How to Rollerblade Backwards

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Inline skates
Protective Gear

Step 1

Bend your knees, and feel all the wheels on your skate touching the ground. A classic saying around skating has always been to bend your knees, not your waist. Some skaters liken the bending to sitting on a low bar stool.
Step 2

With your body weight centered over your skates, both skates parallel and square down the center of the road, push one skate out, heel first in a "C" shape. This means push it out, then pull it back in.
Step 3

The action of pushing the skate out at a C angle will push your stationary leg backwards. By pulling your skate back in you continue your momentum and return the pushing foot back to center.
Step 4

Now push the opposite leg outwards in a C shape. If you're moving, just push you skate out and back in, and it will create the path for you. This will continue to push you backwards while gliding on your stationary leg.
Step 5

Continue making C shape pushes and pulls, and you'll start moving. The harder you push, pull, the more resistance you may feel from the road. Just create the C shapes and keep your legs moving, and you'll be going fast enough.
Step 6

To do backwards cross overs: As you make the C shape with one leg, roll your inside leg to the "outside" of the wheels, which means towards your smallest toe, away from in between your skates. The rolling of your skate will push you in a circular fashion. The inside skate will also make a C push on the road, so you need to be able to balance on the outside skate. Alternate your weight between inside and outside feet as needed, and continue making C cuts with both skates, inside and outside "edges" of the wheels.

Comments

bmi57 said

on 10/26/2007 Great step by step, but I'm like Ray Starck about needing to learn how to skate forward first. I'm 49 and it really hurts when I fall down.