You have brand new boots. There's the anticipation of skating in them. And then there's the fear of the inevitable blisters and pains of breaking them in.

Properly breaking in your boots will prolong the life of the boot and prevent them from breaking down instead of breaking in. Lacing your boots all the way up and jumping in them before they break in puts pressure on the boot's ankle support and hooks, causing creases in the wrong places on your boots. You also save your foot and ankle from the excess pressure exerted on the muscles and tendons.

Throughout the break in time, you will need to occasionally stop and relace your boots. This is due to the stretching of the new laces, and the boots conforming to the shape of your foot and ankle.

Begin by putting your boots on and lacing them leaving the top two hooks unused. Refer to Lacing 'em Up Right [not available yet] on the proper way to lace up your skates.

Skate with your boots laced this way for 4 to 6 hours. This time is accumulated time. So you will probably be totalling your skating hours over several practice sessions. NO jumps, spins, or other moves with deep knee bending are done during this time. This is very important to ensure proper break in.

Now you can lace your boots with only the top hook unused and skating as before for another 4 to 6 hours. Still NO jumps, spins, or other moves with deep knee bending. Patience is a virtue.

Now you can lace them all the way to the top and skate your usual routine.

This may seem like a waste of time and unnecessary. Your boots may feel very comfortable and you want to perform all of your regular jumps, spins and routines. But taking the time to follow the correct break in process will provide you with better performance and fit from your new Boots.

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws