Hockey Skates vs Figure Skates - What You NEED to Know!

The age-old dilemma: hockey skates or figure skates? Which should you get? Each style of skate is designed for different functions. The skates are specialized. Let's look at each of these. Let's compare the differences and why you might want to get one over the other.

00:00 Introduction to Hockey Skates vs. Figure Skates
00:36 Hockey Skates
01:12 Hockey Skate Balance Point
01:29 Hockey Blade Profiling
01:47 Why are Hockey Skates So Stiff?
02:39 Are Hockey Skates Beginner Friendly?
03:12 Figure Skates
03:34 Figure Skate Balance Point
04:19 Why Do Figure Skates Have a Toe Pick
04:29 Toe Pushing in Figure Skates
04:44 Hybrid Ice Skates | Recreational Skates
05:16 Should I Get Hockey Skates or Figure Skates?
05:28 Why Are Figure Skates More Beginner Friendly Than Hockey Skates?
06:03 Is It Easier to Switch from Figure Skates to Hockey Skates Than from Hockey Skates to Figure Skates?
06:14 Can I Figure Skate in Hockey Skates?
06:22 Can I Play Hockey in Figure Skates?
06:49 What Are the Best Ice Skates for Learn to Skate?
08:11 Should I Wear Thick or Thin Socks with Ice Skates?
08:25 Where Should I Go To Buy Ice Skates?
08:46 Are Adjustable Size Ice Skates Good?

My name is Aimée Ricca, and I’m an ISSA Certified Elite Personal Trainer (E-CPT), Nutritionist (CN), and Youth Fitness Coach (CYFC). I'm also a PSA Ranked and Rated Skating Coach/Choreographer. My passion is to inspire and empower you to achieve your healthy living goals – because I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to thrive!

⚠️⚠️ ⚠️ Disclaimers ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️

[stephanieweingarten]

I learned how to skate at the age of 39 with hockey skates. I prefer them because I’m wary of toe picks and they help with my cross overs. And I’m more agile while wearing hockey skates.

[ruchejche]

I have a pair of hockey-style recreational skates. After falling badly twice, I started investigating why it's so hard for me to even skate forward wearing them. I wish I'd seen your video earlier. Now I know the reason why it's so hard for me to even get started. Thank you for this video.

[CosmicMomentumX]

Very informative. I bought my first pair last month, Bauer x3's. Love em. Just here to see what I should suggest my friends use that are new to skating. Thanks for posting.

[lavonecoleman]

I wear hockey skates because they help me with my cross overs allot since they don’t have a toe pick. The balance is very diffrent and sometimes it’s hard for me to switch back to them but I’m a figure skater so hockey skates aren’t used that much

[mrshakey]

Great video! Yes, figure skates are better for beginners coming to a public session with little or no experience. The other ‘touchy’ subject is skate fitting. I would guess that over 80 percent of hockey players are wearing the wrong (too big) skates. Even the ‘older’ hockey players are coming in to a pro shop and saying ‘I’ve been wearing a size 9 for 30 year’. Yeah, newer skaters think that skates are supposed to feel like their tennis shoes and buy the wrong size skates because of that. Again, great video, I only hope more skaters watch this video before buying the wrong skates.

[xara]

To be honest I've never tried figure skates. The cheap ones you could buy for kids as well as the sh*y blue rental ones are always hockey style skates, so I didn't really get the chance to wear anything else + I'm scared of stumbling over the toepick. I feel like casual skaters like me really don't need the toepick anyway 😅 Honestly most people I know just go skating maybe 1, 2, 3 times every season, we're happy if we can just do our slow rounds without landing on your faces!

[pnacny]

i love your video, you explain everything so well!!

[romahnae]

6:34 "look!" "listen!"

[WN-ffqb]

Great video. Very informative. I learned to skate (on figure skates) when I was 8 or 9 years old and skated every winter (outside, for recreation) until I left for college. I'm 66 years old and in pretty good shape. I walked by our towns winter ice rink today, and just wanted to get right back on the ice. i think that despite all of the rental figure skates being in white, I'd be better off using them. Any thoughts?

[abdulwaduod]

I am big guy 100+kg who just started iceskating for fun immediately fell in love with it, now I want buy my skating shoes instead of using the rental one, this video made it clear that figure skating shoes is the best pick

[MLGGedits]

I want to start ice skating regularly since I love it but cause the blue rental skates are HORRIBLE on my feet, now I'm looking into what skates I should get, might wanna try out ice hockey (I already play field hockey), seeing if I should get hockey skates and if I can use them for normal use

[viledressler]

I have a lot of fun in hockey scates and hybrid scates. I bought myself hockey ones for fun! Why? Because no figure skates ever worked on me, always too small in the toe box. I found hockey ones so much more comfortable for me!

[charlygestern]

I can skate pretty decent in rental skates that are in a hockey style but now I really would like to get my own skates because I really want to go skating more often and learn to be a lot better at it, and not hurt my feet so much… I do feel apprehensive of getting figure skates though because of the toe picks. Only one time I skated with them and I only stumbled over the toe pics the whole time. Should I give them another chance? Probably I was not used to the balance point beeing somewhere else?

[loopylucifer]

I've tried both the rental hockey and figure skates. I want to do all those cool jumps and spins but I seem to fall the most wearing figure skates due to the ankle pick.

[lz]

I have a question. How are figure skates supposed to fit in the ankle? I was fitted for figure skates for LTS classes by a professional fitter (someone you recommended to someone else in a comment). I'm a woman, but the skates I was recommended and purchased were men's skates due to my wide feet. However, I have very narrow ankles even compared to other women and, after getting on the ice, I found I have a lot of space around my ankle. I'm really confused and was very disappointed in the skate fitting process. Do you have any advice? Thank you.

[urlocalhh]

Hey! I inline skate and i can skate decently on ice. My inlines dont have any breaks at the front similar to toepicks so im not sure what to get...I also skate just for fun so

[sihembouaoud]

If I correctly understood figure skates are the same as recreational ones?

[mihaelletaban]

I fall on these figure skates because of toe pick and never on rented skates (looks more like hockey skates)

[brookeelayna]

Honestly just get the figure skates. As someone who started out in hockey skates and made the switch, they're way easier to skate in.... although they do come with the side effect of the figure skaters more easily converting you to the dark side. Lol

[pazobackenstein]

But why can't I use hockey skates for figure skating? I mean, there's this whole thing called "FREE programme" that means I'm free to do whatever I feel like, doesn't it? What of I'm not interested in jumping, but rather spinning and stuff?
I already purchased my new skates, according to what group coach said, but now I feel like maybe I should have gotten hockey blades. I mean, , it's too late for me to become competitive anyways... why not spin a lot?