a lil tips & tricks thread for beginners (quad/roller) skaters from me, a fellow kinda sorta newbie skater - complete with vids and links

1. practice getting out of your head, and caring as little as *humanly possible* about what other people think especially if you’re skating outdoors — bc trust me, you cannot afford to spare ur precious focus + attention on random strangers. you need every inch of it!!!

2. first step: gear up. get pads, get a helmet, and stop trying to not fall, bc it’s gonna happen anyway and if you learn how to do it properly, it’ll barely hurt, i promise.

vids on falling:

gear recs — ; pt. 1

helmet: first off, don’t get a bike helmet. i know you thought about it, but don’t even try it.

rec: the triple 8 “the certified” sweatsaver helmet:

pads: bulky + extra safe: the moxi x 187 killer pad set. slimmer + less bulky: triple 8 covert line

extended break for site recs (uk only, since that’s where i live!):

http://skatehut.co.uk  (they do a student discount through student beans)

http://mommatruckerskates.co.uk 

http://rollergirlgang.co.uk 

http://skatebritain.co.uk 

3. PLEASE, learn how to stop + keep practicing it different speeds, on different terrains, w/ + w/out your toe stops etc. expect to fall while learning how to stop! let yourself fall, and let your body learn it’s not as bad as you think

4. pull your shoulders up, keep your head up, tuck your tummy in, clench your abs and dig in with your skates — deborah from the dirty school of skate (linked a few times above now) once you see it in action + acc do it, you’ll notice the difference p much instantly

5. as soon as you can, break the habit of staring at your feet while skating. the quicker you free yourself from the “omg i need to watch out for every pebble/stick/crack in the ground or i’ll TRIP and DIE” mindset, the more grounded in your body and confident you’ll be

6. learn your basic roller skate anatomy *and* how to lace em up right - seems like a no brainer, but lacing can really make a difference

link to a moxi skates unboxing showing all the new skate basics, tips + tricks (apply to p much all skates):

6a. on lacing, cntd, because the way you do them up makes such a difference to the way the skate feels and sits on your foot. there’re a lot of different ways to do them, but i’ve linked a vid that shows a reliable way to do them up (my preferred method):

7. understanding your edges** (inner and outer, on both skates) is essential - yet it’s weirdly hard to find any explanations of or explicit mentions of them :-( the vid i’ve linked is specifically about crossovers, BUT also explains edges super well:

7a. (**if you have any background in figure skating, this’ll probably either be familiar to you or make sense super fast.

spitfire explanation: you have two edges on each skate - your inners on your inner wheels; your outers on your outer wheels. they’re what you lean on to +