How to lock my heel into back of new skates

joonieskates · Oct 22, 2017

I am breaking in brand new skates and i can't get my heel right into the back of one skate. I can manage fine in one, and then i put the other on and it just doesnt go in and slips around. how do i do it? The skate shop guy said to whack the blade really hard on the ground but i'm scared to. im not breaking my blade already! i got these yesterday!

loopy · Oct 22, 2017

You have to whack your heel to get your heel firmly in place. You do the back end, not the part that is on the ice. If it is still too loose after doing it and securely tieing your laces, they can put in some material to help it stay snug.

joonieskates · Oct 22, 2017

well guess i'll whack it then. i do the back bit. but is this forever or just a breaking in thing?

loopy · Oct 22, 2017

All the skaters I know do it every time they put their boots on (including my daughter). It's part of putting on skates. If your heel is sliding too much your skate pro needs to check it (they can even squeeze the heel in), but lock it in on your own first. You can't jump with your heel moving.

singerskates · Oct 22, 2017

Tell me about it in my previous skates my heels were always sliding. I had to purchase split sizing the last time. I have a D ball and B heel. Next time I will get custom boots because the transition from D ball to B heel didn't work that great because the width mid foot was still B instead of gradually changing to D width. I have duck feet and bunions.

Ic3Rabbit · Oct 22, 2017

You need to do it every single time you put on your boots to secure your heels in the boot.

tstop4me · Oct 22, 2017

I don't particularly care for whacking the end of the blade against the floor each time I lace up. I think it unnecessarily stresses the screw joints holding the blade to the boot. What I do is lace up, do about 20 - 30 deep knee bends, and then retighten the lace. You might want to see if that also works for you, if you want to avoid the whacking method.

treesprite · Oct 23, 2017

If you don't want to wack, try pressing your heel against the back of the skate firmly as you are putting your foot down into the boot. Keep the heel pressed that way all the way in to make sure the heel is secure by the time your foot is flat in the boot.

joonieskates · Oct 23, 2017

Okay, i have figured out that whacking it doesnt actually do much, but putting my toes into the middle of the boot, holding my boot and pushing as hard as possible into the back with my heel works better. like treesprite said. also wiggling my foot standing up and putting my weight onto that foot seems to also work better than whacking the blade but i am wondering if it doesnt matter when im on the ice because my heel is sliding when i WALK on LAND. i haven't skated in them yet. skating is a different motion, so if it slides when i walk does it matter?

Ic3Rabbit · Oct 23, 2017

joonieskates said:
Okay, i have figured out that whacking it doesnt actually do much, but putting my toes into the middle of the boot, holding my boot and pushing as hard as possible into the back with my heel works better. like treesprite said. also wiggling my foot standing up and putting my weight onto that foot seems to also work better than whacking the blade but i am wondering if it doesnt matter when im on the ice because my heel is sliding when i WALK on LAND. i haven't skated in them yet. skating is a different motion, so if it slides when i walk does it matter?

Whacking should have helped. There's going to be tiny bit of shift when you walk but there should be much of any. You may not be fit properly, one foot might be larger than other or different shaped than other, or perhaps you are not wearing the right socks etc in your boots. What are you wearing in your boots?

joonieskates · Oct 23, 2017

Usually i wear tights. or regular socks. Also nope. whacking does not help. i can whack it like 5 times and it doesnt work. my feet arent different so idk.

Ic3Rabbit · Oct 23, 2017

joonieskates said:
Usually i wear tights. or regular socks. Also nope. whacking does not help. i can whack it like 5 times and it doesnt work. my feet arent different so idk.

Are you whacking your foot correctly that is the question. Again, this works for elite skaters including myself, so something is wrong on your end, sorry to say.
I also wouldn't suggest wearing "regular socks" as you call them, the material may be causing your foot to slip.

joonieskates · Oct 23, 2017

I dunno dude. i just whack it. eh well pushing my heel back seems to work well. I mean it is in the back but it comes out a little bit so idk. tights work better.

Ic3Rabbit · Oct 23, 2017

Hence why I only wear tights or special skate socks in my boots. Sometimes I'll go barefoot to get the feel of the ice better. (I'm not a dude BTW)
Good luck with your future ventures on the ice.

joonieskates · Oct 23, 2017

I use dude as a gender neutral term lol sorry. I usually wear tights anyway, like 98% of the time. well bye, see ya!

tstop4me · Oct 24, 2017

joonieskates said:
Okay, i have figured out that whacking it doesnt actually do much, but putting my toes into the middle of the boot, holding my boot and pushing as hard as possible into the back with my heel works better. like treesprite said. also wiggling my foot standing up and putting my weight onto that foot seems to also work better than whacking the blade but i am wondering if it doesnt matter when im on the ice because my heel is sliding when i WALK on LAND. i haven't skated in them yet. skating is a different motion, so if it slides when i walk does it matter?

A snug heel is essential. Your heel shouldn't slide when you skate, and it shouldn't slide when you walk. You should go back to your skate tech. A simple test: Lace up and stay seated. The skate tech should hold your skate firmly (but without squeezing on the uppers). You should then try to move your heel up-and-down, side-to-side, and front-to-back. There should be almost no movement, certainly no sliding. If there is sliding, your skate tech should provide you with options for fixes. You mentioned in another post that you just bought Jackson Artistes. These are not heat-moldable; so heat molding is not an option for you.

treesprite · Oct 24, 2017

My old boots are a tad too short and are old so the heels slip. So just watching them doesn't completely work unless I first do the pressing foot entry into them. They have a lot of cushioning in them, which compressed over time, which is why the hills slip.

If the heels are only slightly slipping, you can get away with it if you are just doing very basic skating. But heels have a way of moving when doing more advanced things, including 3-turns. If the slip on 3-turns, it will make you go forward on your toes as you turn, which will mess up the turn.

You might need to go back to the shop. Skates cost too much to have them not fitting correctly.

vlaurend · Oct 24, 2017

Totally agree with Tstop4me. If your heel slides up when you walk in your boot, what do you think is going to happen when you take off on an edge jump from that foot or do a spin on that foot? I used to have boots that became a little too roomy in the heel once the interior padding started to flatten out. I went into a sit spin and caught the back of my blade in the ice because the heel of the skate did not come up when I lifted my heel to spin on the ball of the blade; my heel just slipped up in the boot, leaving the blade to catch in the ice and knock me over. Trust me, you do NOT want that to happen!

joonieskates · Oct 25, 2017

Thing is guys im not doing any jumps yet. they're AGES off. or spins. so i'll be fine for now. But maybe i just don't push hard enough? I can't buy new skates already, i haven't even skated in them once yet! I can get them in the back, it's just that it takes a few tries and one ends up more back than the other so i have to redo ONE skate and it's annoying. also if theres minimum movement can i get away with that?? i mean i lift my foot up onto the toes and it like. moves a bit. but not like sliding. am i just overreacting? i go skating tommorow so i can see for real then.

Ic3Rabbit · Oct 25, 2017

joonieskates said:
Thing is guys im not doing any jumps yet. they're AGES off. or spins. so i'll be fine for now. But maybe i just don't push hard enough? I can't buy new skates already, i haven't even skated in them once yet! I can get them in the back, it's just that it takes a few tries and one ends up more back than the other so i have to redo ONE skate and it's annoying. also if theres minimum movement can i get away with that?? i mean i lift my foot up onto the toes and it like. moves a bit. but not like sliding. am i just overreacting? i go skating tommorow so i can see for real then.

It's going to make it harder for you with learning edges, turns, etc... You need a proper fit for that and also for the health of your feet and so on.

How to lock my heel into back of new skates

joonieskates

loopy

joonieskates

loopy

singerskates

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️

tstop4me

treesprite

joonieskates

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️

joonieskates

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️

joonieskates

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️

joonieskates

tstop4me

treesprite

vlaurend

joonieskates

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️

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