by Penny Nama

Created on: May 14, 2008

An ice skate is an ice skate, right? Wrong. Even though all ice skates have the same basic parts and perform the same basic functions, each sport's skate is tailored to the needs of that sport. Even within hockey and figure skating there are different skates to help each athlete perform to the best of his or her ability.

Hockey players need to start quickly, stop quickly, and be able to turn quickly and on a tight radius. Figure skaters on the other hand need to be able to hold a movement, glide easily, jump and spin. Two different sports, two very different requirements.

In order for a hockey player to move, stop and change direction quickly on the ice, his skate will have a deep hollow or grove along the bottom of his blade. Ice skate blades aren't flat on the bottom, they are shaped like an upside-down "U". Hockey skates tend to have a deep "U" shape to allow the blade to dig into the ice for quick movements. The overall shape of a hockey skate blade also helps the skater to stop, start, and change direction. If you look at a hockey skate from the side you will notice that not of the blade touches the ice at any one time, the ends are raised like rockers on a rocking chair. How high the ends are raised is called the rocker. Hockey skates have a higher rocker than figure skates. The more rockered a skate is, the more tightly a skater can turn. This allows the skater to change direction and change from forward skating to backwards skating easily.

Hockey boots are also designed to help the skater. The boots are stiff and are designed to fit closely. This makes the skate almost an extension of the skater's foot. The skate's strength also helps protect the skater from errant pucks or sticks. Many hockey players use laces that have been waxed in their skates. This allows the skater to tighten the laces tighter than he would be able to with traditional laces.

Figure skaters need to be graceful, hold movements across the ice, jump and spin, in addition to performing complicated footwork. A figure skate has a thicker blade for sure footing and fluid movements across the ice. The "U" in a figure skate is shallower and allows the skater to glide and perform footwork without being tripped up. Since figure skaters need to be graceful, not turn sharply, a figure skate has less rocker than a hockey skate. Finally, a figure skate wouldn't be a figure skate without a toe pick! A toe pick would just trip hockey players up, but on a figure skate, a toe pick allows the skater to push himself in the air and perform difficult jumps. Not all figure skating jumps require a toe pick, but many jumps would be impossible without one.

Figure skate boots are beautiful on the outside, but very strong on the inside. The boot must be strong enough to support a skater's foot and ankle through practicing jumps over and over. It must also be highly padded to keep the foot from moving around inside the boot. Figure skaters use traditional laces, but still lace their skates up very tightly. Some figure skates have metal attachments to help the skater lace up their skate as tightly as possible.

As you can see these two skates are very different and help the athlete perform their very best. But even within hockey and figure skating there are variations. A hockey goalie will have very different skates from his teammates, and a figure skater who practices ice dance may have different skates than an individual skater, but each skate will be designed to help each athlete do his or her very best.

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