hi everyone! I recently bought new skates about two weeks ago and have been trying to get used to them. I have Riedell Crystal Ice skates and had them professional fitted and heat molded to my feet. When I wore them at the shop, they seemed to fit me well! But I’m struggling to tie the skates on my own, as when I back up my feet against the heel and tie them, there seems to be a gap between my ankle and the tongue. I’ve heard a slight gap is normal but I’m not sure if my gap is too large and if my skates are too loose. It might also be a strength issue lol. Does anyone have any advice/videos to help with tying skates?

i’ve been doing my adult class for over a year. i am in a group with others who are working on jumps and spins of varying levels and usually the instructors will go to each person and work with them for a few minutes, but for the majority of the time i’ve been doing these classes, i am the only one the instructors will skip. they’ll even go to the same person multiple times. i’ll have off days and try spins that aren’t fully executed multiple times, so i understand if it looks like i just need time to practice, but im wondering if how i present myself or how i practice looks unteachable or something. idk cuz sometimes i think about how going to freestyle/public skate is cheaper than the class.

edit: more context. i do 2 classes a week and private lessons. my issue with the private lessons is that she talks socially too much lol and needs me to do the move 5+ times for her to diagnose anything. i guess that’s a separate issue lol

Hi everyone! I'm having some trouble with my forward stroking and was hoping someone could help me figure out how to fix it.

I can start the first stroke correctly, but when I switch feet, instead of continuing in that "V" pattern, I end up skating straight if that makes sense. I think I'm placing my free foot straight ahead instead of slightly turned out before the next push but im really struggling with being able to place it down already angled the right way. 

For reference I’m also using rental skates, and I've noticed they don't seem to have much of an edge. Could that be contributing to the problem, or should it still be possible to learn proper forward stroking in rental skates?

Would appreciate any advice or tips to help with this! :)

I am in Jackson freestyles, wide width. I was initially fitted for standard width but after an agonizing attempt to ice skate, I went back and after trying on a few different sizes and widths, I settled on a wide width boot. (I guess my foot is not technically the measurement for wide width?) I have about 5 hours on these boots now.

I can currently only make it about 30 minutes in my ice skates before I have to tap out and take a break. My fitter did mention that the wider toe box was a double edge sword as my heel was a normal width and I may have slippage.

My two problems are that my heel does indeed slip forward slightly, which puts pressure on the ball of my foot. Ball of foot pain is why I can’t skate for long periods. If it tie my boots tighter, my heel doesn’t slip as much, but I do lose feeling in my big toe about 20 minutes into my session.

My questions are:

Is there a product I can use on my heel to keep it from slipping forward? Something to thicken it up.

Is there a particular way I should be tying to avoid cutting off toe circulation. I’ve experimented with many different configurations (tight and loose in different areas of the laces) and just can’t nail it to avoid the numbness. I try to leave the bottom three laces looser, the middle somewhat tight and the ankle tighter but it’s obviously not working.

Thanks in advanced!