Breaking in new skates

[Query]

There are ways to break in boots aggressively, as I've done, but until you have tried just skating in them a few weeks, that makes no sense. It's a thin line between breaking in and breaking down.

[Skate@Delaware]

You could wear them in your house (& do knee bends etc) but don't lace them as tightly...eventually you will be able to lace them tighter. You could also wear gel sleeves. It does sound like you are compressing the nerve that runs down the top of your ankle (from the tight lacing). It should get better as the padding compresses more and you lace a bit looser.

[FigureSpins]

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.

[hopskipjump]

Just a note about heel slippage.  As dd wore her skates the padding compressed and her heel was slipping (over about 5 months).  A small wedge fixed the issue and the fitter made it at no additional cost.

[drskater]

Thanks for the excellent tips!! Ugh, it's so hard to feel as if you are re-learning everything....

[tookyclothespin]

I am bumping this thread to see if anyone has advice for breaking in/relieving pain in the ankle bone area?

I've skated on my new skates 5 times now (total of about 5.5 hours of skating) and also worn them around the house a few times.  I'm having no pain anywhere except on my inside ankle bones.  The stiffness of the boot is really digging into and putting pressure there.  After skating a few times, I developed small blisters in that area but have made the rubbing better by using bandaids and cosmetic sponges.  I had them punched once (will have it done again before I skate next) and now there is no rubbing but still just a terrible, painful pressure.  It feels the worst when doing backward crossovers or landing a jump.  I can't see it getting better within the next few weeks.  I'm able to do almost all of my spins and single jumps (no axel or double sal attempts yet which is what I'm up to) correctly but the pain when landing a jump is terrible, so I haven't been able to do any combination jumps yet.  I've tried but there's just so much pressure in that area that I can't get off the ice for the second jump (loop) because of the pain.  The skates fit very well and are similar to what I had before, I think it's just a matter of the leather being a lot stiffer than in my old skates.

Any ideas for relieving pain/pressure specifically in that area?

[hopskipjump]

While wearing the boots and feeling the pain, use a soft pencil and put x's where you feel it.  Then get them punched again.    The x's are important so they know exactly where to punch.

[sarahspins]

You can also apply scotch tape and mark the X's on that if you don't want to risk permanently marking your boots.

The only solution is getting them punched again, and again if needed, because it's possible they just didn't punch them in the right place. 

[tookyclothespin]

Okay, thanks for the advice!  I will be sure of the exact spot and get them punched again and see if it gets any better.  It was marked the first time but I'll double check the spot.  I just wanted to be sure there is nothing else I should be doing.  I've been skating for 16 years but this is my first pair of brand new skates!  So I'm new to breaking skates in.  1st pair of skates was used and 2nd pair was used only for 1 month by someone else who didn't like them and got rid of them, so they were already past the painful break-in period.  This is only my 3rd pair but now I understand how painful this process can be for some!

[aussieskater]

The punchout edges might need to be smoothed over too.  To do this, the tech would punch say 4 times "around" the X, then the 5th time hit the bullseye, as it were.

What brand/model of skates do you have?  Can they be heat molded?  If so, has this been done already?

[PinkLaces]

One thing my coach always suggests is to heat them with the hair dryer before wearing in the house or the hand dryer at the rink.

[tookyclothespin]

The punchout edges might need to be smoothed over too.  To do this, the tech would punch say 4 times "around" the X, then the 5th time hit the bullseye, as it were.

What brand/model of skates do you have?  Can they be heat molded?  If so, has this been done already?

That makes sense.  I had them punched two more times (total of 3 times) and it's slowly getting better.  If I get them done again I'll see if they can do it the way you described.  I decided to order a Bunga sleeve to relieve a little of the pressure (hopefully--have never used them before) and will try that in a few days, next time I skate.

I've heard mixed opinions, but my coach advised against heat molding because he said it can reduce the life of the skates.

My skates are a discontinued Riedell model, 925.  I've been trying to figure out what they would be equivalent to today but no one really knows/remembers.  They are a bit stiffer than my old 375's (what I had before) were when they were brand new.  It's kind of a long story but I ordered them 8 years ago at a good deal when they were discontinued, took a break from skating before getting blades for them, came back to skating 3 years ago but stayed in my old skates, and just now got blades for them.  I'm told they are a little stiffer than usual probably due to their age, but that's speculation.  They seem to be in otherwise perfect condition, as they were just sitting around in my closet all that time (sadly!).

One thing my coach always suggests is to heat them with the hair dryer before wearing in the house or the hand dryer at the rink.

I have heard of that!  I did that while wearing them around the house and maybe I should try it next time at the rink.

[Vicki7]

I've had my Jacksons (Mystiques) for just under 3 months and, as they're my first pair of figure skates since I was a child, I'm still working on the lacing. If I lace the top of the foot too tight, my little toes go numb, which isn't fun.

I found doing lots of slaloms and sculling/lemons/swizzles helped me break them in, although they only gave me one sore spot on the side of my leg, where the top of the boot rubbed. Guess I've been pretty lucky with it.