Dumb question, but I have new Jackson freestyle skates that I'm Still breaking in, and I just can't seem to get the laces tight enough around the ankle. Right before you go up the hooks..in trying to do this every time I come home, I have tiny blisters on The outer sides of both my pinkie fingers...
It's the laces. New laces stretch as you use them - takes a few weeks for them to stop stretching.
You can tie a half-knot above the eyelets before you lace the hooks and that will keep the lower part of the boot from slipping. If you apply the laces around the hooks from top to bottom (instead of bottom-to-top), it helps keep them taut.
The pinky callouses are from the nylon in the laces. Wear bandaids/gloves to protect your fingers or switch to cotton or cotton/poly laces. A pumice stone/moisturizer or "Pretty Feet & Hands" will help the callouses go away.
Is it also normal to feel like I have to tighten them a couple times a session....
Yes. You should be relacing every 40 minutes or so with new skates.
New laces stretch a little everytime you skate. After a bit of skating, the skates will feel loose.
Then you have to unlace and retie the laces. It's annoying and time-consuming initially , but it does stop after a while.
Ok..good..I was getting nervous that maybe my skates were too big...but I think I was sized correctly by the pro shop...
You might also try a metal lacing hook (http://www.amazon.com/Skatebuys-Metal-Lace-Pullers-Hooks/dp/B0007DGCX4). I use one because of arthritis in my fingers. It makes it a lot easier to lace snugly, without hurting your fingers.
Thanks, I was just thinking of that:)
I've got calluses on my index fingers from tightening my laces. I think it's normal.
The blisters will eventually toughen up and become calluses, which is what you want. In the meantime- you can use bandaids (I use a roll of soft athletic tape). I personally hate thick cotton laces, because they take a lot more force to pull through the eyelets and I ended up with bleeding blisters many times. I think a medium lace that is a nylon-cotton blend will be better.
Laces will eventually stretch and will not need to be tightened frequently, but for the break-in period it is very normal and expected to be retying the boots all the time.
I have very dry skin and rink air, especially in the winter, is no help. My pinky calluses (from all the tying and retying new skates) recently split open! Trying to tie skates burned. I grabbed my husband's NUskin and not only did it cover the open cut, it seems to have helped the healing quite a bit.
Have you tried pulling the laces down and not up?
Skaters Landing recommends pulling the laces down next to the boot, as there is less resistance.
These videos might be helpful:
http://youtu.be/lyNVjUp7F_E
http://youtu.be/uoyv4Gt-wao
Also, the last part of your tounge above your ankle does not have to be super tight and flat against your leg. You also don't need to lace to the last hook, especially if you are breaking in new skates.
Totally OT: at times, the SL narrator sounds like Casey Kasem, lol.
I think the videos are great.
But for me, if I don't tie a double knot at the top, they slip over time, so I do.
BTW, if you can't tie a bow tie without loosing tension, as your finger in the middle of the knot comes free, recognize that a bow tie is a double slipped granny knot. In other words, tie the initial overhand (where one lace is looped around the other), then grab the laces closer to the hooks, so you are holding a loop (technically, a "bight") in each hand, and complete the second overhand with those loops. That way you never need to release tension.
I know it's a little slower, but I also initially tie the bottom loop loose, and lace things up moderately tight all the way up the holes. Then I go back, and tighten each level loop in turn.
Perhaps it's because I don't use waxed laces, but I find that if I let go of the laces at each level, the way he does, they slip back a little, and won't be as tight. So instead of just letting go, the way he does, I put two fingers over the holes, so they can't slip, and tighten with the other fingers. That's part of why I need two iterations - my hands can't stretch enough to tighten while using the two fingers, so I only do the two finger thing the second iteration. When tying the hooks, I don't let go, but keep tension on the laces while switching hands.
It seems like we all spend a lot of time figuring out how to lace our boots so they work. Such a simple skill, yet we have to relearn it for snug lacing! Sometimes skating makes us feel like little kids again
I used to use a lace hook, but with this method, I don't need it. Like the video guy, I have no callouses or blisters. Maybe someone who used hand lotion to make her skin soft would need gloves, or would get callouses or blisters.
Not many people even can do this, but laces can be too tight. You don't want laces so tight they create a break down crease by direct pressure, nor do you want the "lace bite" to make your feet hurt or go numb. And, like the video guy says, you still need to be able to flex and point your ankle forward and back.
The hockey kid in a local shop claims it's a lot easier with waxed laces. He says the laces don't slip, so you can tie everything normally. I've never tried waxed laces. I wonder if there is a downside. The ones he had in the shop only fit hockey boots - too wide for my holes.
One last thing. Some people here have said that lacing is a lot easier if you use the "Lace Vice" device, where you just pull the laces, then slide them into the sailing-style jam cleats.
Great videos and info ! Thanx
I have permanent calluses on both of my pinkie fingers from tightening my laces so much lol:) I found that I definitely would need to tighten my laces when I was breaking in new boots, but I still find myself readjusting almost every time I skate. And as someone above had mentioned, its from the nylon in the laces. I have Jackson elites and they come with a cotton/nylon blend type of lace, I believe or at least that's what my pro shop told me ;)
Oh yeah. It helps a lot to use laces that aren't twisted too.