2. Equipment and Basic Technique

The object of this chapter is to give you some facts and suggestions about the shoe skates necessary for maximum enjoyment of roller skating and to instruct you in the basic techniques of correct forward and backward skating, turning, and stroking to music. When you are once on properly fitted skates and have the ability to handle yourself around a rink, you can progress rapidly to skating figures, dancing, or even speed skating.

SHOE SKATES

To get the most from roller skating, you should have your own fitted shoe skates. Perhaps at first you will want to rent a pair at the rink, but there really is no substitute for skates adapted and adjusted to your own skill and capabilities.

Generally speaking, there are two major types of skates, each with features designed to meet an individual's needs. One is the standard skate, made sturdily and mounted on loose ball-bearing wheels; these are com­paratively inexpensive. Fig. 1 shows a standard skate and its many parts. The other is the custom-built precision skate, for those who want the best product made for dance, figure, or race skating. This type is mounted on contained precision ball-bearing wheels.

The majority of regular roller skaters use the standard, inexpensive skate which combines good action and long wear. It is often equipped with plastic wheels, can be used on low-pricedshoes, and is considered the work horse of the roller-skate industry. It is quite adequate for most regular skaters.

Whatever type is chosen, your skates should be the best you can afford. You should shy away from cheap or so-called bargain equipment because the best is the most economical in the long run. Also, as your skating skill increases, you will want more professional skates with greater precision action suited to specific needs.

FIG. 1. Parts of a Skate.

Skates, like people, have "personalities" which can be suited to the individual skater.   They come equipped with features for specific requirements. Some are lighter than others. Some have standard hard-maple wheels; some have plastic or fiber wheels. Even the wheels vary as to their bearing structures. For example, a precision wheel is any one which accommodates precision-ground bearings. These are usually grease-packed and provide a smooth, quiet roll. Loose-ball wheels are those which accommodate a complement of loose steel balls contained by a steel cone.

The assembly of trucks, action screw, and rubber cushions makes up the action of a skate, which can vary with the type of skate bought, whether standard or custom-built. The action is the response a skate gives to the weight applied to it.

Whatever feature or combination of features you want in your skates, it can best be obtained in skates bought at a rink. The rink usually has a complete line of skates and equipment and will give you professional help in fitting and choosing the kind of skate you should have.

Skate shoes, or boots, may be bought with or without skates attached. Whatever the choice, the boots, like the skates, should be the best you can afford. Again, this is most economical in the long run.

Both skates and shoes should be well cared for before and after use to ensure top performance and long life. Before each skating session, you should check your skates to make sure that they are properly oiled and that all working parts are in good order. Check the cushion action, adjust­ing screw, wheels, and bearings. If further maintenance or adjustment or repair is needed, the rink's skate hospital is equipped to service skates for a small charge. Often those who purchase their skates at the rink receive free normal maintenance.

Shoes or boots get extremely hard usage in roller skating. Even before using a new pair, you should treat them with a good preservative and a leather-conditioning oil. Here are some general tips for shoe care:

1. Never dry boots soaked with perspiration near heat greater than room tem­perature. Too much heat "cooks" the leather, causing it to shrink out of shape, harden, and crack.

2. To dry wet boots, spread them out in an airy, well-lit room with plenty of ventilation. Darkness causes harmful mold and bacteria.

3. Be sure to loosen laces well at all eyelets below the hooks when putting on or taking off boots. This will prevent the leather from stretching ex­cessively.

4. When not in use, keep the boots on shoe trees to retain their form.

FORWARD SKATING

For the purpose of instruction, assume that this is the first time you have puton a pair of roller skates. It would naturally follow that the first fundamental to learn is the correct way to skate forward. But before you try a stroke, you should be aware of the two major differences between walking and roller skating. In walking, you move ahead in a straight line; in roller skating, you skate on curves (edges). Skating on curves is a real thrill; it allows you seemingly to defy gravity, but only as long as you are in rolling motion. The feeling is somewhat like soaring or flying. In walking, you progress by placing one foot in front of the other and transferring the weight by stepping down on the one foot and locking or engaging the knee while lifting the other foot. In skating, you pro­gress by gently lowering one foot to the floor, close and parallel to theother foot, and then moving the one foot forward by pushing the other foot to the side and rear simultaneously. This should be done with a smooth movement without lurching.

To get your sea legs for forward skating, use the support of the railing which surrounds the skating surface and simply move forward on two feet by pulling forward, hand over hand (Fig. 2). Try to keep the weight on the forward part of the skate. You can accomplish this by lowering (easing) the knees about an inch. This will make it easier for you to learn and maintain your new balance in motion. Continue this practice until you feel secure on your skates, until you can step from one foot to the other without loss of balance. Though time required for this progress varies with the individual, two or three hours' constant practice is a fair rule of thumb. Inquire at your local rink for a relatively uncrowded session in order that traffic will not be hindered while you experiment.

When you have your sea legs on skates you are ready to leave "mother" rail and begin skating forward. Keep in mind that in taking each new stroke, the foot does not descend heavily on the floor; it glides smoothly into the direction of travel, and the weight just as smoothly and gradually transfers to it. The "new" knee bends to receive or cradle the weight. Next, the foot leaving the floor makes a slight side pressure, or push, and is carried around in a short semicircle, close to the floor, with the toe pointing downward for a graceful appearance. Finally and most important, to secure the curve that you wish to skate on, always aim the skate either to the center of the floor or to the rail or wall (see Diag. 1), and "lean" on one side of the skate or the other. Never aim the skate straight ahead. Never have your weight evenly divided over all four wheels. This will cause the skate to travel in a straight line, an action called a flat.For tech­nically correct skating or even just for pleasure, skating a flat is taboo.

FIG. 2. Use of Rail; Pulling Forward, Hand-over-Hand.

You will not be able to skate on a curve or edge comfortably until you master the proper lean. Good lean requires that you hold the ear, the shoulder, the hip, and the ankle in a straight line while tilting (leaning) the body sideways toward the floor. This tilting of the body normally is difficult to master for this reason: Ever since you learned to walk upright, the muscles and nervous system have automatically adjusted or balanced the body in an upright position. Now you must teach the muscles that it is safe to lean to the side, provided you have sufficient forward motion on a skate. As you practice the lean, be careful to maintain the normal body alignment. Keep your hip in line. The broken or angled hip is a common error for beginners (see Diag. 2).

Leaning will produce a curve called an edge.These edges are of two kinds: outside and inside. You are on an outside edge when the majority of the weight is on the outer side of the foot, causing it to travel a curve the center of which is to the right of the right foot or the left of the left foot. You are on an inside edge when the majority of the weight is on the inner side of the foot, causing it to travel a curve the center of which is to the left of the right foot and the right of the left foot.

Avoid short staccato strokes. This kind of stroke is less graceful and causes sudden shifts of weight which add to your balance problem. As your stroking improves, you can obtain a more graceful appearance by pointing the toe of the free foot and raising it in the air about ten to twelve inches off the floor.

Good Lean

DIAG. 2. Lean of Body.

BACKWARD  SKATING

Do not rush into backward skating until you have sufficient mastery of the forward-skating rolling balance which enables you to stroke easily and at will without any loss of balance.

Surprisingly, but analytically, fundamental forward and backward skat­ing are quite the same mechanically in that: (1) your weight is over the forward part of the skate and not on the heel; (2) you progress along the surface by pushingfrom an ankle-to-ankle  position  (referred  to as  the "and" position)—you do not step along the surface; (3) your skating knee is never completely straightened.

FIG.  3. Buddy Position for Backward Skating. (Skater on the right supports his partner at the elbows.)

Actually, there is no difference at all between forward- and backward-skating techniques. The reason you cannot skate backward just as easily as forward is that you cannot see where you are going when you skate backward, plus the fact that backward motion is not our normal direction. Here is the key: Since you cannot see where you are going, you naturally anticipate a loss of direction, possibly resulting in a collision with some object or person. Therefore you become fearful and your muscles sub­consciously tense up. If this occurs on skates, you are in for trouble. To avoid fear and tension, reassure yourself by first skating backward, using the railing and pushing backward hand over hand as your feet move back­ward. Or solicit the aid of a friend who will skate forward and be your "eyes" for safe progress while you skate backward. Have the friend support you at the elbows for balance adjustment, as the man is doing in Fig. 3. This buddy position will enable you to relax and you willimprove faster.

The usual trial-and-error method of learning to skate backward never results in a real mastery of the technique. Much the same as the average person can detect when someone has learned to play the piano by ear, he can also detect when someone has "picked up" backward skating. The proper method usually shows good results relatively quickly.

SIMPLE  TURNING

After you have learned to navigate both forward and backward, the next step is to learn how to turn to the right and left, from forward to back­ward. All turns are named, and the easiest and most often used in roller skating is called the Mohawk turn.It consists of three successive steps done on a slight curve.

To perform the Mohawk turn, you strike out forward on your right foot—the left foot beginning to turn to the left in the air in preparation for the next stroke (Fig. 4a). You continue the turn by placing the left foot on the floor so that the left inside toe wheel touches first and the left heel pivots into a position directly on the curve traced by the right heel. This is the critical part of the turn, so be sure you have a clear mental picture to this point (Fig. 4b). Now, as the weight descends onto the left foot, lift the right foot straight upward off the floor. Do not allow the free (right) foot to slam around (Fig. 4c). Now bring the right foot to the left, close to and parallel to the left (the "and" position). Then lower the right foot to the floor and push your weight from your left foot onto the right foot to complete the turn (Fig. 4d).

To speed your mastery of this basic turn, practice the following simple drill, supporting yourself with the rail. First, grasp the rail and lean away from it.   Place the backs of both heels together; keep the legs and spine on a line and do not bend at the hips (Fig. 5). Put stretching pressure on the muscles and tendons of the ankles and legs by squeezing the big toes toward the floor. Hold this squeezing pressure evenly for fifteen seconds at a time. Relax and repeat. Since there is no rolling motion involved, this drill is just as effective without skates and hence can be practiced at home.

a. RIF. b. RIF plus left inner

toe wheel contact.

c. LIB with right leg extended. d. ROB with left leg extended.

FIG. 4. Mohawk Turn. 19

Equipment and Basic Technique Roller Skating

FIG. 5. Position To Use To Condition for Turning.

STROKING

With a knowledge of how to skate forward and backward and of how to execute a simple Mohawk turn, you are ready to try a stroking technique. This is best developed by skating on a circle to the left and then to the right.

Most rinks have circles in the form of figure eights drawn on the floor. If yours does not, request permission to sketch one on the floor with chalk, making certain the circles of the figure eight are equal in size and tangent at one point. Now  practice  the simple  forward-skating drill,  described below, on the circles. This "scooter-type" drill will acquaint you with the fact that you are normally right-footed or left-footed (just as you are right-handed or left-handed), and because both circles are the same size, you will begin to develop real control of your edges on both feet.

To begin the drill, take your place in the center of the figure eight and prepare to push off onto your right foot around the circle. (The physical motion is the same as you would use on a scooter; use your left foot to push or scoot your right foot forward.) Keep your speed uniform by taking as many extra pushes with the left foot as you need. As you improve, you will need fewer pushes. When you have gone around the circumference of one circle and arrive back at the starting point, step down onto your left foot and use your right foot as a pusher to go around the circumference of the second circle, thus completing the figure eight. Try to glide between pushes. When you arrive at a point of balance control (when you can get all the way around a full circle with only one push), you are ready to try stroking to music.

Music regulates the time you are on each foot. For example, waltzes have either three beats or six beats to a measure, depending upon the type of waltz. Whatever the type, you will find yourself in time if you practice three beats on the left foot and three beats on the right foot. This is called a three-three drill and will help you develop control of edges and of weight changes from foot to foot.

In the beginning, slowly count one, two, three, one, two, three.If you listen closely to the heavy or bass notes in the background, you will be able to count in time with them. As soon as you begin to feel the rhythm of the waltz, discontinue the counting and hum along with the music. Do not count time for each stroke any longer than necessary—if you are going to be a good dance skater.

Beginners learning to play a musical instrument count aloud or use a clocklike device called a metronometo keep time, but your skating prob­lem is different. You are not creating music. Your assignment is to follow its flow gracefully and smoothly. The musician blends the beats to create a flow of sound; you will find it easier to match this flow, and thus master the flowing dance-skating motion, if you hum the tune to which you are skating.

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