ONE Posture Tip That FIXES Most Beginner Skating Mistakes

This is the one posture mistake I see almost every beginner make and it's not your feet. I had a student the other week struggling with corners and the whole time she was looking down. You wouldn't ride a bike like that and you wouldn't surf like that but on skates we seem to do this all the time as beginners and the second that was fixed everything changed. Hey I'm Tracey from Suns Out Skates Out and I teach adults how to roll skate both in person and inside my online program. If you're just starting or you want to fast track your learning and not spend months trying to figure it out on your own I have a free beginner workshop where I walk you through how I teach my students step by step. I'll pop that in the description down below if you'd like to check that out. This mistake is one of the first things I fix with my students because it makes a massive difference to your control and how confident you feel on your skates overall. So if you know you're constantly looking down at your feet this is probably why and it's going to sound really simple but where you look changes everything. So this is what I see most beginner skaters doing. So when we look down at our skates you can see naturally my posture drops, my shoulders come forward and I don't feel like I've got any confidence at all because I'm worried about tripping on something in front of me. Now just change one thing and that's look where you're going. If you look where you're going your chest opens up, your posture comes up and you naturally feel a little bit more balanced and confident. So by doing this I'm not even changing anything that's happening in my feet I'm just lifting my head and looking in the direction that I'm going. Same skates, same surface, just one posture change. This versus this. So you're probably wondering why this makes such a big difference because when you're looking down your body naturally wants to follow and when you look ahead your body starts to stack properly over your skates you're not hunched over, your weight's not forward, your body is nicely stacked over your skates and that's what gives you more control and confidence because you'll start to be able to skate more comfortably and unlock more skills. This becomes even more important when you're turning a corner. So if I am coming around a corner and my head is down I don't feel like I've got any confidence and I feel a little bit uneasy because I don't know what is coming up versus if my head is up and I'm looking in the direction that I'm going my head is leading, opening up my shoulders, slightly turning in that direction that I want to go which is then linked to my hips. My hips are slightly turned towards that circle or that corner and then that links down to my skates so I can press on my edges a lot more comfortably. So looking in the direction when you're going around a corner, super important, everything starts with that head. Can't look over here and turn a corner because your body is almost twisted. It's pretty simple when you think about it right? This is exactly what I see with my students. The second that they look where they're going, their corners or their crossovers just start to click and this even applies when you're skating backwards. You still need to know where you're going. You're definitely not looking down. It's almost more important when skating backwards because you don't have eyes in the back of your head. So if I'm skating backwards I always want to be looking in the direction which is opening up my shoulders again and I can actually see what's coming up so that's giving me a lot more confidence. So try this next time you skate. Pick a point in front of you and keep your eyes locked on it while you skate forwards and then try going around a corner. So glancing over your shoulder and keep looking constantly in that direction. So don't overthink it next time you skate. Just look where you want to go and let your body follow. This is one of those really simple things that can completely change how you feel and how you progress on your skates. And if you're just starting out I have a free beginner workshop where I walk you through how I teach my students step by step. I'll pop that in the description down below. Otherwise thanks so much for being here and I'll see you in the next video.