CHILDREN'S SKATES

Which Type of Ice Skates?

Do you know what to look for when buying ice skates? Ice skates are just like any other item or tool for any task or purpose, you need to make sure that you buy or get the right tool for the right job. And this is the same with ice skates, you need to make sure that you pick the right style of ice skate for its purpose. If you are keen at ice skating and are enthusiastic to try your hand at dancing you will want to ensure that you research and find the best skates to enable you to skate and dance. If you are looking to take up ice skating and want to take it further into learning to play ice hockey, you will want to make sure that you buy the correct ice skates in order for you to do this. If you are just looking at ice skating with the family at the weekends, purely for leisure and entertainment but do not want to use hire skates and enjoy more comfort, then you will want to look at buying the right skates which will suit this.

When looking to buy ice skates there is lots of research you can do and the more you learn about your purpose and the more you learn about the different skates, will enable you to be in a much better position when buying your skates. It is also important that you try different makes of ice skates on as different manufacturers skates can come up slightly different in sizing and the way they feel and fit.

As you may notice, there seem to be two different shapes and styles of ice skates available. One style has a longer blade and shaped blade to the toe point with little cut outs. These are figure dancing ice skates, the longer blade assists with balance and the cut outs near the toe, called the toe picks, are to assist in stopping and gripping when carrying out twists and turns in your dance patterns. The blades on hockey ice skates are much shorter and more rounder blade making a complete circle and attaches at the boot both ends. This is to ensure that the blades are not so dangerous, should you become entangled with another player and not to cause any tripping or be in the way. Ice hockey players need to have skates which are smooth and agile, able to turn quickly and strong for quick responses to get moving as they move at a lot quicker speeds than dancing skaters. You will also find that your own style and balance position will be different depending on which skate you are wearing - ice hockey players, having a shorter blade will need to ensure that they keep their weight more forward, where figure skaters, using longer blades will also have support and balance if they are more upright or lean back. Recreational skates tend to be a skate in the middle of these two styles. The blade is not as short as the ice hockey blades but is more rounder and forms a complete circle with the boot and does not have the toe pick at the front, thus making it easier not to catch your toe when just skating and making you stop.

The boots also offer different options and support. Figure skaters' boots lace up tightly around the ankle are made to give the skaters support and strength around the ankle whilst they are carrying out their jumps and turns. Ice hockey players' boots need to support them for their quick change of direction and pushing off and again ice hockey boots will need to be laced up very tightly. Recreational skates tend to have straps which keep the boot on and these will usually give as much support as needed for the level of skating you will be doing. However, it is worth noting and particularly if looking at children's skates, that if you are looking to play ice hockey, you get skates that lace up and not with straps. The reason for this, is that you will be unable to play ice hockey in skates with straps as it is a requirement to have laces and you may end up having to buy another pair of skates!