chrisg299

Allright, so I've been trying to learn to rollerblade and I just started today and yeah....hell knows how many times I've fallen :-P Which is expected.....but what I'm really wanting to know is, is there any secrets/tips/techniques to rollerblading? I have some friends who play hockey and they make that shattt look so easy! lol and I try and I'm like plop....right onto the ground haha :-/ thanks in advance :-D

yakimushi

Keep your knees bent.

As soon as you lock your knees you're in trouble.

Also try to stay leaned forward some, put your weight on your toes.

Don't flail your arms around, you're just throwing yourself off balance.

Probably the best advice I can give...

Where are you that you can skate right now??? I can't hit the ramps & rails for another few months up here in Ohio...

Bivens

When you move your legs forward, move them forward AND out to get going.

goddfather40

Trust your skates, don't panic.

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bermuDa

here's how I skate, and it works very well:
from a standing position, I push off by angling one foot away from me and pushing off on that foot. Every subsequent stride is the same, only with alternating feet.

a more exxaggerated version of this is the T-Stop, where you have your weight on one foot (parallel with your shoulders) and the other foot perpindicular to that foot, to form a T (hence the name). Here's a picture, the guy is on streetskis, but the concept is the same.


If you feel you need extra balance, Try taking a hockey stick with you. It can give you some extra weight to counterbalance yourself, and if necessary, you can put some weight on it to keep from falling.

Like yakimushi said, keep your knees bent. it helps keep your balance. The goal is to keep your center of gravity. A T-stop position is a good place to start cause you can really feel your center, and it's easy to push off from there.

If you really want to get good at rollerblading, first get good at Ice Skating. The surface area you're skating on is a lot smaller and the rink is slippier, but once you can keep your balance on a pair of skates, rollerblading is easy by comparison. I started off ice skating, then moved onto roller hockey, and it was a breeze.

the best advice I can give is when you fall, just get right back up and try again. it takes practice but once you've got it, you don't lose it.

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Iliftrocks

Pads man, wear the pads

I bought slower rated blades so I could learn without falling at 30mph..... you can get slower rated bearings.... Wish I had known this the last time I got blades, ouch

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chrisg299

Thanks all you guys for you're help :-D Any of you got any stories about when you first started off? :-P

TheJig

Finding a place to skate was the hardest part for me. Luckily nobody ever plays tennis at my apartment complex, so I started skating there. Alot smoother than pavement and it doesn't hurt as bad when you fall.

Skating with a hockey stick definitely helps with balance, just don't get too dependant on it.

Don't get too cocky. Just when you start to think you're getting good, three hotties will walk by and you'll decide to try skating backwards. You can guess what happened next.

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brandon11983

You could also use this to clobber the shit out of anyone that laughs at you if you fall!!

Seriously though, I've been thinking of getting back in to 'blading after a long time off. I am after a means of transportation to and from work over the summer. I can't ride public transportation for free over the summer, and $1.75 a ride to and fro would add up rather quickly. Anyone have any recommendations? I'm looking at the Rollerblade Lightning 07 ($299) and the Rollerblade Lightning 03 ($199).

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KWSN

it's all in pushing out and letting the skates carry you. People who go out on skates with stiff legs and just go forward with their feet get nowhere. You need to make it feel natural.

My one problem is stopping. I wish I knew how to hockey-stop on any sort of blades. I usually just have to coast to a stop.

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brandon11983

I've always had good luck with dragging my right skate when I want to stop.

**edit** Going to buy these skates on Friday.

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brandon11983

Damn am I rusty. I bought my Pilot's today, I feel like a duck in them. And man are they FAST. I took a few strides in them, and decided to buy the 50 (fucking) dollar brake for them. I definitely need to ride in them a lot more, as they are super uncomfortable at this point. It felt good to get up to a speed again. No where near full speed, but cruising. I'm sure I have a long fun road ahead of me.

*edit - day after*

Damn these things are fast!! Just "cruising" speed is fucking flying! I haven't crashed yet (hopefully it stays that way), and I'm starting to get a feel for the brake more. When I first took them out, it felt like it wasn't doing much at all. They are starting to feel much better too, I guess they need to be broken in like any other shoe. I rode up and down a portion of the lakefront last night. It was pretty tough the way down, as I was fighting a headwind the whole way there and there are a few uphill patches near Navy Pier. The way back was a blast!! I just hunkered down and flew. These skates make it so easy to go fast, once you get up to speed, it doesn't take much at all to maintain that speed. It felt so good to get out there again, I'm going to be doing that a lot more!

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