Position of Blade

[davincisop]

Now that I'm about to switch to new skates and new blades (same model I'm on now but I went down 1/4"), I have to remember to tell the guy mounting my blades that my right one need to be placed more to the inside because I pronate. When I went to Rainbo a year ago, that's what John did to help my pronation on the ice.

Do any of you also have your blades not placed right in the center?

[AgnesNitt]

You bet.

My post on it gained from a tip by Gustave Lussi

[davincisop]

Thanks, Agnes! Off to read it now

[TreSk8sAZ]

Yep! Completely normal. I pronate as well, so every boot I've had my skate tech has positioned them slightly inside.

[icepixie]

I actually supinate on my right foot, but had to have the blade positioned quite a bit further in than on the left (which is pretty much dead center) because my right hip is a couple of inches higher than my left and I kind of naturally list to the left.  I didn't think that would override the supination, but apparently it does.

[Query]

You can also compensate for pronation by placing more stuff under the insole where you want to stop the foot from collapsing - under the "medial longitudinal arch", which most people just call "the arch", though of course the foot contains many support arches.

If you only need a little offset, go for it, lots and lots of people do it. But a big offset creates potential problems:

It may alter your spin balance. This may or may not matter.

It may cause your boot to gradually twist in shape, which looks weird make it hard to skate on one edge or another. I am currently dealing with such warped boots - it was a real nuisance.

[littlerain]

I think my left is very not centered lol

[davincisop]

I did actually try that, Query. For quite a while, but it only caused pain in my arch. So moving the blade ended up being the most solid fix.

[Query]

Pain=bad

Fix=good

[Guinnie]

Yes, my blades are mounted way more to the inside. As a teen, I had double scoliosis and my spine was nearly straight after surgery. Since I've gotten older though, the curve is more pronounced again, and my balance was horrible when I decided to return to skating.

[Query]

Actually, on my most recent skates, equalizing pressure on the bottom of one foot wasn't enough - maybe because of unequal pressure on the two sides? I could use unequal pressure on different parts of the feet, but that wouldn't feel as nice. So have to offset one of my blades as well. The alternative would be to try to alter the shape of the boot, but offsetting a small fraction of an inch is just easier.

[davincisop]

Having my blades more to the inside helped dramatically. Took a little adjusting to, but it's all clicking now.

I also have been working out and on a weight loss program and have found that my knees aren't quite as knock kneed as they were (mom confirmed it when she saw me yesterday).