Parts of an Ice Skate – Figure and Hockey Skates Labeled

All 11 parts on the diagram

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Figure skate 7

Boot A figure skate: a boot with a blade screwed to its sole.
Blade It curves gently along its length.
Toe pick Skaters plant it in the ice for certain jumps. A hockey skate has none.
Laces The laces cross over the tongue.
Tongue A figure skating boot has a wide tongue.
Hollow The hollow is why a blade has two edges.
Edges The inside edge is the one nearer the inside of the foot. The other is the outside edge.

Hockey skate 4

Blade holder The holder is fixed to the bottom of the boot.
Runner (blade) The runner is the blade of a hockey skate.
Tendon guard It rises above the heel at the boot's back.
Eyelets There is a row of eyelets on each side of the tongue.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two of these use it: (1) Wikipedia, Figure skate and Ice skate, text only (boot, blade, toe picks, hollow, inside and outside edges, laces, blade holder, runner, tendon guard); (2) Encyclopaedia Britannica, Figure skating, section Boots and blades, archived copy at https://web.archive.org/web/2024/https://www.britannica.com/sports/figure-skating/Equipment-and-technique (boot, tongue, blade, hollow-ground, the two edges, toe pick); (3) HockeyMonkey, Best Hockey Skates, section Components of a Hockey Skate, https://www.hockeymonkey.com/learn/best-hockey-skates (boot, holder, runner, tongue, laces, eyelets, tendon guard); (4) Pure Hockey, Skate Guide, archived copy of 2019 at https://web.archive.org/web/20190824175815/https://www.purehockey.com/c/pure-hockey-skate-guide (eyelets, laces, boot). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain curves; no maker's skate, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

Every ice skate is a boot with a blade under it. The first view is a figure skate, with the bottom of its blade enlarged; the second is a hockey skate, which has parts of its own.

Read the full guide

Figure skate first, then the hockey skate

Numbers 1 to 5 are on the figure skate: the boot, the blade under it, the toe pick at the front of the blade, the laces and the tongue. Numbers 6 and 7 are on the small drawing beside it, the bottom of the blade cut across: the hollow ground into it and the two edges on either side. Numbers 8 to 11 are on the hockey skate: the blade holder, the steel runner set in it, the tendon guard at the back and the eyelets for the laces.

Only a figure skate has a toe pick. Only a hockey skate has a separate holder and runner.
The hollow is the groove; the edges are the two sharp lines it leaves.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of an ice skate?

A boot with its tongue and laces, and a blade under it. A figure skate's blade has a toe pick at the front. A hockey skate's blade is a steel runner set in a holder, and its boot has a tendon guard.

What are the parts of a hockey skate?

The boot, with its tongue, laces and eyelets and a tendon guard at the back, and under the boot the blade holder with the steel runner. The runner is the blade itself.

What is the toe pick on a figure skate for?

The toe pick is the toothed front of the blade. A skater plants it in the ice for certain jumps. Hockey skates do not have one.

What is the hollow of a skate blade?

A groove ground along the bottom of the blade. It leaves two edges: the inside edge, nearer the inside of the foot, and the outside edge.

What is the difference between a figure skate and a hockey skate?

A figure skate has a high boot and a blade a little longer than the boot, with a toe pick at the front. A hockey skate has no toe pick, and its blade is a runner held in a separate holder.