HOW NOT TO FALL - First Time on Inline Skates - Beginner's Guide #2

Playlist - Beginner's Guide to Inline Skating

First time on inline skates?

No need to fall like this! I'll teach you how.

#1 HIGH-FRICTION SURFACE

Find a soft high-friction surface. A playground with a rubber a surface is perfect.

Try to stand up with skates on and get used to the feeling.

Hmm, I think you got it now.

By the way, you can also practice on grass.

#2 FLAT SAFE AREA

Now you're ready for the real thing - asphalt and concrete.

Find a car free spot. It can be an empty parking lot or somewhere in the local park.

But I warn you. It must be completely flat! Even the smallest gradient will cause your skates to roll

#3 GETTING UP

Okay, time to get up

...

There are two clues to getting this right. First your balance point should be above your skates, else they'll just shoot out to the side.

Second, keep the skates at an angle to one another.

#4 THE HEEL LOCK

With the skates heel to heel like this, like in a V or a T, you won't need to fear one skate just suddenly rolling away.

Or ... toe to toe works too, I guess.

#5 THE PELVIS

I bet you didn't know this but your pelvis is essential for a good balance.

Too much in front, in medical terms - posterior pelvic tilt, or too much back - called anterior pelvis tilt

... and you'll find it hard to balance on skates.

What you need is a nice old-fashioned straight body posture.

#6 THE KNEE BEND

At least, this applies to your upper body. It's always good to bend your knees.

It lowers your balance point, makes it easier to recover if you're about to lose balance.

And as your skating improves, a knee bend will make you faster as well.

#6 THE ARMS

Keep your arms in front like this. I like to think of my arms as monkey arms. It really helps me keep balance.

So basically, if you listened to my advice, you'll want a good old fashioned straight pelvis and spine, a frog's legs, and the arms of an orangutan.

#7 THE LEADING SKATE

Keep one skate slightly in front of the other. This gives a wider base of balance.

#8 FALLING FORWARD

Alright, no matter what you do, you can never completely remove the risk of falling.

So better learn how to fall safely.

The clue is to distribute the fall over both your knees and your wrists and maybe elbows too.

So first I land on my knees but I don't want them to take the entire impact, so I keep falling forward and let the arms absorb the rest of the energy.

#9 FALLING BACKWARD

Backward falls can be extremely painful, especailly if your land on your tail bone.

But normally when I lose balance backward, one arm and one leg shoot up to compensate

while the other arm goes behind to catch the fall while the entire body rotates.

So in the end I normally either fall on my ass, and surprisingly that's not painful at all.

... I guess that's where the pelvis kicks in...

Or I just rotate completely and absorb the fall with my knees and arms.

But this is all instinct.

#10 SAFETY GEAR

Knee pads, wrist guards and elbow pads are often sold in bundles. And they can be very cheaep too.

And even the cheapest ones do offer good protection but one concern is that knee pads are usually very small.

They protect the knee cap but you still risk scraping the skin of your shin.

Therefore I recommend you consider buying some larger knee pads.

The helmet can be either a skate helmet or a bicycle helmet.

Just make sure it's the hard foam EPS kind. I know all helmets in Europe have to be of this kind,

but in the US I recommend you stay clear of soft foam skate helmets.

One more thing - EPS helmets can only take one impact, so if you fall on your head once or simply just drop the

helmet by accident, you better buy a new one.

[David-eums]

I love the pretend unsteadiness, looks like it could be me.

[berfo_karkuss]

You can't even pretend. You are great on theese skates

[kistole]

They way he’s demoing how to fall is hysterical 😂😂

[nefarioussness]

I just bought inline skates, but I haven’t skated in 17 years. I need all of the tips I can get! (I never thought about practicing on the grass first!) 😊

[adoraurora]

YES SOMEBODY WHO ACTUALLY WEARS PROTECTION

[gregorywandersaround]

One thing I never did, was to practice falling properly.

[emilykanyara]

My best friend is teaching me how to skate so we can skate together but it’s so difficult and I feel bad coz she’s so patient, I hope I can learn in a few months, wish I can overcome the fear of falling

[muhaiminazlan]

Im loving all your current videos and tutorial! Keep it up dude

[lexheart]

Its really hard to practice skates because theres not an open area at my place

[WmLatin]

I'm thinking of practicing 'tuck& roll' falling method on grass after a rain... Anyone else do that? Still using full pads...

[midnightsun]

Hi.I am new at ice skating.Your videos are helping me with essentials.Like balance, falls etc.Thank you :)

[aliciajesperson]

I have the issue where I can't seem to lift my feet off the ground. Like they're glued there. I just started rollerblading and find that my fear of falling is hindering me. I just need to get over that fact and fall with grace and accept it!

[ragingadmiral]

Started skating yesterday, first thing I tried was the playground rubber surface and it was so helpful

[VARKEYMAN]

i just started today, practiced for 30 minutes fell off like 60 times. :'(

[soggybread]

I wish you made this video when I started skating lol. This is very helpful and many people will learn a lot from this! By the way, what is your favorite trick

[Keile]

Ahahah omg I loved your video! Every other tutorial make it too simple...but if it's someone's first time skating....nothing's for granted

[seth]

I used to play hockey as a kid on inline skates, it has been 10 years since ive skated and I just bought a pair and im planning on joining a rec league at my local place. Im going tomorrow to see if i remember it. Bought some tour code 7 skates. Size 10! Lol. Back then i was 5ft tall with skates on, now im 6'4 without skates and like 6'7 w them on

[allenm]

ALWAYS get metal frames! I've been skating on plastic frames for 23 years, finally got metal, and my once-favorite skates are now TOYS compared to the power and control that metal delivers. I feel so ROBBED!

[bigboyjohnny]

1:53 this part is so funny but accurate in a weird way. Love your channel. Your such a great teacher and funny! New subby here! God bless

[GalluZ]

My opinion for beginers; *Don't use protection.*

Some random guy: "Wtf. Are you crazy dude? You're gonna hurt."
Yes; if you do not careful while skating.

Not wearing protection increases my balance, because I train myself not to fall to avoid injuries. If I did fall, I stretch my legs, do turns, and try to roll. Oh, I skate with a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans, "protecting" my hand and legs (Learned from another video of yours). It also train my awareness and skating feel. Fear of fall helps; pins eyes at the front, searching incoming obstacles.
Opposite effect when I wear protection. I'm thinking "Not even a scratch gonna happen on me", thus making me clumsy and have too much free space to play with, but at the time I'm still training balance. And I fell to the back. Luckily, I didn't break my tailbone, but I made my left hand stunned - unable to move - followed my right hand (I kept training. It's fun to skate. Thanks Tiago and my nephew), though not too painful as in my left hand. Feels fine after receiving a therapy 3 days later.

I'm a beginner myself and it's been a month plus a week since I bought my first pair. Now working on slaloms and slides every now and then. I'm pretty good skating with one leg. I fell at least once every training session. I train thrice a week. What do you guys think of my progress?

When I fall, I'm not shy at all. My body falls, but my spirit didn't.

Subbed!