Hi:

Most of the ice skating arenas in my area are now closing up for the spring/summer and I thought I would continue to practice (I'm a beginnier) by doing inline skating on the street. My question is do all of the things I've learned for ice skating apply also to inline skating? For example, in forward stroking extending the pushing leg straight and behind and holding it there with good form; cross-overs, skating backwards, etc etc. I imagine cross-overs might change a bit given that the brake is on one of the skates and will make the cross over a little different for that side. But otherwise, is there anything different I should be doing for road skating?

Thanks for any suggestions,

Bruce

When I was at your level, I found that rollerblading did help me on the ice. I was working on back crossovers, and it was very helpful. No technical difference, I just had to be aware that I wasn't going to slide if I fell! Oh, one thing I did notice is that the balance point seems to be different between figure skates and rollerblades--in skates, it's towards the ball of the foot, in rollerblades, it's towards the heel. I would occasionally feel like I was going to fly off the backs of my wheels because of the difference (when I'd rollerbladed for years and never had that problem before). I eventually gave up rollerblading much, because I didn't like the difference in balance. I just came to prefer the way a leather skate boot fits and feels. I'd probably be just fine in the PIC skates, though.

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