I see people wearing them with the bigger part in front (2 piece guards), and I see other people wearing them with the bigger part in back. ?Is there a "correct" way to wear them?

i wear the bigger part in the back. im not sure if it correct to wear the bigger part in front but mabey im wrong.

I wear the bigger part in the back too...but I'm not sure if there's a right or wrong way!

In my skate bag.

Best place for them, I always forget to take them off, the last time I wore them I went head first on the ice and ended up with a black eye.

Cheers
Grace

I have to wear mine with the big piece in back or else it doesn't fit since it hits the boot.

I wear them with the big bit at the front. I always presumed it was bigger to accommodate the toe rake, but I could be wrong. I did find that when the kids' skates were really small I had to put them on with the big bit at the back because they wouldn't go on otherwise. I'd be interested to know if there is a "right" way to use them.

Supposedly the bigger piece will cover the back end of the blades if the blades protrude enough past the back of the heel. With Dance blades that isn't possible, so with my old boots I wore the bigger piece in front. Which rubbed the toe of the boot so that the finish of the leather wore away.

I have seen dancers have the taller piece cut down to a level to cover the blade without going onto the heel or the toe.

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Erm...well I don't have the hockey-style guards anymore, so there is no bigger or smaller end - they only go on one way!

But when I did, I put the bigger part in back too, because otherwise the front would rub the boot. I don't think the ends have any significants on figure skates - remember they're designed for hockey skates - that's why the gap gets larger on the front and end pieces!

I don't like these new guards at all though, they're the ones with the snap-in rubber clasp. The rubber is so thin and weak as a result of this horrible design that the blades had cut though almost to the floor within a week. They haven't gotten much worse since then, at least. I want to find an old-school pair like my first ones that are hard rubber with a solid blade rest and bottom instead of all the notches, with only very small holes drilled where a screw and bolt holds on the metal spring with a rubber guard around it.

*sigh*, those were great guards, I miss them.

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Big bit at the front with the 'loop' behind the heel. That's how everyone I've come across wears them

I wore 2-piece ones anyway which have 'ends' on both ends ... if that makes sense Easier to take off and easier to walk in than the one-piece guards.

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The best whisper is a click

I assume you mean the two-piece guards. I wear the big part at the back. I'd prefer to wear it at the front, because it does seem to be made for the toe pick. But if I wear it at the front, it just grazes my boot, and I can't get my over-the-boot tights on.

i wear the big part in the back because if i don't they make a click clock sound every time i walk...that's how the skating store told me

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I cut one end of mine down or they hit my boot too. So it doesn't seem to matter which way I wear them.

And if I could find the person who took my lucky black skate guards the other week.....

They were old but perfectly usable, my new ones have no 'history' or luck! A silly thing to get annoyed about I know, but they were old friends! lol

I put two different colored sets together using only the smaller ends. I found the bigger ends were pressing into the toes of my boots and making an indent into them.

I use my 2-piece guards with the bigger/taller part in the back. I used to do it with the bigger part in front, but my former instructor told me it was "wrong." Either that or she just wanted me to wear mine like she wore hers.

I used to use 1-piece guards with the little plastic loopy thing, but the loop broke on one of them. The 1-pc ones were harder to walk in, although they required less assembly. It's hard to put 2-pc guards together.

big end in the back

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Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Haha, that's so funny, cause the opposite is true for me. I used to wear them in the back, but then about TEN people (not exaggerating) commented, from different rinks even, that you were supposed to wear them in the front. At first I resisted, but then I thought about it and it made sense that the bigger part would be made to accomodate the toepick- I did always have trouble fitting the toepick into the smaller end before. I *think* the correct way is to put the bigger part in the front...but really, unless you have people nag you like I did, I don't really think it matters which way you put it. It sure seems from this board (and myself included) that everyone's first instinct is to put the big part in the back, although I have no idea why since the toepick logic does make sense. Who knows, another skating mystery.

Everyone I know wears the big part in the back... except for my coach who has hers cut so that one side is VERY VERY short, which goes in the back cuz she has dance blades

I always used to wear the big part in the back, but now I have both sides cut to about the same anyways so it doesn't really matter (I have synchro blades with a shorter heel, not as short as a dance blade, but short )

I agree - you can't walk in them if they are on one way round! Mine are so old now they tend to fall off anyway.

As for dance blades - I have them, and when I got my first pair, I needed to cut some of the length off my guards so that they would stay on; the husband kindly did that for me, and I've never had a problem with it.

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Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Big part at the back is how i was told

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Big end at the back--the smaller end fits under the toe of the boot that way.

I don't see the 'difference' in which end is 'better' for the toepick--they're the same width, and the small end covers the pick just fine, so I don't know why you'd need the big end for it.

Can't stand the one-piece guards anymore...I hate having any excess rubber sticking out past my blade, plus they tend to flop around.

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