What is a Blade's Radius of Hollow?

Now that my students’ parents know when to sharpen their child’s skates, many have encountered a problem when asked “What radius of hollow do you want?” and confused what the ‘right’ answer should be.

Before I provide you some guidance on the radius of hollow used by beginner skaters, let me first explain what the term means.  I won’t spend too much time going into detail because it can get very technical; however, I will try to give an overview so you have at least a basic understanding. 

A blade’s hollow is the length running between the two edges on a blade or the curve that’s carved into the bottom of the blade. This shape is created by grinding the blade with a sharpening wheel. The size of your blade hollow has a significant impact on how you skate. You can have a deep or shallow hollow depending if you want more or less edge. 

Photo Courtesy: https://weekendwarriorshockey.com/how-sharp-should-my-skates-be-blade-hollow-demystified-2/

The depth of the hollow is determined by the radius. It’s called radius of hollow because the grinding stone that is used to sharpen your blade has a curve on it.  This curve on the stone is formed from the radius of a circle which is the same curve that is used to shape the skate’s blade surface when sharpened- in the shape of a hollow. A smaller radius means a smaller circle which creates a deeper hollow, making the blades feel sharper and have more edge (or more bite). 

A normal hollow is generally 1/2” to 1” (most beginners are 3/4” to 1”).  A larger hollow is recommended for beginners because it gives the skater greater glide and speed since the edges are not digging deep into the ice. As your child’s skating improves and skills advance, you can go from a shallow hollow of 3/4“ to a deeper radius of 5/8” to 1/2”.  I find the attached chart detailing the different radius of hollow a handy reference to have in figuring out what measure has less/more bite and glide. Also, I find the diagram below to be helpful- it’s not drawn to scale but is exaggerated to help show the difference between the radius of hollow for the specific measures.

Photo courtesy: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Skate-blade-radius-of-hollow-ROH-frontal-view-Units-for-the-25-50-and-75-is_fig2_249956702

My figure skate blades have 1/2” hollow which gives me a good balance of having a sharp feel and edge along with more glide and speed. Contrary, my dance blades have a deep 3/8” hollow (most ice dancers have 7/16”- 3/8” hollow) because it’s critical for me to perform intricate footwork and deep edges and turns. The only drawback with a deep hollow is that you don’t get as much speed and so you have to work harder to get more glide. Also, the deeper the hollow, the more often you have to get the blades sharpened to maintain the edge. That’s why I get my dance skates sharpened much more frequently than my freestyle skates. It’s always an adjustment for me switching back and forth to these different skates but I feel its what’s appropriate for me in these two different skating disciplines. The two diagrams that I’ve attached show the different radius of hollow in my freestyle and dance blades. It’s difficult to see because it’s only 1/8” of a difference but my dance blade has a deeper hollow.  

As your skating level changes, you will require a different radius of hollow so you’ll need to experiment and find the measure which works best for you. It took me almost a whole year before I determined what radius I was most comfortable with so don’t worry as you and your child will find the ‘right’ hollow.

How Often To Sharpen Skates?

I get asked this question a lot and honestly, there really is no right answer because it all depends on your skater’s preferences, needs, and requirements. Also, each skater has different degrees of how sharp they like their blades to feel so despite the many recommendations out there, the final decision should rest with your skater. 

First, what does it mean when I recommend that your child’s skates need to be sharpened?  You need to have sharpened skates to help with pushing and gliding forward, pivoting and turning, spinning, jumping, and stopping. Your child’s skate blades will get dull from continuous use and eventually lose its “bite” or grip on the ice. When the skates are sharpened, both the inside and outside edges of the skate blades will be razor sharp and should have no nicks on them because the rough parts will be smoothed out.  

The easiest way to know when to sharpen skates is when your skater complains that he/she is slipping on the ice especially when he/she tries to land a jump and/or spin and can not feel any gripping edge.  Those times when you thought your child was not having a good practice and was not putting in his/her best efforts could have been in fact due to dull or damaged skates hampering performance (or “bad ice”). Another way to determine if skates need sharpening is to do the fingernail test- turn your thumb upside down and gently run your fingernail width-wise across the blade (if you run it length-wise, you will be sure to cut your nail). If you see that some of your nail shaves off then the blades are likely to be sharp. You should do this test on 3-5 spots up and down the blade and also on the inside and outside edges. It may also be helpful to feel the blades before and after they are sharpened to help determine whether the blade is dull or sharp in between sharpenings.

You don’t want to wait too long to get skates sharpened because there will be a dramatic difference when it does get sharpened and your skater will require time to adjust to the new blades.  You also don’t want to get the skates sharpened too often; otherwise, it will wear out your blades (and you know how expensive blades costs). If the skates are too sharp, your skater will have a difficult time pushing forward because the grooves of the sharp blades get stuck into the ice. Remember, the sharper the skates does not make your child skate better!

Personally, I prefer my blades to be very sharp especially since I do freestyle and ice dance. My edges need to “grip” the ice when I spin and takeoff and land my jumps. I also need good control to make clean deep edges for my patterns and footwork. I prefer my dance blades to be super sharp compared to my freestyle blades because ice dance requires supreme control and precision of edges when completing difficult turns in patterns. As I got older I spent more time on the ice so I needed to have my skates sharpened frequently.  I believe I had my skates sharpened on average every 8-10 weeks when I was a beginner and low freestyle skater.  As I progressed to a higher level and began ice dancing, I got my skates sharpened every 4-6 weeks.  

I find it helpful to keep a log of how many hours your skater is on the ice in between sharpening so then you can be anticipate scheduling your next sharpening appointment. Please take note that a skate sharpener’s appointment book can get filled quite quickly and you definitely don’t want to be pushed back another week or more to have the skates sharpened.  Not only will your skater be very unhappy but he/she won’t be able to have a productive practice session and/or lesson if constantly frustrated with dull blades. Trust me, I’ve experienced it many times despite trying to make my appointments two months in advance! 

Lastly, it’s crucial who you go to get your skates sharpened- I can not stress it enough! You must go to a reputable and reliable professional/specialist who sharpens figure skates because your skates are sharpened very differently from those of hockey skates.  For many years now, I’ve been going to Jim Skibin at IceHouse ProShop in Hackensack (https://www.icehousenj.com/pro-shop).  Jim has sharpened and set boots to blades for Sarah Hughes, and also worked with Tara Lipinsky, Johnny Weir, Kyoko, Brian Boitano, Oksana Baiul, amongst many others. I also go to Greg Gilman at Polar Skate Shop in East Hanover, NJ (https://polarskateshop.com).  I trust my skates to no one else except Jim and Greg as I need to have peace of mind when I’m out there performing and competing. 

Every skater is different so determine the sharpening needs based on his/her preference and requirements. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different sharpening to find what your skater is most happiest with.

Remember to always protect your blades
especially after a sharpening!
(Nov 26, 2017 post)

Lace Up, It's Time for Outdoor Skating!

Skating in NYC is a classic and popular winter pastime. Did you know there are 14 skating rinks open for public skating in the city this season?! The most famous rink without a doubt is the Rink at Rockefeller Center which opens for the season tomorrow and Wollman Rink at Central Park is scheduled to open next weekend, Sat Oct 19 (weather permitting)!

Check out my Nov. 18, 2018 post on my two favorite outdoor NYC skating rinks- The Rink at Rockefeller Center and The Winter Village at Bryant Park, https://figureskatingetc.squarespace.com/new-blog/2018/11/18/top-us-family-ice-skating-rinks-forbes-nov-16-2018

Wollman Rink is located on 59th Street and 6th Avenue- a short five-minute walk from Central Park’s south entrance. Believe it or not, I have never skated in this iconic rink since I moved here from Boston when I was five yrs old. I love the NYC and love Central Park and will definitely put it on my list of to-dos for this winter. While this odd-shaped trapezoid rink is four times larger and half the cost of the Rink at Rockefeller Center, it does get quite crowded because there is no rule regarding the maximum number of skaters on the ice. However, you can skate to your heart’s content - all day if you like- and enjoy the stunning Manhattan skyline view. If you didn’t know, the Wollman rink was constructed by Donald Trump and it’s been featured in several popular movies including, Home Alone 2 and Serendipity. For more info, check out https://www.wollmanskatingrink.com

Photo courtesy of https://www.wollmanskatingrink.com

The Rink at Brookfield Place (formerly World Financial Center) opened in 2013 and is located at the North Cove Marina on the Hudson River Waterfront in Battery Park City. It also is a great place to skate and take in the breathtaking views of lower Manhattan. The rink will open in November and offer skating and hockey classes. Its figure skating programs are hosted by skating Olympians, Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov. One of the rink’s special festive events is its contemporary rock/pop Winter Ice Holiday Concert Show, ‘Stars United’. The show will be on Dec 10 and 11 at 7pm and will feature figure skating Olympians along with Iconic Vogue dancers and singers. Be sure to check it out! https://www.therinkatbrookfieldplace.net

Photo courtesy of https://www.downtownmagazinenyc.com/rink-at-brookfield-place-returns/

The other ten skating rinks in NYC are …
Manhattan- Sky Rink at Chelsea Pier (Pier 61); Laser Rink at Central Park (106-108th St); Riverbank State Park Rink (679 Riverside Drive
Brooklyn- Abe State Park (Coney Island Boardwalk); Aviator Sports and Events Center Rink (Floyd Bennett Field); Lakeside (Prospect Park)
Queens- City Ice Pavilion (47-32 32nd Place); World Ice Arena (Flushing Meadows Corona Park)
Staten Island- Staten Island Skating Pavilion (Tottenville); WW II Veterans War Memorial Ice Skating Rink (Clove Lakes Park)
https://www.nycgo.com/articles/new-york-skate-of-mind

have fun creating wintry magical memories in nyc
Make sure to layer up!

What is “bad ice?”

Photo courtesy: https://www.usfsa.org/content/What%20Makes%20Quality%20Ice.pdf

I know many of my skater parents have heard their children complain lately that the ice has been ‘bad' and consequently, they couldn’t skate well. You may not never taken your child’s complaints seriously because you probably thought it was just an excuse for his/her bad practice. Well, let me explain why your child was not making up an excuse and in fact, poor quality ice can negatively affect your child’s skating. When your child is complaining of ‘bad ice’, he/she is actually referring to the ice being too hard or soft and/or too slow or fast. I, too, have complained about skating on ‘bad ice’ and blamed it for not being able to do my twizzles or footwork or land my jumps. So when my class skated on wet soft ice again this past weekend, I got curious and decided to look into what is the perfect ice surface for figure skaters. I’m not a science person and definitely not an expert in chemistry but wanted to learn and understand  so I can provide a more scientific answer to my skaters and parents.

Temperature is a big factor affecting ice quality- the colder the ice the harder it is and faster you go. It also is a smoother surface. You would think ice should be kept at 32 degrees F since we all learned in school that it’s the temperature required to change liquid to solid.  However, that temperature is not ideal for quality ice. The ice is warmed by heat from the air, lights, & humidity in the rink as well as people. The surface temperature of ice needs to be kept colder than 32 degrees F to stop the ice from melting,

There are different ideal ice surface conditions for different sports. Speed skating ice is around 2.5 to 3 cm thick, requiring a thin sheet of ice to help minimize resistance/grip and maximize quickness.  Its ideal temperature is 15 to 23 degrees F. Hockey ice is about the same thickness but its ideal temperature is slightly warmer to be around 17 to 23 degrees F. 

Figure skating, on the other hand, requires a thicker layer of ice of about 4.5 to 5 cm to absorb the impact of jump take-offs and landings.  Did you know that male skaters weighing 150 pounds or more can land on the ice after a jump with more than 1000 lbs of pressure?…that’s a whole lot of extraordinary force! 

Figure skating ice is the softest (wamest) of all surfaces. The ideal temperature for figure skating ice needs to be warmer than speed skating/hockey ice at around 24 to 26 degrees F. If the ice is too cold (below 20 degrees F), then it becomes hard and brittle. Having brittle ice affects the smoothness because when you dig your toe pick into the ice for a jump, a piece of ice will break out. Instead, figure skating ice needs to be soft so it grips the edges of the blades better and ice won’t shatter from the impact of big jumps.

Ice varies from rink to rink and even in the same rink over time. So next time your skater complains of ‘bad ice’, you now know that he/she may not be giving you an excuse but in fact, had to skate on not so ideal ice surface which affected his/her skating.

Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Welcome New and Returning Students! I hope you’re all ready for a great new skating season because we will be learning lots of cool new and challenging moves and elements.

It’s Motivation Monday- a day of beginnings and new starts- and as we kickoff our new season in the coming weeks, please take a moment to think about your goals and what you want to learn and master at the end of your 7-week session/season. Whether you’re a novice, intermediate, advanced or an elite skater, all athletes set goals. Setting short-term and long-term goals will help you with direction, feedback, and support. I particularly find that when skaters clearly define their goals, they are more motivated to work hard and stay committed at their tasks. Having clear and well-defined goals also allow you to obtain the necessary support in keeping you on track and not giving up easily. Once I learn about your goals then I can provide effective feedback and advice to help you achieve them.

In helping you set your goals, you can follow the 5 simple S.M.A.R.T goals which stand for -

Source: https://www.kazoohr.com/resources/library/how-to-set-smart-goals

You can also use this helpful guide to set your goals for school or anything else you want to do well and achieve in life. Please use the US Figure Skating goal-setting worksheet to help you get started, https://www.usfsa.org/content/Goal-setting%20and%20Self-confidence%20Worksheets.pdf

I’m excited for the new season and I look forward to helping each of you achieve your skating goals!

Skating Creates Lasting Friendships

In addition to the many health benefits of skating, (pls see my published Jan 2019 article, https://www.figureskatingetc.com/miscell2/2019/2/4/skating-promotes-fitness-and-good-health), another important aspect of the sport is its impact on one’s social skills. Skating is a great way to meet new people and make new friends. If you visit a public open skate session, you never fail to see people of all ages laughing and having fun together. Those who attend group classes or camp are participating among a community of individuals who all share the same passion. With this common interest, many end up building lifelong friendships that extend beyond the rink.

Today was my last day volunteering at Figure Skating in Harlem. During my short time with the program, I had an incredibly rewarding experience and made so many wonderful new friends. In particular, Leah, a 9-yr old girl in my class, quickly bonded with me. She was fascinated by my Asian eyes and hair and how young I was to be a skating instructor. Her questions about my background (where I lived, how many siblings I have, my relationship status, etc) made me double over with laughter. The minute I stepped on the ice, she immediately greeted me with a huge hug greatly warmed my heart. I will miss Leah and all my summer campers. While I’m sad that I won’t be able to see and continue working with these wonderful young children during the school year, I look forward to my time with them next summer and am excited to make many more new friendships. I hope I made a small difference in some of the kids’ lives as they have enriched mine in so many ways.

Check out my friends’ Summer Dreams Camp video - https://www.facebook.com/FigureSkatinginHarlem/videos/2192064950922012/Asia

MY SUMMER DREAMS CAMP FAMILY
Figure Skating in Harlem