learn to roller skate

On page 14 of a book on online skating.

I’ve got my skates; now I’ve got to get round to going to the roller disco!

For community service (as part of APO), my friends and I roller skated with underprivileged kids at The Shack in Morgantown, WV. As expected, I fell multiple times. When I wasn’t “skating”, I sold food at the concession stand (corn dogs, s’mores, pretzels, nachos, etc.).

Somehow as I teenager I faked it. Mostly by just hanging on as my date towed me around the rink. Never learned to stop. Expert wall crasher. When my oldest son was younger I took a few lessons with him. Still not confident. All I learned was to stay away from blades and go old school. Took my kids to a rink recently and it was so frustrating trying to support my little girl while barely being able to hold myself up. And there were no walls at this rink! The one thing that I was proud of was making up my mind to just breathe yogo style and not tense up. If I fall I fall. I won’t go again without lessons. And maybe I can find some helpful videos online.

Ok, so tonight, I was in the big rink… and I was able to leave the wall. The floor in the big rink is so much different than the one in the kiddie rink… I was able to leave the wall without falling but I was VERY slow haha.

I’m proud of myself, I think I’m doing very well. I still really don’t want to fall for the fear of not being able to get back up :P

I decided I wanted to tryout for the roller derby team a few months ago. The only problem? I didn’t skate!

I went skating maybe 5 times a kid and never got more than arms length away from the wall. So at the first new girl practice, I was the girl barely standing on skates as others whizzed by me. I wobbled as I slowly made it around the track, never lifting my feet. Fast forward two months and I’m one of the fastest new girls out there!

So how’d I do it? Practice. And lots of it. I’ve been skating averaging 8hours a week skating for the past two months.

My tips…

1. If you’re worried about falling, get pads. They’re required for roller derby. You can get a cheap set for $20 at Target. Wrist guards and knee pads are the most important. You may look a bit dorky at the rink, but not having a broken wrist is pretty fantastic. Plus, if you’re not worried about falling as much, you can get better faster.

2. Start slow. Do what you can at first. For me that meant doing a lot of what we call watermelons until I was comfortable on skates. Keeping all the skates wheels on the ground and making a D-shape with your leg on each side.

3. Push yourself. Make yourself try things that are a little beyond your skill level. If you’re an absolute beginner. Start picking up your feet a little. Even if it’s just once around the track. Make yourself do it. Once you get comfortable skating, start doing crossovers on the corners. For me that meant not quite crossing over at first, but picking up my right leg and moving it toward my left leg. Then, I eventually crossed it over. Then finally after a lot of practice picking up my left leg too.

4. Keep your knees bent. It helps keep you balance. Just don’t lean too far forward or you’ll fall over.

5. Don’t be afraid to fall. Oddly, if you’re not falling, you’re not learning. Falling happens when you’re trying something new. It happens to everyone. Get back up. Keep skating. Note: Falling also happens when some 8 year old zips in front of you. But the same advice applies.

6. Keep trying. Most people aren’t born knowing how to roller skate. They spent a lot of time learning.

I’ve only skated a couple of times when I was young, and I really wasn’t good at it at all. But I recently bought a book that takls about learning how to skate and I have some videos from youtube to help me out. So all I need now is a pair of skates and place to practice without getting laughed at.

Went skating tonight. and I got in the big ring, but I think I got scared once the wall left me so I hung out on the carpet haha. I know I’m a wimp.

But I think I get a little better every time haha. I just think it will take time for me to see progress. Like several months considering I’m doing this once a week. If I had money I would try several times a week but I’m poor. It costs a lot to get into that place hah.

I’m just glad I’m sticking to it :)

So, when I was younger I fell and broke my leg trying to skate. Not a pretty sight. I have not skated in over 10 years, until tonight. I went to the skating rink (where I broke my leg way back when) and tried to skate. I didn’t fall luckily! I’m still kind of afraid of it. Right now, I’m very happy I faced my fear and got out there. Now I just have to move up to the next step and be able to skate without relying on the wall if I fall :P

i want to ride a roller skate is because all my friend know and i want to teach my sister too and she is not very good at it and mine are new too there are specially made i know how to stand up on them but not to roll them and my father has buyed one for him it costs 3000 dollars so i want to learn fast