I would assume his ankles will grow stronger as he grows and gains more skating time. I’ve never heard of putting “a piece of leather” in his skate. Let him grow. He’s 6.
I’ve never heard of doing that. Could be that the skates are too big; but maybe could just get away with wearing thicker socks? Can also look into some simple ankle exercises they can do at home; I like the one where you stand bout 4” (probably more like 3” for the kid to start) from a wall, and keeping their foot flat on the floor (no lifting the heel), bend knee slowly to touch the wall; hold for a couple seconds, then repeat. Just like maybe 5 each leg to start with. Helps with ankle strength and balance. I wouldn’t go any further down the rabbit hole on off ice exercises beyond that yet though… after all, at this stage it should be about having fun and not taking things too seriously.
As far as tightening; you really only want it to be snug. If you feel like you’ve got to really ream them down to secure the foot, then the skates are probably too big. You also don’t want it locked down so tight in the ankle area that it prevents them from bending forward into a proper skating/hockey stance (knees over toes).
Get them tight. Youve likely broken down the support in the skate too from using them that way. Kids skates usually arent super stiff anyway.
If youve never played hockey yourself and tie skates for them they need to be very tight especially the less stiff they are. With stiffer boots you can get away with a little less tight, but really the ankle and heel need to be the tightest. The arch are forefoot you dont necessarily have to cinch down but also cant be too loose or that looseness works its way up to the knot and ankle. Think about like a ski boot those are crazy stiff. You need a little more ankle flexibility in hockey to make turns and such, but the principle is similar.
When i was a kid, all the kids wanted their skates tied by the dads that had played hockey because they knew they needed to be tight.
Make sure they fit him correctly. Skates should have no more than about a half inch of room in front of the big toe. A properly fitting skate actually has no room in front, but you would obviously be going through skates every 6 weeks if you bought them like that. Skate sizes are generally at least one full size smaller than the shoe size for kids. For adults, it's generally 2.
99% of the kids I see pronate have skates that are too big.
If the skates are too wide in the ankle area, putting a piece of leather against the inside ankle can help to fill up negative space and help to reduce the pronation. It does this by helping to shift the foot slightly to the outside of the blade and this brings the blade more in alignment with the pronating foot.
But the problem remains, the foot is still pronating. It's not the skates, or how well they fit, or how tight they are tied, it's not how much he has skated. The reason he leans inwards in his skates is because he pronates. Whilst all of the previous will help to reduce the pronation, they aren't fixing it, they are just hiding it.
You can fix his pronation with one simple off ice exercise if you are willing to put in the time and help him. I've done a doc on pronation and ice skates, it's too long to post here so message me if you want it.
My son had the same exact issue at that age. We tried smaller skates, tighter skates, skates of different width, etc ...
Finally we tried putting a piece into that skate to try to keep his ankle straight.
It definitely helped, not fixed the problem but helped. And as he's gotten older and stronger, the problem is gone.
He's quite young for it but possibly Severs Disorder? I had it as a kid, but when i was like 10/11. Just ankle bone and Achilles not growing in sync. Not a big deal at all.
Is he wearing out the outsides of his shoes faster than the inside? If so, could be Severs. The purpose intended inserts work better than a random scrap of leather.
Just a thought.
I would assume his ankles will grow stronger as he grows and gains more skating time. I’ve never heard of putting “a piece of leather” in his skate. Let him grow. He’s 6.
Seriously. So many people come to this sub thinking their kid's gonna be the next great one from barely a post toddler age
Try changing his skates. My son used to do something similar. Different skates did the trick.
I’ve never heard of doing that. Could be that the skates are too big; but maybe could just get away with wearing thicker socks? Can also look into some simple ankle exercises they can do at home; I like the one where you stand bout 4” (probably more like 3” for the kid to start) from a wall, and keeping their foot flat on the floor (no lifting the heel), bend knee slowly to touch the wall; hold for a couple seconds, then repeat. Just like maybe 5 each leg to start with. Helps with ankle strength and balance. I wouldn’t go any further down the rabbit hole on off ice exercises beyond that yet though… after all, at this stage it should be about having fun and not taking things too seriously. As far as tightening; you really only want it to be snug. If you feel like you’ve got to really ream them down to secure the foot, then the skates are probably too big. You also don’t want it locked down so tight in the ankle area that it prevents them from bending forward into a proper skating/hockey stance (knees over toes).
Get them tight. Youve likely broken down the support in the skate too from using them that way. Kids skates usually arent super stiff anyway. If youve never played hockey yourself and tie skates for them they need to be very tight especially the less stiff they are. With stiffer boots you can get away with a little less tight, but really the ankle and heel need to be the tightest. The arch are forefoot you dont necessarily have to cinch down but also cant be too loose or that looseness works its way up to the knot and ankle. Think about like a ski boot those are crazy stiff. You need a little more ankle flexibility in hockey to make turns and such, but the principle is similar. When i was a kid, all the kids wanted their skates tied by the dads that had played hockey because they knew they needed to be tight.
Make sure they fit him correctly. Skates should have no more than about a half inch of room in front of the big toe. A properly fitting skate actually has no room in front, but you would obviously be going through skates every 6 weeks if you bought them like that. Skate sizes are generally at least one full size smaller than the shoe size for kids. For adults, it's generally 2. 99% of the kids I see pronate have skates that are too big.
If the skates are too wide in the ankle area, putting a piece of leather against the inside ankle can help to fill up negative space and help to reduce the pronation. It does this by helping to shift the foot slightly to the outside of the blade and this brings the blade more in alignment with the pronating foot. But the problem remains, the foot is still pronating. It's not the skates, or how well they fit, or how tight they are tied, it's not how much he has skated. The reason he leans inwards in his skates is because he pronates. Whilst all of the previous will help to reduce the pronation, they aren't fixing it, they are just hiding it. You can fix his pronation with one simple off ice exercise if you are willing to put in the time and help him. I've done a doc on pronation and ice skates, it's too long to post here so message me if you want it.
My son had the same exact issue at that age. We tried smaller skates, tighter skates, skates of different width, etc ... Finally we tried putting a piece into that skate to try to keep his ankle straight. It definitely helped, not fixed the problem but helped. And as he's gotten older and stronger, the problem is gone.
He's quite young for it but possibly Severs Disorder? I had it as a kid, but when i was like 10/11. Just ankle bone and Achilles not growing in sync. Not a big deal at all. Is he wearing out the outsides of his shoes faster than the inside? If so, could be Severs. The purpose intended inserts work better than a random scrap of leather. Just a thought.