Best Tips And Tricks For Roller Skating That Everyone Should Know

Stamina

One of the prerequisites for roller skating is that you have to be healthy enough. Specifically, you must have extremely enduring stamina and flexibility.

You’re wondering why? It’s obvious that roller skating is a dynamic and energetic sport where you have to spend much energy and strength when playing it.

Furthermore, not only helps you be able to practice playing this sport for a long time, your stamina will also train you to be less exhausted and minimize stroke when practicing too much.

For those reasons, you need to practice your stamina with increasing intensity before and during the playing process.

Suitable Roller Skate

What’s the most important item that you need to have when you want to play roller skating? Roller skate, for sure! Scroll down to find the guideline!

There are two types of roller skate: quad skate and inline skate. So what is the most suitable? Hmm, your decision depends on your needs, usability and the roller skating style that you want to aim for.

Each type will have its own characteristics and advantages, usually, beginners will often choose quad skate because it’s easier to keep balance and stand on.

Next, you need to check the hardness of the wheels. It’s classified from 0 to 100A, the higher the number is (as the number increases), the more hardness will increase. But hy do you have to check it?

Hard wheels extend the life of roller skates, however, it will be more slippery and less shock-absorbing. On the other hand, soft wheels produce more friction and less shock when using.

Besides, the hardness of shoes should also be considered. Hard shoes have good cushion, ankle protection and are suitable for a long ride. Soft shoes are more flexible but perfect for indoor roller skating or dance performing instead.

About the size, it must be completely fit with you. Read carefully the introduction of the product. A small tip for you: choose bigger size than your regular shoe size, about 1 size is perfect if there’s not any notice or guide.

More: What Size Roller Skates Should I Wear?

Gear

“Do I need to buy gears to play roller skating?” It’s not compulsory but our advice is “Yes”.

Gears help protect your prone-to-injury areas when roller skating such as the head, wrist, elbows, and knees. So that you can avoid dangerous situations and minimize injuries.

Firstly, find a fit helmet for your head, it’s the utmost necessary item because protecting your head and brain is significant. You should try the product directly, especially notice size, material and cushion. Good products will be light and if you can feel a headache after a few minutes wearing it, then it’s not worth your penny

The next recommended gears are a pair of wrists pad, elbows pad and knees cushion. Last but not least, choose suitable skating shocks if you don’t want to have any bruises or tears on your legs.

Venue

How can you roller skate when you don’t have any venues? Venue is one of the essential factors that make impacts on your progress.

So, where can you play?

One of the suitable choices is somewhere outside which has flat and smooth concrete or asphalt surface. Primarily, it must be clear, safe and allowed to play on.

In addition, you also can play indoors by going to some nearby roller skate rinks. It’s the best solution cause rinks are specially designed for this sport, those are large, smooth with different terrains for different level practicing.

Partner

You may have a partner at school, at work, why don’t you have a roller skate partner?

Don’t hesitate to find a partner who moves in the same circle with you. He or she can be your teacher, your buddy or even your student, who knows?. People have their own strengths and skills, thus, you can exchange and learn from each other.

Besides, If you practice in isolated places, it is much safer to go with one or more friends. Anyway, they can give you great spiritual support and motivation that makes you try harder.

Try To Relax

First, you must have a completely relaxed spirit, let loose and feel pleased with everything like the venue, your skate or gear. Or you can be excited and eager, as long as you’re not stressed out.

As we know, the first step is always the hardest, but with a good mood and high spirit, it’s easier to start or try something new. Moreover, Science has proven that a relaxed mood will help us be more effective at doing something and reduce illness.

How can you practice effectively when your mind is full of stress and worries? No way!

Careful Warming Up

Have you ever cramped while playing sports or exercising? We bet most of the answers are “Yes”. And you know what, one of the most common reasons for that symptom is not warm-up or warm-up in the wrong way.

Warming up is one of the must-have activities for sports players or someone who does exercise. You are confused why?

Warming up will help you prepare both mentally and physically in the best way. It reduces the risk of muscle injuries and pain during exercise, specifically, your circulatory system will pump more oxygen-rich blood to your muscles.

In addition, it helps to increase the blood circulation throughout the body gradually increasing without any sudden change that may lead to dangerous side effects. The best way to start is to do the exercises slowly in an increasing sequence.

Check Your Posture And Keep Balance

You need to pay attention to correct your posture right from the beginning because once it is wrong, it will be difficult to change.

First, open your legs shoulder-width apart, then slowly lower your body into a squatting posture, you need to put equal weight on both skates. Notice to bend both knees and don’t lean too much forward.

Furthermore, your posture affects significantly balance. It is easy to be imbalanced when the posture is inaccurate and you put your body’s focus inexactly.

You can check your posture and try to keep balance by practicing in front of a mirror or having your partner adjust it for you.

Glide Slowly

After the basic steps above, you will start practicing glide right now! Are you ready?

You need to walk slowly like a duck first, then your skates will make a V-sharp when your toes point out. Try small steps from right, then left, until you become familiar with it. Remember to do slowly at the beginning to avoid falling down.

When you feel more comfortable and able to control your skate, put more force into your skates and push them backward, this force will push you forward after each glide.

If unfortunately, you fall down when gliding, no problem! It’s all in a day’s work! Just stand up and start slowly again.

See More: How To Roller Skate Smoothly

Turn Smoothly

You’re gliding well now but it’s better if you upgrade your technique a bit. Why don’t you start to turn?

You need to skate at normal speed with comfortable posture, which helps you avoid knees injuries when turning. One note here is not to try to turn your head to change direction when you are gliding at high-speed because it’s possible to hurt your neck.

Slow down gradually when you want to turn, then lower the center of your body and shoulders. Next, slightly rotate your body and observe your direction.

As usual, when turning, people often put force in their legs different from the direction you want to turn. For example, if you want to turn left, you will push more force into the right leg and vice versa

Brake Properly

Is it dangerous when you meet the hindrance on your skating road? Obviously, it is! And it can be more dangerous if you can’t put a brake on your speed in time! So, keep reading to learn how to brake properly!

We will introduce you to three basic stopping techniques: using knee pad, using heel brake (inline skate) or toe brake (quad skate) and plow stop.

To make a brake by using the knee pad, you need to slowly lower one knee and let it pull on the ground. This is an easy brake technique for beginners as it requires little skill to perform.

Using the toe or heel brake is also a common way because it’s easy to do. With toe brake, push force and skate backward, lift the heel and apply pressure to the toes. On the other hand, push force and skate forward, lift the toes and apply pressure to your heel if you want to use the heel brake.

And the last one is plow stop. First, you need to open your legs as wide as your shoulder. Then point your feet toward each other to form an inverted V-shape and slow down.

Finally, let the wheels slowly rub against each other to create friction that makes you stop. Don’t take action too quickly, it may make you fall suddenly.