How to break in your New Skates?

by Sam Walton Sr. Business Analyst

You've got yourself some new skates! Yay!

But here's the tricky bit.

No matter which skates you have - inline skates or quad roller skates – you need to break them in, during which you don’t want to experience blisters and discomfort.

While some discomfort is normal, there are a few things you can do to make the break in as comfortable as possible.

Avoid errors

Two common errors rookie skaters make are tensing the feet to control the skate and doing up the skates too tight.

Rather than trying to control the skate, focus on relaxing your feet and toes when skating. This will prevent your feet from automatically clamping down.

Your lacing, both for quads and inlines, should be firm but not tight. Loosen your laces a little. Skaters, who use inline skates, should not overtighten the ladder on the skates. The sign that you are doing it right is you are comfortably able to bend your knees without too much restriction.

Give it time

It may take about 10-12 hours, over a month, to break in a pair of skates.

Begin with shorter adventures and build up to longer ones. If you decide to go out for a long skate right away, you may get blisters and feel some discomfort because virgin feet and ankles are soft and not yet used to the rigors of skating.

Till the time your arches and ankle develop the required strength, you will be using muscles that you normally don't use while walking and running.

Different skates put pressure on different parts of your feet. And if you try to do too much too soon, you may develop tougher skin and callouses on those parts of your feet that are controlling the skate.

Accessories

Here are a few things you can do during the break in period to make it easy.

Socks: Experiment with different thicknesses until you find the right one. Wear socks that comes up higher than the boot. This will prevent rubbing and blisters.

Heat mold: If your skates are heat-moldable, you can either spot mold or bake them to your feet contours.

Blisters: Prevent blisters by investing in a pair of neoprene skate socks.

Ankle guards: If your ankle is sensitive or you find your ankles knocking while skating, ankle guards can soften the blow or allow more padding.

Insoles: If you experience pronation (skating on the insides of your feet) or supination (skating on the outsides of your feet), get a correctional insole.

Lacing: If your skates feel too tight in certain areas, use a different lacing technique or simply loosen the skates a little.

Adjust the skate: If you have quad roller skates, you can tighten or loosen the trucks, change the cushions to softer or harder ones and even change wheel tightness. If you have inline skates or roller blades, you can adjust where the frame sits depending on the model.

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