My daughter recently outgrew her Riedell Emerald with Luna blade she learned to skate with. We purchased her Jackson Ultima Freestyle withAspire XP blade. She has passed Freeskate level 5. Still breaking in the boots (she's only done 2 30-min sessions in them, going again in the morning), but she has major complaints about the blades. She says it feels like the toe pic is too low and if she leans only a little forward it goes into the ice, and balance feels like they tilt inward. When gliding forward on one foot, the right side blade makes a scraping sound. The fitter told us to note these, have her coach look it over. Is this part of the adjustment period for new blades? We were planning to make her next pair Debut + coronation ace blades.... should we look into those blades now instead? Any advice appreciated... Definitely new to this, I've only skated a few times in my entire life, but she loves it so trying to learn.
Struggling with Aspire XP blades
- Thread starter p41g3y
- Start date
The Aspire XP inherently has a flat spin rocker with an associated low heel lift. With the blade in contact with the ice, when you rock the blade forward, the heel lift is the vertical height of the heel when the drag (bottom) pick touches the ice. The lower the heel lift, the quicker the drag pick hits the ice. Really not much you can do about this.
The blade tilting in (or out) is common for a new mount. Depending on the degree of tilt, it can be corrected by changing the mounting position or alignment of the blade. In some cases, a corrective footbed or orthotic or shimming may be needed. Your daughter should break in the boot more before deciding on any adjustments.
The blade tilting in (or out) is common for a new mount. Depending on the degree of tilt, it can be corrected by changing the mounting position or alignment of the blade. In some cases, a corrective footbed or orthotic or shimming may be needed. Your daughter should break in the boot more before deciding on any adjustments.
In addition to the points made above, the Eclipse Luna blade your daughter was in before is a 7 foot main rocker while the Aspire is 8ft, so the whole of the Aspires profile is flatter. Any new blade requires an adjustment period in which the skater adapts their weight placement to control the blade. She hasn’t been using them long enough to give herself a chance to adjust and she may need to consciously put more weight into her heels.
The scraping noise could be a blade that is not completely straight or uneven edges/ bad sharpening.
If her feet feel like they are tilting inwards you should have her coach and skate tech look at whether she is pronating, and as tstop4me above says based on this she may need orthotics or blade position adjustment. If she doesn’t pronate in bare feet off ice it’s a muscle control thing and she may need to think about pushing into her little toe to correct it until this becomes muscle memory, but again her coach is the best person to speak to.
The scraping noise could be a blade that is not completely straight or uneven edges/ bad sharpening.
If her feet feel like they are tilting inwards you should have her coach and skate tech look at whether she is pronating, and as tstop4me above says based on this she may need orthotics or blade position adjustment. If she doesn’t pronate in bare feet off ice it’s a muscle control thing and she may need to think about pushing into her little toe to correct it until this becomes muscle memory, but again her coach is the best person to speak to.
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