How can I tell if ankle is too skinny for boot?

[Tiernan98]

Hi all!

I recently got fitted in my first pair of stiff ice skates and I have a question regarding lateral side-to-side movement of the upper ankle/lower calf in the boot.

I have a pair of Jackson Freestyles and for the most part, my foot itself feels secure in them with very limited heel movement.

However, I noticed now that I can bend my ankle more than I could side to side than in my old recreational skates. Yet, my forwards to backward movement is more limited and the foot itself cannot move side to side.

I am just worried about not having the right support as I start jumping, so I’m wondering how much movement in this area is normal? Unfortunately I do not have a coach yet to ask about this, but I will before I start jumping which should be quite soon.

If I supinate my foot and have the leg press on the inside of the boot then there is a gap forms on the outside. How much of this is normal or should it always be wrapping my leg? I have tension in the laces tight.

Thanks for any help!

[transmissionoftheflame]

It sounds like the boots should be fine from what you say about the foot movement.  Perhaps skate on them for a while and see how it goes.  The boots should allow for a fair bit of forward bend but that will probably come as the boots as you break them in.  Some side to side movement is needed and every boot will be slightly different in the amount of room in various parts of the boot.

[WednesdayMarch]

Recreational skates usually fit tighter to the leg/ankle because they are nowhere near the stiffness of decent ones. If I'm on a steep edge, there's a gap between the side of my ankle at the top and the boot.

Hope this helps.

[Tiernan98]

Thanks both! Yeah they seem fine then. I think it was paranoia from having spent a decent amount of money on them haha.

I’ve been skating on them and getting more confident in them now. Knee bend has either increased and/or I’ve gotten more used to the resistance as well.

Toe picks are still a little scary after tripping on them, but getting less so as I adjust to the blade.