So, I skate about 5 hours a week, including a half-hour lesson. My practice time probably averages about 70 percent jumps/spins and 30 percent moves and footwork. I'm currently focusing on sit and camel spins, single combo jumps and lutz jumps, along with my adult bronze moves and backward 3-turns.
I'm 28 years old, 5'4ish and weigh about 115 pounds. My boot size, in Jacksons, is a 6.5C. My feet are pretty short and wide.
I'm sharing all this because I'm really struggling with my skates. I'm in my second pair of Jackson Freestyles within the last year and a half. The first pair broke down in about 9-10 months, and I've had this pair for 7 months now and my coach is telling me to plan on getting new ones in three months.
She says this is normal, but everyone else tells me my skates should last at least a year. There's a teen girl at my rink doing axels who also wears Freestyles, and she says she's had hers about a year and a half.
Before this, I had Jackson Classiques, and they lasted almost 2 years, as I worked my way through crossovers
up through toe loops.
The other problem I'm having is that there is a fair amount of space between the top of my left foot, about
where my toes begin, and where the tongue begins in my skate. The result of this is that my tongue slides down
a little into my skate and bunches up on top of my foot in that area, and it gets really uncomfortable for awhile. I've tried a few things to take up space in that area so the tongue wouldn't slide down, but they were either really difficult to get in the right spot or really uncomfortable.
This has been an issue only with my current pair of Freestyles. The previous pair I had was great and
didn't do this at all. I have no idea why this pair is different.
I lace the skates up as tightly as I can, but they still start to feel fairly loose after a half hour or so. I'm using the laces they came with, and sometimes they're so long I have to triple-knot them. I don't think my skates are too wide; if anything they may be just a teeny bit too narrow.
By the way, I skate with no socks or tights or anything, just bare feet. I tried skating first in thin socks, then those Mondor knee-high things, for about six months, and they didn't make any difference either in breakdown rate or with the tongue-sliding problem.
So, my questions are, when I shop for new skates, should I consider going the next level up to the Jackson Competitors? Should I ditch Jackson altogether and try a different brand? Is the tongue issue just a fluke or am I likely to deal with this with the next pair?
My figure skating club is really small and we have no pro shop whatsoever in our rink, so it's hard to compare notes with other adults or try on different brands. I realize I'll probably ultimately have to find someone who really knows how to fit skates and make a road trip, but I wanted to check here first. Thanks for your feedback!