Bumping this thread for newbies. I have had a rash of students breaking in new skates, so here's what I do with them on the ice the first time or two:
. I always test alignment with both the factory sharpening and the initial sharpening. Just the usual "stand and bend your knees" "glide on the line" stuff - nothing fancy. Although, I have begun to use the "glide and close your eyes" test in the last year. It's great if the skater has good body alignment already; you can tell if the blade's off a bit. However, if they couldn't skate straight on flats before, it doesn't do much as an indicator with the new skates.
. I never have them tie the top hook for the first month. It provides knee and ankle mobility.
. Place bottom toepick against the bottom plastic border of the wall, then press the knee forward to bend the ankle area of the skate. Hold for 10 seconds, switch sides, repeat 5x/foot. This stresses the boot into the forward-bent position. It doesn't have to be on the ice, but we don't have anything 4" high off-ice that won't damage the blade.
. Stand by the wall and rock up to the toepicks and then back to the heel in place, so they can feel how far they can go on the blade, front-to-back. (Most have different blades, too.)
. Glide into the wall, rocking up onto the toepicks and then back down to push away. This helps them memorize the blade rocker and toepick placement for turns and spins.
. Two-foot turns along the wall in both directions. Again, learning the rocker. If they feel brave, then can try one-foot turns. (Most won't until later on in the lesson, so we usually do them together later with my spotting them the first few times.)
. Forward swizzles with deeply bent knees, 1-2 laps.
. Backward swizzles with deeply bent knees, 1-2 laps.
. Forward dips or two-footed shoot-the-ducks, 1-2 laps.
. Backward dips or two-footed shoot-the-ducks, 1-2 laps.
. Backward crossovers, 2-4 big circles.
At that point, I have them see if their laces need retying or adjustments. They usually do since the laces stretch a bit when new.
After that, we do the 3-turns and mohawks with initially spotting, then on their own.
We test the spins on two feet, then Pique/pickup spins on both feet, followed by t-start spins.
I have them do side toe hops, ballet jumps and bunny hops initially. It points the foot and helps break in the skate differently. Waltz jumps usually come easily after the bunny hop roll up is solid.
Loop jumps are excellent for breaking in skates, if the skater can already DO a loop jump properly. If not, I don't review it until the boot's broken in because I don't want them compensating for a stiff skate and creating incorrect muscle memory.
I don't have them do forward crossovers for the first wearing. It's too easy to trip since their balance and ankle bend is "off." Back crossovers and shoot-the-ducks/dips are more important during the break-in period.