A question about Roller Skating

[skatergee01]

Can it help me get better with my ice skating when I'm off the ice because I live quite far away from the rink so i was just wondering if roller skating is the same?
I'm thinking about buying some quad skates ... should i ?

[techskater]

I don't know that it would help much with edges as it's different than ice. Maybe some of the former roller skaters can answer...

[dbny]

Inline is closer to ice than quad. There are inlines that are made specifically to mimic ice skates.

[Bill_S]

I regularly skate on rockered inlines (PIC skates, to be specific) at a roller rink.

The biggest benefit is increased leg strength and deeper knee bend. Inlines and quads both require stronger pushes to skate, and that should translate to more speed and power on the ice. It did for me.

I've also mastered most of the three turns and a bracket or two in addition to mohawks, etc. on inlines, but it took a while. One-foot turns are more "fussy" on wheels than on ice. You won't skid a turn on wheels - they'll grab and over you go. Ice is easier in that regard.

Spins seem near impossible on inlines though. I don't even try anymore.

[Sessy]

I've got quads and snow whites. Quads help to get your edges really clean, especially just the edge exercises, because edges are so hard to do on them. Snow whites are JUST like ice as far as edges are concerned, it's scary, just that it "sticks" more, but really anything you can do on ice as far as edges, you can do on snowwhites - I think, I haven't tried rockers on em yet.

For spins, neither quads or snow whites are really satisfactory as far as I'm concerned. Jumps work well on both, but are a little harder to do. Say I can do a flip on ice, I only get a half flip on quads etc. Did get a full toeloop on quads though, but it was pretty high on ice.

As far as spirals, quads are good cuz you learn to balance better (that is, you fall faster than on ice). Especially biellmann-wise.

[kayskate]

I second the sentiments already posted about rockered inlines. IMO, if you have a convenient roller rink, it is worth doing. You will skate much faster once you get back on ice. If you get picskates, they are longer than ice blades. It will take some time to adjust. You will feel clumsy doing xovers b/c they are longer. I also have done a lot of quad. It is also worth your time. Investing in quad dance and/or quad compulsory figure lessons improved my ice skating. It is also cheaper than ice lessons. Quad is different enough that it doesn't confuse muscle memory. I say: Go for it!

Kay

[skatergee01]

Thanks :)
i'm going to buy some 70s style quad skates
i'll get a pic soon :)

[2salch0w]

Forget the quad skates and just go for the pic skates, or standard inlines that can be rockered if you don't want to spend the $$$ on pics.

Quads are an entirely different animal and if improving your ice skating is the point, I don't think they will help. They could even hurt.

While even the pic skates have differences from the feel of ice skates, it more closely resembles it and will give you benefits, as other posters have said.

I have found that crossovers, 3 turns, brackets, rockers, chotaws, mohawks and jumps through flip are fairly similar. I agree with Bill that spinning is not possible in any sense that we as ice skaters would understand. I used to try doing like a heel/toe spin on them, and I swear it is partly to blame for my lousy spins on the ice to this day. The pic skate video shows some top skaters spinning, but I think it was done with mirrors. :)

Tim

[dbny]

Forget the quad skates and just go for the pic skates, or standard inlines that can be rockered if you don't want to spend the $$$ on pics.

Quads are an entirely different animal and if improving your ice skating is the point, I don't think they will help. They could even hurt.


ITA. Pushing is different on quads, one foot turns are different, shoulders vs hips is different. Progressives are different. Spinning is different. I could go on and on. Inlines are your best bet.

[Sessy]

Yeah but there are some very very cheap quads, I got some second-hand for a reaaaal bargain (they don't do that pivot thing btw so you couldn't spin on them anyway) which do great for stuff like crossovers, spirals, hydroblades, practicing holding a landing edge (that was on the tests I had to take). So it can be quite useful to get them if you can get them for like 10-20 bucks with the toe-stops intact. Besides the stuff I described, I practice on a concrete basketball field... And I'm not sure I can take my pic skates there with all the leaves and sand lying around. So it could still be worthwhile.

Pic skates or snowwhites are like 200-400, at least over here.
Here's me on mine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F-8g4NLWmk

Oh and here's what you can expect spinning-wise from them (not my videos)
http://skateclass.ru/roller/Vrashenie1.avi
http://skateclass.ru/roller/Vrashenie2.avi
http://skateclass.ru/roller/margoo/Vrashenie4.avi

[Pandora]

I have done both http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TlALbadk4A
They are very different. Be careful of quads. You may develop "bad technique" for ice and bad habits are hard to break. Also, artistic roller skates (to jump in) have something called a "jump plate" built into the skate. It has a small rubber washer to absorb some impact because you "stick" jump landings like a gymnast. You don't land toe-edge. Never land over the right side (like ice) or you will wipe out. (I guarentee.) Roller lands flat on quads. (And I still land flat on ice....which is a major fault on my jumps. :oops: See video.) If you jump without the jump plate, you may get too much impact and end up hurting yourself. :(
I can not speak for inline since I never skated on them. (Only quads.) But I have heard they are more like ice....
Good Luck!!!:)

[skatergee01]

I've had inlines before, and they arent as enjoyable as quads :o
so i'm gonna order the quads anyway, because i need something to do in the summer.

[kayskate]

I've had inlines before, and they arent as enjoyable as quads :o
so i'm gonna order the quads anyway, because i need something to do in the summer.

Seems there's disagreement anyway about quad skating as x-training for ice. It depends on what you want to get out of it. I have done quad, ice, and picskating. I don't have much exp w basic inline, so cannot comment. Quad skating will definitely develop strength, maintain your sense of gliding. Balance is different. For me that was an advantage b/c it is not enough like ice skating to confuse my muscle memory when I went back and forth. I used to do both interchangeably.

Hope you enjoy!

Kay

[MusicSkateFan]

I started on picskates then moved to ice. For a short time I did both. Mainly just jumps only on picskates. I had a nationally well known roller-coach who was very good about jumps and it did bode well for my ice jumps. The loop jump on picskates is from a less curved edge and did not help on the ice. I still have trouble with loop jumps.

I would agree that picskates help with strength and particularly cross overs.

Due to the fact that there is little adult interest in roller skating outside of dance...I decided in early 2006 to only do ice skating.

[dbny]

If you are already VERY good at either quad or ice, you can switch without much trouble. Younger DD, who was working on Int moves when she quit, put on my ancient (45 years) quads last night and skated up and down the hall with great ease, until older DD came down yelling that she had been waken up by giant thunder.