Tales of (Equipment) Woe

[LunarSkater]

The vast majority of the skaters at my rink use 7/16. We have a few high-level dancers that prefer 3/8 and a senior-level lady was the only one who had 5/16. The skaters that use 1/2 are all in LTS, as are the ones in 9/16.

The real question is what are you comfortable with? Have you asked your coach? Has this tech ever seen you skate? Because techs can be just as set in their ways as anyone else. There's a coach in my area who sharpens all his skaters to 3/8 no matter if they're starting Pre-pre moves at age 7 or international competitors with years of experience. Sharpen to what you are comfortable with, not just because someone "in the know" says to change.

[tstop4me]

I have been using a 7/16 for about 4 years. That was recommended by the highly respected sharpener at the rink. My first sharpening was in LTS and he recommended 9/16 but I felt like I was skidding around so we went to 7/16 the next time and it has felt fine.

This particular sharpener moved to another rink so a (also highly respected) sharpener from a nearby rink is coming in now. He told me the previous grind was very uneven with 1 side higher than the other. He also told me for my size and level he would recommend 5/8 or maybe 9/16 but that with a 7/16 the skate is controlling me rather than me controlling the skate. He said 7/16 is for lighter skaters doing doubles and triples.

Now I don't know exactly what to believe. I may try a 1/2" and see how that feels but dropping back to 5/8 sounds extreme.

Do you lose a lot of material backing off from the existing ROH?

The vast majority of the skaters at my rink use 7/16. We have a few high-level dancers that prefer 3/8 and a senior-level lady was the only one who had 5/16. The skaters that use 1/2 are all in LTS, as are the ones in 9/16.

The real question is what are you comfortable with? Have you asked your coach? Has this tech ever seen you skate? Because techs can be just as set in their ways as anyone else. There's a coach in my area who sharpens all his skaters to 3/8 no matter if they're starting Pre-pre moves at age 7 or international competitors with years of experience. Sharpen to what you are comfortable with, not just because someone "in the know" says to change.

<<Emphasis added.>>  I'm in agreement with LunarSkater here.  It doesn't matter what someone else (regardless of whether that someone else is a tech, a coach, or another skater) says should be the best ROH for you.  The only thing that really matters is what ROH works best for a specific skater executing specific moves with a specific set of blades on a specific ice surface. 

I've come across two contradictory ROH strategies.  The first is that skaters should start out with a larger ROH (e.g., 1/2" or larger) and then change to a smaller ROH (e.g., 7/16" or smaller) as they advance.  The second is that skaters should start out with a smaller ROH and then change to a larger ROH as they advance.  Perhaps it's fair to say that both strategies apply during different phases.

I'm skeptical of rules that specify absolute ranges of ROH based on nominal skill level alone  (e.g.,  9/16" or 1/2" for recreational, 7/16" or 3/8" for freestyle) or based on nominal skill level and weight.  One general rule, however, does hold for relative changes in ROH:  As the ROH decreases (hollow gets deeper), the bite increases and the glide decreases (with the usual caveat: all other significant parameters held constant).  From this consideration, it makes sense to use the largest ROH (shallowest hollow) that provides you sufficient edge control.  The optimum ROH will likely change as the skater's needs and level of edge control changes.  E.g., a beginner skater will likely do fine with 9/16" or 1/2" for moves that require only shallow edges.  As he advances to moves that require deeper edges, however, he might need to change to a smaller ROH, e.g., 7/16" or 3/8", to increase bite.  But then again, as his level of edge control increases, he might be able to increase the ROH back to, e.g., 1/2" or 9/16" or even larger to increase glide.   

The best freestylist I personally know has incredibly deep, beautiful edges; blindingly fast, well-centered spins; breath-taking triples; and majestic, sweeping spirals down the length of the ice:  her ROH is 3/4" (and she's petite).  There is an elite champion skater of yesteryear in my area.  She still coaches, and I've seen her skating for fun on publics; her ROH is 5/8" (I know because she goes to the same tech as I do).  Klutzy me, on the other hand, was on 7/16" for a long time, but changed to 3/8" specifically to get better control over the entry to a scratch spin.

[Bill_S]

I'd like to add an observation to that. I experimented with various ROH several years ago. One thing about flat grinds (in my case 1/2") was that I was skidding a bit more than I'd like. To compensate, I consciously tried using more knee bend. It worked surprisingly well to hold an edge with a flat ROH.

I have fairly deep knees, however, at my age, skating around with knees continually bent *that* much really taxed my strength. I suspect that one could get used to it, but I was lazy.   

It just proves that the old adage "Bend your knees!" works for so many skating issues.

[Loops]

To go along with this discussion, back in the days of school figures, many of us had a second set of skates (because of different blades) for those.  The blades, I believe are a smidge wider, but I would need to measure that with calipers that I don't have access to at the moment.

Having said that, school figures require edge control and glide.  Lots of glide.  Edges, change of edges and turns, must be clean, skidding is not acceptable.  Some figures (the smaller, loop based figures) require deeper edges.  We had our blades sharpened to 1" or 1.5", depending on skill/preference.  For normal skating/stroking, there is skidding and no grip.  But it works great on figures. Mine are 1.5 and the glide is eteeeeerrrrrrnal.  But, as Bill_S points out: knee-bend is required, although they are skated at much slower speeds than dance or freestyle.

[Query]

Which brings me to the next part of the saga. I replaced my ill-fitting Riedells with a pair of Jackson Elles, which are a good fit for me; however, the boots are microfiber, not leather, and I'm not liking it much. (Note: these aren't the new Elle Fusions, they're the previous model with the LCL sole. In the transitional period, some boots ended up being made with the microfiber upper, according to the Jackson rep I spoke with.) The microfiber doesn't have the suppleness of leather, and I'm not able to get it to conform around my skinny ankles.

I failed to respond to that part. Did you eventually get leather Elles?

To my mind, if they don't conform to your skinny ankles, they still don't fit. A good fit is 3D - it should fit your entire foot, ankle, and the part of the leg it touches. In addition to affecting your performance, a poor fit around the ankles will contribute to rapid breakdown, by providing space for a crease to form in the material.

However, something like a sock cuff might make them fit. As a cheap first try, take some thick socks (e.g., cotton athletic socks), keep the band around the area that is loose, and cut away the top and bottoms. Of course they will eventually unravel - but that is good enough for an initial test, and there are glues you can buy in fabric stores that prevent unraveling at the edges of fabric. Maybe you could even sort of get away with a dollar store knitted scarf - cut a little length, and wrap it around those skinny ankles. If either of these fit pretty well (probably not perfectly - because the edge of the material is abrupt, rather than thinning - "feathering" - at the edges, and perhaps because some people feel that the boot liner - which this effectively becomes part of - should not be too squishy), you can transition to a more expensive product - e.g., buy a piece of EVA foam from Joann Fabrics or elsewhere, and cut it to shape. With a little heat from a hot air drier, placed inside the boot around your foot, it may conform better to the foot and boot. There are also cuffs on sale at some figure and hockey skating pro shops - typically designed to cushion the place where the leg touches the top of the boot.

BTW, I haven't tried these things - I have the opposite problem, in that my ankles and legs have somewhat higher volume than my supposedly custom skates were designed to fit.

[Leif]

I have been using a 7/16 for about 4 years. That was recommended by the highly respected sharpener at the rink. My first sharpening was in LTS and he recommended 9/16 but I felt like I was skidding around so we went to 7/16 the next time and it has felt fine.

This particular sharpener moved to another rink so a (also highly respected) sharpener from a nearby rink is coming in now. He told me the previous grind was very uneven with 1 side higher than the other. He also told me for my size and level he would recommend 5/8 or maybe 9/16 but that with a 7/16 the skate is controlling me rather than me controlling the skate. He said 7/16 is for lighter skaters doing doubles and triples.

Now I don't know exactly what to believe. I may try a 1/2" and see how that feels but dropping back to 5/8 sounds extreme.

Do you lose a lot of material backing off from the existing ROH?

My coach, a figure skater, uses 3/8". She's a light build, but not tiny. She skated at UK national level. As others have said, use what feels comfortable. I've tried 5/8", 1/2" and 7/16". I found 7/16" tiring until I learnt better edge control, so I no longer fight the edges (and don't crunch so much).

No you don't lose much material going up or down a step in the RoH. I can change up or down an increment (1/16") on my Sparx machine with no more than two passes.

[Christy]

I have been using a 7/16 for about 4 years. That was recommended by the highly respected sharpener at the rink. My first sharpening was in LTS and he recommended 9/16 but I felt like I was skidding around so we went to 7/16 the next time and it has felt fine.

This particular sharpener moved to another rink so a (also highly respected) sharpener from a nearby rink is coming in now. He told me the previous grind was very uneven with 1 side higher than the other. He also told me for my size and level he would recommend 5/8 or maybe 9/16 but that with a 7/16 the skate is controlling me rather than me controlling the skate. He said 7/16 is for lighter skaters doing doubles and triples.

Now I don't know exactly what to believe. I may try a 1/2" and see how that feels but dropping back to 5/8 sounds extreme.

Do you lose a lot of material backing off from the existing ROH?

Stick with what works for you, but what you may find is that the new sharpener's 7/16ths may be different to the original sharpener's 7/16ths. I'm unable to get to my usual great sharpener, and have asked a couple of local sharpeners to sharpen my blades to 7/16ths with extremely variable results.