should I wait to skate?

[treesprite]

I haven't set foot on the ice for a few weeks due to injury. I am expecting to pick up new boots this weekend. I have a dilemna to figure out.

I am worried that I will be too unsteady from not skating to determine anything about the new boots quickly, so I was going to at least just do some edges and 3 turns before then (even though I'm not ready to do any real skating, with extending and stretching, yet). However, it then occurred to me that if I don't wear the old boots, I won't be able to make subjective judgements on the new boots based on the old ones. I would like to be able to judge the new boots on their own merits (hopefully there won't be deficits to judge), not on what I am used to wearing.

Do you think I should do the skating so I'm not trying to figure out new skates all unsteady and whatever, or do you think I should take advantage of the time out of the old boots to be able to make a more objective assessment of the new boots?

 

[overedge]

I think once you get on the ice you should be able to tell if the new boots feel different (hopefully better) than the old boots.

Don't assume too that if the new boots don't feel "good" right away, that they are wrong for you. Every new pair of boots I've had has felt like ski boots for the first little while, even if they turned out to be fine later on.

I wouldn't recommend doing 3 turns just yet, though. That takes control and balance and you really need to feel comfortable with your boots and blades. Try just doing edges and gliding, and slow or small stroking.

 

[LilJen]

Ditto what overedge said. I also recommend walking around in your boots a bit at home/off the ice, to help break them in.

 

[AxelAnnie]

I don't skate.....but I would think that if you are not 100% and strong you should stay in the old skates. Then you will really be able to test the new ones.

 

[treesprite]

Do people understand what I meant? I had a hard time trying to describe better, so I shortened the post before submitting.

The skate guy usually wants people to test out on the ice briefly after he puts the blades on, so he can get a proper mount. If I am too not used to the feel of the ice after the weeks of time off, doing that will be pointless. That is why I was thinking about going on the ice in the old boots, before picking up the new ones.

But on the other hand, I want to judge the fit of the boots on whether or not they are a proper fit, not on the fact that I am used to excessively tight ones that cause unnecessary discomfort. If I skate in the old boots before getting the new ones, as I discussed in previous paragraph, it will mess up my ability to judge without doing the unintended type of comparison.

I asked the skate guy about this in the email, but he did not answer the question, just gave me the appointment time (he was at Nationals, so this morning was the first contact since before Xmas).

 

[overedge]

I think if the blades are "off" you are going to be able to feel that, regardless of how long you've been off the ice.

Another thing you could do is ask a coach, or someone at the rink who knows about skates, to watch you skate, even if you're just doing small movements. Coaches are pretty good at telling whether a problem is due to bad technique (or coming back from injury) or due to something wrong with the equipment.