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ASK MR. EDGE
December 2003
Mr. Edge is a qualified skate technician with years and years of experience. He can answer your questions on boots, blades and foot problems related to your equipment. Questions will be answered in SKATING magazine and later posted on the web site.
Hope the weather isn't too cold, nor the snow too deep for your liking. If I may, I would like to congratulate everyone going to the U.S. Championships. Best of luck to you all!
A small reminder for everyone sending in a question — be sure you type in your correct return e-mail address. I'm still receiving many questions with the wrong return address. This makes it a bit difficult for me to answer your questions. If anyone has sent in a question and didn't receive a direct answer back from me, then please send it on again.
Now that the cold weather is upon us don't forget to remove your skates from your car every evening. Here is a short list of things that may happen to your skates if you leave them in your car, garage or extremely cold locker room area.
- Your feet could freeze and become numb.
- The leather will tighten up, making it more difficult to get your skates on.
- Leather boots will soak up excess moisture in the air eventually adding more weight to your skates.
- If your soles and heels are not properly sealed, expect excess moisture to seep down into your screw holes, thus loosening them up.
The bottom line to all this is to keep your skates at room temperature whenever possible, and make sure that you properly wipe them down after every use.
And now if I may direct your attention to the questions below.
Q: I own a pair of Riedell Gold Stars and love them. The problem is that sometimes after skating for a few minutes, the instep and outer part of my foot begins to ache. What can I do to stop the pain? Weston, Conn.
A: The problem is in the arch of
the boot. It may be that your foot has slipped forward a bit, displacing how your foot is lying over the arch in the boot.
Try loosening your laces down to the toe of the boot so that you are able to pull the tongue forward, making it easier to slip your foot down into the boot. After your foot is in the boot, kick back on the heel of the blade. This will place your heel all the way back into the boot. At this point, keep the toe of the boot pointed upward and start lacing up your skates. Do not put your skate flat down on the floor until you've finished lacing it to the top.
Now, stand up and see how they feel. If this doesn't work, remove the insoles and replace them with flat leather insoles. These can be obtained from any shoe repair shop and will give you the extra room you need to relax both sides of your feet.
Q: I'm getting new skates, but it's only 21⁄2 weeks before regionals. How can I break them in quickly? Also, whenever I jump, the shin on my landing leg hurts. Is this caused by my skates? New York
A: First the answer to the breaking in your skates question. If you're skating every day, you should be OK as far as breaking them in. However, this takes into consideration that you will only be doing light skating and not pushing yourself to the limit the first few days on them. Don't expect to be doing doubles your first time out. You'll do nothing but harm to your already injured landing foot, which brings me to answer your second question.
If you have no other known injury to your leg, then the pain is probably due to either tendonitis (centralized pain around the hook area second from the top or at the top of the tongue) or you may have a stress fracture. Either way, these injuries are most commonly caused from either using too stiff a boot or overuse (skating too long, too hard). I would suggest that you see a sports medicine physician and have an x-ray to rule out a stress fracture.
Q: When I get off the ice and take my skates off, it hurts to walk on my feet. Do you know why? Maple Grove, Minn.
A: Your pain could be due to a couple of things.
- Your boots are too tight causing your feet to cramp up while still in your boots, even though the pain doesn't start until after you've taken them off.
- Assuming your boots fit properly, you may have problems with your arches and may need the use of an arch support.
I would start by having your feet measured again for both length and width. If the sizing is correct, then I would consider some sort of arch support. If you elect to go with the arch supports and your feet feel worse while using them, then the problem is that your boots are too narrow only through the arch area of your foot. At this point, I would consider new boots — perhaps even a different brand.
Well skaters, once again it's time to say goodbye. Hope you all enjoy the upcoming holidays. Until next time, this is Mr. Edge wishing you the best!
Mr. Edge and all related elements are property of Arena Sports & Consulting Services, Inc. ©2013. Send your questions to Mr. Edge via mail (Ask Mr. Edge, SKATING magazine, 20 First Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80906); FAX (719) 635-9548 or e-mail them online.
The opinions of Mr. Edge are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Figure Skating or SKATING magazine. Remember, if you have problems with your feet, check with a doctor – the problem may very well be with your boot, but it could be more serious. Check with your local pro shop for more information about boots and blades.
