Custom skates

[VegasHockey 1280]

37 minutes ago, jared9356 said:

Spent 4 years in True. Minimal issues aside from medial ankle pain and poor interior durability. Trying out some FT4 Pros (10 Regular) with the 90 day guarantee and I ran into an immediate problem. Reffed 4 beer league games yesterday and ended up with massive arch blisters. 
 

I had the same issues with True on a few occasions where I skated 10+ games in a weekend, but this was immediately noticeable and different. I have pretty flat feet and I pronate. What do I do here? More arch support? Punch the area out? Not really keen on dropping $1500 for Total Custom+. I tried Hyperlites (9.5 Fit 3) in store and the arch felt much better but I’m also not keen on taking an $1100 risk. Don’t want to go back to True as of now. Any advice?

Arch blister typically means your foot is slipping and friction causing the blister or you don't have enough volume and there is pressure on your arch.

Going from a 10R CCM FT4 to a 9.5 FIT3 Bauer seems like you are going in the wrong direction. That skate is going to be significantly wider in the forefoot and heel, especially after the boot breaks in. 

Whats wrong with TRUE?

[jared9356 39]

15 minutes ago, PBH said:

Arch blister typically means your foot is slipping and friction causing the blister or you don't have enough volume and there is pressure on your arch.

Going from a 10R CCM FT4 to a 9.5 FIT3 Bauer seems like you are going in the wrong direction. That skate is going to be significantly wider in the forefoot and heel, especially after the boot breaks in. 

Whats wrong with TRUE?

It was definitely slipping a bit. Threw in superfeet after the second game and it helped, but the damage had been done. Volume was also an apparent issue in the arch. 
In store they felt very similar. The CCM were only slightly narrower in the heel/arch but the forefoot felt identical. 
 

True liners are really subpar. They wear and become coarse/dry within months. Depending on the workers give-a-f*ck meter, they can also have quality issues. I’m wanting to go back to traditional skates if I can figure these issues out.

[VegasHockey 1280]

10 hours ago, jared9356 said:

It was definitely slipping a bit. Threw in superfeet after the second game and it helped, but the damage had been done. Volume was also an apparent issue in the arch. 
In store they felt very similar. The CCM were only slightly narrower in the heel/arch but the forefoot felt identical. 

True liners are really subpar. They wear and become coarse/dry within months. Depending on the workers give-a-f*ck meter, they can also have quality issues. I’m wanting to go back to traditional skates if I can figure these issues out.

Not sure I agree that TRUE liners are bad. The standard liner is clarino and wears very well, especially if you treat it with Sno-Seal when you first get the skates.

CCM and Bauer liners, which are usually fabric unless you go full custom, typically don't wear as well. 

 

[Westside 232]

1 hour ago, PBH said:

Not sure I agree that TRUE liners are bad. The standard liner is clarino and wears very well, especially if you treat it with Sno-Seal when you first get the skates. 

Never heard of this before. Can’t seem to find anything googling aside from some figure skating forums. What’s the point? So the leather doesn’t absorb moisture? Wouldn’t that just make your feet hold onto that sweat and/or cause rivets to rust out even faster? 

[Vet88 674]

23 hours ago, jared9356 said:

Spent 4 years in True. Minimal issues aside from medial ankle pain and poor interior durability. Trying out some FT4 Pros (10 Regular) with the 90 day guarantee and I ran into an immediate problem. Reffed 4 beer league games yesterday and ended up with massive arch blisters. 
 

I had the same issues with True on a few occasions where I skated 10+ games in a weekend, but this was immediately noticeable and different. I have pretty flat feet and I pronate. What do I do here? More arch support? Punch the area out? Not really keen on dropping $1500 for Total Custom+. I tried Hyperlites (9.5 Fit 3) in store and the arch felt much better but I’m also not keen on taking an $1100 risk. Don’t want to go back to True as of now. Any advice?

Fix your pronation, this is the issue. Your medial ankle pain and poor durability were caused by the foot rotating (pronating) in the boot every time you put weight on it. Read this post, do the drill, change the way you skate forever. Ask away if you have any other questions about pronation. As to the FT4's, either punch the arch flat or put in an insole that has the arch cut out of it, this will raise the foot over the arch shape in the boot and hopefully give you some relief (you also need to get your foot stable and not slipping in the boot). 

 

[jared9356 39]

49 minutes ago, Vet88 said:

Fix your pronation, this is the issue. Your medial ankle pain and poor durability were caused by the foot rotating (pronating) in the boot every time you put weight on it. Read this post, do the drill, change the way you skate forever. Ask away if you have any other questions about pronation. As to the FT4's, either punch the arch flat or put in an insole that has the arch cut out of it, this will raise the foot over the arch shape in the boot and hopefully give you some relief (you also need to get your foot stable and not slipping in the boot). 

 

I have been looking into this all day since taking a look at my feet in a mirror. I do pronate a little - nothing crazy. I’ll definitely do the exercise but you lost me with the insole comment. Are you saying I need less arch support? And if you could, please elaborate or reword your punching suggestion. My initial thought is that I should have it punched out to increase volume.

[Vet88 674]

5 hours ago, jared9356 said:

I have been looking into this all day since taking a look at my feet in a mirror. I do pronate a little - nothing crazy. I’ll definitely do the exercise but you lost me with the insole comment. Are you saying I need less arch support? And if you could, please elaborate or reword your punching suggestion. My initial thought is that I should have it punched out to increase volume.

My apologies, I have reread your initial post and thought you mentioned arch pain but it was blisters. PBH covered this with a slipping foot.

I can't see how punching the arch out will give you much more volume unless you are having pain at the top of the foot around the 5 / 6 / 7 eyelets down area. If you are looking for more volume in the skate to relieve the top 3 eyelets area (where most lace bite occurs) then I don't think an arch punch is going to help.

[jared9356 39]

12 hours ago, Vet88 said:

My apologies, I have reread your initial post and thought you mentioned arch pain but it was blisters. PBH covered this with a slipping foot.

I can't see how punching the arch out will give you much more volume unless you are having pain at the top of the foot around the 5 / 6 / 7 eyelets down area. If you are looking for more volume in the skate to relieve the top 3 eyelets area (where most lace bite occurs) then I don't think an arch punch is going to help.

No worries. There was arch pressure, immediate pain, and friction. I had no issues with volume anywhere else. I subbed in superfeet after one game and the issue got better but as I said, the damage had been done. I know I have average to high arches and slight pronation. Any suggestions going off that? 
 

Aside from don’t volunteer to work four charity games on new, retail skates…

[Vet88 674]

1 hour ago, jared9356 said:

There was arch pressure, immediate pain, and friction. I had no issues with volume anywhere else. I subbed in superfeet after one game and the issue got better but as I said, the damage had been done. I know I have average to high arches and slight pronation. Any suggestions going off that? 

If you want to see how much your pronation is actually affecting you as you skate there is a simple test. Go for a skate with your laces undone, slip your boots on and make sure the laces can't touch the ice and then do some easy laps around the rink. Try some turns and crossovers, try accelerating from a standing V start, if you think you can do it try some front to back transitions. If you find yourself wobbling and unstable and or your calf muscles starting to scream at you after a few minutes, you are not neutrally aligned over the skate blade. If you find your foot collapsing inwards at all, this is pronation at work. If you find the whole experience meh with no collapsing feet, ie hardly any change to skating laced up, then congrats - you have good neutral alignment over the skate blade.

[jared9356 39]

1 hour ago, Vet88 said:

If you want to see how much your pronation is actually affecting you as you skate there is a simple test. Go for a skate with your laces undone, slip your boots on and make sure the laces can't touch the ice and then do some easy laps around the rink. Try some turns and crossovers, try accelerating from a standing V start, if you think you can do it try some front to back transitions. If you find yourself wobbling and unstable and or your calf muscles starting to scream at you after a few minutes, you are not neutrally aligned over the skate blade. If you find your foot collapsing inwards at all, this is pronation at work. If you find the whole experience meh with no collapsing feet, ie hardly any change to skating laced up, then congrats - you have good neutral alignment over the skate blade.

Funny enough I can answer that. After the last game while the teams were headed off the ice, I untied both skates and stayed on the ice a bit longer to assist with the nets. Not 100% stable, so I’ll do some PT to help. 
 

As for the arches, I’m unsure what to do. I feel I need more volume, but I’m worried the extra space would just add more friction.