Roller Skate Tricks & Tips to improve your skills

 

First advice: for maximum safety, equip yourself with skates that fits you perfectly and protective gear (knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards…)

The place where you’ll practice is also very important: nothing better than a smooth floor and a car-free area. Gymnasium, skatepark, desert parking lot : it’s up to you !

Now that you are in good conditions to skate, let’s talk about the body posture. We recommend to bend your legs for a better stability: you need to relax, release the pressure and bend your knees that needs to be vertically aligned with your shoulders. Your heels are vertically aligned with your buttocks. The soft legs act as shock absorbers and offer a better stability.

The feet position is also very important: they must be shifted with a good gap to prevent imbalance and made on “duck” position, your skates tip going in opposite directions.

Now let’s get into it: moving with your skates. For this, you need to create a “push” movement with your legs.

• Put your feet in the “duck” position
• Push one of your skate to the side with your leg
• Glide a few meters with the other skate
• Bring back the first foot that “pushed” in front
• Repeat the movements with the other leg

Learning how to brake is essential when you start rollerskating to change direction, avoid an obstacle or simply regulate your speed.

First method: This technique applies for slow skating. As you roll, spread out your legs and point your toes in, try to push out on the inside edge and your weight onto the floor. The process involves weight transfer dropping the top half of your body into the bottom half quickly to ensure you a solid stop. You can hear people call it the snow stop.

Second method: the T-stop. To do this, lean forward and stretch one of your legs back (usually, the “weaker” one). Your back foot is perpendicular to your support foot. Keep both wheels lying flat - this movement ill greatly reduce your speed. Be careful, if you position your wheels incorrectly, on one wheel side for example, your skates will shake strongly.

Falling is part of the process, it is not inevitable, but it is necessary to learn how to fall to avoid hurting yourself.

It is important to fall from the “lowest height possible” : for that, continue to bend your knees to be closer to the ground. If you fall forward, land yourself with your knees and wrists. If you fall backward, remember to put your head in your shoulders and protect your back by landing with your hands.

TENACITY

Learning to skate can take time and requires tenacity. Be patient and take the time to discover each movement and its sensations. Skating with friends or taking lessons can also be a good motivation source. We recommend solo skate sessions as well as group sessions but in order to progress : time and patience will be your best friends.

 

Last but not least : do not forget to have fun!