- Joined
- Oct 25, 2023
This is probably common knowledge to many, but for those for whom it isn't...
I had skates I loved but had to move the blades to new boots after a tech wrecked my boots. I liked how my blades were mounted on the old boots. I now have a blade mounting issue and my tech is not close to me. I struggled so hard for the week after mounting, both in practices and at a competition. I couldn't do a backspin without excessively tipping my skating foot and keeping my free leg low to the ice. I had arch pain. Top of the outside of the foot pain. Outer ankle pain shooting up the leg. I fell HARD on multiple loop jumps in a single hour's session. I still hurt a lot in multiple places from all the bruises I got.
Until I can get my blade moved outward to where it needs to be this weekend (when I travel for another competition), I have cut pieces of thin card, matching the shape of my insole but only half or 1/3 the width, shaped to the outside of the foot. I then glued the layers together into a wedge and stuck it under the insole, so the outside of my foot is pushed up.
The difference in my stability is remarkable. I can backspin again, with my leg up and without feeling like my foot is heavily tipped over. The arch pain is gone. The outer ankle pain is gone. The top of foot pain isn't there as long as I don't tie too tightly there. My loops and other jumps feel more stable.
If you need a quick fix for blades mounted in the wrong place and can't get to a tech, a thin wedge really can be the difference between being able to skate and hurting yourself.
I had skates I loved but had to move the blades to new boots after a tech wrecked my boots. I liked how my blades were mounted on the old boots. I now have a blade mounting issue and my tech is not close to me. I struggled so hard for the week after mounting, both in practices and at a competition. I couldn't do a backspin without excessively tipping my skating foot and keeping my free leg low to the ice. I had arch pain. Top of the outside of the foot pain. Outer ankle pain shooting up the leg. I fell HARD on multiple loop jumps in a single hour's session. I still hurt a lot in multiple places from all the bruises I got.
Until I can get my blade moved outward to where it needs to be this weekend (when I travel for another competition), I have cut pieces of thin card, matching the shape of my insole but only half or 1/3 the width, shaped to the outside of the foot. I then glued the layers together into a wedge and stuck it under the insole, so the outside of my foot is pushed up.
The difference in my stability is remarkable. I can backspin again, with my leg up and without feeling like my foot is heavily tipped over. The arch pain is gone. The outer ankle pain is gone. The top of foot pain isn't there as long as I don't tie too tightly there. My loops and other jumps feel more stable.
If you need a quick fix for blades mounted in the wrong place and can't get to a tech, a thin wedge really can be the difference between being able to skate and hurting yourself.
