- Skating Skills
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All of our instructors are ICP certified. This means, for you, that we adhere to a standard for teaching inline skating skills and that we maintain the highest quality of teaching possible.
There are clearly different levels of skaters: those that have never done it before or have rolled around a little; those that have been doing it for a while and are thinking of, or have done, the Sunday Stroll; the people who whizz past you in the park or on the street that make skating look effortless; and those that marshal or don't blink at skating the London Friday Night Skate.
But you might be amazed to learn that some people who make skating look effortless can't go backwards! There are some really good skaters that can't slalom through cones. Everyone is different: everyone learns at their own pace, they concentrate on what they want to do, and they make their own skating style.
We can help you achieve your skating goals, take you to the next level, or guide you in what you might want to try next.
In these pages we give you a description of most of the skills that make up skating. We don't, at the moment, cover the real specialisations like the slaloming skills: we have links to sites that can help you with those. Most of the skills we list have videos attached to them, so that you can see what they are rather than trying to guess!
Remember: we teach these skills. They are either part of our regular courses or they can be taught in one-to-one private lessons. If in doubt, contact us and we'll gladly point you in the right direction.
- Beginner
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- Ready position
- A crouch in which to create balance when learning the basics. This position is used throughout skating as a starting point for many other skills like a backward dead stop for example.
- Stride one
- The first steps to get people who are new to inline skating rolling slowly forward are known as the "duck walk steps".
- Scissor stance
- Probably one of the most important things you will ever learn in skating. This is the bit that is going to keep you on your feet and off your bottom, and it's the foundation skill for most of the inline skating skills. Not to mention really useful for street skating and performing advanced turns and stops.
- Heel brake stop
- A stop by using the rubber stopper on the back of the skates. This IS the most effective and powerful way to stop.
- A-Frame turn
- An easy to learn maneuver to get you turning. Otherwise known as the "magic turn" and really easy to learn. The ready position is a base skill for this skill.
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Taught On
- Beginner: I've never skated before
- Sunday Beginners Follow-on
- Sunday Beginner Drop-In Session
- Sunday Beginners
Required To Attend
- Advanced beginner
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- Forward swizzle
- Forward movement by moving the legs in and out while keeping all your wheels on the ground all the time. A great foundation skill for street skating, backward skating and the A-frame turn.
- Half swizzle
- Otherwise known as "lemons". This is really useful for street skating and the foundation for a very nice backward skating style.
- Stride two
- Time to pick up a bit more speed with a bit less effort. This skill is a mix of short sideways strokes and recover glides. We use the ready position in this skill to glide along with a weight transference from one leg to another.
- Spin Stop
- A low to moderate speed stop by creating a spin and pushing the moving energy down. Sounds a bit complicated but with the right technique it's really easy.
- Parallel turn
- A turn that uses a scissor stance with most of the weight on the back foot. More efficient that the A-Frame turn and it looks cool too.
- On and off pavements
- Contrary to popular belief this is a really easy skill that once mastered will give you a new sense of confidence. This is where the scissor stance really comes into it's own.
- Hill stops
- If, like many of us you are going to use your skates as a form of transport, mastering effective and powerful hill stops and speed control is essential. Once you have got it under your belt your confidence will increase along with the amount of fun you have.
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Taught On
- Beginner: I've never skated before
- Sunday Beginners Follow-on
- 4 ways to stop in 2 hours
- 3 ways to turn in 2 hours
- Intermediate: I need more speed!
- Street Skater Lead-In: Jumps and More
- Sunday Beginners
- Beginner+: I can go, turn and stop, but need some help!
Required To Attend
- 4 ways to stop in 2 hours
- Intermediate: I need more speed!
- Introduction To Slides
- Street Skater Lead-In: Jumps and More
- 2 hours of backwards
- Beginner+: I can go, turn and stop, but need some help!
- Pariskate: Brake You In Gently
- Open Session: Forward Crossovers and something else
- Beginners Backwards: Going from forwards to backwards
- Intermediate
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- Backward skating
- Backward skating opens up a whole load of new, impressive and fun stuff to do on inline skates. It's commonly believed that backward skating is reserved for the wizzy pro skaters but not so. If you have ever been on one of Mark's beginner group lessons, the chances are that he had you taking your first backward steps even then. There are many ways to skate backwards but most of them are built on the backward swizzle which is a forward swizzle in reverse and a backward step.
- T-stops
- A great way to slow or stop by dragging the wheels of one skate against the direction of the wheels of the other skate. Combine it with heel braking to really stop in a hurry.
- Directional transitions
- A directional transition allows you to change from forwards to backwards or backwards to forwards whilst still rolling. There are many different ways to do this depending on your skill level.
- Slalom turns
- Looks a bit like a ski turn. It's also a really good way to control your downhill speed. It can take a bit to get the hang of it and it's more about timing than anything else, but a very useful skill to have at your disposal.
- Edge stops
- A great slow speed stop that makes use of corresponding edges which is just a conversion of a parallel turn.
- Lunge turns
- A parallel turn at speed. As you get used to going faster you will find that sometimes you are going a bit to quick to get round a corner in a parallel turn and you have to slow down. This is a great turn and very stable at speed.
- Backward A-Frame Turn
- Like the forwards A-Frame turn, this is the first way you should learn to turn once you can move backwards.
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Taught On
- 4 ways to stop in 2 hours
- 3 ways to turn in 2 hours
- Street Skater Lead-In: Jumps and More
- 2 hours of backwards
- Beginners Backwards: Going from forwards to backwards
Required To Attend
- Advanced intermediate
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- Backward power slide
- An impressive backward slide stop that is achieved by sweeping the wheels of one skate against the traveling direction of the wheels on the other skate.
- Stride three
- This really takes forward momentum to it's most efficient stage and uses the principle of long pushes to the side, using the full range of edges, a recovery to glide and weight transfer. Sounds a bit complicated but as long as your body is in the correct position you will be amazed at how much faster you can go.
- Lunge stops
- A modification on a lunge turn where the body weight is moved to the outside leg and the kinetic energy is pushed in an upward direction to create a stop.
- Backward Parallel Turn
- Once you can scissor going backwards and you understand the principles of a forward parallel turn, you'll be able to learn this turn going backwards.
- Backward T-Stop
- Exactly like a forward T-stop, except done when you're skating backwards, your trailing foot is placed onto an inside edge perpendicular to the direction of travel. You'd think that this was easy but actually it is quite a difficult skill to master.
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Taught On
- 2 ways to stop backwards
- Open Session: Backwards Powerslides and something else
- 2 hours of backwards
Required To Attend
- Advanced
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- Forward slalom
- If you have ever been on a ski slope you will love this one. It's also one of the best ways to learn good edging.
- Forward crossover
- A turn that will maintain speed or even increase your speed if you apply the correct technique with an under push. This skill is learnt by going round in circles and we teach this in eight different parts. This is one of Mark's favorite things to teach and he often holds one hour drop in crossover sessions.
- Backward crossover
- This skill is in the advanced section because it really is an advanced skill. We teach this skill in several different parts and it does take some practice time to get it right, but it really isn't as difficult as it looks. Backward crossovers are great for backward direction changes and backward acceleration.
- Forward power slide
- A great advanced stop and looks really good too. A forward power slide is actually a backward power slide with a forward entry. To learn this you will need to master backward power slides first.
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Taught On
Required To Attend
- Superstar
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- 3 Turn
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One-foot-one-wheel directional transitions. Easy when you know how but can take a bit of practice. There are a lot of variations depending on the foot, start edge and finish edge used.
- Stair Riding [ forwards | walking ]
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Going down steps, forwards or backwards, involves a good stable scissor and a whole lot of guts! Believe it or not, going backwards down steps is actually considered safer and easier.
- Crossover Start [ video ]
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This is David's running start involving doing a sequence of crossovers to rapidly build up speed.
- Street Skating Stride [ video ]
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Stride 3 works really well when you're doing long distance skating but the wide pushes can be a problem when you're in a pack of skaters. David has a unique street skating stride that involves short but powerful strides.
- Soul Slide [ video ]
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Also called a forward T-stop, this slide involves crouching down, transferring your weight onto one leg, and swinging the other in front of you on an inside edge. It sounds easier than it actually is but it's one of the first slides you should learn.
- Mistral [ video ]
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Similar in stance to a normal T-stop, this slide actually involves the dragging foot being on an outside edge. It's one of the first slides you should learn.
- Parallel Slide [ video ]
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The supposed "Mac Daddy" of the slide world! It involves sliding sideways on corresponding edges in something that looks like a ready position. If you manage to pull this one off you've pretty much made it!
- Magic Slide [ video ]
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You know how you thought you'd never use an A-Frame turn ever again? Well this slide is done in exactly the same A-Frame stance. One of the slides that all the really good skaters want to be able to do and the best way to stop, if you've got the guts to pull it out at speed!
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Taught On
Required To Attend