The Guide To Buying Your Ice Skating Shoes 

Practice-Based Tips From A Coach

The Guide to Buying Your Ice Skating Shoes – Practice-Based Tips from a Coach provides the answers you need on buying your ice skating shoes. It gives you tips on how to select ice skates that fit, provide proper support, and are flexible enough for your particular skating style. It tells you what to expect when you buy ice skates and why the skates must be comfortable right away. The guide also offers suggestions on what types of skate blades will work best for your skating posture and style of skating. The Guide to Buying Your Ice Skating Shoes is your answer to ensuring you get the performance and wear out of your skates that you desire! 

How To Buy Ice Skating Shoes

Ice skating has been increasing in popularity. Skaters usually purchase their skates rather than rent them when picking up skating as a hobby or a sport. 

Should you buy skates online or from a store?

There are pros and cons to both. Most stores will have already sized your feet, which can be particularly helpful if you cannot go out and purchase new skates before a big competition. However, some stores may not necessarily stock the best brands of skates for you, so it’s essential to do your research before heading out to buy your gear.

What should you look for in a pair of ice skates?

For beginners, a good choice can be a pair of softer skates that typically come with a blade already attached. Soft boots are less rigid and are great if you are getting used to skating, and they are also generally easier on your ankles when trying to bend your knees. As you become more advanced in your skating skills, you can consider purchasing a more rigid pair of skates. Buying an advanced pair of ice skates too early will likely result in a lot of discomforts, and you might find yourself discouraged from continuing to learn to ice skate.

Six Ice Skate Sizing Tips

While most people will be aware of the need to fit their ice skates comfortably, many may not know how to judge this correctly. The main issue is the length and width of your foot, the thickness of your socks, and how you want your skates to feel. 

There are three main types of skate shoes: Figure, Hockey, and speed skates. When deciding which skates would be best for you, it is essential first to understand what you would like to do in them? If you want to learn to ice skate and perform footwork, spins, and jumps, then figure skates will be the best choice for you. 

Sometimes people make the mistake of buying Hockey skates when they want to simply learn to ice skate. The problem with Hockey skates in this instance is they are ultimately designed for playing hockey, which requires you to skate around the ice quickly forwards and backward with a lot of quick stopping and starting. These skates are fantastic for this; however, as soon as you start learning jumps and spins, the skates become very difficult to work with.

Sizing ice skates can be a bit tricky. If you’re not sure how to measure your foot, this guide is the place to start.

TIP 1: Measure Your Feet

Sometimes people will tell you an essential thing to keep in mind: you’ll want a skate that’s one full size bigger than your street shoe size, and a half-size is usually too small, even for children. From my experience, every skate manufacturing company runs its sizes slightly differently. Hence, the best way to find the correct size of skates is to start by accurately measuring the length and width of your feet.

TIP 2: Fit Your Skate Before You Buy It

Fit your skates before you buy a pair is essential for two reasons. Firstly, if you buy a pair of skates that do not fit properly, it will ruin your skating experience from the outset. Secondly, it lets you check if your local store has the model you would like in stock.

It is always best to try on several different pairs of skates, even if you have decided which model you are looking for. Some brands fit differently, and it is worth trying on several other pairs rather than settling for a pair that does not feel right.

TIP 3: Is Your Equipment Comfortable?

You must know your equipment is comfortable, and you should be able to walk around in your skates with ease. If you feel uncomfortable in any way, take them off and look for other brands or styles that fit better. You should also make sure the ankle and foot of your skates are properly fitted, not too loose or too tight.

Please keep in mind that some discomfort is to be expected when buying more advanced skates, but there are some products you can buy to help alleviate the discomfort.

TIP 4: Be Comfortable On The Ice

You need to skate comfortably and not feel like you’re going to fall over when you’re out there on the ice. If you don’t feel like the skates are fitting correctly and they’re not comfortable, don’t buy them because skating will not be fun, and it’s supposed to be fun so that you’ll want to learn how to skate better.

TIP 5: Trying on Several Pairs

When trying on ice skate shoes, you should always try several different pairs. Everyone’s feet are shaped differently, and finding the right fit is the challenge. The only way to do this is to try on several different styles and sizes of shoes until you find something that fits well. You want to make sure that you can wiggle your toes in the shoes, but not so much that they are falling off of your feet. You also want the heel strap to be tight enough so that the shoe won’t fall off when you are skating, but not so tight that it causes your feet any pain.

TIP 6: Check the brand’s website

It is also essential to check a brand’s website to get the proper fit. Each brand has sizing requirements and tips and they are not all the same. 

A Coach’s Perspective On Skating Shoes

Skating shoes are an essential part of an ice skater’s equipment for both performance and safety. Skates are the tools of the trade, but if you want to be competitive at a high level, you need to have the right gear to go with those tools.

Trying on ice skates is not a good way to determine whether they will work for you. Many factors affect fit: foot shape and width, ankle mobility, leg length, arch height, and instep flexibility, to name a few. As a result, it is best to seek expert fitting advice. Skating shoes should be fitted by someone who understands how skating shoes are designed to perform and how they should fit for you to be comfortable while skating on the ice.

Recommended products

I have used the following products my whole life, and I would definitely recommend all of them to help improve your skating experience. Please note that these are amazon affiliate links, and by purchasing products using these links I will make a very small commission. This money helps fund the Ice Coach Online service, and keep the free content coming.

Bunga pads – Used for protecting your ankles in your skates. I have used these my whole skating career, and if I ever forget to bring them for a skating session, I know that I am in for a painful training session.

Skate guards by Guard Dog – A good pair of plastic skates guards are essential for protecting your blades from getting damaged from walking around the ice rink. It’s not only protection from accidentally walking on concrete, but it also protects your blades from things like screws and debris that could be on the rubber mats around the ice.

Soakers – It is very common that people new to the sport to leave their hard plastic guards on their blades when finishing. training session. This will rust the blades and damage them. It is essential to dry the blades with a towel and then put on a pair of soakers before putting them away in your bag.

Spare laces – It is always useful to have an extra set of laces handy in your skate bag. Sometimes when a lace snaps, you can just quickly tie a knot in it and keep skating. But sometimes it will snap in a very inconvenient place and require changing.

Final Words

Buying new skates can be a fun, exciting experience. Ice skating is a fun and exhilarating activity, but it is not without risks. Skating enthusiasts of all ages, genders, and skill levels are vulnerable to accidentally hurting themselves. Falls on the ice happen regularly. But by taking some simple steps before you begin, you can significantly reduce the odds of becoming injured during an ice skating session by starting with properly fitting skates!