Forward Skating with a "Skate Mate"

The Skate Mate. The Skate Mate has just arrived on the scene. I didn't have this when I started skating. The Skate Mate is a new technology. Low tech. Look, they come in sizes. Adult and child. For a lot of you like me, like I grew up skating in the 70s. We didn't have Skate Mates in the You know how we learned how to skate? Our parent took us out on a Sunday afternoon, strapped on those skates that you put on the bottom of your shoe with metal wheels, you know, for the smooth effect. Then they took you to like, I don't know, some like nice not smooth asphalt. You'd be like on like kind of a downhill and then they would just be like, there you go, Johnny. Now you came up with like scrapes and bruises and all that kind of stuff because you just had like, I don't know, asphalt to cushion your falls. And what would your parents say? Walk it off. This probably wasn't the best way to learn how to skate, but that's how it was. This was the 70s. Your parents just basically opened the door, threw you out into the world, and you just saw what happened later on five o'clock when you came home. We were crazy back then. We just found hills and at the end of the hill was things like, I don't know, a gravel pit, heavy traffic, a stray dog. Trial by fire. You just learned on the way down. We would get messed up, but you did figure it out after a while. So we didn't have these. On that note, skaters, I'm a proponent of the Skate Mate. Hey, skaters. I'm Dirty Deborah Harry with the Dirty School of Skate and Sugar Boiler Skate. I'm here at the Fountain Valley Skating Center tonight to talk about skate mates and how to use them. All right, skaters. So if you're new to my channel, please consider subscribing because I've just hit over 40,000 and it's been a little bit over a year and I'm so excited. I'm really shooting for 50 and then of course 100. So if you can help me out, that would be great. If you can like and share this info, if you find it meaningful and helpful to you, that would be super, super great. Also, if you need skates, go see my friends at Planet Roller Skates. Their website is planetrollerskate.shop. They can help you with wheels, plates, boots, toe stops, everything you can need for skating. Okay, now let's talk about the Skate Mate. The Skate Mate is sort of a new invention. It's super low tech, but it's helpful in getting people started in skating or helpful in getting people who are returning to skating. The purpose of the Skate Mate is not to teach you how to skate, it's to help you understand how to correct your balance. But even more important than that, it helps reduce anxiety and fear. This is probably the number one benefit. Oftentimes I see skaters that have just put on their rental skates and they go to venture out onto the floor and you can literally see the anxiety and fear on their face. Sometimes when we've got something to hold onto, it seems to be that it limits that anxiety and they're able to focus better on the task at hand. Now, the number one thing that we have to think about when we get it is how we're going to have proper skating posture while we're holding on to the Skate Mate. Things you need to do. Hands need to be back here on the Skate Mate at the edges. Some of the Skate Mates, they'll be blue, but these ones are red. So, I'm always saying, hands on the red, hands on the red. So, hands are on the red right here. If you get scared, this is what tends to happen. People choke up on this like a baseball bat and they end up pulling it close and almost falling or falling. If you choke up on it here, it's going to tip towards you and obviously this isn't going to do you any good, all right? So, when we have our Skate Mate, hands on the red, we need to create a diamond formation. We're going to drop our hips and keep it in front of us, okay? Do not pull this way. It will fall. So, I keep it in front. Now, when I start out, I want my feet in a V position and we're going to shift our body weight to the left, shift our body weight to the right, shift our body weight to the left, shift our body weight to the right. Even if we want to stop, we can get down low. As long as this is in front of us, push our body weight out, our feet out, and we can come to a nice easy stop. So, again, your posture, chin up, shoulders straight across, snack area tight, hands on the red, butt down. Feet in a V position, keep this distance between you. Now, the next thing, you want to be smooth with your Skate Mate, right? You don't want to have a death grip on it. People tend to grab onto this thing like, this is what happens when we have a death grip, okay? Do not death grip it. It comes alive. It's like, you need to keep it back here. Push it in front of you. Now, if you're in V position, I'm going to go left, right, left, right. Move the Skate Mate with you like a dance partner, okay? Choking up on it. I'm going to go like that, okay? Now, the next part, kids are pretty good with the Skate Mate, but they get scared when they fall, not because they think they're hurt or anything. They get scared because of the sound of the Skate Mate, okay? So, you've got to tell them, if you're a parent watching this, when they skate with the Skate Mate, when it falls, it's loud, okay? Again, it's loud. That tends to scare kids because they think, oh my God, I broke it. Go ahead and take the Skate Mate and throw it on the ground. Tell them that's going to happen. For older folks, you know, it's no big deal, okay? It's going to make a lot of noise. That's fine. Parents with the kids, again, have your kid get down real low and then have them move side to side. Other things you can't do on the Skate Mate is lean on the Skate Mate, okay? This does you no good. It's crazy skating here. Kind of a good workout though. This does you no good, okay? We want you upright, hips down, shifting your body weight from side to side, side to side, nice and easy. For skaters that are older and you're returning to skating, let's say you were a skater back in the day and you were a speed skater or rink rat or whatever you did and you still got your skates and you're coming back after 20 years or 30 years or 40 years. I have this happen all the time. They come into the rink, they got their old skates and they think it's just going to all come back. It doesn't. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't come back. It just means that maybe for 15 minutes of your life, you will use the Skate Mate to understand and be able to correct your balance. Basically, we're looking to reduce anxiety and fear and have something that's going to correct your balance or help you understand when you're off balance, okay? So, skaters, I hope this has helped because I have seen over the years that with the introduction into Skate Mate's positive thing is it's brought back all of these people who are returning skaters but also brand new skaters that are super fearful are able to come out and skate. That's a good thing. If you are a new skater and you're coming out and using that Skate Mate, give yourself a time limit. Realistically, you should only be using this for like 15, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, maybe an hour. You shouldn't be having like a lifelong relationship with this thing, okay? If we can get people understanding how to use this Skate Mate better, then we won't be so annoying to the advanced skaters. For advanced skaters, they hate these things, right? Because most of the time, the Skate Mate's kind of flying all over the floor and interrupting the flow. So, you as a new skater or returning skater, just understand that this Skate Mate needs to stay in your little skating area. It's not something we shoot across the floor and play with with a friend. We don't abandon it in the middle of the floor, all that kind of stuff. Keep it with you but be mindful that you've got like 15 minutes with this thing. Realistically, if you're on this for more than a couple of skating sessions, then it's time to take lessons because you really need to get off it. Because this is Skate Mate skating. You know, we want a real skate. Okay, that's all I got for you tonight, skaters. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I can't wait to see you at the rink. And I want to tell you this, this just happened to me today. I had skaters coming to the rink and they're like, oh my god, dirty, I watch all your videos, blah blah blah. To which I say, oh my god, thank you very much. I really really appreciate it. They say, I can't believe you're here. I said, what do you mean you can't believe I'm here? They're like, I didn't know you actually skated here. What do you think? I'm here all the time. On that note, if you watch my videos and you see me at the rink, come say hello to me. Let me know what you need help with and I'll help you. Today I had a skater say, can you help me with my backward skating? And I said, I'm here, let's do it. Okay, totally helped him with his backward skating. I think he did really well. So I am at your disposal. If you're watching my videos, I want to help you. So again, skaters, be kind to each other at the rink. And if you see the people with the skate mates, remember when you couldn't skate because every single one of you out there had a moment where you were like, I am not good yet. But you practiced enough and you got better. People with the skate mates, it just signals beginners. So that should signal in you an opportunity to help someone or at the very least be cool with it. Even if the skate mates falling in, you got to move around them. Okay. So be nice to each other at the rink and I'll see you guys later.