aaah... this might sound like an odd question, but I was wondering if it would be okay to use hockey skates for <strong>recreational</strong> figure skating? I hope that made sense!
also, another odd question. ALL figure skates are made of leather, yeah? No? If not, what about vegans, who cannot wear leather? By the way, I'm not a vegan, just a vegetarian.
ONE more question! For beginners, which skate brand is best suited? SP-Teri's or Riedells?
If by recreational you mean at a club, no. At clubs here in Canada, figure skates must be worn at all levels above canskate. ('bout 6 or 7 years old).
Few better quality figure skates are made of leather anymore. Risport, Gam, Riedell, Graf, are all made of synthetics.
SP Teri's are made of leather. That is why they are so much heavier that other skates, and more expensive too.
I could answer you better if you define recreational.
edited to add: uppers are synthetic....the soles are all leather.
Oh, no, I don't mean in a club... by recreational, I am trying to say... a person taking lessons once a week for basic skills, and occasionally going to the rink just to skate around. By basic skills i mean really, really basic, like crossovers, two foot turns, that type of thing
Wow, I didn't know a lot of those brands were made from synthetics... but if the soles are leather, that would still be wearing leather. Poo! I noticed that SP-Terri's are heavier than say, Riedells, but like you said, they are made of leather... that sucks, I was leaning more towards that brand. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif ALT=":\">
I hope you can help me out some more, thanks!!!
I think if you want to learn basic skating skills, lessons or no lessons, you need figure skates. Even the most basic skills need the edge of a figure skate, which is very different from a hockey skate.
If you are just beginning, you don't need a higher quality of skate. Most fine skate brands make a skate for beginners that have a hard plastic sole. As a bonus, these beginner skates usually come with a MK or Wilson blade already attached. Risport makes one called the "Laser". Gam makes one too...not sure but it might be called the Gam 20. Any skate shop can show you their boots and blade package skates. They all have them. They are suitable any skater learning basic skills and jumps up to an axel. The price range is about $150.00. I really wouldn't let anyone in a skate shop talk me into buying anything more advanced. You would just have a harder time breaking them in and not enjoy skating.
For a beginner, used skates would probably be great as long as they aren't too worn out. My first pair were used. As for brand, that's really personal preference, I don't like SP Teri's, I always found them to be really painful and uncomfortable. I've been on Harlick's for a few years now and I love them! I believe they make a beginner boot...
Actually, my daughter's boot now is SP-Teri's. She never had a comfort problem with them. In fact, they were the easiest of all her boots to break in. her biggest complaint is they are heavy.....so, we are awaiting her new boots to be completed, she is going back to Gam....which she also liked.
Those are the only two brands she has ever used. She has a low instep and even though her boots are custom now, those two brands suited her better at the time she bought stock. Really talk to your boot fitter in the store.....different brands suit different type feet.
Used boots are a good idea for a beginner too.
thanks for answering, and for the advice, you guys!
Hi : )
Actually, hockey skates can help figure skaters learn to power skate better by forcing the skater to push completely off edges without the toe picks, which can slow you down. Your balance must be perfect over the blades on hockey skates, which don't really have edges or the picks to steady you. To perform figure skating in hockey skates requires great balance and sence of edge, and is often used to teach better basic skating skills.
Doing FS in hockey skates is MORE difficult than figure skates
Hope this helps too,
AS
Thanks AdultSkater... I have been skating in hockey skates occasionally, and I have realized on my own that you need really good balance, LOL... :lol:
And in rental figure skates, I'm always tripping because of the toe pick. ::sighs::
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