Hello,

I found this site using Google and I wanted to ask a question. I'm brand new to skating, in fact, this was my second time today. But I have a persistent problem so far. It seems that my left ankle tends to fold inwards on me causing a tremendous amount of pressure on the ball of my foot to keep me balanced. If I didn't know better, I would say that the flat of my foot was not as tall as my ball and heel.

This caused me to give up early and I don't like giving up.

Any thoughts?

sounds like you may have feet that pronate (like me and many many other people!), I'm not sure what skates you were wearing were they rentals? b/c rentals can position even the best feet in an awkward position, do you always have this problem in other shoes as well? sometimes skaters get their blades remounted and positioned a little bit more towards the big toe tohelp them avoid falling inwards and what we call in skating the inside edge. sometimes orthotics are needed to help you maintain the arch of foot.

with proper fitting skates your feet will be better positioned and you can skate in comfort!

Does this happen in your street shoes or just skates? If only in skates, the problem is probably not your foot but the skate itself. Are these rented skates or your own?
It's possible that the blade is mounted too far to the outside of the boot, or that the boot is broken down and has lost ankle support.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Sounds to me like you're either using rental skates, or very cheap, sports-store skates. Neither have enough support to make it worth your while. Everyone complains about 'weak ankles', when it's not the ankle, it's the skate.

Pick up the skates by the top of the ankles. Now turn them to the side so that the blade is sticking out to the side (like they're skating on the wall). Do they stay stuck straight out, or do they sag downward? If they sag, they're basically worthless.


If it's not that, then yeah, check your mounting. The blade is probably too far to the outside.

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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!

Thank you for the replies.

These were indeed rental skates, both times. What would I need to spend ($$) to purchase a good pair of skates? Consider that this will likely be a casual hobby and nothing that I intend on picking up full time. But I certainly want to make the best out of my time on the ice.

Thanks again for prompt help.

Oh, and no, I do not have problems when using regular shoes. I forgot to mention that in reply to some of the questions.

Well your question opens a whole other can of worms. I suggest you spend some time searching and browsing through this forum, as suitable skates is a topic which comes up pretty often.

To help people give you advice, you might want to tell us more about yourself, like your age, height and weight, because these things can affect which skates might best suit you.

You are saying that you don't plan to make this full time, that you think you will be a recreational skater. That also very much affects your choice of skates. If you are even thinking about taking a learn to skate class, and learning to do some spins and even small jumps, your choice of skates will be different from someone who wants to go round and round.

Good luck with it!

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

Not knowing your details (age, height, weight, m/f, etc), a loose, ballpark range to start with might be $75-150 for 'I'm only going to go round and round twice a year' skates, to $100-300 for 'I'm going to take some lessons and learn to skate backwards and see what happens from there' skates.

There are a ton of other variables, though, such as brand of skate, whether the blade is already attached/comes 'with' the skate/comes separate and needs mounting.

Whatever you do--please go to a store/pro shop that has experience fitting skates. They need to fit snugly, so wear thin socks (what you'll skate in) or tights, and realize that they won't be roomy.

There are lots of boot fitting advice threads around here--do a 'search' and you ought to find many to choose from! But feel free to ask more questions as well.

__________________
"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!

This means a pro shop (usually at an ice arena) that sells nothing but ice skates and related items, not a sporting goods store such as Sports Authority or Modell's.

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That is what I thought 6 months ago and yet I somehow find myself regularly setting the alarm for 5.45 am to skate before work....!

I bought a Jackson boot and blade set in February for £80 (about $160 US) and they have been very comfortable and supportive - I've been told they should last me through at least all my single jumps. But it depends on your feet, best thing is to go somewhere you can try them on and see what suits you. A good skate shop will be able to advise you if you tell them your level and what you want from your skates.