How To Break In New Roller Skates

Just got new skates, and it feels wrong for your feet? Never mind that. It is usual for new skates to feel odd-fitted even when it is the correct size. In this period, blisters and pain are ordinary. It is just a phase. All you need to do is break them in.
There are many DIY techniques to get the perfect fit for skates. However, the process is gradual and will require repetition of techniques now and then. The longer the techniques are repeated, the faster we get our perfectly fitted roller skates.

Why Do I Have To Break In My New Roller Skates?

New skate boots are often stiff and feel weird when we wear them. Breaking in allows it to soften and adjust to our feet’ shape. Rather than using the traditional wear-until-it-bends methods, applying break-in methods is faster and easier to get the same results. Besides, the traditional method hurts a lot.


How to Break in New Roller Skates

There are many ways to break in your roller skates. You can choose to add pressure by hard pressing or massaging the boots, applying heat, or changing the lacing technique. We’ll explain to you how you can do this.

Heat technique:

If you own bakeable skates, an excellent way to break in new roller skates is by applying heat to the skates. Now, no smoking, grilling, or baking. We use hair dryers to apply heat to the boots. Please don’t turn it to the highest! We try to apply the heat evenly, so we don’t crack the leather skates and avoid heat contact with our skin. While the boots are warm and a little pliable, try them on (remember to wear socks!) and skate for three to five minutes. When the boots cool off, they are already molded to the shape of our feet!

Lacing technique:

The lacing technique helps you break in skates without affecting the ankle support. How laces are fixed helps to break in new skates. Instead of stifling the feet with tight lace-ups, you can break in the skates by lacing the skates loosely on the last two holes and freely on the top two holes. After skating for some time, adjust the lacing, leaving the last sole.

Skate technique:

While skating in new skates, we make maneuvers that involve bending the knees. This helps our ankles adjust to and bend, forcing the skates to adjust and expand where necessary. These skate techniques, like jumps and footwork, will break in new skates quickly. But it can be painful too.

Pressure technique:

If you are in an annoyed or energetic mood, you may choose to break in your skates the “violent” way. This is a quick technique we employ by adding pressure on the boots to soften them. We massage the toe cap and the back of the boots forcibly with our thumbs and use our elbows to hit the sides a few times.


Credit to the Moxi Roller Skates YouTube channel for this awesome video.

How to break in roller derby skates

New skates for a Derby match? Sweet!
You can break in your derby skates with the same methods as regular roller skates. But it would help if you also took note of the following tips:

Be mindful of the choice of socks: New sneakers are uncomfortable. We make it less so by wearing thin socks for comfort. This also helps to prevent pain and blisters.

Keep the predecessor pair: Before giving out your old pair, ensure your new skates are already broken in. Of course, there is an exception if your old skates are too worn or damaged to use. While taking measures to break in the successor pair, the predecessors help you practice and keep in shape.

Pad them: If you absolutely can’t wait to wear the new skates, you can pad them where it hurts to help with the discomfort.
Now you know how to break in roller derby skates.

How to break in new roller skates

How long does it take to break new roller skates?

This differs from person to person and shoe to shoe. But it would typically take a month of consistent attempts to break in new skates. With over 8 hours of practice and applying pressure a day, the process is even faster.


How do you break in new skates fast?

It takes a while to break in new skates. If needed any earlier, you can increase the time spent breaking in the skates.
The heating technique works very quickly, and we prefer to invest in this. However, it is only applicable to roller skates that can withstand heat. Ask the skate shop if your new skates are “bakeable” or not.
Another way to break in skates faster is to ask the skate shop to punch out your new skates first. This will ease discomfort around the ankles and quicken the break-in process.

We hope this article gave you the answer to your question: how to break in new roller skates. For more awesome guides, click on the link.

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Welcome to Skates of Glory! Join us as we dive into the roller skating world, sharing insights, tips, and inspiration for skaters of all levels. Let's roll together and embrace the skate life!

Oliver Harris
Greetings fellow skater, I'm Oliver Harris!

Hello, I am Oliver Harris, a skilled roller skater with expertise in roller derby and speed skating who brings years of experience and contagious enthusiasm to Skates of Glory.

Emma Moore
Hey there fellow skater, my name is Emma Moore

I am Emma Moore, an accomplished artistic roller skater and professional coach who combines sports psychology with my passion for skating.

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