Recreational Ice Figure Skating/Equipment

If rental skates are available the best path is to go with rentals for at least a half-dozen sessions until you are reasonably sure that you are making progress and intend to keep skating long enough to justify the investment. The only contrary objection would be if the rental skates at your rink are in really horrible shape, in which case you may want to check if the shop or any rink/club bulletin board has used skates for sale. If you find you enjoy skating and you want to do it regularly, it is best to invest on your own equipment.

If you cannot make your mind whether you would like to buy figure or hockey, do not worry too much, as you can learn basic on both types of skates. Once you can do more than skate around in one direction you will find out if you prefer an aggressive style of skating, with lots of quick stops and starts and sharp changes of direction or if you prefer the fluidity of figure skating. If you like jumping or spinning you should definitely get figure skates.

Although in beginner figure skates the boots and blades are often sold as a unit, advanced ones are purchased separately.