Ankles feel wobbly in new skates, need suggestions

[sabreshockey 0]

I have been skating for about a year and the old CCM Tacks that I was using developed cracks in both blade holders. So it was time for new skates. I tried Grafs, Bauers, etc. but they were just not wide enough.

I ended up with the S7s because of the wide footbed. I have skated on them 4 times and have not developed any blisters and the heel lock keeps my foot nice and secure. So that part of the "fit" is perfect. However, I feel as if the ankle part of the boot is not securing my ankle properly, which has caused great pain in my shins and my back (which I think is due to my shins and back over compensating for my lack of ankle support). When I walk on my skates I can feel wobbly and often buckle if I don't tighten my ankle muscles enough. It just does not feel natural. I tie the sh*t out of the ilets around the ankle but to no avail. If anyone else has had this problem, what are your solutions? I hope you don't say 'buy new skates'! I tried stick tape and that didn't help much. Would duct tape help? Or do a I need to do some excercises to strengthen the ankle?

[number21 3]

sound like the S7 just isn't stiff enough for you.

to strengthen the ankles you can get a balance board. Or for free you can stand on one foot with your eyes closed for as long as you can. You close your eyes so you loose your sense of balance, then focus on correcting your balance from you ankle.

As it gets easier try different things like holding weights while balancing or open your eyes and bounce a tennis ball hand to hand or off a wall back to you, while keeping you balance.

I don't know if this will fully fix your skate problem, but it will help your ankle strength and overall balance.

[sabreshockey 0]

I will start doing some of those excercises you mentioned.

I think the boot itself is stiff, but it seems as if my ankle is not filling up the volume of the boot. It's like the reverse of failing the pencil test.

To put it another way, if you were to strap on a pair of blades to your feet with no boot, that's how I feel when I am on the ice.

[number21 3]

do you have skinny ankles?

maybe you can got to a LHS get them baked and then use a CCM Fit machine (air bladders inflate to press the skate in the shape of your foot). A shop did that for eastons i had but i don't know if it would take away that much extra volume.

Hopefully a shop guy here with more experience can give you some better answers. Good luck!

[sabreshockey 0]

do you have skinny ankles?

maybe you can got to a LHS get them baked and then use a CCM Fit machine (air bladders inflate to press the skate in the shape of your foot). A shop did that for eastons i had but i don't know if it would take away that much extra volume.

Hopefully a shop guy here with more experience can give you some better answers. Good luck!

I don't think I have skinny ankles, but maybe too skinny for the Easton S7s. I have flat feet so the wide footbed in the S7s is exactly what I needed. But I think the wide footbed also means a wide ankle area in the boot.

I did have them baked and that helped out a lot. They felt just fine in the store. But, once I got on the ice I felt 0 support in the ankle area.

I did some more searching and found ezfit booties.

That might help with the volume issue, assuming that is the problem.

In the meantime, I picked up these from my local CVS since I have a game tomorrow.

[schrempsky 0]

if you could take a few pictures of the skate tied on your foot that might help determine the problem

alot of people i have put in the 777/S7 have been surprised about how wobbly they feel. but i think easton scalloped the top of the boot so you could lean a little more in your boot and turn. just my take, if youc ould post some pictures though im sure people here can help figure out the problem youre having

[sabreshockey 0]

If not try this, unlace your top or even top two eyelets. Then tape your tendon guard around your shin pad (ala Federov, Kovalev), you have to have the shin pad tucked under the tongue for this to work. Use clear tape it flexes better then stick tape. Your skate has a soft upper section so you will not put too much restriction on your ankle movement, unlike S17 or One90 type skate which will create cast like feel.

Cheers

That sounds like a good suggestion. I never thought about tucking the shin bad under the tongue.

if you could take a few pictures of the skate tied on your foot that might help determine the problem

alot of people i have put in the 777/S7 have been surprised about how wobbly they feel. but i think easton scalloped the top of the boot so you could lean a little more in your boot and turn. just my take, if youc ould post some pictures though im sure people here can help figure out the problem youre having

I will try to post some pics later today.

But yeah, I can turn on a dime in my S7's compared to my old skates. I think another part of the problem is that the heel lock keeps my foot set back a little more than I am used to. Which makes the lack of ankle support all the more worse.

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

I don’t think he’s looking for a long term solution, meaning to develop strength in your ankles takes years, and big risk, if you break it then you're screwed for the rest of your life. The quickest suggestion is tape them around the whole skate in the spot where you feel it’s loose and see if it helps.

so, ankle strength is a bad thing?? dont buy it. Also, having weak ankles and wobbling about is going to have more risk for snapping your ankle in two (more likey to be going down into the boards or whatever). Dont quite see the 'screwed for the rest of your life' disadvantage to strengthening it.

[shifter 0]

I just ran and trained my legs till this day. and have skated with skipping the top eyelet.

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

I'm just saying, I've fractured my ankle playing. Yeah, its not fun all the time... but i'm hardly screwed for life. (well, maybe I am... they're still in there, LOL)

[krwwc6 0]

I actually got my screws removed, so I'm not screwed for life. . . . but I did do ankle strengthening and feel that it vastly improved my skating and was well worth the time and sweat it took to get the results.

I don't know what exercises you will do to strengthen your ankles that will risk you breaking them??

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

totally agree with you. coming back was a bitch, but the strength training to get it back really wasnt all that bad.

[schrempsky 0]

i dont necessarily understand the concept of ankle strength because there arent muscles there. i can see it if you have had a major ankle problem though however. from my perspective, you are solid on your skates if your heel is properly locked into the boot

[sabreshockey 0]

I think I fixed my problem. I bought two of these from Sports Authority and doctored them up a bit. They have laces on the back and a velcro strap to make it tight around the upper ankle. I cut off the bottom part of the brace that goes under the arch of the foot. The leftover brace did a great job filling up the volume of the boot. It was the best skate I had in a long time and was able to cut, stop, and start with ease.

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

^^It's not brute strength (tough to get past a certain point), there's an endurance component. It's the entire system of muscles, tendons, and ligaments that becomes more adept to handling the abuses of skating.

^glad to hear things are working out.

[SolarWind 23]

sorry for bringing back this old thread, but from everything I found it was the most relevant...

I understand there's a difference of opinions (there always is :) on the effectiveness of ankle strengthening, but since there're quite a few athletes that have successfully rehabbed from ankle injuries what is the most effective way to go about it? Ie besides balancing are there any other effective exercises specifically targeting ankle area?

The reason I ask is because my left ankle needs to be brought up in strength to be comparable with the right one. I strained it a while ago, and seems like I never fully recovered, I didn’t do anything to help on my part either going back to skating way to quickly so it’s probably time to focus on doing the right things…

Thanks!

[phonak 0]

sorry for bringing back this old thread, but from everything I found it was the most relevant...

I understand there's a difference of opinions (there always is :) on the effectiveness of ankle strengthening, but since there're quite a few athletes that have successfully rehabbed from ankle injuries what is the most effective way to go about it? Ie besides balancing are there any other effective exercises specifically targeting ankle area?

The reason I ask is because my left ankle needs to be brought up in strength to be comparable with the right one. I strained it a while ago, and seems like I never fully recovered, I didn’t do anything to help on my part either going back to skating way to quickly so it’s probably time to focus on doing the right things…

Thanks!

You could get one of those thin, wide rubber bands to strengthen your ankle.

Fold it around your foot and push down while you're holding the ends of the rubber band and then do the same for pushing up, left, and right. You might need someone to hold the rubber band for you while doing the three last ones, or you can just tie it to something. This helped me a lot when I messed up my ankle.

There's probably a lot of exercises described on google too.

[GoBucky 0]

Id definetly say that doing exercises to strengthen my ankles have helped my skating. I sometimes have issues with my right skate wobbling and Ive found that its always a result of me either being tired or my skate not being tied tightly enough.

If I stop and rest for a minute and tighten my laces it always fixes the problem.