Round 1900 one more special Dutch model originated from the traditional Holland curled ice skates, viz. the ice skates for the Dutch Roll (in Dutch: 'schoonrijden' or 'zwieren'). The Dutch roll is a traditional way of ice skating that was already practised before figure skating became an ice skating discipline (see in the navigation column under the button 'disciplines'). The curls of Holland ice skates were often sawed off to avoid tangling and tumbling. These cut curls evolved to dedicated rolling skates. In England it was the English Style of figure skating that had something in common with the Dutch Roll as both styles require a modestly controlled technical correct movement. It is interesting to see that for the English Style a kind of wooden skates was used that was very much alike the Dutch rolling skates. These English skates were called club skates, probably because the English Style was exercised with clubs in indoor ice rinks.
 ice skates with sawn off curls |
 Dutch rolling skates |
 English club skates |
International influences
From the USA came the concept of artistic skating, a combination of ice skating and ballet. It involved jumps and pirouettes and required a fixation between boots and skates. In the beginning of the 20th century when figure skating became regulated by the ISU the English Style and the American Style were merged to the International Style. The Dutch kept aloof and the Dutch Roll stayed a national form ice skating that is still cultivated. Therefore, when by the end of the 19th century the wholly metal ice skates entered the market place this had a dramatic effect on skating except in the Netherlands. The until then mainly wooden ice skates were replaced at high pace by metal ones as they did not require straps or so and could be immovably fastened to the boots with easy to handle clamping and screwing systems. Manufacturers of this type of ice skates were found in countries with an at that time fast developing metalworking industry like Germany, England and the USA. In the beginning the difference between figure and hockey skates was nil but son the figure skates got a rounded prow and teeth. The hockey skates held their straight prows. One step further were figure and hockey skates made from a single piece of metal that could be screwed to the boots. In the past century only small improvements have been made to this concept.
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| Figure skates with heel screw. These make still use of straps. | Figure skates with screwed on leather boots. |
Figure skates with screwed on plastic boots. |
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| Metal ice hockey skates with clamping mechanisms for heel and forefoot. | Hockey skates with Norwegian style tubes. | Hockey skates with integrated runner blades. |
