Hi! Sorry the description of my foot/boot problems turned out to be a miniature essay, so if you like you can just skip straight to the bolded questions...
Skating background:
Boot/blade history:
Now for the problems
My first boots were quite comfortable until about a year in, when I noticed a relatively painless bump (a few mm thick) forming on my right heel. Saw a podiatrist (country 1, where skating is almost nonexistent) who diagnosed Haglund's deformity. They gave me custom orthotics and a gel Achilles pad to wear in my skates, and the condition seemed to stabilise. I retired the Classiques after 2.5 years when I started learning the axel and my coach noticed there wasn't much ankle support left in the boot (or not enough to begin with anyway).
In the Edeas (which I picked because in country 2 they are the cheapest/most abundant/my friends seemed happy in them ), it always felt internally like I was either overpronating or oversupinating even though externally my edges looked fine. Bad arch pain for the first 15 minutes of each session. Not sure if the heel was locked since the boot lining felt so padded, but I felt some pressure at the back on deep ankle flexion. The heel bump doubled in size and another started appearing on my left foot. The navicular bone over the arch of my left foot became enlarged. After half a year I checked the length and found about a 1.5 cm space from my big toe to the end. Skates aren't cheap so I kept the Edeas for a year. By that time I'd settled in country 3 where skating is well-developed, so I assumed whatever the fitters there recommended should solve everything...
Risport Royal Pros gave slightly better lateral foot stability, but over the last 9 months the right heel bump has doubled in size again and developed bursitis (size of a squash ball the day after skating and is hard to fit into my sneaker). Left heel bump grew to half that size, no bursitis, but navicular has gotten more prominent and aches. During jump takeoff/landing and deep dance edges, the heel bumps frequently hurt (sensation like pressure/impact rather than rubbing). Lately I also get sharp pains in the bunion/bunionette area at the same time. Maybe the foot is sliding forwards and hitting the tapered toebox?
I've had the boot punched out over the heel bumps a grand total of 4 times (each time on skate tech/healthcare people's advice, although I'm worried that a looser heel is counterproductive, and that repeatedly heating the whole boot has compromised the support). I now notice heel movement (seems <5 mm). The right boot is also now creasing/gapping low on the midfoot (enough to poke a finger through to touch the side of my foot), but if I tie it tighter it cuts into my instep and my toes go numb. The fitter just heat-moulded it again to reduce gapping (by tightly lacing when still warm), but today at practice heel slippage seems worse!
Heel padding variations and new orthotics haven't helped, so I had a skate fitting yesterday. Jackson Debut Fusions (6R) felt comfortable, but I'm hesitating because I have some questions that I hope somebody will be able to help answer:
1. Is the Debut stiff enough for a 61 kg adult to work on 1A/2S/2T/flying spins in? I know it's stiffer than it was previously credited for and the fitter said it's alright up to 2A, but I doubt small girls would have the same impact as a mesomorphic adult. He didn't ask my weight, but people often seem to underestimate it in the mid-50s (being polite probably ) I don't want to spend $450/break in new boots again in a year's time!
2. How much side-to-side motion does the Debut have? Fitter said the Jackson collar is now more U-shaped to allow greater mobility. I'm wary of that because the Edeas and Risport Royal Pro line share this feature and they both had heel slippage issues. I also got a high ankle sprain in the Royals that kept me off ice for 2 months - I wonder if it could have been prevented by a V-shaped collar (e.g. like in the Risport RF line) that reduces lateral ankle motion more. I also tried RF3 Pros yesterday and they felt similar to the Debuts (except a bit more pressure on the instep).
3. Are Jackson boots supposed to touch the edge of your toes? Because the Debuts in 6R didn't, although my old Classique 6Cs did. Since the RF3 Pros I tried were 240 (Jackson size equivalent is 5.5), I wonder if I should try Debuts in 5.5 (unfortunately they didn't have it in stock). Or is the Debut/Elite last just naturally roomier in the toebox?
Apologies for the length of the post, and if you've managed to read to the end, thank you for your perseverance!
Skating background:
- Started skating: 5 years ago
- Practice time: ~3-5 hours a week (currently 3 due to flare-up of foot problems)
- Freeskate level: Skate Canada Star 3/4 (had all singles except axel by 2016, then progress stalled, partly due to change of coaches/country)
- Ice dance level: Junior Silver (working on Rocker Foxtrot + Blues)
- Physical characteristics: female, early 20s, 167 cm, 61 kg
- Foot shape: broader at ball than heel, mildly Egyptian-tapered toes, medium-high instep, hypermobile (metatarsal splay, can pronate/supinate badly but a moderate arch forms when muscles engage)
Boot/blade history:
- 2014-2017: Jackson Classique 6C + Ultima Mirage blades (came as a set)
- 2017-18: Edea Chorus 255 (standard C width? not sure) + MK Professional 9.5"
- 2018-19: Risport Royal Pro 250B + reused the same MK Pro blades
Now for the problems
My first boots were quite comfortable until about a year in, when I noticed a relatively painless bump (a few mm thick) forming on my right heel. Saw a podiatrist (country 1, where skating is almost nonexistent) who diagnosed Haglund's deformity. They gave me custom orthotics and a gel Achilles pad to wear in my skates, and the condition seemed to stabilise. I retired the Classiques after 2.5 years when I started learning the axel and my coach noticed there wasn't much ankle support left in the boot (or not enough to begin with anyway).
In the Edeas (which I picked because in country 2 they are the cheapest/most abundant/my friends seemed happy in them ), it always felt internally like I was either overpronating or oversupinating even though externally my edges looked fine. Bad arch pain for the first 15 minutes of each session. Not sure if the heel was locked since the boot lining felt so padded, but I felt some pressure at the back on deep ankle flexion. The heel bump doubled in size and another started appearing on my left foot. The navicular bone over the arch of my left foot became enlarged. After half a year I checked the length and found about a 1.5 cm space from my big toe to the end. Skates aren't cheap so I kept the Edeas for a year. By that time I'd settled in country 3 where skating is well-developed, so I assumed whatever the fitters there recommended should solve everything...
Risport Royal Pros gave slightly better lateral foot stability, but over the last 9 months the right heel bump has doubled in size again and developed bursitis (size of a squash ball the day after skating and is hard to fit into my sneaker). Left heel bump grew to half that size, no bursitis, but navicular has gotten more prominent and aches. During jump takeoff/landing and deep dance edges, the heel bumps frequently hurt (sensation like pressure/impact rather than rubbing). Lately I also get sharp pains in the bunion/bunionette area at the same time. Maybe the foot is sliding forwards and hitting the tapered toebox?
I've had the boot punched out over the heel bumps a grand total of 4 times (each time on skate tech/healthcare people's advice, although I'm worried that a looser heel is counterproductive, and that repeatedly heating the whole boot has compromised the support). I now notice heel movement (seems <5 mm). The right boot is also now creasing/gapping low on the midfoot (enough to poke a finger through to touch the side of my foot), but if I tie it tighter it cuts into my instep and my toes go numb. The fitter just heat-moulded it again to reduce gapping (by tightly lacing when still warm), but today at practice heel slippage seems worse!
Heel padding variations and new orthotics haven't helped, so I had a skate fitting yesterday. Jackson Debut Fusions (6R) felt comfortable, but I'm hesitating because I have some questions that I hope somebody will be able to help answer:
1. Is the Debut stiff enough for a 61 kg adult to work on 1A/2S/2T/flying spins in? I know it's stiffer than it was previously credited for and the fitter said it's alright up to 2A, but I doubt small girls would have the same impact as a mesomorphic adult. He didn't ask my weight, but people often seem to underestimate it in the mid-50s (being polite probably ) I don't want to spend $450/break in new boots again in a year's time!
2. How much side-to-side motion does the Debut have? Fitter said the Jackson collar is now more U-shaped to allow greater mobility. I'm wary of that because the Edeas and Risport Royal Pro line share this feature and they both had heel slippage issues. I also got a high ankle sprain in the Royals that kept me off ice for 2 months - I wonder if it could have been prevented by a V-shaped collar (e.g. like in the Risport RF line) that reduces lateral ankle motion more. I also tried RF3 Pros yesterday and they felt similar to the Debuts (except a bit more pressure on the instep).
3. Are Jackson boots supposed to touch the edge of your toes? Because the Debuts in 6R didn't, although my old Classique 6Cs did. Since the RF3 Pros I tried were 240 (Jackson size equivalent is 5.5), I wonder if I should try Debuts in 5.5 (unfortunately they didn't have it in stock). Or is the Debut/Elite last just naturally roomier in the toebox?
Apologies for the length of the post, and if you've managed to read to the end, thank you for your perseverance!