How To Use Inline Skates

#1

How To Start Off On Inline Skates

You should get used to your skates first by standing upright in them, close to a wall for support, and in the ‘ready’ position. Lean forward slightly with your feet 15 to 25 centimetres apart in a V-shape and your knees bent. Get confident by taking small steps on the skates, maintaining the V-shape with your feet as you walk. Increase the speed as you get more confident.
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When you’re feeling confident enough, push off to start skating. Do this by stepping forward with one foot, pushing off with the other and then gliding on the set foot. Then bring your trailing leg from behind you to step forward and transfer your weight to it. Push off again with your other leg and repeat the process. That’s you skating now. What a feeling!

Skate View

#2

How To Brake On Inline Skates

There are several different ways to stop on inline skates — falling over should not be one of them!

The heel brake stop

Skate View

The first way to stop is the easiest. All you’ve got to do is use the heel brake on your skates. If you wish to stop, stay leaning forward and with the skate that has the brake on it is in front, bend your knee slightly and lift the toe up. This lowers the brake pad into the floor and allows you to stop. Remember knee’s bent, weight forward and nose above your toes.

The T-stop

Skate View

This involves forming a T-shape with your feet to brake. When you want to stop, position the skate of your trailing leg so that it’s perpendicular to the one on your leading leg. It’s then a question of dragging the trailing leg smoothly up to your leading one to halt the movement. Keep this trailing leg firm, not allowing the angle to buckle, and your hips and upper body forward.

The plough stop

Skate View

The plough stop is like stopping on skis. All it involves is bending your knees, widening your legs slightly to begin the braking movement and then narrowing the gap again with your toes of your skates pointing inwards. You’ll start to slow down gradually.

The spread-eagle spinout

Skate View

The spread eagle stop requires you to turn the forward movement into a rotation. When you want to stop skating, turn your trailing leg so that the skate is pointing 180 degrees away from the leading leg skate. Transfer your weight to the leg that you don’t want to move and this creates the circular motion. Bend your knees and lean forward while you do this.

#3

How To Do Tricks On Inline Skates

Gliding on the skates, of course, is fun, but you can add to the enjoyment by performing tricks on your skates. Here are a couple of impressive ones:

Heel toe

Skate View

The heel toe is a simple trick but looks the business whether you’re a beginner or a more advanced skater. Move with the skates in line and then raise your back foot so that only the toe of the skate remains in contact with the ground. Get used to skating on just five wheels. When you get used to it, then try to lift the toe of your leading foot, too, so that only the back wheel of the skate is in contact with the ground.

Crossovers

Skate View

Crossovers are one of the coolest inline skating tricks out there and look superb when you’re out on the streets. They’re a little advanced, but you’ve got to push from the outside edge of one leg, bring your leg across in front of the other and transfer your weight to the leg that has been crossed over. Then you glide and regroup for the next crossover.

Inline skating is exhilarating once you get confident on them. Practise the different braking techniques so that you can stop comfortably on them, rather than forcing yourself to rely on one type of stop. Knowing how to stop will allow you to feel more at ease when you’re on the skates as well as help you to control the movement.