Though beautiful to watch, figure skating has a high rate of injury for competitors including stress fractures and joint replacements, which bring early ends to skating careers.
Because of the high-risk nature of the sport, experts are hoping to design new skates that may ease impact on joints. A group of researchers from BYU including Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Sarah Ridge and Steven Charles, an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering are making strides to achieve this goal, beginning with measuring the forces on the skates.