Learn to Rollerblade
Maybe some of your friends or relatives have been telling you about how much fun rollerblading is. You have seen some people rollerblading in the park and it does not look that hard. Being the wise person you are however, you decide that you should try to learn to rollerblade before you try to keep up with your neighbors in the park. Your educated approach will pay of with less pain and more confidence.
As a general rule if a person feels comfortable with what they are learning they can learn it and be successful at it faster. If however, a person is taken out of their comfort zone, or has a bad experience the first time they are trying to learn something, then learning becomes a much harder and longer process. Therefore to help you lean to roller blade without unnecessary delays lets first help you to feel comfortable.
In order to feel comfortable you first need all the appropriate safety gear: helmet, gloves, wrist guards, knee pads, elbow pads, and comfortable but snug fitting inline skates. If you have all of this equipment now you are ready to put it on and try it out. Many experience rollerbladers recommend that for the first time you should take your equipment to a carpeted room or a flat grassy area. Put your protective equipment on first, making sure that it fits securely but comfortably, then sit down on the ground or floor to put your roller blades on.
Once your blades are on get on to your knees with your hands on the ground in front of you. With your hands still on the ground pull your right knee up under your arm pit. Now your right skate is under your body. OK, now pull your left leg into the same position while your hands are still touching the ground. Take a moment to balance your self on both skates.
From this position gradually lift your hands up in front of you and start to stand up. Keep your knees slightly bent and your hands out in front of you. This will help you keep your balance. Once you feel pretty good about yourself for being able to stay balance on two shoes with eight wheels between them, you are ready for the next step. Literally it is to step. Lift up one foot and take a step. Try slowly walking around on the rug or grass. These surface should keep your rolling to a minimum and allow you to get a good feel of how to stay balanced. After you fell that you have mastered this find some smooth flat pavement to practice rolling and stopping on.
Control, or the ability to stop, is certainly an important key to feeling comfortable. Most inline skates have some form of brake: heal brake, toe brake, or a cuff-activated brake. Usually you will be starting with a heal break or a cuff activated brake. Both involve bending your knees keeping your weight forward and slowly raising your right skate until the brake makes contact with ground. The harder you apply pressure to your brake the quicker you stop. Again, take time to practice this until you are completely confident in you ability to stop yourself.
Additional aids to help you learn to rollerblade or learn to inline skate can be found in the form of videos, lessons from a local instructor, or possibly free community lessons. Hopefully these few simple techniques can get you started with a form of recreation that can give you pleasure and exercise for years to come.
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