i know a lot of skaters wear knee pads when learning jumps and things, and seeing as how my knees are right now multicolored, i'm probably going to wear knee pads of some sort when i start my lessons. What kind does everyone wear? I've seen people wearing the bicycle style pads, but those seem a bit bulky.

I use inline skate pads. My set happens to be made by Salomon, but there are others.

Here's a web address you might check out:

http://www.backstreetinline.com/page20/

A couple of weeks ago I switched from hockey to figures, and after bruised knees on day one, I started wearing the pads.

I haven't needed them lately, but as lessons start up for me next week, I will probably put them back on when learning new stuff.

I don't like wearing pads at all, it's a bigger incentive not to get bruised knees

However, I don't like the inline ones as they are too stiff and will slide when you hit the ice causing possibly more damage! Have you seen the padded knee pads that some dancers wear? They would be my choice if I were to wear knee pads. When I bought mine for dancing they were sold as 'goalkeeper' knee pads for soccer! It's like a knee support but with padding in the front. Of course you can also buy the skate leggings which have pads for the butt, hips and knees (the pads are usually removable).

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The pads I have are volleyball pads. No plastic to slide around, and very thick. I never really used them, though...I found that I really didn't fall on my knees. If you're a beginner, you should learn from the start the proper ways to fall---onto the side of the thigh/hip. This area is usually pretty well cushioned all by itself!

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Bruises very nicely, too.

I teach my students the "best" way to fall, but really, sometimes one has no choice. I've pushed my knees to the limit, so I always wear knee pads, even when testing! I use the thinner volleyball pads. People often do not notice them, but if you are really concerned about how knee pads look, you can spring for the very thin gel pads by SkatingSafe. The only drawback with them is that they cost $35 apiece.

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I second DBNY's suggestion for the SkatingSafe knee pads!!! I like them!!! (Of course, both my coaches hate my wearing ANY knee pads!!!) Doesn't absorb everything but has keep my knees from becoming even more multicolored... but I also agree with the fall on the butt suggestion too... (With that thought, you might want to buy butt pads and the tailbone protector too!!!)

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11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
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Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

That's fine if you're a free skater, but for dancers, falls (which are less common, anyway) tend to be either straight forwards (caught your toe-pick! It happens... usually at quite the wrong moment!) or straight back (when your Dear Partner catches your blade and sweeps your feet from under you!).

My coach doesn't mind his students padding - in fact, he encourages it when they're first learning axels - as he says they learn, soon enough, that you always fall on the bit that isn't padded, not on the bit that is.

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Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I bring to this sport a downhill skier's background. Falling is a learned skill and if you know how to do it, you minimize the chances of injury.

The thing you can't prevent is a fall that is totally unanticipated. These occur when either when you're pushing your limits, mental lapse (one of those down days) or an unexpected condition (ice chunk, deep rut, etc.).

I'm back to skating without pads at the moment, and much prefer it. But as soon as my instructor gets me doing new stuff I'm putting them right back on until the move feels natural.

Thanks for the tip on the soft pads (non-inline skate equipment). I think I'll try 'em out.

Hehe, funny you mention this. One day about a month ago, I went out on a Sunday afternoon, and was just having a normal relaxing stroke about the mostly-empty rink to warm-up. Well my mind wandered into random thoughts, and I'm not even sure what I was thinking about but I completely forgot I was skating, and suddenly my toe picks caught the ice and I found myself flat on my chest skidding along the ice. For a fall I was not even aware of until after it happened, it was surprisingly graceful - my weight had been evenly distributed across the front of my body so it didn't hurt at all - it was the most comfortable fall I've ever had!

At the rink near my house, sometimes the ice has a low spot where they bring the zamboni in and out, a dip down maybe a quarter or half inch for 3-4 feet near the boards. That was "fun" the first time I discovered it. But I'm a fast learner about certain things.

I've never worn pads nor wanted to, but then that's largely because I don't bruise, and the worst effects of having no pads have been a couple good smashes to the elbow which had lingering pain for over a week, and smacks to the legs which make them not work quite as well for a few minutes (they always recover quick though, and then I don't feel it until I get home).

I like the look of their ankle pads. After the first time out on my used Klingbeils and enduring unbelievable pain to the bones on the sides of the foot, I wrapped a spare sock around each ankle just above the bones inside my regular socks before putting on the boots. This kept the hard leather with all the padding worn out from pressing so hard on my bones because the pressure was then distributed. Pretty much the same theory, and it certainly helped with the initial breaking in (I did it for a week and then found I could wear the boots normally without excessive pain).

So far I've just worn 'homemade' wannabe kneepads a few times, under my pants. I used puffy old sponges, which were held in place with old stretchy tights/pantyhose. They didn't work TOO well, I usually fell on an area that wasn't covered, but it was better than nothing.

I tend to fall on my knees more, which for me have bruised easier than my thighs/butt (those areas have plenty of natural padding ). The knees don't have much fat padding at all, which makes them hurt more... for me anyway.

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Andrea

I know what you mean Andie, its been a long time since I was able to kneel because my poor knees have taken such a battering over the years that its too painful, I guess I must have lots of little chip fractures there, yet I still carry on, perhaps some of the splinters have gone to my head??!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

hehe, i just came back from a skiing trip, in which i only fell while taking lessons, usually by skating into the instructor when he was teaching us how to turn to the right. but when we had to follow him downhill, the entire class fell on top of each other. i fell a few feet away from everyone else because i saw everyone else going down. then i couldn't get back up. he;s trying to tell me it's easy, nothing to it. yea right. it took him and another student for me to finally get back up without sliding down the rest of the hill. but it was a lot of fun. and falling on the snow hurts a lot less than falling on the ice. but i loved skiing. i'm going back next week since the mountain is only about an hour and a half away from where i live.

anyway, sorry about that little intrusion. i think i might try out the volleyball type pads. I do know how to fall properly, only i usually fall when i kinda spaz out for a second or two, or i accidently put my toepick down, and usually i don't have the time to land on my thigh or rear end. I also bruise really easily, and bruised knees hurt a lot more than a bruised thigh (for me anyway). although i don't like using them so much, i think i will have to when learning something new.

though I havent ever used knee pads or any sort of pad for that matter..... I kno that there are what look like spandex bike shorts but they have pads in the back and both sides........probly looks kinda funny but they probly help......(once you learn 2 fall thats probly where ull fall anyways)
the other thing I have seen which I would really like to have is skinny mits with padding in the palm so that when u hit the ice it doesnt hurt so much....

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Just another comment on the skatingsafe knee pads. Yes, they're expensive, but it's not like they wear out and I've fallen on them and they're still in tact. So I've had them for around 4 years now, which makes them not so expensive in the long run. For me the thing I like best is not having anything to bunch up behind my knee, and they stay in place just fine with my leggings or tights. I wish I'd been wearing the hip pads when I fell a couple weeks ago, but I usually just wear the knee pads.

Pat

hmmm...but the pressure would still hit the wrists if weight landed on your palm, and I landed enough on my hands when I was first starting to learn better than to ever do that again (some terrible wrist pains followed that lasted for days, and it seems a good way to break something).

I have been wearing leather padded winter gloves since I started, but I'm going to try to find something a lot thinner soon...

well, i think the point of teh padding in the gloves is so when you fall, you get them cushioned a bit and you won't get ice burn on your hands. i usually just wear those cheap stretchy gloves you get at the dollar stores or target or walmart, the ones wear if you lose them, as i so often do, it's not a big deal. or if they get ruined or torn, not a big deal. and you can get a bunch of different colors to go with whatever you wear that day Personally, i wouldn't wear winter gloves, too thick and bulky, and you can't really move in them (if i'm thinking of the right ones) and expensive too.

I think about anything beats bare ice...

Yeah, that's why I want thinner ones. The winter ones, while nicely padded, are to thick and bulky, and the ones I have are pretty expensive, I bought them a few years back but think they were like $15-$20.

I see some skaters in the thin cloth "serving" gloves, like you might expect a butler to wear. I'll have to look around at the store though and see what looks appealing.

so i bought myself a pair of knee pads yesterday. i bought them only i didn't bother to try them on. i get home, try them on, they were too big. they kept sliding off my knee. so i went today to exchange them for a smaller size. well, those are too small. they cut off my circulation. i don't know what to do now. i was thinking about cutting a small slit at the back of hte knee pad to loosen it up a bit, but i don't know if htat will work. does anyone have any experience doing that?

Here's another vote for the Skating Safe kneepads. As someone said above, they are expensive to purchase but when you amortize the cost over many years of service they're actually quite a bargain. I initially tried the volleyball/cheerleader type kneepads and found that they cut off my circulation (not to mention making my knees sweat ).

I wear the Skating Safe hip pads as well. Even tho' I am well-endowed with Nature's own padding in this area they have saved me from many a nasty bruise.

Ellen