First of all skates… What kind of skates?

People tend to use any skates which are available nearby. This often means they purchase skates in whichever shop they find them in and, as a result, can end up with poor quality skates. Purchasing skates like this is not always a good idea. It depends whether you are a recreational skater or a child/adult who would like to participate in ice skating lessons in more serious way or more often than once in week.

There are two groups of people who could be interested in buying skates in order to learn how to skate. The first group are recreational skaters who skate from time to time. For these skaters it is fine to buy second hand skates or borrow them at the venue where they are going to skate. Many places or ice rinks provide the opportunity to rent skates for a small fee. A recreational skater who would like to own their own skates could look for an ice rink where there is a figure skating club or hockey club and maybe they will find someone that would be interested in selling a used pair of skates of good quality skates for a good price. That would definitely be one of the first options I would recommend if a recreational skater wanted to get the best for their feet. A firm boot and good blades for a good price is the best possibility for occasional skating lessons. The other option might be online search within the area where they live. Nowadays many people use online resources to sell or buy products especially because it is the easiest way of shopping. Seeing the product in person is definitely the better decision, being able to hold the product, see its condition and quality and then decide whether you want to purchase it or not is the best option. The second group are people would like to invest in good quality ice skates from the very beginning of their ice skating experience or are buying skates for a child who wants to be an ice skater.

This group should look for professional ice skates. I have already discussed dome ways in which ice skates can be bought, as a coach I recommend not getting too hard boots straightaway as you certainly don’t want your feet to suffer too much. Of course it depends on your personality and what your feet can handle. For little ones it is very good to start ice skating with skates which consist of boot with specialised blades with toe picks in the front. Boots are mostly made of leather. Nowadays specialised stores produce a high quality skates where the boot is very soft inside to ensure maximum comfort while skating. As a skater gets older and his/her ability to skate and jump is improving is important that parents keep purchasing harder boots and also higher quality blades.

The market with professional skates is not as big so there are a few very well-known brands you can select and choose the best option for your child. Some of brands I can mention are: Riedell, Risport, Edea, Jackson, Harlick, Wifa. These brands are producing boots and blades are purchased separately, but most stores supplying these brands will certainly have a selection of quality blades you can choose from. For basic boots or beginner boots you will get adequate blades from a seller who will definitely let you know which type you should go for. As children get older and are doing higher rotational jumps parents need to get harder boots and better quality blades, the cost of these goes up and the parents need to invest more in their skater’s equipment. At this point they may to invest in custom made skates which are tailored exactly for the shape of the skater’s feet. Here you get a personal approach from the seller who will create skates the way you want them to be.

There is a difference between female and male boots. Female skaters use white coloured skates and male skaters use black coloured skates or boots. Some of female skaters prefer to use flesh-coloured boots to create an illusion of longer legs. These sort of skates are used in ice skating shows where show directors and choreographers want show girls to have visually longer legs which makes them look nice on the ice. You rarely see flesh-coloured skates in the competitive ice skating world although sometimes female ice dancers use them.

Another important issue when buying skates is the size of the boot. It is better to not to buy boots too big for your feet because the length of your skates including blades has an impact on the way skating skills can be performed. If boots are purchased too big a skater could easily trip or loose balance. I would recommend purchasing maximum of one and a half shoe sizes bigger, certainly don’t go for bigger boots than this.

Another important part of skates are the laces. These always come with skates when they are purchased. Laces are the same colour as the boot. For those skating a lot I recommend buying spare pair of laces for when the original laces become damaged. Depending on your training schedule you may need to replace your laces more often. Some skaters do wash their laces because every day use gets them dirty very fast especially for white or flesh coloured skates. To ensure that laces do not undo during skating practice it would is possible to purchase skate lace straps which are specially created to keep laces tighter longer.

Some professional or competitive skaters like to protect their skates against scratching and scuffs from jumping during training with skate tape. You can get skate tape in different colours to match the colour of your boots.

To protect your blades from damage it is common to use a blade guards when you get off the ice and when walking around the ice rink building. Blade guards will protect the blades very well and will prevent them from needing sharpening so often. You can get different types and colours and the choice is with the user. They normally come in one size and you can adjust them to the size of your blades. There is one more way to protect your blades when carrying your skates in your bag and that is to use fabric skate guards. Once a skater has finished training they should use their blade guards to get to the dressing room and then cleaning their blades with some cloth which absorbs water. It is important not to then put your blade guards back on as it may full of water and some dirt. Instead a skater should put fabric skate guards on their blades. These protect your blades from damage. Fabric skate guards come in many different and for children there are cute animals. You can also make your own from thick absorbent material.

As a coach I try to assist my little skaters to purchase skates from my other skaters as they grow out of them. I know the quality is good and I understand that at beginning the parents of a child are not sure if she or he will like ice skating so the often don’t want to make such a large investment and buy new skates, especially as children’s feet can grow very fast in a short time. For those looking to purchase skates it always helps to get in touch and ask for advice either from a professional ice skating coach or someone involved in selling ice skating boots and blades.

Figure skating is a branch of sport where a skater shows his/her abilities and talent by using a skating competition programme which is created well before the competition season starts. This is to ensure there is sufficient time for a skater to practice this programme enough to feel comfortable performing. Usually a skating programme is put together right after the last competitive season finishes or during summer time. For older skaters, or those competing at such a level to be representing their country at an international level, it is better to have their choreography created immediately after the last competitive season finishes. For the younger skaters competing at a national level it is possible to create choreography a little later. This decision is normally made by the skater’s coach and depends on his/her preferences.

Personally, I prefer to have my skater's programmes done as soon as possible right after the skating season finishes, so we have more time to form the skating programme both on the technical side as well as on presentation side and we have more time to change things if necessary. It ii very important that skaters and their coaches discuss a new programme's choreography not only with a choreographer, but also with international judges and technical specialists, especially with regard to programme components, transitions, step sequence, and spins. This is to help them get as high a score possible for their choreography.

Before a choreography is created there is an important step and that is the choice of music for the competitive programme. It is crucial that chosen music goes with the age and movement ability of a skater. It is possible to choose instrumental or vocal music. Vocal music should not be vulgar, offensive or inappropriate in any kind of way. The choice of music should be made in a collaboration between the coach and their skater, in the case of younger skaters a parent is also sometimes included. In the end a skater should be skating to a music he/she actually likes. Sometimes a music and programmes may be used by a skater for more than one season, this depends on how the programme suits the skater and how the judges are reacting to it with their scores during the competition season. The length of music and programme differs with the age of competitor. The choice of music should be different from one competitive season to the next so a competitor can show a different side of his/her performance abilities.

At competitions, the clothing of competitors must be modest, dignified and appropriate for athletic competition – it must not be garish or theatrical in design. Clothing may, however, reflect the character of the music chosen. The clothing must not give the effect of excessive nudity inappropriate for the discipline. Men must wear full length trousers. Accessories and props are not permitted. Clothing that does not adhere to these guidelines will be penalised by a deduction.

The decorations on costumes must be non-detachable. Part of the costume or decoration falling on the ice will be penalised by a deduction.
A costume should be comfortable to skate in and easy to move in. That is why ice skating costumes are normally produced from high quality stretchy materials such as lycra, elastic tulle and velvet and many different fabrics which include a high percentage of elastan or spandex in their fibre structure.

A skating costume is usually designed and created a few weeks before the first competition of a skater’s season in order to allow the skater time to try the costume out in case if it needs any adjustments or modifications. A costume can be decorated with shiny stones, beads, pearls, feathers, lace, trims and other ornaments but it is crucial that these parts are firmly attached to a skating costume as if any decoration detaches a performer will be penalised and will lose points reducing his/her final judges score.
A costume is usually custom made so it fits the performer well. There are many companies across the world that can design a skating outfit according to the performer’s idea and imagination. It is always better to get an advice from a professional when having a costume made. It is good to know what suits a certain body type and what styles is best avoided to ensure the final costume looks good on the ice.

It is also possible to buy ready-to-wear skating dresses or second hand costumes which are well maintained by their previous owner.The choice between new, ready-to-wear and second hand depends on skater’s budget. Costumes can be also worn for more than one season so can be considered a financial investment. It is very important to achieve harmony between the chosen music, choreography and skating costume.