Stopping on inline skates...

[skatingbackwards]

I recently tried playing roller again after having played ice for a while, and it was impossible to get used to stopping again. I habitually tried to hockey stop, or snowplow, and each time my ankle would roll or I'd abruptly trip all over myself and fly forward.

Not that I had the secret to graceful stopping before: I used to just drag my back foot behind me to slow down, but dragging killed my wheels. Sometimes I'd just spin around and reverse direction, but it all seems so foreign to me now.

One of the other guys on the team switches back and forth, sometimes every night, between ice and roller, but it doesn't seem to trip him up quite the same way.

Any suggestions?

Joe

[SpeedDemon]

Basically, it just takes experience and practice, which you gain from skating as often as you can between the two surfaces. I skate maybe 3-4 times a week on ice, and 2-3 times roller, and back when I first started doing this, it still took a few months to get used to it totally. However, now I barely have to think about it, even if I've gone a few weeks without being on roller, or ice, and then try to make the switch. I guess it's like riding a bike.

One of the biggest benefits I found when finally 'mastering' this transition between ice and roller, was that I quickly learned how to stop on all remaining edges of my skates on both surfaces. Before, I could only hockey stop on my right and left outside foot on ice, and right foot in roller. But for some reason, within months I was finding myself stopping on all inside and outside edges of both skates, on both surfaces, and this has dramatically increased my agility and stop-and-go game. So I definitely recommend putting the work in.

[missionhockey21]

Go figure, I've played roller for years and ice hockey here and there, and it's so foreign to me to stop like an ice player I just end up sliding in to the boards half the time.

[MDE3]

Your point is well made. As a coach of both roller and ice at various "travel" levels, and having run a lot of clinics for both, I can only emphasize to get used to your edges. Better yet - get some professional help. Learning to transition from inside to outside "edges" (there aren't really edges on inline skates) is one of the first things to do. A good skating clinic or private coach will teach you this pretty quickly. Typically you try to make large "S's" on one foot shifting from the inside to the outside edge, and using the thrust of your thigh while "cutting" the "c" (half of the "S&quot to propel yourself. This is better done with an instructor who can show you than by just trying it on your own. But this will teach you the feel of your edges in both disciplines, and from there - stopping comfortably is not far away. There are then more advanced methods for learning to stop "on a dime" which you should not try until you become comfortable with the traditional stop. Hint: use your knees a lot - it will make it easier. If you ski it is similar. You go into a stop with your knees bent, straightening your legs and "unweighting the skate" then turning at the point of "unweightedness" Then once you have turned almost "in the air" or with minimum weight on your "blade" allow your weight to come down and reflexing your knees as you finish, then rising back up to create more "bite". You need to exagerate this as you learn, but as you get comfortable this transition will become fluid and you will no longer be concious of it.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by MDE3 on 10/29/02 00:08 AM.</EM></FONT></P>