Should boots have space around toes?

[Query]

Does anyone out there have sufficient knowledge of sports medical practice to know if there is consensus on how skates should fit toes? Should they be snug, have reduced pressure, or open space?

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I have advocated that there be a little space around the toes in boots, so we don't get the foot health problems that athletic training books warn can occur when you get too much pressure on the toes, e.g., hammer toes, crossed toes, other forms of hallux valgus, corns, excessive callouses.

And I had stretched my boot entire toe box areas with a ball and ring pliers to create a little space around the top and sides of my toes.

Perhaps I was wrong. I've been practicing a lot of jumps, with the help of my coach - not real jumps, just low repeated waltz jumps, sometimes followed by a poor under-rotated toe loop. I didn't think my jumps were big enough to have much affect on decent figure skating boots too quickly, not even my dozen year old broken down ice dance boots. But it did.

Jumping created a slight crease in the top of the toe box, that impinged a little onto my toes, and hurt. It has happened before. That time I just re-stretched the leather with a ball and ring pliers to get rid of the crease. But jumping a lot now re-introduced the problem. Bending and unbending leather makes it softer, so I can't just keep re-doing it forever.

Clearly, boots must have compressive strength and stiffness in the toe box to sustain jump take-offs and landings. They need more with loose toe box fits.

I follow the theory that breakdown creases occur in boots near places where the foot bends mostly because there is space or reduced pressure inside the boot at those points, giving the leather space to fold. Eliminate the space, and the crease either can't form, or will occur much later, prolonging boot life. (E.g., a well fit boot might last you years instead of 2 months of daily skating- though there are many other factors that determine how long a given boot lasts a given person at a given skating level.) There are trade-offs: most serious freestyle skaters (which I'm obviously not) prefer to have some open space in front of the foot above the ankle, and compensate by using boots that are both heavier and last less long than would otherwise be needed, in exchange for the freedom of motion the loose fit gives. But maybe somewhat snug fits do apply in the toe box?

So, to repeat:  Does anyone out there have sufficient knowledge of sports medical practice to know if there is consensus on how skates should fit toes? Should they be snug, have reduced pressure, or open space?

[Isk8NYC]

Riedell says: http://www.ice.riedellskates.com/Content.aspx?PageName=Fitting Guidelines

I've never heard of anyone worrying too much about the toes other than to punch out a spot if there was rubbing.  Different brands have differently-shaped toe boxes, so that might be why it doesn't come up.  (ex: Riedells are more "pointed" in the front; Jacksons are rounded.)

The boot should fit the ball of the foot and its length should leave space so the skater's toes don't get crushed against the boot front on jumps.

Sounds like you've been pressing the skates like a linen jacket.  Don't bother - that's how they mold.  Your skates are broken-down, right?  Wear 'em out! 

[sarahspins]

Toes shouldn't be cramped, but there shouldn't be tons of extra space either.. my boots fit snug, but my toes aren't squished up.  I can say that this has not been the case with every pair I've had though.  I think that anywhere you have lots of "room" in your skates is probably a bad thing.  I don't know about everyone, but I use my toes to "grip" when I do jumps and during certain moves, and if they were too loose in my boots or too tight, that wouldn't work.

The boot width as well as the *shape* of the toe box make a huge difference on how a pair of skates will fit any given foot.  They're not all the same, obviously