skatingforums
On the Ice => The Pro Shop => Topic started by: Isk8NYC on November 20, 2022, 08:17:42 AM
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This is an interesting article
https://www.thelantern.com/2014/02/ohio-state-researchers-find-figure-skaters-could-reduce-injuries-with-different-boots
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Hmmm. That was interesting to read, but I don't like it lol. (I like my stiff boots and ordered more in the same crazy high stiffness level.)
The vintage boots from around a hundred years ago would have been more ideal then. Low to no heel and not stiff. I'd love to try a pair some day out of curiosity about them and the blade shape. My ankles have become noticeably stronger now that I skate despite the boots. I used to pronate badly before I took up skating and no longer do at all. (I'm not trying to discredit the research, btw, just discussing all this.)
I have the pair of skates I used on ponds when I was a kid. They were what my mother skated in back in the sixties and seventies, and I want to try them again too one of these days for a few minutes. They are so floppy.
She could skate (recreationally and playing hockey in them) decently back then but both of us couldn't do much wearing them in the '90s and when we tried stiff (just Jackson Softecs... not too stiff) skates it was a magical thing of "hey, I can skate and it's really cool!" If I hadn't randomly purchased (because they looked warm) the Softecs on Amazon and just used her old pair when the local pond opened in 2021 I don't think I'd be on the forum today and skating obsessively.
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Also we don't know how the research was conducted. E.g., did the figure skaters have more flexibility than the others tested? If so, you might expect a little less stability in the jump.
And, many figure skaters do off-ice training that strengthens ankles in other ways. Plus many figure skaters are trained to bend their boots despite their stiffness.
And we don't know how well fitted the boots were of the tested skaters.
In general, a one size fits all prognosis of what type of skates figure skaters should wear might not make sense for everyone.
And we don't know other researchers responses to the research
But most of all, remember that we are reading a reporter's summary, not the original research.
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Do you think the results also have been affected by the tested jump (a barefoot, backwards, downwards one or two foot hop, from one stuck position to another) being quite different in character from any figure skating jump, AFAIK?
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I wonder if there would be similar advice for dancers. The boot backs are lower, allowing the greater toe point the authors recommend, but since we don't jump more than a 1/2 rotation, we're not putting our bodies through the same jump-related stresses. I'm sure there are other, different stresses though.
High end dance boots are concrete-level stiff, and the heels are higher, since "dancers want to be on their toes".
Curious to know how the injuries differ in the two disciplines.
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It’s difficult to change long-time traditions.
Figure skating was first introduced in the 1908 Summer Olympic Games and moved to become part of the Winter Games in 1924.
The sport was developed in an age when the knowledge about sport related injuries was very basic.
Dancing is more graceful when performed on high(er) heels.
By now everybody is aware of the strain on the muscles, bones, and tissues in the feet and ankles, resulting in chronic foot pain or sudden injuries that may require surgery, caused by long term wearing of any sort of shoes with high heels.
Figure skaters even go a step further.
Wearing boots with high heels and practically no shock absorption, they perform jumps, landing on one foot, on a very hard surface.