Hi, My twelve year old daughter has been wearing pointe shoes for a year and has had a variety of styles/makes. The last pair she had were bloch aspiration and although she says they were comfortable (she puts plasters on her toes and uses ouch pouches), her teachers said they are not supporting her foot enough and have told her to buy Freed shoes. so off we went to the store and the assistant fitted a pair of shoes explaining to my daughter that she shouldn't be wearing ouch pouches but taping her toes and using animal wool. she is very knowledgable and I have every confidence in her advice as she fits shoes for the Royal ballet school pupils too but my daughter says they feel really hard and uncomfortable. Is this because she is so used to not feeling anything due to the ouch pouches and what can anyone advise to help her get used to these very different shoes?

Hi!
I'm not experienced in the pointe shoe department - only had 3 pairs myself, but I first had a pair of Bloch serenade and they were fab - i wore ouch pouches etc with them.
Then my teacher siad i should try freeds as my 'feet would look great in them' so i did and they felt awful.
I went back to bloch after that. Just go with what feels right for your daughter. Each person's foot is different and each shoe brand is slightly different.

i would tell your daughter to explain to her teacher that the shoes are not working for her, maybe there is another make that will support her just as well but she will feel more comfortable in.

what your daughter could do is slowly take away her current padding allowing for a better adjustment period as switching to close to nothing might be really uncomfortable.

I do tape my toes and use animal wool. I think that I feel more the floor and it's comfortable enough for me.

What do you mean by ''they feel hard''? The shank's too hard? She has blisters?

Maybe she had no pain before and it becomes less easy for her cause she has to change her habits.

Hi!

I am not very experienced when it comes to pointe shoes - I only got my first pair in September this year. My first pair were really bad fitted; I live in a rather small city, and when my school arranged for a lady to come and sell us shoes, she only had two different shoes with her. I ended up with shoes I couldn't use pads in, because they were too narrow (they were the best shoes for me of the ones she had brought, but they were still really bad for my feet).

I bought new shoes in a bigger city a few weeks ago, got properly fitted, and now I can even use pads! The point I'm trying to get to, is that the difference between pads/no pads is huge, at least it was to me. In my first pair I taped my toes and used a bit of tissue paper in the shoes, but it still hurt a lot. Now, with the pads, I don't feel any pain at all, compared to my first experiences with pointe shoes. I feel I am better capable of focusing on the dancing itself now, and it's also a lot more fun!

It sounds to me like your daughter is just not used to dancing without pads, and if you've gotten used to them, I can imagine it must feel really uncomfortable to suddely quit. As mentioned above here, I believe it would be a good idea to ask the teacher to explain better why your daughter should change shoes. It also depends on how serious your daughter's dancing is - unless she is going for a future as a professional ballerina, the most important thing is that she feels good when dancing and has shoes that work with her rather than against her.

If you decide to keep using the shoes the teacher suggests, be careful to breake the shoes in properly, and try using a lot of lamb's wool in the beginning to make it feel less painful. Tape the toes to give better support, and I would also suggest she just walk around in the house with them once in a while, just to get used to how they feel on her feet.

There are many out there who know more about this than me, but it is my personal opinion that the shoes should not destroy your daughters feet nor her love for dancing. Hope it works out okay!

I am not a big fan of pads, "ouch pouches", etc. Dancers in upper level pointe class generally do not use them. Your toes cannot feel the shoe and, thus, the floor properly (as Karou alluded to) with these "pads" surrounding them. By the way, toes are not taped in pointe shoes to "give them better support". You tape your toes merely to protect them from rubbing on the inside of the pointe shoes which aids in preventing blisters. Tape each toe individually with cloth tape. Use lambs wool for extra padding where necessary. Whether a student aspires to a professional career or not, practicing correct pointe work (under the guidance of your teacher) and proper maintenance of pointe shoes is essential. It takes time to toughen your toes, to strengthen your feet, and to get used to pointe work. When I switched from Capezios to Freeds many years ago, there was definitely a period of adjustment for my feet. But, they are one of first choices for many professional dancers.

*laughs*
Guess I won't try any more of that talking-about-things-I-dont-know-much-about any more
When I didn't use pads, it did feel like the tape provided some tiny support, but again, that might have been me imagining it because I wanted every help I could get. And of course it is important to learn how to dance en pointe correctly, whether you wish to go professional or not - I have been well warned of the dangers of trying this without guidance. My teacher (a very good one, if I may say, and I've tried quite a few) doesn't seem to mind that we use pads, as long as we work carefully and correctly. And I must admit I'm rather glad - it hurt like h**l without them...

I used to use miles of sports tape -- I preferred just the foot in the shoe for a long time for the reasons that Gina cites -- being able to feel the floor, etc.

If the shoes hurt it also may be a matter of figuring out how to --carefully --break them in in the right places for your particular foot.

I remember, for instance, that the Freeds Studios took a bit of work to break in for my feet (which were not particularly archy). We used to use a few drops of rubbing alcohol at the places in the vamp where we needed a "bend." By contrast, the Bloch shoes I wore -- Alphas -- I could just put on and dance in without having to do any extra breaking in.