I'll be honest, the first couple of times on 5/8", I was positive my skates were going to slide sideways out from under me. The guy at the shop that profiled my skates and recommended that hollow told me it would take two or three times on the ice to get used to it. He was spot on and that depth soon felt "right" for me. The idea is you're skating more "on top of" the ice as opposed to digging in as much. As an official, it really helps me conserve energy and when you skate several games in the same day you need to save all the energy you can. BTW, your avatar shows one of the pairs of skates I'm going to be looking at this spring. Those, the One75s, and some in the Graf Ultra G series. I can't wait till the one95's come out. Im sure a lot of people are in the same boat as me. Im gonna try 1/2" hollow from 7/16". I used to use 3/8" all my life than I started experimenting with it a bit. I have a found a big difference in how I stop, its a lot smoother than with the 3/8" I don't chop or chatter as much when I try and stop quickly.