Inline Skating Tips

[IPv6Freely 2093]

Put my fancy new Mako conversion inline skates on for the first time, and almost broke an ankle in the first 30 feet. In this case it was because I was just not able to simply turn my foot like I'm used to doing because the wheels grip the surface (concrete driveway in this case). 

So with that experience, can anyone give me a couple tips or suggestions on even small things that will make this easier to get used to? 

[chippa13 1844]

Rule 1: do not attempt a 2 foot hockey stop. There is a modified hockey stop that you can do on slicker surfaces like sport court and such. Other than that it shouldn't be too hard of a transition. I did find that playing inline messed with my ice stride since being on wheels presented a much flatter profile than what I use on ice.

[IPv6Freely 2093]

1 hour ago, chippa13 said:

Rule 1: do not attempt a 2 foot hockey stop. There is a modified hockey stop that you can do on slicker surfaces like sport court and such. Other than that it shouldn't be too hard of a transition. I did find that playing inline messed with my ice stride since being on wheels presented a much flatter profile than what I use on ice.

HAHA. Yea, that would end badly. I watched a video on how to stop. Seems the back foot drag is actually the simplest way to start with... which is fine. As for stride I'm not super worried about it since I'm already used to an ultra-flat profile with the goalie skates. If I thought that was going to be a concern I'd have bought Marsblades. 

Thanks! 

[215BroadStBullies610 435]

After taking a 5 year break from inline, the one thing I tried to focus on is my control. Given the smaller rink and lack of ice, I know I'd have to be more aware of how I move about during the game. Control is important for me since I can't turn on a dime like I try to on ice haha. Inline skating definitely is different than ice skating from stride perspective. My legs and back were sore after my game last week haha.

[IPv6Freely 2093]

2 hours ago, 215BroadStBullies610 said:

After taking a 5 year break from inline, the one thing I tried to focus on is my control. Given the smaller rink and lack of ice, I know I'd have to be more aware of how I move about during the game. Control is important for me since I can't turn on a dime like I try to on ice haha. Inline skating definitely is different than ice skating from stride perspective. My legs and back were sore after my game last week haha.

The bolded part was my initial issue. Like I said, because of the way the wheels grip, you can't just turn your foot like you may be used to doing on ice. I was actually just in my living room trying to do a couple small circles and had a lot of difficulty. I had to take big wide circles. 

[Stewie 721]

It definitely takes some getting used to. I can turn pretty good inline now, but for stopping I still mostly drag. Inline skating was pretty easy for me to pick back up a few years ago ( after 18 year layoff) as i used to rollerblade everywhere when I was a teenager, so it was like riding a bike. I don’t find any issues personally switching between the skating styles, unless I go without one or the other for a prolonged period, and even then it’s probably just a minute or two. 

[IPv6Freely 2093]

2 hours ago, Stewie said:

It definitely takes some getting used to. I can turn pretty good inline now, but for stopping I still mostly drag. Inline skating was pretty easy for me to pick back up a few years ago ( after 18 year layoff) as i used to rollerblade everywhere when I was a teenager, so it was like riding a bike. I don’t find any issues personally switching between the skating styles, unless I go without one or the other for a prolonged period, and even then it’s probably just a minute or two. 

Awesome man, thank you! I’ll just keep working at it. 

[marka 526]

Howdy,

15 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

The bolded part was my initial issue. Like I said, because of the way the wheels grip, you can't just turn your foot like you may be used to doing on ice. I was actually just in my living room trying to do a couple small circles and had a lot of difficulty. I had to take big wide circles. 

When I had that problem on inlines (which I've not skated very much on, fwiw), I rockered the wheel setups and it was a LOT better in terms of being more like ice where you can turn your foot.

I.e. run smaller wheels in the front and back positions.

Mark

[IPv6Freely 2093]

31 minutes ago, marka said:

Howdy,

When I had that problem on inlines (which I've not skated very much on, fwiw), I rockered the wheel setups and it was a LOT better in terms of being more like ice where you can turn your foot.

I.e. run smaller wheels in the front and back positions.

Mark

Maybe, but again the rocker isn't really the problem as I'm used to a flat rocker on goalie skates. 

[215BroadStBullies610 435]

15 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

The bolded part was my initial issue. Like I said, because of the way the wheels grip, you can't just turn your foot like you may be used to doing on ice. I was actually just in my living room trying to do a couple small circles and had a lot of difficulty. I had to take big wide circles. 

Haha I did small figure 8's the night before my first game back just to get use to inline edge work. It's a nice change a pace and I did better than I thought for a non-inline player.

[puckpilot 312]

4 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

Maybe, but again the rocker isn't really the problem as I'm used to a flat rocker on goalie skates. 

Just a thought on a flat rocker on ice vs a flat rocker on roller. A flat rocker on roller means you have more wheels on the ground at the same time, 4 vs 2. This mean more traction and less give when you turn your foot.  In order to go into that modified hockey stop on say asphalt, you're going to have to overcome the traction on 4 wheels instead of 2.

With a rocker, when you make a sharp turn, you can theoretically have most of your weight on one wheel as you shift weight, making that a kind of pivot point, allowing you to make sharper turns. I haven't been on rollerblades for years and years and years, but when I played, I found a little dirt and dust on a nice pair of worn in wheels made it easier to do a modified hockey stop on almost any surface, especially asphalt, which is what I mostly played on. 

Any way, for what it's worth, my 2 cents 

[IPv6Freely 2093]

44 minutes ago, puckpilot said:

Just a thought on a flat rocker on ice vs a flat rocker on roller. A flat rocker on roller means you have more wheels on the ground at the same time, 4 vs 2. This mean more traction and less give when you turn your foot.  In order to go into that modified hockey stop on say asphalt, you're going to have to overcome the traction on 4 wheels instead of 2.

With a rocker, when you make a sharp turn, you can theoretically have most of your weight on one wheel as you shift weight, making that a kind of pivot point, allowing you to make sharper turns. I haven't been on rollerblades for years and years and years, but when I played, I found a little dirt and dust on a nice pair of worn in wheels made it easier to do a modified hockey stop on almost any surface, especially asphalt, which is what I mostly played on. 

Any way, for what it's worth, my 2 cents 

Well first im not trying to hockey stop. I'm just trying to turn my foot. 

Second, I don't think I fully understand what you're talking about. It almost sounds like you're trying to explain how a rocker works? 

[puckpilot 312]

3 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

Well first im not trying to hockey stop. I'm just trying to turn my foot. 

Second, I don't think I fully understand what you're talking about. It almost sounds like you're trying to explain how a rocker works? 

The way I'm interpreting the phrase "turn my foot" is that you're trying to go left or right and you foot is catching resulting in you almost turning your ankle over. Is that right or am I misinterpreting what you're asking?

I the reason I'm bringing stops is to illustrate what's going on with the friction. On ice, even with a flat edge, if you feel yourself about to catch an edge on a rut or maybe you're taking a turn a little to sharp, it's easy enough to shift your weight and do a tiny slide on an edge to steady yourself again. Most don't even notice they're doing it. It's instinctual. On roller blades, when someone is trying to do that they'll dig in because of friction, and with a flat rocker there's way more of it. With rockered wheels, it's easier to adjust, because less friction and a natural pivot point that allows you to lift your toe or heel if you feel it catching on something. 

[IPv6Freely 2093]

I’m not trying to move at all. Stand straight up at a complete stop. Now turn the toe of your foot inward. That works on ice, but not on inlines.

[puckpilot 312]

I just reread the whole thread again, and I think we're getting some wires crossed here. I was adding to Marka's post about rockering when he responded to the following. 

On 28/02/2018 at 3:49 PM, IPv6Freely said:

On 28/02/2018 at 1:00 PM, 215BroadStBullies610 said:

After taking a 5 year break from inline, the one thing I tried to focus on is my control. Given the smaller rink and lack of ice, I know I'd have to be more aware of how I move about during the game. Control is important for me since I can't turn on a dime like I try to on ice haha. Inline skating definitely is different than ice skating from stride perspective. My legs and back were sore after my game last week haha.

The bolded part was my initial issue. Like I said, because of the way the wheels grip, you can't just turn your foot like you may be used to doing on ice. I was actually just in my living room trying to do a couple small circles and had a lot of difficulty. I had to take big wide circles. 

  So, I'm a little confused now. You're at a complete standstill, and when you turn your foot in to a snow plow position, you're almost injuring yourself without moving?

 

[IPv6Freely 2093]

31 minutes ago, puckpilot said:

I just reread the whole thread again, and I think we're getting some wires crossed here. I was adding to Marka's post about rockering when he responded to the following. 

  So, I'm a little confused now. You're at a complete standstill, and when you turn your foot in to a snow plow position, you're almost injuring yourself without moving?

 

Never mind, don’t worry about it.