How to move on Inline Skates: 5 easiest/best ways

Welcome back! A lot of you guys are always asking me, how do I move on my rollerblades? I just got new skates, how do I move? So there's infinite ways to move on skates, but in this video I'm going to give you five of the easiest and best ways to get moving on your rollerblades. Before we start, I do want to say your location is very important for this. You need to find a smooth, flat surface. Going uphill, you're going to find yourself doing a lot of rolling backwards, even if it's just a slight uphill. And if it's a slight downhill, you're going to find yourself just rolling out of control. And then if the ground is rough or bumpy, you're going to have a pretty miserable time. Okay, let's get started. Number one is actually really important and it truly is the backbone of learning how to skate. You're going to start in the shape of a V. Knees are bent, arms are up for balance, and you're going to take little steps in the shape of a V. Just nice and slow, picking both your feet up. You're doing great. Remember to keep your knees bent, one step at a time. As you get more comfortable, you can try to feel more of a glide. And we're now progressing into number two, which is your basic stride. Same idea as the duck walk, you're in the shape of a V, picking both your feet up. But this time you're actually going to do pushes and strides longer and stronger. And we got here from learning our duck walk first, which is why it is so important. So basic strides, you're shifting your weight side to side, picking up both of your feet. Knees are bent and you're pushing. And now we are doing our basic strides. Next, a lot of you might be struggling with your duck walk because you're scared to pick your feet up. I see a lot of beginners who just their feet are glued to the ground and they are petrified of picking their feet up. So if this might be you and the duck walk might feel a little bit too challenging, a little bit too scary, there is a way to get moving with your feet grounded. So shape of a V, arms up for balance, knees bent, and you're going to open wide and then close again in the shape of an A. Again, open wide. You're going to bend your knees as you open. So you're going to bend and open, feet come together. These are called lemon drops, bubbles, swizzles, hourglass teardrops. If you have a different name, let me know. I've heard lots. So feet are glued to the ground, open and close, open and close. This one is also just a great exercise, a great warm up, a great drill. It's an amazing skill. Every rollerblader should know. It's going to help you progress into learning how to stop because it's that same movement for your plow stop. So I do recommend everybody learns how to do their swizzles. This brings us to movement number four, and this is probably the easiest movement I'm going to be sharing with you today. Some call it the doggy paddle. I like to call it the spider girl. You're going to go wide stance and use your hands. The reason this is the easiest is because you have all four limbs on the ground. So you're very grounded. You have a very low center of gravity, and it's a great way to move. So I've been coaching a while and I can tell you that kiddos love this one. They think it's really fun. I have all my kids being like, Coach Polly, can we do the spider? And adults like it because if they feel stuck or scared, they can always just, you know, spider girl back to the grass, back to safety. If you're having a feet up or feeling nervous on the sidewalk, go to the grass and learn your duck walk in the grass because your skates won't roll. And so it's really a great way to get used to your skates, get used to picking both your feet up so you can spend all the time you need in the grass. And you can always go to the grass with any skill where you're feeling uncomfortable on the concrete. It's a great safety net to walk around, jump around, practice everything, get used to your skates. Number five, the scooter push, which is when you are pushing yourself with one foot. I'm going to be honest, this is not my favorite skill to teach beginners because I think that a lot of people learning to skate don't build the strength in both their feet and push with two feet. They just push with one foot like this and it's a really bad habit. So I don't recommend a scooter push, it's a bad habit, but it is an easy way to move and it is easier than picking both your feet up. And it's good for building strength on that one foot. It's a good one to drill, to kind of just get stronger, get moving. A scooter push is also a good one to use if you're on really narrow terrain, like you can't pick both your feet up, you're getting across something. So I'm on this curb here, which is really narrow and a scooter push is a way to kind of get through the narrowness. So my list of the five easiest slash best ways to get moving on your rollerblades you're new to skating. Start with the duck walk, into basic strides, learn your lemon drops. It's a core skill and a fun and easy one. The spider if you need to feel more grounded. And the scooter push as just an easy way to move. There are infinite ways to move on rollerblades. There is incredibly beautiful technical freestyle skating, flow skating, slalom skating. There's dancing, there's aggressive skating with really technical grinds and spins and tricks. There's so many worlds of movement and rollerblading is an art and a way to move. I'm just giving you the five easiest ones today, but I want you to keep in mind that you're not constricted. They're just going to be building blocks for all the wonderful, beautiful different ways to move on your rollerblades. So now it's time, you already know it, to turn off your tv, get out, go practice, learn how to skate and I will see you guys next time.