Double Runner Ice Skates

Several readers have asked whether it would be a good idea to start their young beginning ice skaters out in double-runner skates.

The idea behind double blade ice skates is that the younger beginner will be able to walk out on to the ice and immediately start to skate. Balance will not be a problem for a child wearing double-runners that provide two blades on each skate for stability. Not feeling "tippy" will give the youngest skater the confidence to venture out.

If you are a skating family with a small child under the age of about two, double-runner skates will let your little one come onto the ice with you, instead of always having to wait and watch from the other side of the boards. However, once your child is able to independently stand on one foot for five seconds or more, she is probably ready to give up the double-blade skates for the real thing.

Double-blade skates do not truly glide on the ice because they do not have "edges," as do real figure skates. They enable a child to clump around on the ice, but they do little to develop actual skating skills.

Because their skates do not glide smoothly, youngsters on double-runners are also at some risk when there is a crowd on the ice. Double-blade skates restrict a youngster to moving quite slowly. Faster skaters must dodge around these little ones, and collisions will inevitably happen. For this reason, many ice skating rinks prohibit double-runner skates entirely.

Coaches and skating teachers will forbid double-blade skates in their classes because the blades don't glide, don't accommodate any real maneuvers, and they lack toe picks.

If you want to help your toddler learn to ice skate, as soon as her foot is large enough to fit into the smallest real boot available, and as soon as she has the coordination to stand on one foot, you will probably be better off getting her into the real thing. In countries where skating is a taken-for-granted skill, it is not unusual at all to see a two-year-old whizzing about on the ice on proper, although very tiny, skates.

Because very young children outgrow their shoes so quickly, rather than purchasing a pair of double runner skates, you will probably be better off renting the smallest ice skates and investing in a few toddler ice skating lessons until you are really sure you have a skater in the family.

 Girls Double Runner Skates