Why always getting nicks on one skate?

[dc00 0]

My 9 year old always gets nicks on his right skate after one or two hours of skating while the left skate is still perfect. I wonder if that simply means he pushes harder with his right leg.

[cooperalls 4]

In my experience, nicks in blades don't typically come from blade contact with the ice. To get a nick or roll an edge it usually takes metal-on-metal contact. Inside the rink running into the goalpost or clicking skates with another player usually put a nick in a blade, but it would seem odd for that to happen consistently on only one foot. I would look more towards something happening off-ice rather than on it. Sliding down the bench while the lines rotate through and pushing off with one foot, maybe that right skate is catching the metal that supports a bench, or a gap in the rubber mat? Or perhaps the way he gets on/off the ice, maybe he's stepping on the threshold of the door, or the metal angle that supports the boards?

[jimmy 194]

Everything cooperalls said is correct. But also you are correct. All skaters have a dominant foot and that one is used more than the other, be it pushes, stops, turning, etc. Plus it's usually the skate that one uses when digging for the puck against opponent, so it gets lot of nicks from metal to metal contact. This is why it's important to occasionally sway blades from left skate to right, kind of like rotating tires on a car. Imagine every sharpening, the sharpener has to do many more passes on one side to correct the damage. Over time that side will be much shorter than the other. Rotating limits that.

[yrhmblnr8r 69]

Is he stepping on the door frame when gets on the ice?

[interpathway 9]

Turning to your favorable side also always exposes one blade to more damage. Stopping in the goal crease, falling into the boards, contact with other skates/sticks/boards, everyone has a favorite way to turn and stop, exposing the same steel repeatedly.