Skating barefoot?

[Mergen Tatara]

You have a Marquis too! So how was skating barefoot with them?

It felt ok, I didn't feel any discomfort from rubbing against the stitches and nail heads. I guess the stiff boots numbed all feeling.  I was more afraid of blisters from friction but thankfully it didn't happen. Neither did I feel it gave me more control over the blade, compared to wearing thin socks.

I won't do it again if possible, because of foot odour/smell infecting my boots.  And also the sweat wetting the internal leather lining, causing it to rot/break down in the long run.  For hygiene reasons, I always prefer to put on thin socks.   

[treesprite]

I've had to skate barefoot before due to forgetting nylons (knee highs). I didn't like the feeling when I did it, so I don't plan on doing it again. Nylons don't take up any extra space. I would not want to skate in any kind of socks, even thin ones.

[AgnesNitt]

I've had to skate barefoot before due to forgetting nylons (knee highs). I didn't like the feeling when I did it, so I don't plan on doing it again. Nylons don't take up any extra space. I would not want to skate in any kind of socks, even thin ones.

Around here men all skate in very thin socks, usually cheap nylon socks. But I agree with you that for women something like nylon knee highs is good enough. Kids wear skating tights all the time, I'm just not willing to go to that expense.

[PrettySk8Dress]

I can't stand bare feet in sneakers or any closed shoes
 so I will not ever attempt to skate barefoot.  I don't understand how people can do it, but to each his own.

I agree, I would never skate barefoot, and I never wear women's shoes barefoot. The feeling is just too yucky, IMO. I have always worn sheer-to-the-waist pantyhose, or footed skaters tights, to skate in. But lately I have been wearing over-the-boot tights over the pantyhose for warmth. With women's street shoes and high heels, I have always worn them with pantyhose, or frilly socks.

[Query]

Do superfeet (the yellow ones, I think) help pronation? my left foot is pronated

It would be better if someone who actually uses them would answer you. I tried them and found them insufficient for my particular needs.

They are heat moldable orthotics, which mold (to a limited extant) to fit the bottoms of your feet, but they are sold to the consumer market instead of through the medical community. (BTW, for about $300-$400 you can get a podiatrist, ATC, PT, etc. to help you heat mold them under their professional guidance.) You get them hot enough to mold, put them in the boot, and put your feet on top of them. So if you put all your weight on them, they would deform to fit the shape of your feet, and provide very little of the support you need. But if molded with less than full weight, or with someone helping you keep the right foot/ankle/leg/knee/hip alignment, they should provide most of the desired support.

You need ones that are sized so that they can be cut down to a size that presses hard enough against the sides of the boot that they don't rock and shift inside the boot. (If you have relatively narrow feet, you may do better with the Superfeet model that is designed for skates rather than for hiking boots.)

Such rocking and shifting motion leads to a partial loss of control of what the skate is doing on the ice, which means you won't be rated as high by figure skating judges. Unfortunately, if sized or cut down to press hard against the sides of the boot so that they don't rock and shift, they gradually stretch the boot until it no longer fits, at which time your feet will rock and slide, and the boot will also then break down more quickly.

You can achieve almost exactly the same types of support by sticking thin strips of athletic tape (also called coach tape, and sold in both sports and medical supply stores) under the insole where you need support (mostly, under the "medial longitudinal arch", which is under your feet near the inside edges of your boot). In fact, tape is more customizable than a moldable orthotic, and is far cheaper.

Superfeet and most heat moldable orthotics only mold in a two dimensional warping sense. They don't get thicker and thinner where needed to mold in a true three dimensional sense, which is what you could do with tape. That's why they rock and shift if not cut right.

But many people are very satisfied with Superfeet, including some people on this board.

[alejeather]

I use Superfeet, and I like them, but I only have very minor pronation. The whole story is a bit more complicated than that.

I bought Superfeet shortly after I got my current boots, because I thought they might magically fix some of the problems with my skating. Of course they didn't, and I couldn't really tell the difference with them, so I returned them. (I bought them at REI specifically because of their awesome return policy.)

A few months ago, my spins coach started getting really hyped up about the idea of fixing pronation by putting semicircles of cardboard under the insole at the arch. It's a similar idea to what Query described with tape, but using cardboard instead. After working with me for a few months, she started suggesting it to me, because she thought it might help with my spins. As a kid, I had more of a problem with pronation, but with all the ballet training I did, I more or less overcame it with strengthening the necessary muscles. It causes me no problems in my everyday life. But my spins coach was saying that because of the pressures on my foot in a spin, I may not be able to physically hold my arch up and could benefit from something that would support it without the muscle having to do the work.

I tried the semicircles of cardboard for a while, but didn't notice much difference, and I didn't like fiddling with all the guesswork of how big to cut the semicircles, and how many layers to use. Besides, I had other problems with my heel slipping, so I was open to the idea of a full foot insole to take up more room in the boot. I bought the blue Superfeet, which are slightly higher profile than the yellow and I replaced the factory insole with them. I have skated with them ever since and I think that they make my skates fit better, but it didn't make any drastic difference in how I skated. I just continue to wear them because for me they are comfortable. I suppose my spins are better centered, but I think that's as much from improving technique as anything.