Why are there different kinds of blades for figure skates?
There are four kinds of figure blades: — Freestyle, which have large toepicks for jumps, deep grind so you won’t skid and less rocker for more acceleration. — Patch or figure, which have the shallowest grind for maximum glide and tiny toepicks (only used for pushes and stops). Since the removal of figures from eligible competitions, most blade manufacturers have discontinued figure blades. It is possible to transform a normal freestyle blade into a patch blade by regrinding the hollow to about 1” radius and shaving off the lowest toepick. — Dance, which are shorter blades so you won’t step on your own or your partner’s blades. Compared to freestyle, they have smaller toepicks, and more rocker to make turns easier. They are also narrower and a deeper grind, to allow deeper edges. — Precision or synchronized skating blades, which are also shorter than freestyle blades.
