Learn to Skate Backwards (3 EASY Techniques for BEGINNERS)

So have you ever wanted to roller skate backwards but felt just a little bit nervous to try? Backwards skating isn't as tricky as it seems. It's really just a few simple moves that you can learn step by step. And today I'm going to show you how to get started without falling on your butt. Hey guys, I'm Tracey from Suns Out Skates at Roller Skating School. I teach people of all ages how to build confidence and flow on their skates. But before we do, just a quick disclaimer, please make sure that you can skate forwards first before you attempt any backwards skating straight off the bat. If you can't skate forward, go back and watch my beginner series first to get started and then come back and watch some backwards skating. So we're starting with the easiest skill to learn, which are backwards bubbles. A bubble is a smooth circular foot movement that helps you flow backward with style and control. Think of it as like you're painting bubbles on the floor with your skate. So you're making big circles with your skates as you're backwards. Another big circle as you're going backwards. So to start off doing a backward bubble, you want to start with your skates hip distance apart and you want to bend your knees like you're about to sit down. Posture up, not over, not backwards. Posture up nice and tall and arms out really strong for balance. So when you do a bubble, you're going up, down, up, down, and you're not locking your knees when you come up. You don't want to lock your knees because you'll go backwards. So practice that up, down, up, down motion. And then what you're going to do is you're going to put your skates in a bit of a triangle and you're going to push on your inside edges and bring your skates to a V. So you're bringing your heels together from a V into a triangle, always on the inside edge. So you bend, let your skates roll, push on your inside edges, bring your heels together, and then you go forwards. Bend, inside edges, toes together. So if you can do a forward bubble, this is exactly the same thing as doing a backward bubble. Bend, inside edges, skates together. So you're going to start by doing just single backward bubbles, one forward, one back, just to get comfortable with that motion of going forward and then going backwards. So once you're comfortable doing one backward bubble, you're going to start to do a few more at a time. You can go forward once and then go two bubbles back, just so you're starting to increase the amount of bubbles without feeling overwhelmed. So you want to start to get a little bit of a rhythm with your bubbles. You want to think about bending, coming up, bending, coming up, bending, coming up, and try and keep your bubbles going at that same time. So as soon as you lose speed or your bubbles become a little bit sticky, it's probably because you've bent and then maybe you've stood up and then maybe you start to bend again. So you start to lose that rhythm. What generates the speed in a bubble is the bending, coming up, bending, coming up. So as soon as you lose that rhythm, your bubble will kind of start to slow down. So move number two are backwards marches. So you're going to get comfortable moving backwards in a step-by-step motion called a backwards march. Here you're lifting and alternating each foot off the ground, whereas the bubble, both of your skates stay on the ground. So it's a little bit harder, but this is kind of how you start to get momentum in going backwards a bit more. So you're going to start on the spot with your knees bent, posture up and arms out for balance, and you're just going to march. So knees up, knees up. You're not lifting them all the way up to tabletop, just little marches on the spot. Left and right, little marches. And then to get going backwards, I want you to pop your skates in a bit of a triangle. So not touching, you don't want your skates touching, but skates in a triangle. And then you're just going to do that same motion. So making sure your knees are nice and bent, like you're about to sit down, and then just start to do that little march. So one foot in front of the other. So as you march, that skate comes back. March, march, march. So what I see a lot of the time is that students keep their skates parallel and they try and just march on the spot. It doesn't get you moving backwards. The reason why you move backwards is because when your toes are in that triangle and you march, you're pushing out of that inside edge. So that pushes you backwards. So you can practice this on the spot by rolling one skate forward and one skate back with bent knees, hopping that back toe stop down like you're going to do a bit of a lunge. So by using your back toe stop, it's kind of like ripping up the handbrake and you want to make sure that you can actually stop when you're going backwards for your confidence. But if you still hit the wall, that's okay too, as long as you're stopping safely. Next up, we have backward swells, which are probably one of my favorite because it's just like a really smooth, cool looking movement. And it's really continuous and easy to get a bit of a flow. So always starting with your knees nice and bent, your arms out for balance, your posture is up and you need a little bit of movement to get going. So give yourself a couple of pushes, a couple of marches, and then you're going to go into a staggered position and you're going to go on the outside edge of your back foot and do a little half bubble out in front. So you're kind of pivoting on the toe and then you bring your skates back together, alternate, make sure you bend into the back leg, go into a bit of a stagger, outside edge of the back leg and doing a half bubble out in front. Keep the movement really fluid and think about using your core as well. It's not all about just using your edges and your feet. You want to engage that core as well and make sure you're bending down as you do that little half bubble out in front. And think of it as if you're just tracing like a big S behind you, really loose S. And then if you want to add some style, you can add opposite arm to opposite leg. And I know that sounds tricky, but think of it as if you're walking or running, when you walk and run, opposite arm to opposite leg. So now let's add the arms in a really smooth motion while you do your swells backwards. So start off with doing your swells, opposite arm, opposite leg. And that's it for your first steps into the world of skating backwards. If you're just starting to feel the rhythm or the flow of skating backwards and you've got that flicker of, oh my god, I'm actually doing it, then you're exactly where you need to be. You just need to take your time going backwards, go back and go and revisit any of these moves and keep showing up on your skates for these practice sessions. Something I always tell my students is to remember that progress doesn't come from being perfect. It comes from practice and just playing around on your skates and getting used to them. If you found this video helpful, give it a like and leave a comment. I'd love to know where you guys are at. And of course, subscribe for more tutorials and tips. Thanks for skating with me today. Keep going guys, you've got this.