Roller skating simply involves moving or traveling on surfaces, typically hard surfaces using roller skates. Roller skating can be undertaken as a recreational activity or as a sport. Some people regard skating as a form of transportation, as was demonstrated in the United States during the preparation for the World war II where the government considered adding roller skates as a form of movement around Europe to save gas.
The Different Types of skates
The three varieties of skates are quad roller skates, inline skates, and tri-skates. Nonetheless, some experiments have been done on a single-wheeled “quintessence skate” or other variations on the basic skate design, including two-wheeled (heel and toe) inline skate frames.
The Roller-branded skates became very successful during the late 1980s and the early 1990s. Several other companies became motivated to come up with similar inline skates, leading to the inline design gaining more popularity than the traditional quads.
For much of the 1980s and partly the 1990s, the inline skates were made of a hard plastic boot, similar to skiing boots. In around 1995, soft boor designs were brought in to the market by the ‘sporting goods’ company and modeled for use as fitness skates. Several other companies followed suit, and by the year 2000, the manufacture of hard-shell skates became limited only for purposes of aggressive inline skating discipline and different specialized designs.
The single-wheel skate was developed by Miyshael F. Gailson of Caples Lake Resort, California, in 1988. The primary purpose of this skate was for use in cross-country skate skiing and telemark skiing training.
Roller Skating Types
1. Artistic roller skating
Artistic roller skating is a form of sport that entails a couple of events. In most cases, these events are done using quad skates, with a few events utilizing inline skates. Age and ability/experience are usually the key elements considered during the organization of various events. Below are the events that make up artistic roller skating.
- Figures: this entails orderly movement consisting of at least two circles involving primary or both primary and secondary movements with or without turns. The circles on which figures are skated are usually engraved on the skating surface.
- Dance: This can either be a solo dance or team dance. Solo dances entail set patterns whereby the judges award marks for making good edges, how neat they are, and how well the turns are done. As for team dances, two people, usually of the same ability and age, skate together performing the set dances. Skaters are judged based on the accuracy of the steps that they skate while doing a particular dance and how they carry themselves in a presentable manner while adhering to the rhythm and timing of the music.
- Freestyle: This form of roller dancing is a physical movement style that is not pre-planned ahead of time. It occurs in many forms, including dances that involve partners. In general, this form of dance is not standardized; i.e., it cannot be the same from one performance to the other.
- Precision teams: This involves a team of skaters and entails creating patterns and movements that align with the music. The elements used here include a line, skating in a box, splicing, and skating in a circle. The teams could be ‘small groups’ (6-15 people) or ‘big groups’ (16-30 people) and are awarded marks based on choreography and the capability to skate together in an organized manner.
- Singles and pairs: A single skaters or a group of skaters present routines to music. Judgment is based on skating ability and creativity. Activities such as jumps, turns, and spins are a part of the event.
2. Speed skating
Roller skates, quads, or four wheels per skate were initially used when speed skating began. The first competition took place in Detroit, Michigan, in the year 1938. In the early years, the sport was dominated by competitors who came from mid-west states. However, by 1950, the east and west coast began to thrive. Speed skating competition started as a state tournament, grew to a regional tournament, and eventually became a national tournament.
3. Group skating
Group skate or street skate emanated from a situation whereby many skaters not committed to specific disciplines often met to skate together on city streets. The groups initially consisted of 15-20 skaters, but hundreds of skaters would come together after some years. Some of the globally popular group skating activities include ‘the weekly Friday night,’ one of the world’s most giant group skates. On some occasions, this event brings together 35000 skaters on a single night.
Another popular group skating event is the ‘Sunday skate night’ in Berlin, which brings together over 10000 skaters during the summer. Other cities that host popular events include Copenhagen, London, Munich, Buenos Aires, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Tokyo, and New York.
4. Aggressive inline
This is trick-based skating. It entails performing tricks using a skate that is slightly different from the regular skates. The skate has a grind block in the middle of two wheels, and the wheels are made of a huge flat surface to provide the grip required. This activity can be performed either at a skate park or on ordinary streets.
5. Jam skating
Jam skating is also known as toe-dancing, trucking, spot-skating, crazy leg, shuffle skating, rexxing, hexing, shadow skating, or disco skating. It is an African-American style of skating consisting of various activities, including gymnastics, dance, and roller skating, done on roller skates. Individuals who partake in jam skating are well-practiced in these forms, and they need to have the ability to perform these movements while riding on skates.
This skating type gained popularity in the early 1990s. Over the years, there have been jam skating competitions, including Heartbreak Skating Competition, Southern Slam, Pajama Jam, The Championship, and Classic Summer Jam. The jam skating styles include footwork, groundbreaking, shuffle skating – skating forward or backward with all eight wheels down while moving to the beat of the music, and power – which entails full-body spins and rotations which seem to be defiance to gravity.
6. Roller derby skating
This type of sport is played by two teams comprising of 2 to 15 people. Its gameplay entails a series of scrimmages, whereby both teams pick a jammer and four blockers to skate anticlockwise around a track. The jammer picks up points by lapping skaters of the opposing team. The teams play both offensive game; by assisting their designated jammer, and defensive game; by hindering the opposing jammer.
7. Roller Hockey
Also called roller sport, this sport existed way before inline skates came to existence. Quad skates were used to play this sport globally.
How To Play The Sport-Roller Skating
Like any other game, before you partake in skating, either around your house or on your local town’s streets, you need to learn how it should be performed with utmost safety. Here we look at ways to play the game.
Gearing up
The safety equipment required for skating includes a helmet and a pair of firm skating shoes, which you can purchase from any sports stores or rent them. The helmet is essential mostly for a learner as it will prevent the skater from getting hurt in case they fall. A knee and elbow pad are also very crucial because starters usually fall in their initial stages.
The right posture
With skating, the right balance is essential. Keep your feet and shoulder-width away from each other, then take a squat position while keeping your knees bent. Once you are in a comfortable squatting position, lower your back towards the ground, and lean forward. This ensures that you maintain the proper balance, and you won’t trip. During your initial stages of skating, keeping this form will be a bit hard; in fact, you will fall a couple of times because it feels as if you can’t control your stature and the skates. However, if you keep practicing, you will learn it over time.
Walking
With your heels kept together while also pointing out your toes, slowly try to walk, to the right then towards the left, then again towards the right repeatedly. Remember to keep on squatting and also to keep your heels straight beneath your body.
The objective is to walk in your skating shoes flawlessly while maintaining balance. You could fall down a couple of times, but the key is to keep the squat position. As you begin to do better, increase your pace, and try to move a bit quicker, taking longer steps. Increase your push on the shoe wheels and roll more with each step.
Gliding
Increase your pace and allow yourself to roll for a while. While pushing yourself with one foot, glide using the other foot’s support until you feel like losing the motion and then shifting your foot and repeat. Ensure that as you glide in one foot, the other foot should be in the air to avoid hampering your glide. Keep practicing by turning right and left as you glide. Lean your body a little to the right while turning right and a little to the left while turning left. Always remember to maintain a squat position.
After you gain some confidence, try gliding faster. While moving a bit more quickly, maintain the momentum by applying more pressure on the wheels. You have to apply pressure on the wheels and push yourself ahead if you want to gain momentum. Using your body weight will help you gain some speed. To maintain your balance, you need to make movements like running with the help of your arms. As you do this, bend your elbows and do that back and forth.
Applying the brakes
Before you start using a skate, make sure it has a brake. The brake of the skate shoes is found under the toe of the skate. When the time comes for stopping, you have to slide on your skates parallel to each other. Always remember to keep a squatting position then lean forward slightly. Put your right skate a little in front of your left skate, lift your toe of the right skate as you press it down hard.
The stopping time is parallel to how hard you press. In case you do not find enough pressure during the first trial, then using your hand, you can apply a little pressure on your right knee.
Roller Skating Equipment
Here we will take a look at the equipment used by roller-skating players. Other than rollerblades and inline skates, the equipment below are used while playing roller skating:
Soaps
Roller skating players need to have a concave plastic plate fitted in their soles, which allows them to grind. They look like street and skate shoes.
Heelys
These shoes look like ordinary shoes except that they have a retractable wheel underneath the shoes’ soles. The best thing about the shoes is that they can be used as casual shoes and a roller skate. Heelys come in handy in places where skateboarding and all-wheel related sports are prohibited. In such situations, one can easily wear them. They portray a low-key appearance, making them more enticing.
Freeline skates
This type of skate is unattached, and skaters place them beneath their regular skating shoes. They have two inline wheels, which are set with each other under a small square plate with a short base. A grip tape that has the same width as the shoes help to attach them. This type of shoes is similar to the Heelys and allows a range of motions the same as a single-wheeled skate.
Two-wheeled skates
These types of skates are not popular. Some look like inline skates, and others are large wheel skates. They are made of two huge wheels attached outwards the skates rather than in the center. They resemble the freeline skates in that they have a small squarish platform with two medium-sized inline skate style of wheels.
Orbit wheel skates
These skates belong to the family of freeline skates. The skate in these wheels stand on grip tapes and is slightly bigger than the freeline skate shoes. They have a big hoop inside that contains a wheel trapped and can rotate freely under the grip plate.
Buying Guides For Roller Skates
Roller skates are made for purposes which include fitness, regular skating, or disco and dancing. Here we will look at what to look out for while choosing the best roller skate suitable for your requirement.
Wheels
Choosing the right wheels will depend significantly on the skating type that you are interested in. Roller skates have four wheels in pairs that make them stable to stand on. For a first-time buyer, you will need to choose whether you want the wheels hard or soft, wide, or narrow. The hardness or softness of a wheel is determined by a durometer scale that runs from 0-100A. The closer you are to 0, the softer the wheels will be, and the closer you are to 100, the harder the wheels will be.
Outdoor skaters will need a softer wheel, which allows for non-smooth surfaces while indoor skaters will work better with harder wheels. The benefit of harder wheels is that they have a longer lifespan. The disadvantage, however, is that they have less grip and shock absorption. A softer wheel on the other side provides a better grip and shock absorption, but are slower and will give you a shorter life span.
Narrow wheels are simpler to steer and work better for beginners and also skaters who like to make fancy turns. Wider wheels, on the other hand, are a bit difficult to control, but offer stability during high speed turns because they have more surface area. If you want to change how soft or hard, narrow, or wide your wheels are, you can do so by merely removing your wheels and replacing them with wheels that match the durometer, size, and shape that you prefer.
Bearings
These are complex little elements placed inside the wheels to enable you to roll. Generally, the higher-rated the bearings are, the better the bearing. When buying roller skates, it is not important to pay much attention to bearings since you rarely get to speeds high enough to affect the rating of ABEC bearings that you need to have. ABEC stands for Annular Bearing Engineers’ Committee, which determines bearing ratings. The rating system includes grades 1,3,5,7, and 9, and the number determines how much roll the bearings have.
The higher the grade number, the longer your wheel will take to stop spinning after you stop pushing. As would be expected, more expensive bearings are designed to last longer, withstand more pressure, and give a well-balanced feel on your skates. If you want your quad skates to perform at their best, it is essential that you treat the bearings well. This means that you should avoid sand, dirt, water, and moist as much as possible.
Hard-boot versus soft-boot
You can get boots as either hard-boots/ hard-shells or as soft-boots/ soft-shells. Hard boots are perfect for fitness use and longer rides because they give excellent stability and support. Another advantage is that you can replace the liner once it gets worn out. Soft-boots will be suitable for you if you are looking for a more maneuverable skate for dancing or disco. The best thing about soft-boots is that they are better ventilated, and they weigh less.
Size
Choosing the correct size can be difficult. The essential thing is that the skates ought to have a firm fit on your feet, without being either too tight or too loose. In most cases, choosing the same size as the regular shoe size works best, while for some people, picking a size up works right. If you are a first-time buyer, it is recommended that you go one size up. You should also keep in mind reading the size guide first.
Trucks and plates
Roller skates have a truck and a plate underneath. There are two basic types of skating plates; 10 degree and 45 degree. Both have pros and cons. The number is derived based on what angle the kingpin is drilled on. A 10-degree skating plate, also known as a free-skating plate, is designed to place the player over the kingpin and cushions, bringing a more stable skating feel. The truck design on this plate assumes a more vertical, less aggressive setup, which helps in keeping a skater more upright.
The 45-degree skating plate, also referred to as figure plate, is designed to place the player over the pivot pin, bringing a more aggressive stance and feel. The truck design on this plate is made with a horizontal approach in relation to the skating floor and is more sensitive to the skaters’ movement hence allowing them to change the direction faster and under control.
Most plates are made of nylon and fiberglass, which cost less and make the skate lighter in weight. The trucks are built from aluminum, making them stronger but heavier. Quad skates are also made with cushions underneath, which you can replace based on your liking. The softer the cushions are, the more agile the skates become, and the harder the cushions are, the more directional stable the skates become.
Toe stops
The toe stop is one of the unique characteristics of quad skates, alongside having four wheels in pairs. Toe stops are meant to be used when setting off and also when braking. You can replace the toe stops, but always remember to do so before they get entirely worn out; otherwise, it becomes challenging to dismount.
Skate Protection
As a minimum, it is recommended that you have a helmet that will provide protection to your head. Being fully geared up with complete skate protection, including a helmet, wrist guards, knee pads, and elbow pads, gives you a most needed sense of safety that gives you confidence hence making you learn faster.
Artistic Roller-Skating World champions
The artistic roller-skating world championships is a global skating competition authorized by the International Roller Sports Federation. Lots of top skaters participate in this competition, and they strive to win the title ‘world champion’, which is the most prestigious and renowned award. The world championship categories include men’s singles, ladies’ singles, pairs’ title, and juniors’ categories.
Below are some of the champions of the sport:
1. Roberto Riva
Roberto Riva is a skater from Italy and has won lots of gold medals. In 2005, he claimed two gold medals in world championships that featured free skating and combined events. In 2006, he won another two gold medals in figures and combined events and one silver in free skating. In 2007 and 2008, he won gold in all three events in that year’s world championships. In 2009, he won a silver medal in the world games.
2. Marcel Ruschel Sturmer
Marcel Ruschel Sturmer hails from Brazil and has won a couple of titles in his career. He is considered one of the best in the game. In 2012, he won gold in world games, won a bronze medal in 2008 and 2010, and a silver medal in 2011 and 2012. He also participated in Pan American games in 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015 and claimed gold in all these years in the individual event. In 2010, he won silver in a South American competition.
3. Federico Degli Eposti
Federico Degli Eposti comes from Italy and was the world roller skating pair champion from 2003 to 2006, with his partner being Marika Zanforlin. He is a member of Polisportiva and Pontevicchio clubs. He has participated in the ISU challenger series and picked up 118.2 points in the combined event, 77.1 points in free skating, and 41.42 points in short program event.
4. Tanja Romano
Tanja Romano stands out as one of the best female skaters who has claimed many medals. From 2002 to 2010, she participated in world championships and claimed 15 gold medals and two silver medals. She also participated in European championships from 2003 to 2006 and won six gold medals, two silvers, and one bronze medal. Furthermore, she took part in Italian championships from 2002 to 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, and claimed 13 gold medals.
The Bottom Line
Those who find the timeless act of roller skating to be a passion know why, where, and what they need to enjoy themselves. If you are thinking of getting into the skating world, this piece will give you some helpful education on several items which include skating types, how to play the game, skating equipment required, and a buying guide to guide you through.
Once you decide to take the leap, make sure that you purchase a right skate, and you are good to go. You will most definitely want to increase the life span and make the most out of your skates; here are several maintenance practices that you will need to observe. First, always ensure the wheels are spinning correctly. Secondly you will need to clean your bearings on a regular. Moreover, always keep your boot clean, and lastly, ensure that you check your brakes for proper functionality.
