Ready to toss those rental skates aside and show up, tall and proud, with your very own shiny pair of boots and blades? Look no further–here are my recommendations for when, where, and how to get your very own ice skates.
When should I get my own skates?
If you know know know that you’ll be pursuing ice skating? ASAP. But for most people, ice skating starts out as an adventurous activity with friends or a potential sport amongst many in a future beaming with possibilities. Not to worry–even if you get your own skates, that doesn’t mean you have to stick to skating (although I certainly recommend it and the price tag attached does tilt the scales of your decision a little).
In the very beginning, I recommend looking into getting your own pair once you’ve started two-foot turns. If you’re starting 3-turns, definitely start searching! (Speaking from personal experience here.) There’s no definite milestone, whether it be a class level or move, that represents a rite of passage to getting your own skates, but my best guess would be any time where you’ve begun switching from forwards to backwards mid-glide. While you can get your own skates from your first day on the ice, I recommend holding back on that investment until you’ve spent a decent number of hours on the ice to know what you’re getting yourself into. Skating is great, but even the most for-beginners skates available on Amazon are close to $100. You can probably find better deals, but ice skates are still some pretty expensive kicks. And, as with any online purchase, read reviews, reviews, and more reviews and really make sure you’re buying from a credible company!
Where and How do I get my own skates?
My first skates were adjustable hockey skates from Amazon. If it works it works. They didn’t work for 3-Turns though, so I switched to figure skates from Amazon. Amazon’s great (not sponsored) and, in my opinion, totally fine if you’re just starting off. It’s when you get more advanced (as in, hello private coach, good bye group lessons) that you will start looking at pro shops dedicated to figure skating. This is when your wallet starts aching more than you prepared for. As for deciding on which pro shop to visit, allow me to point you once more to the wonderful skating community at your rink. Just like with Sharpening, there is more often than not very few good, reliable sources of skating hardware near (or at least not super far away) you. Start asking around, and you should find your answer pretty soon. Once you find a stellar pro shop, the one in charge there should be able to answer all of your questions and guide you along the process. They’re experts in the field and, without a doubt (as long as they’re credible), know more than I do.
What to expect when getting your own skates at a Pro Shop
Even before pulling up to a pro shop, you may begin to hear names like “Rye-dell” (Riedell) or Jackson. These are major ice skate brands. Generally speaking, Riedell skates are narrower, and Jackson skates are wider. Ask me about Edea or Risport and I won’t be able to tell you anything–what should this tell you? Don’t worry too much about it! The person in charge of your skate-fitting will be able to provide plenty of information, and soon you’ll become more accustomed to all the brand names flying around. Aside from brands, skates have all kinds of models and “levels” designed for different skaters with different preferences and ability. Starting off, you may want to find skates that do everything fine. Later on, if you focus on dance, synchro, or freestyle (jumps and spins), just let the shop know and they’ll help you find the best fit for you. As you progress, skating boots also become stiffer to support stronger skating, and blades have their own fancy variations that I’m not clear on. So as you improve as a skater, you will generally want to get new skates every 1 to 1.5 years. Even further down the line? You’ll get boots and blades separately, and your pro shop will have to mount the blades onto the boot which is a whole other process. By then, you might not switch both at the same time, so you could be going in for new boots and mounting the old blades on or vice versa. With good care and regular wear and tear, blades need switching when they can’t be sharpened anymore, and boots need switching when the tongue and sides break down so that they no longer safely support you. This is, of course, assuming your current combination still fits you. If you upgrade to a larger sized boot, you will most likely have to get a larger blade as well.
Once you decide on a size and model of skate, you may have to wait anywhere from a few days to months for it to arrive at the shop if they don’t currently have it on-hand. In this case, you’ll just bid farewell and pop on back when they notify you that the skates have arrived.
The first thing you’ll find new and (hopefully) exciting is heat molding. In short, once you’ve got your brand new skates in front of you in the shop, the expert will heat them up, strap them onto you, and have you sit there, toes tingling, for about 20 minutes. This makes the inside of the boot more or less molded to the shape of your own, unique foot. Be sure to wear skating socks, since the boot has to mold to a shape as close to your bare foot as possible to be effective.
After you’ve gotten the boot molded and, if purchasing separately, the blades mounted, go grab a new pair of hard guards and soft guards–it’s been more than a year and the blade could be a different size, so I recommend getting a new pair of each to keep taking good care of your skates.
Breaking-in and Blister Prevention
After you get new skates, the first order of business is breaking them in. This simply means skating in them. You’ll find that, if you found newly sharpened skates a jarring experience, new skates altogether feels like restarting the game–not to worry though, as you skate in them more and more you’ll find yourself reaching even greater heights. However, steer clear of skating more than 1.5 hours at once in your new skates. Even within the first half an hour, you may begin to feel rubbing that, if left unchecked, could result in painful blisters. Start off without any gel discs or Bunga pads (see Terminology) to get a feel for where you need them, and supplement where necessary. It can feel strange, putting these on for the first time, but they are essential and almost every skater uses them! Once you know where you need them, putting on gel discs and Bunga pads becomes second-nature and lets you hone your skills without painful consequences. Sometimes, if a bone in your foot is protruding and feeling squished by the skate, you can ask your pro shop to punch that place out. They basically take a hair-dryer looking heating device to soften that spot on the boot and use a clamp to expand the space where you need it. I’ve done this every time I get new skates for two pesky bones on the insides of my feet. Do this only when you know it’s a problem, though, since punching a boot out can compromise its integrity and support. Once again, the pro shop worker will guide you along the process.
When breaking in, just skate as you usually do. Try amping up the difficulty in successive sessions, but don’t try to speed up the process by bending more than usual off the ice. Bending a lot will still wear down the boot, and you may end up having to get a new pair sooner than expected due to the excessive strain on the tongue of the boot.