I have a young skater who is 4'1 and 48lbs. She is working on all the jumps (including the Axel), so she needs a pair of new skates for better support. She is now wearing Jackson's Artiste in girl's size 13 and it is the right size for her (she has not outgrown them yet). After reading the discussion on this forum, I realized that I should have upgraded her skates earlier. Well now my question is what skates should we upgrade her into. I first thought of getting her the Jackson FS2191 Freestyle Fusion, since the Jackson boots fit her well. But then I found this particular line does not have her size, the smallest one is youth size 1. I have no idea about other brands. Any advice would be great. Thanks!
Advice for getting new skates for small kid
- Thread starter Ykai
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2016
Bring her to a fitter that carries a wide variety of skates and is specialized in figure skating. They will be able to recommend something appropriate in her size.
I thought I could just buy something from online
. I'll look for a professional fitter. Thank you :thumbsup:
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2003
You don't want to buy these online, so I'm glad that you asked here and realized! You want a fitter who really knows their stuff. You can find one by asking the coaches at your rink, including your daughter's coach, where they get their own skates, who they'd recommend, etc.
What boot works for your kid depends on her level of skating, but also on things like her weight. It's possible that she could be in a boot that, for a larger skater, wouldn't be appropriate at her skating level - but is fine for your daughter, because she's so light. A good skate pro can evaluate her foot, her stance, what she's doing, her size, etc., and get her into the right boot.
What boot works for your kid depends on her level of skating, but also on things like her weight. It's possible that she could be in a boot that, for a larger skater, wouldn't be appropriate at her skating level - but is fine for your daughter, because she's so light. A good skate pro can evaluate her foot, her stance, what she's doing, her size, etc., and get her into the right boot.
Why do you think your daughter needs new skates? Is your daughter's coach recommending them OR do you think she needs them from this board?
Booting a small child is completely different from booting anyone else. I think all the standard recommendations should be thrown away since they just do not apply to tiny people.
When my daughter was little (5 years old), we got her new boots but then she started having back problems. It took me a while to figure out the cause - when she landed jumps, the new boots did not "give" enough for her to bend the landing leg (hence her back was absorbing all the landing shock). Why? She did not have the weight to break them in. Once I finally figured this out, I started getting her "new" boots off ebay which meant someone else broke in the boots for her. The reality is at that age, kids are not breaking down the boot but rather the child's foot has outgrown the boot.
Also, the boot recommendations do not "match" the ability of little kids. Again, little kids need much less boot than adults. My daughter's boots were rated for single jumps when she was doing doubles.
Personally I would hold off buying new boots until the coach says they were necessary.
Booting a small child is completely different from booting anyone else. I think all the standard recommendations should be thrown away since they just do not apply to tiny people.
When my daughter was little (5 years old), we got her new boots but then she started having back problems. It took me a while to figure out the cause - when she landed jumps, the new boots did not "give" enough for her to bend the landing leg (hence her back was absorbing all the landing shock). Why? She did not have the weight to break them in. Once I finally figured this out, I started getting her "new" boots off ebay which meant someone else broke in the boots for her. The reality is at that age, kids are not breaking down the boot but rather the child's foot has outgrown the boot.
Also, the boot recommendations do not "match" the ability of little kids. Again, little kids need much less boot than adults. My daughter's boots were rated for single jumps when she was doing doubles.
Personally I would hold off buying new boots until the coach says they were necessary.
Thank you very much for your input. What you said makes a lot of sense. I did notice that there is only minimum crease in her Artiste boots, and except for a few scratches, her boots are like new, which could mean that the boots are holding up well for her so far. She is so tiny and light that I'm also concerned that stronger boots would be too stiff and too heavy for her. I am glad that you figured out the issue that caused the back pain for your daughter and thank you for sharing it with me.
Her coach did talk to us about getting her new boots, but she recommended do it in 2 to 3 months time, so it is not an urgent issue. I guess I will talk to her coach again and see what she thinks.
Thank you! I do realize now this is a much complicated issue than I can handle. I will seek help from a pro
