10 Rollerblading Tricks For Beginners

If you have recently mastered rollerblading, you are probably eager to learn some basic rollerblading tricks.

Fortunately, we have some rollerblading tricks for beginners that you can read about here before you actually go out and try them.

Things To Keep In Mind When Learning Basic Rollerblading Tricks

Skates basically operate like small balls that are dropped on a flat surface – they keep rolling and the smoother the surface, the faster they roll.

Incorporated in a skating boot are the wheels, which in most cases, are made of durable polyurethane that has a good grip.

However, the wheels can lose their grip under the following conditions, which could cause you to fall and hurt yourself.

Water – watch out for water or other liquid on the surface. It will make the surface slippery, causing you to slip and fall.

Stones And Other Small Objects – these can get stuck between the wheels and cause you to fall.

Holes And Bumps – these can make the surface uneven, making it difficult to skate, especially if you are still learning.

Get the Basics Right

Of course, you must be able to stay on your rollerblades and pick up some speed to be able to perform tricks, but I’m sure you’ll agree with me that it is just as important to know how to stop.

Make Sure You Know How To Stop

To do any kind of inline skating trick, you must know how to stop. Most skates for beginners have brakes, but to become an accomplished skater you must learn to do the T-Stop.

Especially when you start doing speed skating, this skill will become necessary.

To do the T-stop, just imagine making a T-shape with your two skates – the front skate pointing forward and the back skate forming the crossbar at the top of the T.

So, your front foot, the one you are gliding on, faces forward and your back foot drags behind your front foot at a 90-degree angle.

Because the back foot is not facing forward, it slows you down and eventually causes you to stop.

Keep in mind that this way of stopping causes friction between the surface and your skates, which will wear them down quite quickly.

Practice Your Balance By Skating On One Foot

For any type of skating and skating tricks, you need excellent balance. Before you attempt any tricks on your inline skates, you must master balance.

The most logical way to keep improving your balance as a beginner, is to skate on one foot.

Start by simply standing on one foot. Hold onto an object or a person to keep your balance. Once you feel safe, let go and try to stand on one foot for a while.

After a few seconds, switch feet. Practice alternating standing on your left and right foot until you feel ready to start skating on one foot.

Take your time with this, don’t rush. Be patient and keep practicing. The ability to skate on one foot will enable you to do many inline skating tricks.

Before You Attempt Any Skating Tricks, Remember:

1. Practice makes perfect. It is not easy to roller skate, and doing roller skating tricks is even more difficult. If you are serious about doing cool roller skating tricks, you’ll have to practice skating regularly.
2. Master all the basic skating skills properly (balancing, stopping, and turning) first, before you attempt any skating tricks.
3. Try to find someone who can already do some skating tricks to help you and give you advice.
4. Take it step by step. First master the simpler tricks and then move on to the more challenging ones. This way you will gradually build up your confidence.
5. Rome was not built in a day. Understand that it will take time to master roller skating tricks. You will probably fall and fail many times before you get it right. Accept that as part and parcel of learning cool tricks that will impress your family and friends.

10 Rollerblading Tricks For Beginners

1. Learn How To Sprint

Knowing how to skate fast is necessary if you want to perform tricks in rollerblading. Many of the tricks in inline skating start with a sprint.

To sprint, make a few small, quick steps before you take longer strides. To start sprinting, don’t lean forward, rather stand a little more straight.

Take a few short strides and gradually take longer strides while you also distribute your weight a little forward. You should end up moving fast with your upper body leaning over your skates and your knees bent.

To really get a good idea about sprinting on rollerblades, watch some YouTube videos.

2. The Fishtail

The fishtail is an easy beginner’s trick to learn. Keep your body position right for skating and skate forward.

As you skate along, build up some speed and take one foot to the back. Wiggle the toe of this skate like a fish would move its tail.

As you do this, move the inline skate at the back in and out. This is a great trick to learn in the beginning when you are starting to learn your first tricks on skates.

3. Doing Some Simple Jumps

Learning to jump wearing beginner rollerblades is not easy but it’s necessary if you want to learn to do roller skating tricks.

Find something small or low to jump over, like a crack in the pavement. When you jump, take care that

• your arms don’t go higher than your chin as you will lose your balance
• your feet leave the ground at the same time
• you land with both feet landing on the ground at the same time
• you bend your knees as you land on the ground
• you keep your arms stretched out to the front

When you have mastered the basic jump, you can practice jumping over higher obstacles by sprinting faster before you jump.

Note: It’s common for beginner skaters to swing their arms in a circle going backward when they jump. Try to avoid this motion, as it will upset your balance, causing you to fall backward.

4. Learn to Rollerblade Backward

Skating backward looks great and is worth practicing. It’s not too difficult for beginners to do.

There are various ways to start learning to skate backward. We discuss only one of them now. With this method, you will be skating backward with your feet forming a V-shape.

To start, keep your heels fairly far apart but your toes close together. When standing in this position, it’s natural to start moving backward.

When you feel you are moving backward, start spreading your heels by cautiously pushing the skates apart.

Follow that movement up with the heels going back inwards so they end up in a V-shape again.

Just keep pushing your heels in and out in this way and you will be moving backward.

Note: Watch your body posture. Don’t lean backward – this will cause you to lose your balance and fall on your back.

5. Crossover Turns

Crossover turns are a common skill that all skaters must learn. The best way to learn this trick is to start by simply skating in a circle.

The easiest is to skate in a large circle following something that is round, like a circle you drew on the ground or a small pond.

Doing this will naturally give you a feeling of what you need to do when doing crossover turns. This rollerblading trick will help you to take turns seamlessly and effortlessly.

When you have been skating in a circle for a while and feel comfortable doing it, bring your back foot about two to three inches in front of your front foot. Practice this step for a while until you are comfortable with it.

Now, bring your back foot right over the front foot. When you make this crossover move, you will immediately turn sharply, changing your direction.

6. Slalom Skating

Slalom skating involves skating along a line of equally spaced obstacles, moving in and out between them while performing different tricks.

For this rollerblading trick, you must be able to make rapid side-to-side movements, which can be forward or backward.

Slalom skating is a serious sport that involves competition at different levels with many advanced moves performed by competitors.

Tricks more suitable for beginners include the Fish, Snake, Backward Criss-Cross, Forwards Heel-Toe Snake, Forwards Toe-Toe Snake, Forwards Heel-Heel Snake, and Eagle among others.

7. Heel-Toe; Heel/Heel; Toe/Toe Wheelies

These are also common tricks that beginners try out when they are comfortable skating around on their inline skates.

These tricks are not very difficult and suitable for beginner skaters.

For the heel-toe wheelie, you simply stand on the heel of the one skate and the toe of the other one.

For the heel-heel wheelie, you stand on the heels of both skates, and for the toe-toe wheelie, you stand on the toes of both skates. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Well, it might not be as simple as it sounds, especially once you push off to start skating.

8. Heel Toe Trick

The heel-toe technique is one of the tricks that most beginner inline skaters first try. To do this trick, you must know how to stand in the basic scissor position.

The scissor position is one of the most important and basic positions in inline skating.

The basic position is with both legs bent and the knees bent over the toes. This scissor position is the same, but with the one leg in front of the other.

For the heel toe trick, you need to be in the scissor position. Then lift the heel of your back foot off the ground and skate like that for a few seconds before you lift the toes of your front foot and skate on the heels of your front foot.

Again, this sounds complicated when you read it, but when you watch a video online, you’ll see that it’s actually quite simple to do.

9. Flat Spins

Flat spins are done doing rotations of 180 and 360 degrees while you are skating. As a beginner, you should start by practicing 180-degree spins. Most people naturally spin anticlockwise.

To do a 180-degree spin, bend low, and use a slight swing of the arms to propel you in your chosen direction (clockwise or anticlockwise).

Keep your torso still while you move your left heel traveling forward and your right toe traveling backward.

Keep your feet wide apart and your knees bent. If you move into a straight position, you will spin too fast and probably lose your balance.

10. Spread Eagle Spinout

This is a technique that many skaters learn. Actually, it is a technique to help you stop when you’re skating.

When practicing the Spread Eagle Spinout, keep the correct body posture in mind: knees bent over the toes and the body leaning slightly forward.

Start by standing with your skates touching at a 90 degrees angle. Next, practice doing a circular movement with your one leg while putting your weight on the other leg. Do this a few times and then repeat with the other leg.

Next, try the circular motion with both legs at the same time.

When you feel comfortable, start skating, keeping the right body posture, and then repeat the movements you practiced. It should bring you to a standstill, with your feet facing inwards.

Conclusion

These are just some of the tricks you can learn while skating. There are many more.

Inline skating is a great way to get exercise and tone your body while out in the open having fun. To master these tricks, you’ll need to practice your balance and coordination.

You also need to be aware of your surroundings and take special care that you skate in a safe environment, where there is no traffic and few people.

With patience and regular practice, you’ll be able to learn all sorts of tricks and build up your strength and coordination while thoroughly enjoying yourself.