Things You'll Need:
- Inline skates
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Step 1
Master basic skating. Practice until you can skate forward and backward with ease.
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Step 2
Learn simple air maneuvers such as tweeks, in which you jump and bring your skates up behind you or to your side and touch them while in mid-air.
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Step 3
Practice your grinds -- performed by sliding with the wheels of your skate along a flat surface -- on small surfaces. Master the basics before trying to grind a high railing or a vert ramp. Some skates have grind plates or smaller center wheels that make grinding easier.
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Step 4
Skate in a vert, a ramp with a flat bottom and arching walls on either side commonly known as a "halfpipe." Start your runs at the bottom of the vert and build momentum by skating from side-to-side up the ramp. Once you get used to the unique aspects of the vert, you can begin dropping into the vert.
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Step 5
Use the lips of a vert ramp to begin working on your plants. Plant on the lip of a vert by placing your hand on the top of the ramp, or coping, and performing a trick that involves supporting some or all of your weight on that arm. Planting for any substantial amount of time takes a great deal of upper body strength and is not recommended for smaller skaters.
