hello! so I know when learning to skate, you should position your skate at a 45 degree angle, but i'm not sure why. is it because if you just position them straight,the low friction of the ice won't allow you to move/ push forward? plus does the 45 angle allow you to overcome the friction and move forward?
Well, I guess the skate you are pushing with is at an angle so the long sharp edge can get a grip on the ice while the forward skate moves forward straight ahead. I had never thought about it but that is the way you skate although 45 degrees seems kind of extreme.
If you look at the ice after hockey and before Zamboni, you see all the grooves cut and the spots where the long edges pushed and braked. Particularly huge strong skaters chew up the ice. My grandchildren recently skated between periods of a Bruins game at Boston Garden before the Zamboni came. They said the ice was all chewed up and it was hard for the little kids to skate.