Inline Skates Wheel Rotation

Wheels are the most important components of your inline skates. It is crucial to rotate your wheels regularly, just like your car tyres. As a general rule, wheels should be rotated when they begin to look lopsided. 

Exchange the front wheel (#1) of your right skate with the third wheel (#3) of your left skate. Position the wheels such that the worn side face outside. Repeat the steps for #2 wheel and #4 wheel.

How to do Parallel Slide

1. Find a good flat surface.
2. Skate at a slow pace.
3. Stop striding and bend on knees.
4. Kick skates sideway, stretch a bit and counter steer with upper body.
5. Don’t be scared and stiff, feel the slide.
6. Once you get you feet in it, try faster speed.
7. If you fall on the inside, it means you lean too much on the inside. Improve your balance.
8. If you fall on the outside, it means you turn (instead of kick skates sideway) and fail to lean. It is going to hurt!
9. Find a good balance while sliding.
10. Try both left and right sides.

Inline Skating Ankle Injuries

My left ankle was badly bruise after 54 km of non-stop inline skating. The injury may be due to weak support on my left ankle. My stronger right foot was doing well. Sigh! need to hang up my inline skate for a week.

Seba KSJ 2009

A new Model of Seba skates, Seba KSJ, would be available soon on the market. The model KSJ is named after Kim Sung Jin (Korean) who is a World Champion in slalom. It is made of carbon fiber, meaning it is mainly hand made. It is also a one piece skate, so no liner and no shells.

Sebastien Laffargue

Date of birth: 17 Aug 1978
Place of birth: Paris
Nationality: French
Height: 1.86 m
Weight: 72 kg

Sebastien Laffargue is the founder and inventor of Seba series of inline skates such as FR1, Fr2 and Seba High. Sebastien has started inline skating since 15 years old, and has won many world titles. His company Universkates is the world market leader in producing freestyle inline skates. For more information about Sebastien, please visit http://sebastienlaffargue.free.fr/index.htm

Wet surface Inline Skating

Skating on wet surface is risky and prompt to accident. Skater may skid and fall, brake may be ineffective and control is practically diminished. Inline skate bearings may rust and maintenance cost may increase. Having said that, die hard inline skaters will ignore all risks to skate during winter and rainy days. For these die hard fans, your best insurance are:

1. Replace the inline skates urethane wheels with real rubber wheels. Such wheel offer good grip on wet surface but will significantly slow you down. Wheels made for wet surfaces are softer and squish to grip the road.

2. Replace oil based bearings with grease based bearings. Though grease does not make bearings water-proof, they do just fine on damp pavement. Take note that grease may help with water resistance but as soon as it goes through a puddle they’re worthless. Powerslide RustProof bearings work quite well for wet weather abuse.

Inline Skate Safety Tips

1. Always supervise young children.
2. Make sure all equipment is in good condition and fits properly.
3. Always wear a helmet, and replace it every 2-3 years or after a major impact (bump or blow).
4. Wrist guards will help to prevent wrist fractures in case of falls.
5. Cuts and scrapes can be reduced by wearing elbow and knee pads.
6. Teach children to choose a safe location, away from traffic, that has a smooth surface.
7. Learn and teach how to control speed and stop.
8. Do not wear headphones.
9. Do not skate at night or in wet conditions.
10. STAY ALERT! Keep your eyes on the surface ahead; watch for other people, cars and hazards such as cracks, rocks, etc.
11. Respect others on the path.

How to Heel Brake?

1. While rolling on your inline skates, keep your legs in scissor position with knees bent and brake foot forward.

2. Raise the toe of your braking skate to apply the heel brake and drag it along the ground to slow you down.

3. Hold this adjusted ready stance until the desired speed or lower your stance to apply more pressure on the heel brake until a stop is achieved.

Types of Inline Skates

There are basically 4 different types of inline skates:

1. Recreation Inline Skates – High cut, materials usually soft and comfortable, comes with heel brakes, medium size/soft wheels and longer frame for stability. For beginners to intermediate skaters.

2. Freestyle Inline Skates – Usually hard casing with short aluminum frame and hard wheels for ease of maneuver, slalom and sliding. Able to withstand rough use such as street skating, jumping and spinning. Suitable for inline skates hockey too. For advance skaters.

3. Aggressive Inline Skates – Usually hard casing with small wheels for low centre of gravity. Heavy and robust, for street skating and jumping. For intermediate to advance skaters.

4. Speed Inline Skates – Huge wheels and extremely long frame for long distance and speed. Low cut, some comes with 5 wheels. For advance skaters.

Stretching Excercise for Inline Skates

Stretching can also reduce your risk of injury. That’s why the American College of Sports Medicine is now recommending that everyone do some type of stretching two or three days a week. The following stretches are good for skaters.

Hamstring stretch: Lie on your back with your left foot flat on the floor and your right leg extended. Slowly raise your right leg as far as comfortable. Use your hands to hold your leg in position. Keep your back flat on the floor. You should feel the stretch in the back of your leg. Remember to stretch both legs.

Stretching the Groin Sit up straight. Place your legs up towards your body and place the bottom of your feet together, your knees should be out and down towards the floor

Gently and slowly push your knees towards the ground with the your elbows on the insides of your knees. If you don’t feel anything, bring your feet close to your body.

Flexing Ankles: In a seated position. Keep your ankles straight and the toes pointed, slowly raise your foot as high as you can and lower it so that your toes are pointed to the floor. Also move the ankles in a circular motion both directions.

Either sitting or laying down, point your toes toward the ceiling and write your name in cursive in the air with your pointed toe. Don’t forget to write it with both feet!

Seated twist: Sit on the floor with your left leg extended. Place your right foot on the floor next to the outside of your left knee. (If this isn’t comfortable, move your foot closer to your ankle.) Then put your left elbow on the outside of your right knee and twist your torso and head back to the right. Place your right hand on the floor behind you for support. Reverse and repeat on the other side.

Flexing Hips: Standing up, bend the support leg in the skating position, and the other leg stretched out to the side in a stroking position. Slowly and gently lower your body down until you feel the stretch and hold it. Be sure to stretch both legs.

Stretching Quads: Holding onto something for balance, grab your shin and pull your foot back toward your rear until you feel the stretch in the quadriceps. Hold and then repeat with the other leg