Summer Skating/Training | Golden Skate

Summer Skating/Training

IsKAtEFaSt

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
Hi all,
I'm new to this forum.
I'm an intermediate skater working on my double axel/ triple sal. I recently just moved to a city that does not ice in the summer because they melt the rinks. I'm looking for ways to improve my skating during the off-season, so I've been looking into buying roller skates( from Skates US) to work on jumps/spins and I'm possibly playing another sport. I skate 10 hours/week in-season plus 5 hours dryland so I'm looking to skate max 2 - 3 hours on actual ice, which will require some traveling, and I don't prefer that and do 7 hours dryland per week plus maybe inline/roller skating and another summer sport. I'm a teenage male and I'm looking into playing lax or baseball this summer as part of dryland/offseason training. I know that was plenty of information to work with, but I would appreciate any tips on dryland training/ buying roller skates/roller skating.

Thank you!
 

IsKAtEFaSt

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
I have never tried buying roller figure skates but I use roller speed skates and marsblade rollerblades to work on skating/strides during the summer when ice time gets a little expensive. I know for sure using regular rollerblades can affect your technique because of the lack of edges, and I'm not entirely sure how much inline figure skates will affect your technique; if you're using a quad wheels setup that might affect your doubles and triples.

I am pretty glad you're doing another sport- I would take an entire season off to play another sport if it was me because I see figure skaters all the time who skates all year round and complain about their ankle sprains or knee problems at the gym. How many hours of lacrosse or baseball are you planning to commit to?

For off-season I mostly train with heavy weights (squat,deadlift,olympic lifts) in the gym 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week, then bike or rollerblade if the weather permits and rest/recover on Sunday. I also play softball once a week. But my plan was designed for an adult high level speedskater so you might wanna go for less gym time (maybe 8 hours/week) and more outside playing time. I highly recommend lacrosse - fast and physical game.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
I'm just going to put this here https://www.picskate.com/about.htm

OP, I haven't had difficulty using mine in the past. yes, it takes some adjusting to wheels and off ice, but you'll get the hang of it.

I don't suggest the sports you are looking at doing this summer. You can very easily blow out your knee or something similar playing lacrosse or baseball and then you are done for good with skating.
Something that would be good would be a water sport (swimming, water polo), take some dance (hip hop or other classes to help your style and artistic side on the ice), you can also do other off ice training such as yoga, pilates, kickboxing.

And a previous poster made multiple misconceptions about figure skating again, but I'm just going to say this much: Ankle and knee issues happen in skating, especially when jumping is involved, it's not because we are not cross trained enough and whine about it.

The physical contact sports that were suggested would hurt a skater more. OP, if you are at the point where you are doing triples, then it seems like you want to go somewhere in this sport, don't throw that away because you can't skate on ice in the summer, so you go out and play lacrosse and destroy yourself.

Good luck!
 

Bill S

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Country
United-States
I've used PIC skates for many years both during off-season, and as another activity while we still had ice. I skated in an indoor roller rink with a smooth floor. Outdoor skating on pavement wore out wheels in one outing, and that got expensive.

There are some significant differences which will take a little time to adjust to. Forget edge stops for example. But having said that, there are certainly benefits that can inform your ice skating. You get to practice stroking with much higher friction, so you'll instantly be lower in your knees just to keep from toppling forward. That will carry over into ice skating. Turns require more precision. You can't skid a three-turn. But having learned them using PIC skates, turns on ice will be better.

Personally, I couldn't spin very well on them, and you'll carry far fewer revolutions than spinning on ice. Friction again, plus the feel is different. A different entry may be required.

I managed a few jumps on them including the Salchow, waltz-jump, and toe-loop. If I was younger, I might have managed more. The technique for jumping is very similar to ice.

In 15 years of constant use, I benefited from using them. If you are looking to buy inline skates as a substitute for ice skating, make sure they have a rockered bottom (i.e. PIC skates, and a couple of others) so that you can do thee-turns and brackets in a way similar to ice skating. Otherwise, you risk learning "improper" technique for ice skating.

Another thing you'll find is that wheels take a beating and need replacing much more often than ice skate blades. When you are doing three-turns, the rubber in contact with the ground is twisted under your entire weight, and that greatly shortens life. See here for a picture of a wheel "blow-out" - http://www.afterness.com/skating/another_wheel_bites_the_dust.html

Be sure to budget for wheels and bearings.
 

IsKAtEFaSt

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
I'm just going to put this here https://www.picskate.com/about.htm

OP, I haven't had difficulty using mine in the past. yes, it takes some adjusting to wheels and off ice, but you'll get the hang of it.

I don't suggest the sports you are looking at doing this summer. You can very easily blow out your knee or something similar playing lacrosse or baseball and then you are done for good with skating.
Something that would be good would be a water sport (swimming, water polo), take some dance (hip hop or other classes to help your style and artistic side on the ice), you can also do other off ice training such as yoga, pilates, kickboxing.

And a previous poster made multiple misconceptions about figure skating again, but I'm just going to say this much: Ankle and knee issues happen in skating, especially when jumping is involved, it's not because we are not cross trained enough and whine about it.

The physical contact sports that were suggested would hurt a skater more. OP, if you are at the point where you are doing triples, then it seems like you want to go somewhere in this sport, don't throw that away because you can't skate on ice in the summer, so you go out and play lacrosse and destroy yourself.

Good luck!

Thanks for your reply!

A friend suggested I look at Roll-Lines instead of PIC Skates since I am skating in Edeas, have spare Edea boots and Roll-Line Products seem to be advertised to work well with Edea. I also heard through friends who have tried Roll-Lines that they feel closer to ice skates when you're trying triples and that Pic skates do not mount properly on Edeas.
Any comment?
Here's the link for Roll-line:
https://inlineartistic.roll-line.it/#

I'm not much of an artistic person and screamed my way out of ballet lessons when I was younger so dance might be off the table, as for water sports, not a big fan of swimming myself. I might look into soccer or baseball instead of lacrosse - the only reason I looked into lacrosse in the first place was because I had a couple of friends from school who suggested I play.

It's funny a speed skater complained about figure skater's ankle here - I had a trainer at my last rink who was an ex-speedskater and he said the same thing about figure skaters suffering injuries from neglecting their ankles/knee training, misguidedly, I'm sure. But I am looking to train with heavy weights and olympic lifts this summer since my coach suggested I needed some more pop for my triples. Any suggestions for other exercises in the gym?
 

IsKAtEFaSt

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
Considering the investment for roller skates I might just pay for rink time instead of going outside. I have used fitness skates in the past and they worn out pretty quickly just doing basic forward stroking outside so I'm sure turns and spins would be even worse on the wheels.
 

Bill S

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Country
United-States
PIC skates have a flat sole mount, unlike regular ice skating blades. When I mounted them to a pair of Riedell boots, that became instantly obvious.

When mounting them, I treated the process like tightening head bolts on a car engine - a little at a time, while going around the screw pattern. The frame had to pull the toe of the boot downward, and I believe that I waited a while for the final tightening. It took some time and care to get the boot heel and sole to line up with the flat mount. I was working with leather, and knew it's characteristics.

I'm not sure how Edeas would respond to that approach.

There is another company called Snow White. They are a competitor to PIC Skate, and perhaps their sole plates are more traditional like ice skating blades.

I just checked their web site and they picture them mounted to Edeas and Risports. You might check them out as another possibility.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Thanks for your reply!

A friend suggested I look at Roll-Lines instead of PIC Skates since I am skating in Edeas, have spare Edea boots and Roll-Line Products seem to be advertised to work well with Edea. I also heard through friends who have tried Roll-Lines that they feel closer to ice skates when you're trying triples and that Pic skates do not mount properly on Edeas.
Any comment?
Here's the link for Roll-line:
https://inlineartistic.roll-line.it/#

I'm not much of an artistic person and screamed my way out of ballet lessons when I was younger so dance might be off the table, as for water sports, not a big fan of swimming myself. I might look into soccer or baseball instead of lacrosse - the only reason I looked into lacrosse in the first place was because I had a couple of friends from school who suggested I play.

It's funny a speed skater complained about figure skater's ankle here - I had a trainer at my last rink who was an ex-speedskater and he said the same thing about figure skaters suffering injuries from neglecting their ankles/knee training, misguidedly, I'm sure. But I am looking to train with heavy weights and olympic lifts this summer since my coach suggested I needed some more pop for my triples. Any suggestions for other exercises in the gym?

If the ones you mentioned work best with Edea, then by all means go with that brand. I do not and will not wear Edea, so I cannot comment further on that.

Have your coach suggest an off-ice trainer who they can tell what they need for you, then the trainer will build your workout around that. You just have to be careful to not build too much bulk (a trainer will help you prevent this).

Good luck!
 

hanyuufan5

✨**:。*
Medalist
Joined
May 19, 2018
I've never tried Pic Skates or Roll-Lines, but I'd be very, very careful with actual quad roller skates. It's quite common for experienced figure skaters to find roller skating very difficult, and an equivalent fall on a wooden rink hurts way more than on ice.
 

mystery905

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 22, 2018
I have PIC skates mounted on Edea Chorus boots, and have no issue. Just ensure you get the correct length for your size boot.

Every move will be more difficult to do on inlines. The upside is that they may improve your ice skating by making you more precise.
 
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