Left inside edge feels "grabby"

[benson 8]

For lack of a better term, my left inside edge always feels grabby. I would guess some of it is in my head. Generally speaking, I have a really hard time stopping turning to the right (using the left inside edge) as it'll dig in and either I'll turn or tip over. No issues with the right side. And turning is great, I can turn to the right as easy as pie, it digs in no problem.

I am not sure what the issue is. I've changed my hollow to 3/4" (from 1/2" ROH which was the store standard), and I'm not sure what else I can do aside from try some new skates. These skates are 9 years old, and fairly low level models at that. They hadn't seen heavy use until this last year when I was coaching my son's team and started playing in a couple of leagues. I now skate 2-3 (2 minimum, 3 if I can get out to a pickup game or open skate) times a week, and that'll be going up to 3-4 in a week or two.

A couple of further notes. If I put my weight on my left skate and push with my right to "make snow" that is easy, it slides fine. When I try the reverse using the left inside edge to "make snow", it feels like I have to exaggerate the weight shift to the right, and hold my leg more in the air to be able to slide it. Again, it could just be in my head, but it seems weird to me that it just grabs so much.

Any ideas would be great, even if it is just that it is all in my head, and I simply need to practice more. Maybe the exaggerated weight shift is what is needed. Maybe I'm just up too much on the center of the blade, and it's grabbing. I don't know, but it certainly seems like something is off. I bought these skates after 10 years of not skating or so, and thinking I was going to play. Then they sat for years getting used once or twice a winter at open skates with the family until last fall when I started skating again to help coach my son's team.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Thanks for your help! Let me know if there is anything else I can describe or anything at all.

[MThockeydad 469]

Balance a ruler perpendicular to the edge of the blade. Maybe one edge is ground deeper than the other and your edges are "off".

[benson 8]

Balance a ruler perpendicular to the edge of the blade. Maybe one edge is ground deeper than the other and your edges are "off".

Good call. I'll check it out when I get home tonight. I was thinking this was a possibility, but wasn't sure how to check it.

Thanks!

[Chadd 916]

A business card or even a quarter will work too

[blackout 4]

I started skating about 2 months ago but have been practicing heavily. I have your problems in reverse... I can stop using my left inside edge but not my right. For me though, I know it's just because I'm not too comfortable with my edges yet.

I went through 3 skate sharpeners until I found a guy who was crazy about getting PERFECT level edges. While I still can't stop on my weak side yet, skills that I could do already felt much more comfortable after a proper sharpening. I had researched skate sharpening so much I could probably pick it up pretty quick now, lol. Being an engineer and machinist helps as well I suppose.

When the edges aren't level by a fair amount, you'll be able to see it with the methods posted above (quarters, etc). The smaller errors in levelness will be more difficult to see without a proper edge checker.

Long story short, I'd guess it's you just getting used to your edges (have you ever been able to stop on the left inside edge?), unless they really aren't level at all. Disclaimer: I'm still a noob.