How To Rollerblade
|Sport : Other Sports And Tips|
Rollerblading, or "in-line skating", is similar to ice-skating. You use a technique called the "stride" to get started, which is a sort of pushing and gliding movement.
It cannot be denied that this takes a LOT of practice, but once you have mastered the movement, you are well on the way to picking up speed and indeed other moves to enable you to speed along quite happily!
It is crucial that you wear the proper protective equipment at all times. This means kneepads, elbow pads, wrist pads and a crash helmet.
Roller blading: how to move1. To get moving, you have to stand with your feet apart in a V shape, so you put your feet together then turn your toes out. Bend your knees a little and your body should lean in the direction in which you want to move.
To begin with, practice pushing your right foot out to the side, then return it to the V position, then do the same with the left skate.
How to push off your roller blades2. As you push off with your left skate, put your weight on your right foot and you will see this movement pushes you forward. Then, as you lift your left foot, allow your right skate to just glide along the ground.
Bring your feet together and put your weight on the balls of your feet to enable you to recover your balance. At this point, your feet should not be in the V position, but instead your skates should be roughly shoulder width apart.
3. This time, try pushing off with your right foot and letting the left skate glide along the ground. Then return to the position described above, where you regain your balance by balancing your weight on the balls of your feet (see no. 2).
4. When you have done this a few times, omit the balance position between and try to link the pushing and gliding movements from both your feet together.
How to stop rollerblading!5. It is very important that you know how to stop! One of your skates will have a rubber stop on the heel. As you are gliding, bring this skate forward so that the brake is level with the front wheel of your back skate.
6. Lift the toe of the braking skate until you feel the brake gently touch the ground, and keep increasing this pressure as you glide along.
Don't put all your weight onto it at once, and also make sure you keep looking straight ahead - if you look down at your skates you will lose your balance easier.
7. When the braking skate is in position on the ground, bend the knee of the back leg. This will give you greater control over the brake, as if you are sitting back on it.
Roller blading: how to fallWhen you start learning how to rollerblade, it is inevitable that you are going to lose your balance more than a few times! However, if you fall in the "right" way, then this need not be a great problem. Always try to fall forward rather than back, and bend at the waist to reduce the impact of the fall.
Even though it sounds silly, do try to stay relaxed!! Try also to direct the impact of the fall onto your kneepads etc, so try and land first on your knees then your elbows and wrists.
Try not to let your head hit the ground - keep it up, and stretch your arms out as you fall, so that you slide along the ground - your protective equipment will thus help spread the impact over your body.
Questions about rollerblading:Are there other techniques for stopping...
- Wed, Nov 19th 2003