping over your picks, it's due to two issues--one, the picks are larger, and you're just not used to them yet, and two, you're probably lacing the skates all the way up, which doesn't allow you to have the knee bend you need in order to avoid tripping over the picks.

In hire (rental) skates, you likely need to lace them all the way up, just to get support. New leather skates of a good make/model have a lot more support, so you can leave the top couple of hooks undone (in order to have knee bend and put a crease at the proper spot at the ankle) and still have the support you need. As the crease gets worked in, you'll need to lace up higher to get the same amount of support.

Oh...remember to wear very thin socks or nylons! Have fun.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

Another reason some people have trouble with their toe-rakes is that they don't turn their feet out enough, and end up trying to push off from them, which is frequently disastrous. You need to make sure you turn your feet out so you are pushing with the flat of your blade, not the front.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Keep your weight towards back of blade, on your heel - blade rocker will lift up at front, toe rake will be off ice.

If going backwards, reverse process - weight towards front of blade, under ball of foot.

Bend your knees (let knees flex into slight sit) - don't keep straight legs.

Well, I would not say lean back, don't do that as you are going forward. Leaning back towards your heel is a bad habit and a quick way to a concussion. I don't teach skating but I skate enough to know not to do that. Generally, I keep my weight towards the ball of my foot, forwards and backwards, then you need to learn how to utilize your blade...scratching is also bad, but not uncommon for most new skaters. I would suggest getting a good coach and letting them help you. The basics are vital to master and will set your skating future.

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Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r

Until you get used to your new toepicks, try lifting your toes a little in the boots; that will keep you from getting pitched forward onto the toepicks.

In general, your weight will be in the right place if you pretend you are starting to sit down in a chair: Lower your rear end, keep your chest over your knees over your toes, and arch your back so that your chin us up (not hunched forward, looking down at the ice).

Just wanted to say thanks again! You've helped me so much! I'm going to try again tomorrow so wish me luck! I was thinking I had made a mistake on thursday but now i'm ready to give it another go! My knees a very pretty colour though! I went to visit my mum and showed her and she wasnt impressed and all my friends think im nuts, but my husbands all for getting me back out there!
Thanks again!

Knee pads are an excellent idea. I recommend them to all my adult beginner students. Get the soft ones that have an elastic back. They are available at most sporting goods stores.

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Wrist-guards are not a bad idea either! Lots of adult skaters, especially beginners, wear them.

When I broke my wrist five years ago, I asked my doctor about wrist guards. He said they are good for protecting the soft tissue when rollerblading, but there is no medical agreement on whether or not they protect against fractures on the ice. His own opinion was that if you fall hard enough to break your wrist while you are wearing the wrist guards, then the force will be transmitted upwards and you will most likely sustain a worse fracture of both the radius and the ulna close to the elbow. This was just what I wanted to hear, because skaters who use those things never look graceful, as the wrists are held at a fixed angle. If I can't at least try to look graceful on the ice, then I don't want to skate. I tell my students the same thing, and do not encourage wrist guards.

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Yup--imagine you're sitting on a chair, having dinner with the Queen of England. Keep a nice, straight back, bending only your knees (which can be bent deeply). Keep your top half directly over your bottom half, and your arms extended onto this (low) dinner table.

Wrist guards were designed for a reason. They're meant to try prevent wrist injury. Or at least dampen the forces during the fall, and also protect fingers from getting jarred on the ground. Here, we're talking about beginner skaters, which don't always look graceful anyhow until they've honed their skills. Wearing protective gear for beginners is about making the learning process more enjoyable and safe. They can remove their safety blanket later at any time they want. So since a lot of rollerblade beginners wear protective gear, I don't see why ice skating 'beginners' shouldn't wear them.

Wrist guards are limited in the amount of protection they provide even on pavement. On ice, it's a whole 'nother ballgame. Because the 'spine' of these things is often exposed plastic, if you fall on them, you'll slide in a way that you hadn't expected, possibly increasing the potential for injury. I think I recall reading an article a number of years ago about how wrist guards didn't prevent injury to nearly the extent that everyone had originally thought, and in some cases actually made the injury worse (this was on pavement).

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

Which is exactly what my doctor said when I asked him about them.

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Obviously, if somebody doesn't feel safe with wrist guards on, then better not wear it. I wonder if there's any significant difference between the coefficient of friction of plastic on ice and skin on ice.

Anyhow, I personally recommend wrist guards for beginners. I also recommend knee pads and elbow pads for beginners and a good quality stack-hat ... for beginners.

I've seen beginners come down and crack their head on the ice. Some of them knocked out for a while....not good. You can teach the basics of falling until the cows come home, but that's not going to stop beginners from falling in a way that they can't control. The sensible thing to do is....use safety gear. Safety first. Weaning people off safety gear, and skate exam deadlines are secondary.

And which is more or less what I tried to tell my husband this morning, but he still needs his "security blanket" when practising jumps and spins. As he said, if he wears it, he doesn't fall on that wrist..... which is what our coach always says about padding, too! He lets his skaters pad (encourages them to, when they start axels and double jumps), but says they soon find out for themselves that you always fall on the one bit of your anatomy you haven't padded and give it up.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

That's Murphy's Law of skating #43, here's
Murphy's Law of skating #44: When you wear pads, you don't fall; when you don't have them on....you fall!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

There is a brief article in today's NY Times Science section about a study showing that ice skaters hit their heads more often than roller skaters. The article explains why, and tells about new wrist guards in the works to help prevent head injuries on the ice. Perfect timing, huh!

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Wrist guards in rollerblading aren't meant to 'catch' you if you fall. They're not strong enough or structured enough to prevent the force from being transmitted, and they're usually only minimally padded. Their shape does keep fingers out of the way and the wrist arched, but that doesn't prevent the impact from breaking bone.

Proper falling on rollerblades is a bit like ice, except that pavement is sticky and catches and tears your skin. The wrist guards are there so you can slide your hands along the pavement like you do along the ice. Done properly, the pads take all the scraping damage and the extended time of the sliding fall mitigates the force.

So, I've never used wrist guards on the ice (nor any crash pads), but while I think that knee pads might be useful because the knee is bony and gets whacked and bruised, wrist guards to me seem a lot less useful.