Q: I started inline skating and my feet hurt after about 15-20 minutes skating. It can get so bad I have to stop or take my skates off. I even bought another pair of skates but the problem is still there. What’s wrong?
A: This reply is applicable to roller skaters & inline skaters.
Foot pain or foot ache while skating is something important to take notice of. It’s probably not what you think but if it’s happening to you, you know it’s impossible to ignore.
Foot pain can show you that your skates are either badly fitting (too big or too small), or that you are simply not doing them up correctly. Or it can show you that your technique is missing something fundamental and you are therefore ‘tense’ and gripping with your toes (even if you aren’t aware that you are doing it.
1. Wrong size boots
If your skates are too small you are likely to feel pain in the toes, front of the foot & ball of the foot, as if your foot is being ‘squeezed’. If skates are too big you can experience pain almost anywhere, but most common is the inner arch of the foot and around the ankles. You may also see yourself pronating onto the insides of your wheels as your boots are not secured to your foot. You may also have rubbing in certain areas as your foot is moving inside a skate that’s too big. Rubbing can happen almost anywhere but common spots that show skates might be too loose is; top of the boot cuff area on the outside part of your lower shin, inner and outer maleolus bones, inner and outer side of the foot, underneath ankle bones. You could also develop blisters on those points if left untreated.
But beware! Many people think their pain is coming from wrong sized or badly fitting boots but when they get another pair of skates the problem continues! This is because they didn’t rule out the final culprit, incorrect technique, so make sure you keep reading!
2. Badly fitted boots
Many people do not tie up their skates tightly enough when starting to skate. You want to do the laces fairly tight (but so that your toes still wiggle freely). The ankle strap is where most people go wrong. It needs to be tight enough for you to bend your knees and then feel supported by the strap. If its too tight you cant bend your knees at all, if it’s too loose, you bend your knees and never make contact with the strap. Use your knee bend in the ready position to help you tighten your ankle strap sufficiently!
3. Incorrect skating technique
When we learn to skate, most of us feel tense about it and it’s normal for our bodies to be in a more tense muscular state than normal. This extends down to your feet.
Do this experiment (off-skates) to understand if your foot pain is caused by your technique.
Stand (in shoes or bare feet) in Ready Position, feet hip width and parallel (fill feel a bit like your toes are pointing in but they aren’t). Bend your knees correctly into the imaginary top ankle strap of your skates (your knees should be over your toes from the side with your weight on the balls of your feet). Now “play piano” with your toes by wiggling your toes and see how easy your toes feel wiggling. Now slowly straighten your knees a bit and/or slowly push your butt backwards and continue to “play piano with your toes”. Feel how much more difficult and tense your toes have become. Your toes will now be ‘gripping’ the floor in an attempt to stop you losing balance backwards.
Bend your knees again into the correct knee bend position and see how relaxed your toes are now with your weight back on the balls of the feet.
This test shows clearer than words why bent knees are essential for safe skating. So, if your feet are hurting while skating, it could be that you are skating on knees that are not bent enough (or your body is leaning forwards which pushes the butt out backwards and puts your weight near your heels). As a result, your toes and feet are tense, which will build up (often after 10-15 minutes) and will result in deep, aching pains that only disappear when you remove your skates or take all your weight off your feet.
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