Padding - knee and butt

[jjane45]

back of head ... but, as we pointed out to him afterwards, a nice bun or a healthy ponytail would have done a good job of padding too ...

Does he have Jason Brown ponytail now?

I padded up a winter hat quite a bit... Turns out the hat was too heavy and fell off easily despite a fastening elastic at the rim.

I think if the skater crashes into the boards, anything could happen to the head, including the sides and top. Anyone has tips on preventing a heavy hat from falling off?

[sampaguita]

I use volleyball knee pads, roller skating elbow pads, and Waxel pads for my hips and tailbone. If I had the money, I would have bought SkatingSafe gel pads as they look nicer, but then I don't.

I used not to use pads before, as I am not doing very advanced moves anyway, but an accident while stroking (!) made me fall on my hip really bad, so bad that I couldn't walk without pain for 3 weeks.

[karne]

Unpopular opinion time, but is there any point to knee pads?

I fall on my knees a lot - unfortunate habit - and get a lot of bruises, but I don't wear padding and I don't think I ever will. I can handle a few bruises.

I can understand older skaters, whose bones are a bit fragile, and a skater coming back from a bad injury needing padding, but younger skaters or skaters my age - why do we need it? Doesn't it kind of run counter to what we need? I see people using them to overcome their fear of falling - but if you wear pads, wouldn't that make you dependent on them when you fell, so that your brain thinks it's okay to fall because it won't hurt? Just my opinion.

To answer the question, though, I would recommend volleyball kneepads - cheap, available from any sports store.

[jjane45]

I am concerned with volleyball kneepad's thickness. When you have to pull in hard for that scratch spin, it may be in the way. (I know that my previous plastic knee pads got in the way twice even on beginner jumps)

Unpopular opinion time, but is there any point to knee pads?

My rationale for protection gear: I am willing to put up with reasonable risks in figure skating because I love the sport, but it's not worth it to let random falls knock me off the ice or even into ER. In the past year I've had at least 2 skary falls on my knee that without the padding I guess it's a week off the ice.

Falls could also be devastating while learning higher level elements. People may or may not become dependent on protective gear, but by the time one competes or tests, s/he likely already knows the program / pattern well enough that the risk of injury is reasonably reduced.

So, why not?

[hopskipjump]

Dd uses dance knee pands.  They are very flexible and it keeps her knees from bruising.  She's going to have these knees for a lifetime, why not keep them padded?  She doesn't rely on them, when she doesn't have them for a comp, she is fine.  Maybe because she hasn't had a bad spill because she wears them so she doesn't fear falling?  She has a problem with her pads though.  She will wear the tail bone pad (but only while actively practicing doubles) but doesn't like to wear a hip pad.  A lot of girls wear the padded shorts, but that is a LOT of money for me to find them stuffed in her bag unworn!

[Sk8tmum]

Dd uses dance knee pands.  They are very flexible and it keeps her knees from bruising.  She's going to have these knees for a lifetime, why not keep them padded?  She doesn't rely on them, when she doesn't have them for a comp, she is fine.  Maybe because she hasn't had a bad spill because she wears them so she doesn't fear falling?  She has a problem with her pads though.  She will wear the tail bone pad (but only while actively practicing doubles) but doesn't like to wear a hip pad.  A lot of girls wear the padded shorts, but that is a LOT of money for me to find them stuffed in her bag unworn!

When she ends up sitting on her backside for 3 weeks nursing a soft-tissue injury on a hip from practicing a 2LZ, she'll wear the pads.  Until then - sigh.  Anyways, try the UltraCrash hip pads. You can't see them, and apparently they also feel "cozy" on the skin in a cold rink.  Also work very very very well. Same hip wore those darned things for quite a while after the injury (although, having the coach checking down the skating pants to make sure VERY STUBBORN CHILD was wearing them raised a few eyebrows around the rink).

We have a rule. Wear the pads when working on high-risk elements or get off the ice.  And we enforce it. It's not an option for my kids.  I pay for their skating, and I will not have their stubbornness or lack of concern over injuries when practicing high-risk elements mean that they are going to take themselves off the ice and/or I'm going to have them permanently damaged. Granted, now that they are growing up and getting more sensible, it's not a hard sell anymore. Nobody wants to be hobbling around in agony due to a bad fall, after all.

[hopskipjump]

I'll check those out!

[mailjohnb11]

You need to check out http://www.crashwraps.com. They have a unique "diaper" style removable crash pad that works very well..