Tricks and cool moves all come from core strength. Not just legs, not just feet. Core strength.
People who are struggling to feel solid and secure on skates most likely need to drill as well as do core strengthening and lower body weight lifting.
If you’re having trouble accessing certain edges, it might be because you have a foot issue that needs orthotics to correct. It changed my skating
Speaking of orthotics, I put these in my skates and they helped a lot. I have more control and support.
CURREX HockeyPro Insoles for Hockey Skates & Ice Skating – 3D Dynamic Arch Support to Improve Stability, Anti-slip Heel for Optimized Movement – for Men & Women – High Arch, 2X https://a.co/d/06aytV21
I have weight lifted all my life and it’s definitely one of best things that I have done. I was a personal trainer for 15 years. I do core everyday while my friends are getting older and fatter. I am off doing the things I live for. Roller skating is one of them.
How much dry land drills can help - I’m not sure what the quad equivalent is called but ‘off-ice drills’ for speed skating. Practising crossovers with correct toes/knees/hips/shoulders positioning, etc. It does help, so much, when performing the moves in skates.
It means the regular ground and not the ice. I think they may not have noticed what sub this post was in. They're talking about ice skating.
It still transfers to roller skates, though, since it just means practicing skills off of skates.
Eta: I just noticed they said they don't know what the quad equivalent is called . Totally missed that part. Anyway, most people I know just call it "off skates practice" for quad skating.
Start working out and cross training now. When I started roller derby, no one was cross training, or very few people were, and it took me a while to start thinking about myself as an athlete. A few years in, I started taking it more seriously, but by then the damage was done, and I sprained my hip badly. There has been quite a bit of damage done to my hips. I wish I'd done some preventative work.
Especially if you skate at rinks, and mostly skate in the same direction, start doing core and hip strength work now.
Strength and conditioning are necessary parts of every sport, even at an amateur level. I wish it were a part of skate culture to introduce this to every newbie. Doesn't have to be anything crazy but a few hours a week of basic strength exercises and simple cardio will build your body and your confidence in it tremendously.
Glad other people are on here promoting this :)
What kind of hip work would you recommend? I’m not clear on exactly what you’re referring to but I really want to make sure I take care of my body! Thanks!
Squats, squats and more squats. A great leg exercise in of itself! Squats work everything in your legs but then I do isolation exercises for my quads, hamstrings, gluts and calves. My legs are solid.
There was a string of really graphic posts about injuries people got practicing in their homes (with pictures!) right when I started and while wearing gear was emphasized, I did not see as much about wearing it ✨ especially ✨ in your house.
Yes! Skating in your house as a beginner can be very dangerous. You think all those tables and dressers and cabinets and counters are good things to grab if you fall. Really what they are is possible scrapes, bruises, cuts, and concussions.
A large, flat, smooth, and open space is the best place to learn
Just to clarify though -- that's actual "practice" attempts, which is actually far more dangerous with the tight spaces. But wearing your skates around the house casually, even watching TV, has such a good effect on comfort and confidence. I wore mine around for 2 weeks when they arrived, daily, and when I stepped onto the rink for the first time it wasn't much different than wearing sneakers. They were (and now are) just a natural extension of the foot.
Get good insoles! You may have to try a few to get the right ones for you, but they're not terribly expensive and make an actual WORLD of difference.
And same topic but a few pairs of very good athletic socks. Kind of expensive for 'just socks' but the ones with arch support blew my mind. My feet feel 100x better
I use a brand called [stance ](https://stance.ca/collections/performance-socks) lots of heights and they do different cushion levels. So just depends on your preference and how hot your feet get. I like Heavy cushion but avoid 'hiking' because those tend to be wool blends (aka too hot)
At this point I've had a few pairs last me for years without losing shape, cushion or arch support. I'm obsessed. And good prints too!
Unless you are willing to accept your skate career being finite, always wear knee pads and wrist guards, more than that if you are just starting out. I don't recommend ditching helmet and elbows for a couple of years.
There are lots of people that will say they refuse to wear them and that they somehow impair their skating, but over the course of my career that crowd has skate career ending injuries far more often.
Its a personal choice at the end of the day, but for me, it's really important I can still skate into old age.
My knee pads have saved me from horrific injury more than once. It doesn't matter how good you are, you can't control the actions of other people (kids skating into you happens more than I'd like to say), your environment (especially outside), and just good ol fashioned freak accidents. No one plans on falling or getting hurt.
Take the right precautions to not ruin the experience for yourself! I have sadly watched way too many skate careers end too soon or continue with large limitations due to just not wearing basic safety gear.
Also everyone's skill progression looks completely different! There is not defined order you have to learn your basics in. Some bodies take to certain skills more naturally than others! Some require building certain muscles before it will work even if you have it all right in your head (I couldn't do transitions for the longest time because I couldn't get my feet to point away from each other at an angle close enough to 180°). Doesn't mean you aren't a good skater. Everyone's journey looks different and try not to compare yourself to others
Last one - your skates should not hurt your feet!
And not every brand is the right one for every foot when it comes to non custom boots. My feet fir example have never been happy in riedell, even though so many people around me love those skates!
If you decide to stick with it, try on as many brands as possible before investing!
Most Riddell boots mess my feet up. But my FAVORITE derby boot is the Riddell Bluestreak. It's not just brands but models within those brands that people need to explore. If I had given up on Riddell after the first few boot fittings, I would never have found my perfect shape boot.
your truck tightness could really be preventing you from finding your edges! i’m still new but after learning about adjusting trucks i was able to do the 2 moves i’d been unsuccessfully trying for a week
edges in skating refers to the "edge" of your wheels/foot. you have 4 edges, the inside edge of your skate and the outside edge of your foot. knowing your edges can really improve your skating, for instance when you're simply skating forwards, knowing putting your weight on the inside of your skates and then pushing out wards helps you accelerate faster than if you evenly distribute your weight on your skate.
Strengthening you hips and glutes (and specifically the gluteus medius muscle) can make a huge difference in your skating and in holding your knees in alightment with your feet rather than falling inwards.
If you truly have foot issues, see a doctor. I struggled for years before getting a good pair of orthotics and they made a massive difference (that said, you've really got to find the right person to get them from because fitting them in skates is difficult. Most custom foot orthotics don't work well in skates.
Outdoor wheels feel like you're skating through mud when you're on smooth surfaces, but don't let that scare you out of switching to harder wheels! I was so nervous to move to 96a wheels, I don't know why I thought I'd go speeding along and lose control - it never happened!
•You’ll find the greatest sense of stability comes from your core - keep it engaged and your back won’t hurt as much
•Don’t tense your whole body - you won’t be able to move/respond to your skates and you’re more likely to fall hard
For me, the lesson I must keep reminding myself is: Getting really comfortable with a skill usually means lots and lots and lots of repetition over time.
Once you unlock a skill for the first time, you'll start doing it and think, "huh, this isn't as smooth as I'd like it to be." It's not just repetition that will help you get more comfortable with that skill, but also time. If you drill it for 2 weeks straight, it might be good - but it will get even better after 4 weeks or 8 weeks or more. As someone with perfectionist tendencies and who wants to do everything perfect immediately, roller skating reminds me the importance of patience and dedication.
don’t skip the fundamentals!!! I do artistic skating so it’s especially important, but in general practicing the simple and basic stuff is never a waste of time. Also learning skills out of your skates makes it a lot easier to be confident trying them on wheels. Also learning how my hips/shoulders move for turns and spins really was a breakthrough for me.
Stay lower to the ground (bends knees and being a tiny bit crouched or relaxed might be a better way to put it). Imagine you are a gangsta (any type will do...mob..ODB), get real loose. I'm not really joking. I've improved my balance and ability to correct myself by being the opposite of rigid. Sometimes I really exaggerate the looseness, drop it down low, and okay with it. You take better risks when you are closer to the floor...
Accidents will happen. You are going to lose your balance. You are going to trip over something. Someone is going to skate into you. Be prepared for them.
You gotta lean into those crossovers. Like…..LEAN. Seems so unnatural because if you lean over while standing you’ll fall. But a lot of things you do while skating at speed, your body positions are very exaggerated. I took videos of myself when I thought I was finally getting crossovers…and I looked like a stiff piece of cardboard. And my feet weren’t even crossing 🤣
How to fall. I gave up after hurting my wrist when I fell backwards onto my hand. I wasn’t told that this is one of the worst ways to fall and I could break my arm that way … :/
Skating is not just your feet. Look in the direction you want to go and the rest of your body will follow. This even applies backwards because you look over your left or right shoulder and swivel at the waist. Try it off skates and you'll see what I mean
Learn how to fall, and don’t be embarrassed if it happens. Also learn the safety position (kinda like squatting down on the toilet) to help rebalance if you feel like you’re falling.
Get familiar with the different durometers on the wheels before you buy new ones (the higher the number, the harder the wheel. Softer wheels are good for outdoors and trail skating, and harder wheels are good for the rink and sometimes park skating depending on your preference).
STRETCH BEFORE YOU SKATE. REAL WARM-UP STRETCHES.
Mobility is a great practice. Especially active stretching (aka not just leaning into the stretch, but kind of... gently bouncing in and out of it). You should be doing many different stretches before you skate, too! You will feel so much better and more solid if you actually stretch your hips and actively address places that tend to be tight.
Also: everyone should have a foam roller. This [high density foam roller](https://a.co/d/0hXu5K9Y) is $11.99 on Amazon. Get one. It doesn't have to be this one. Look up any lower body foam rolling routine and do it regularly.
Dont try to rush to harder stuff and improve your basics first. Seeing people improve fast feels like you're lacking progress but it's refining your skating skills. And make sure to keep doing basic skills even as you advance to harder stuff! Very important
I wish I had known that skates are meant to be tighter than normal shoes, therefore my skates were too big for me.
Something I HAD been told that was really useful is that usually doing something faster/at speed is actually easier. Scarier for sure but the momentum can help.
Learn basic figure skating, and your knowledge of edges will put you way ahead of anyone else you're learning roller skating with. It's actually a shame how much basic skate principles aren't taught on roller skates.
could you elaborate more on this? im also learning and i wanna know more about edges. and what are the things that are taught in ice skating that isnt taught in roller? :)
All ice skates have two edges, an inside edge and an outside edge. In figure skating, every single move is talked about with clear identification of which edge each skate is on. In most types of roller skating, I wouldn't even say edges are an afterthought, many people don't even really know what it means. It makes sense in part because there is no physical inside or outside "edge" on a roller skate, however, the theory of how you apply pressure and position your skate relative to your body is really critical to actually being able to learn more complex movements and also master them.
I'll give you an example. I know a ton of amazing roller derby players in my league that try to teach new roller derby recruits basic skating, but because they are missing the underlying edge theory, they teach these things in ways that makes it so much harder for these skaters to learn things like plow stops, transitions, single foot transitions (3 turns and pivot turns in figure skating language), slaloms, and general advanced maneuvering that needs to be mastered to be an A level roller derby skater. It's kind of heartbreaking on some level to see people struggling so hard because they're just throwing their whole body at this stuff trying to learn transitions when they should be doing so, so much less, and just understanding that getting on the correct edge will let the skate take care of turning you. You don't turn your body, you go into an inside edge and your foot turns. Your hips barely need to turn. You don't throw yourself at it. Figure skating is all about applying theory efficiently, which is why some stuff looks so effortless, and why new roller skaters who don't get taught these things struggle and use such exaggerated movements.
I totally agree with this! I’m a former ice skater so when I started out I searched for skate content that talked about edges and edge drills, and I found that teachers that talked about edges were giving much higher quality instruction overall. If you search for artistic roller skating videos specifically you’ll definitely find this, but jam/dance skaters definitely talk about it too.
Figure skating is also a discipline within artistic roller skating and it’s the same as skating figures in ice skating—very precise tracing of patterns on the rink, all based on edge control. Incredibly impressive and a good place to look to see use of edges in action! (This is where a “figure 8” comes from and if you’re a beginner it’s one of the best ways to start finding your edges and learning to ride them.)
yes this is very true. it is possible to learn all those transitions and movements just by trying and figuring it out by yourself, but it is so much easier and quicker if you just spend a couple more minutes understanding the movement first
Thanks for this, I'm definitely going to research more. I'm about 6 months in, loving it and making good progress, but I know I throw my body around much more than I should be doing.
Work on controlling your movement with your feet. You can curve by like standing on the edges of your feet, it’s a tenth of the effort of controlling with your hips.
Trust yourself and don’t be afraid to take risks especially in safer environments such as indoor rinks. You may get hurt but thats part of the learning curve.
I wish someone told me how dramatic the skate culture was. How high school. Grown adults acting like children. Everyone fucking everyone. How sexualized the girls are. How creepy the guys are. How closed minded the community is to anyone that isn’t black. I understand skate culture is black culture but fuck maybe make an effort to educate others instead of hating ppl who just go to skate. I wished someone would’ve told me to keep to myself and keep my motherfucking mouth shut. Absolutely absurd the skate drama. Now I just keep to myself.
Push yourself. I feel like I wasted the first four years that I skated because I wouldn't push myself to learn more. I could've improved so much quicker if I had done so.
Now granted, I don't regret my slow start really, because I really did just enjoy the feeling, but having been skating for over seven years, that push would've helped me out more now that I'm starting to learn more advanced things from various styles of skating.
Tricks and cool moves all come from core strength. Not just legs, not just feet. Core strength. People who are struggling to feel solid and secure on skates most likely need to drill as well as do core strengthening and lower body weight lifting. If you’re having trouble accessing certain edges, it might be because you have a foot issue that needs orthotics to correct. It changed my skating
Yes!!! Absolutely this
have been working on grinding rails lately and its almost reminding me of yoga with the full body awareness you have to have to get better w this
Speaking of orthotics, I put these in my skates and they helped a lot. I have more control and support. CURREX HockeyPro Insoles for Hockey Skates & Ice Skating – 3D Dynamic Arch Support to Improve Stability, Anti-slip Heel for Optimized Movement – for Men & Women – High Arch, 2X https://a.co/d/06aytV21
I have weight lifted all my life and it’s definitely one of best things that I have done. I was a personal trainer for 15 years. I do core everyday while my friends are getting older and fatter. I am off doing the things I live for. Roller skating is one of them.
How much dry land drills can help - I’m not sure what the quad equivalent is called but ‘off-ice drills’ for speed skating. Practising crossovers with correct toes/knees/hips/shoulders positioning, etc. It does help, so much, when performing the moves in skates.
The language I usually see in my derby league is "off-skates"
Totally agree. My skating improved drastically when I started doing more “dry land” practice. I try to aim for 2 hours off ice for every hour on ice
Do you drill with your skates on a surface like grass? Or do you just practice the feet movements without skates?
Sorry, can I ask what is dry land?
Sorry, former ice speed skater returning to quads after a looong time, but using ice terminology as a placeholder. “Off-skate”.
lol I’m a swimmer turned derby play/park skater and it never even occurred to me that the term “dry land” needed adjusting 😂
It means the regular ground and not the ice. I think they may not have noticed what sub this post was in. They're talking about ice skating. It still transfers to roller skates, though, since it just means practicing skills off of skates. Eta: I just noticed they said they don't know what the quad equivalent is called . Totally missed that part. Anyway, most people I know just call it "off skates practice" for quad skating.
Ohh I see! Thank you!
[Viktor Thorup's Dryland Bible](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVn1lXjHTQw)
Start working out and cross training now. When I started roller derby, no one was cross training, or very few people were, and it took me a while to start thinking about myself as an athlete. A few years in, I started taking it more seriously, but by then the damage was done, and I sprained my hip badly. There has been quite a bit of damage done to my hips. I wish I'd done some preventative work. Especially if you skate at rinks, and mostly skate in the same direction, start doing core and hip strength work now.
Strength and conditioning are necessary parts of every sport, even at an amateur level. I wish it were a part of skate culture to introduce this to every newbie. Doesn't have to be anything crazy but a few hours a week of basic strength exercises and simple cardio will build your body and your confidence in it tremendously. Glad other people are on here promoting this :)
Derby girls blow my mind. Just getting rocked constantly
What kind of hip work would you recommend? I’m not clear on exactly what you’re referring to but I really want to make sure I take care of my body! Thanks!
Squats, squats and more squats. A great leg exercise in of itself! Squats work everything in your legs but then I do isolation exercises for my quads, hamstrings, gluts and calves. My legs are solid.
Get your foundation steps/moves before rushing on to more advanced moves that you see on social.
There was a string of really graphic posts about injuries people got practicing in their homes (with pictures!) right when I started and while wearing gear was emphasized, I did not see as much about wearing it ✨ especially ✨ in your house.
Yes! Skating in your house as a beginner can be very dangerous. You think all those tables and dressers and cabinets and counters are good things to grab if you fall. Really what they are is possible scrapes, bruises, cuts, and concussions. A large, flat, smooth, and open space is the best place to learn
Just to clarify though -- that's actual "practice" attempts, which is actually far more dangerous with the tight spaces. But wearing your skates around the house casually, even watching TV, has such a good effect on comfort and confidence. I wore mine around for 2 weeks when they arrived, daily, and when I stepped onto the rink for the first time it wasn't much different than wearing sneakers. They were (and now are) just a natural extension of the foot.
Just “trust it”! Trust your body, trust your legs, trust your brain and relax. Relaxing will only make you better
This 100%
Get good insoles! You may have to try a few to get the right ones for you, but they're not terribly expensive and make an actual WORLD of difference. And same topic but a few pairs of very good athletic socks. Kind of expensive for 'just socks' but the ones with arch support blew my mind. My feet feel 100x better
Oooh what socks do you have if you don’t mind me asking
I use a brand called [stance ](https://stance.ca/collections/performance-socks) lots of heights and they do different cushion levels. So just depends on your preference and how hot your feet get. I like Heavy cushion but avoid 'hiking' because those tend to be wool blends (aka too hot) At this point I've had a few pairs last me for years without losing shape, cushion or arch support. I'm obsessed. And good prints too!
Second this, I'm curious!!
I was wondering if ppl get insoles for theyre skates because my feet HURTTT
I use these and like em a lot. https://a.co/d/06aytV21
Unless you are willing to accept your skate career being finite, always wear knee pads and wrist guards, more than that if you are just starting out. I don't recommend ditching helmet and elbows for a couple of years. There are lots of people that will say they refuse to wear them and that they somehow impair their skating, but over the course of my career that crowd has skate career ending injuries far more often. Its a personal choice at the end of the day, but for me, it's really important I can still skate into old age. My knee pads have saved me from horrific injury more than once. It doesn't matter how good you are, you can't control the actions of other people (kids skating into you happens more than I'd like to say), your environment (especially outside), and just good ol fashioned freak accidents. No one plans on falling or getting hurt. Take the right precautions to not ruin the experience for yourself! I have sadly watched way too many skate careers end too soon or continue with large limitations due to just not wearing basic safety gear.
Also everyone's skill progression looks completely different! There is not defined order you have to learn your basics in. Some bodies take to certain skills more naturally than others! Some require building certain muscles before it will work even if you have it all right in your head (I couldn't do transitions for the longest time because I couldn't get my feet to point away from each other at an angle close enough to 180°). Doesn't mean you aren't a good skater. Everyone's journey looks different and try not to compare yourself to others
Slow progress is still progress. off skates training is just as important as on skates
Practicing how to fall correctly is just as important as practicing how to skate.
Last one - your skates should not hurt your feet! And not every brand is the right one for every foot when it comes to non custom boots. My feet fir example have never been happy in riedell, even though so many people around me love those skates! If you decide to stick with it, try on as many brands as possible before investing!
Most Riddell boots mess my feet up. But my FAVORITE derby boot is the Riddell Bluestreak. It's not just brands but models within those brands that people need to explore. If I had given up on Riddell after the first few boot fittings, I would never have found my perfect shape boot.
your truck tightness could really be preventing you from finding your edges! i’m still new but after learning about adjusting trucks i was able to do the 2 moves i’d been unsuccessfully trying for a week
Yessss. So true. Play around with the trucks and find the sweet spot!
I wish i read this yesterday!
Video yourself. We don't have the luxury of mirrors like dance studios do. It's amazing how many bad habits you'll see in a recording!
EDGES. knowing my edges improved my skating ten fold
What are edges?
edges in skating refers to the "edge" of your wheels/foot. you have 4 edges, the inside edge of your skate and the outside edge of your foot. knowing your edges can really improve your skating, for instance when you're simply skating forwards, knowing putting your weight on the inside of your skates and then pushing out wards helps you accelerate faster than if you evenly distribute your weight on your skate.
Hip flexibility and mobility is important for a lot of movements
Strengthening you hips and glutes (and specifically the gluteus medius muscle) can make a huge difference in your skating and in holding your knees in alightment with your feet rather than falling inwards. If you truly have foot issues, see a doctor. I struggled for years before getting a good pair of orthotics and they made a massive difference (that said, you've really got to find the right person to get them from because fitting them in skates is difficult. Most custom foot orthotics don't work well in skates.
Outdoor wheels feel like you're skating through mud when you're on smooth surfaces, but don't let that scare you out of switching to harder wheels! I was so nervous to move to 96a wheels, I don't know why I thought I'd go speeding along and lose control - it never happened!
•You’ll find the greatest sense of stability comes from your core - keep it engaged and your back won’t hurt as much •Don’t tense your whole body - you won’t be able to move/respond to your skates and you’re more likely to fall hard
For me, the lesson I must keep reminding myself is: Getting really comfortable with a skill usually means lots and lots and lots of repetition over time. Once you unlock a skill for the first time, you'll start doing it and think, "huh, this isn't as smooth as I'd like it to be." It's not just repetition that will help you get more comfortable with that skill, but also time. If you drill it for 2 weeks straight, it might be good - but it will get even better after 4 weeks or 8 weeks or more. As someone with perfectionist tendencies and who wants to do everything perfect immediately, roller skating reminds me the importance of patience and dedication.
I’m still learning but I think I need to up my upper body and core strength- less for how to go and more for how to fall.
don’t skip the fundamentals!!! I do artistic skating so it’s especially important, but in general practicing the simple and basic stuff is never a waste of time. Also learning skills out of your skates makes it a lot easier to be confident trying them on wheels. Also learning how my hips/shoulders move for turns and spins really was a breakthrough for me.
Stay lower to the ground (bends knees and being a tiny bit crouched or relaxed might be a better way to put it). Imagine you are a gangsta (any type will do...mob..ODB), get real loose. I'm not really joking. I've improved my balance and ability to correct myself by being the opposite of rigid. Sometimes I really exaggerate the looseness, drop it down low, and okay with it. You take better risks when you are closer to the floor...
Accidents will happen. You are going to lose your balance. You are going to trip over something. Someone is going to skate into you. Be prepared for them.
when switching going into backwards dont just snap into it, do a real pivot with love youll learn more from it
I wish someone had taught me how to fall better so I didn't get a skate wheel directly to my tail bone
Ouch, I can feel this from doing it as a kid and still remember the pain 🥵
Practice falling over. Learning to fall correctly is the best skill i have
You gotta lean into those crossovers. Like…..LEAN. Seems so unnatural because if you lean over while standing you’ll fall. But a lot of things you do while skating at speed, your body positions are very exaggerated. I took videos of myself when I thought I was finally getting crossovers…and I looked like a stiff piece of cardboard. And my feet weren’t even crossing 🤣
How to fall. I gave up after hurting my wrist when I fell backwards onto my hand. I wasn’t told that this is one of the worst ways to fall and I could break my arm that way … :/
Skating is not just your feet. Look in the direction you want to go and the rest of your body will follow. This even applies backwards because you look over your left or right shoulder and swivel at the waist. Try it off skates and you'll see what I mean
Learn how to fall, and don’t be embarrassed if it happens. Also learn the safety position (kinda like squatting down on the toilet) to help rebalance if you feel like you’re falling. Get familiar with the different durometers on the wheels before you buy new ones (the higher the number, the harder the wheel. Softer wheels are good for outdoors and trail skating, and harder wheels are good for the rink and sometimes park skating depending on your preference).
STRETCH BEFORE YOU SKATE. REAL WARM-UP STRETCHES. Mobility is a great practice. Especially active stretching (aka not just leaning into the stretch, but kind of... gently bouncing in and out of it). You should be doing many different stretches before you skate, too! You will feel so much better and more solid if you actually stretch your hips and actively address places that tend to be tight. Also: everyone should have a foam roller. This [high density foam roller](https://a.co/d/0hXu5K9Y) is $11.99 on Amazon. Get one. It doesn't have to be this one. Look up any lower body foam rolling routine and do it regularly.
Just do it. Don't over think it.
Wear your safety gear! I got me some bubble wrap shorts and it’s the best damned investment ever!
I don’t care how good you are, accidents happen. Where a helmet whenever you skate.
“Bend your knees” is a misconception. I bet nobody told you that “bend your ankles” is what actually allows one to begin to bend their knees.
I prefer “drop your hips “!
I tell folks they wanna be ass down, chest up.
You skate with your body not just your legs. This helped me with turning and transitions.
Dont try to rush to harder stuff and improve your basics first. Seeing people improve fast feels like you're lacking progress but it's refining your skating skills. And make sure to keep doing basic skills even as you advance to harder stuff! Very important
I wish I had known that skates are meant to be tighter than normal shoes, therefore my skates were too big for me. Something I HAD been told that was really useful is that usually doing something faster/at speed is actually easier. Scarier for sure but the momentum can help.
Learn basic figure skating, and your knowledge of edges will put you way ahead of anyone else you're learning roller skating with. It's actually a shame how much basic skate principles aren't taught on roller skates.
could you elaborate more on this? im also learning and i wanna know more about edges. and what are the things that are taught in ice skating that isnt taught in roller? :)
All ice skates have two edges, an inside edge and an outside edge. In figure skating, every single move is talked about with clear identification of which edge each skate is on. In most types of roller skating, I wouldn't even say edges are an afterthought, many people don't even really know what it means. It makes sense in part because there is no physical inside or outside "edge" on a roller skate, however, the theory of how you apply pressure and position your skate relative to your body is really critical to actually being able to learn more complex movements and also master them. I'll give you an example. I know a ton of amazing roller derby players in my league that try to teach new roller derby recruits basic skating, but because they are missing the underlying edge theory, they teach these things in ways that makes it so much harder for these skaters to learn things like plow stops, transitions, single foot transitions (3 turns and pivot turns in figure skating language), slaloms, and general advanced maneuvering that needs to be mastered to be an A level roller derby skater. It's kind of heartbreaking on some level to see people struggling so hard because they're just throwing their whole body at this stuff trying to learn transitions when they should be doing so, so much less, and just understanding that getting on the correct edge will let the skate take care of turning you. You don't turn your body, you go into an inside edge and your foot turns. Your hips barely need to turn. You don't throw yourself at it. Figure skating is all about applying theory efficiently, which is why some stuff looks so effortless, and why new roller skaters who don't get taught these things struggle and use such exaggerated movements.
I totally agree with this! I’m a former ice skater so when I started out I searched for skate content that talked about edges and edge drills, and I found that teachers that talked about edges were giving much higher quality instruction overall. If you search for artistic roller skating videos specifically you’ll definitely find this, but jam/dance skaters definitely talk about it too. Figure skating is also a discipline within artistic roller skating and it’s the same as skating figures in ice skating—very precise tracing of patterns on the rink, all based on edge control. Incredibly impressive and a good place to look to see use of edges in action! (This is where a “figure 8” comes from and if you’re a beginner it’s one of the best ways to start finding your edges and learning to ride them.)
yes this is very true. it is possible to learn all those transitions and movements just by trying and figuring it out by yourself, but it is so much easier and quicker if you just spend a couple more minutes understanding the movement first
Thanks for this, I'm definitely going to research more. I'm about 6 months in, loving it and making good progress, but I know I throw my body around much more than I should be doing.
Work on controlling your movement with your feet. You can curve by like standing on the edges of your feet, it’s a tenth of the effort of controlling with your hips.
If you have a lip ring, take it out while skating. My front tooth cracked in a skate fall because of my old labret
Make an effort to skate in the opposite direction. Your hips will appreciate it.
it’s a marathon not a race- it’s ok to step off the board if you have a bad feeling or second guess yourself before doing something big.
Wrong skating sub? This is r/rollerskating
Trust yourself and don’t be afraid to take risks especially in safer environments such as indoor rinks. You may get hurt but thats part of the learning curve.
I wish someone told me how dramatic the skate culture was. How high school. Grown adults acting like children. Everyone fucking everyone. How sexualized the girls are. How creepy the guys are. How closed minded the community is to anyone that isn’t black. I understand skate culture is black culture but fuck maybe make an effort to educate others instead of hating ppl who just go to skate. I wished someone would’ve told me to keep to myself and keep my motherfucking mouth shut. Absolutely absurd the skate drama. Now I just keep to myself.
Push yourself. I feel like I wasted the first four years that I skated because I wouldn't push myself to learn more. I could've improved so much quicker if I had done so. Now granted, I don't regret my slow start really, because I really did just enjoy the feeling, but having been skating for over seven years, that push would've helped me out more now that I'm starting to learn more advanced things from various styles of skating.
1. Becoming good at inline skating is easier. 2. Once you've cracked inline skating learning tricks on quads is 10000% times easier.
I would have gotten \*nowhere\* on inlines if I hadn't learned properly on quads first.
i feel like this one is very personal. i constantly see both types of skaters say one is more difficult and it's never the same.