Slight pronation / blade alignment?

[Anya00]

I recently discovered that my blades were mounted in the wrong position for my feet - one foot seems to just have the blade pulling me one way and should be fixed by simply moving the blade, but for the other skate somehow my 1 ft glide is perfectly straight but visually it looks slightly pronated (I was told this). I'm not sure if moving the blade is the solution for this foot or not and was wondering if anyone else has had this issue and found a solution? For some extra context, I have an accessory navicular on both feet if that matters, punched out right skate only, and don't wear orthotics (I checked the bottoms of my normal shoes and both inside and outside seem to wear evenly). From the wet foot test and those free orthotic machines in shoe stores, arches are normal for both feet. Would superfeet or putting something under the arch part of the left sole help?

 

[tstop4me]

I recently discovered that my blades were mounted in the wrong position for my feet - one foot seems to just have the blade pulling me one way and should be fixed by simply moving the blade, but for the other skate somehow my 1 ft glide is perfectly straight but visually it looks slightly pronated (I was told this). I'm not sure if moving the blade is the solution for this foot or not and was wondering if anyone else has had this issue and found a solution? For some extra context, I have an accessory navicular on both feet if that matters, punched out right skate only, and don't wear orthotics (I checked the bottoms of my normal shoes and both inside and outside seem to wear evenly). From the wet foot test and those free orthotic machines in shoe stores, arches are normal for both feet. Would superfeet or putting something under the arch part of the left sole help?

<<Emphasis added.>> I don't know what you mean by "visually it looks slightly pronated". With respect to pronation/supination, skating is substantially different from walking or running, because the foot mechanics are so different and because, in skating, of the high sensitivity to lean on a particular edge. On my walking and running shoes, I wear down my heels on the outside (even with prescription orthotics), which typically signals supination. But on skates, I strongly pronate (my feet and legs are all messed up; I'll spare you the details).

The proof of the pudding is in the skating; i.e., via functional tests:

* For skating, an initial series of tests to check for supination/pronation consists of one-foot glides in a nominally straight line. [Caveat: First check to make sure that your blades have been sharpened properly with level edges.]

- Stroke forward to pick up some speed. Glide comfortably on two feet in a nominally straight line. Then lift up one foot (let’s choose the right in this instance) and continue to glide on the other (the left in this instance). Don't force the glide to control it; just let it flow at ease. It’s best to have another person observe you from the back. Ideally, you should glide in a straight line. If possible, do the test on a clean patch of ice. Look at the tracing. Ideally you should see two lines of equal weight, such as | |. If you supinate, you will be biased towards the outside edge; you will veer to the left, and the tracing will look like this: | | (outside edge will be heavier). If you pronate, you will be biased towards the inside edge; you will veer to the right; and the tracing will look like this: | | (inside edge with be heavier). [In extremely screwed-up scenarios, you will see only a single heavy line.]

- Repeat with the other foot: lift up the left, glide on the right.

- Then repeat with one-foot glides backwards.

* Once you’ve made adjustments (see previous post), if needed, such that the one-foot glides are OK, then follow-up with consecutive forward outside edges, consecutive forward inside edges, consecutive backward outside edges, consecutive backward inside edges, forward X-overs (both directions), and backward X-overs (both directions) to determine whether any fine tuning is needed,

Note 1: You can skip the last bullet (above) at this stage. That's for finicky fine tuning for more advanced skaters.

Note 2: For minor pronation/supination, changing the blade mount may suffice. For more severe cases, you may also need orthotics or shims (or both).

 

[Diana Delafield]

Another possibility is that the difference (one foot gliding straight, one pulling at an angle) may stem from your hip joints. When my fitter has me stand naturally, heels together and equal weight on both feet, they form a slight angle |/ rather than || . I'm told this shows a variation in the way the two hip joints are set in their sockets, but not enough to make an orthopedic problem. I neither pronate nor supinate. So my blades are attached not quite parallel. It's such a minimal difference you have to look very closely and it doesn't show up on a photo, but it makes both feet glide in a straight line.