At some point in your skating journey you will want to learn how to skate backwards on roller skates. It’s fun, it’s different and looks kinda cool, but when you first start skating backwards it’s difficult because your body and brain aren’t used to doing everything the wrong way around.
At Skatefresh skate school we try to help skaters of all ages and abilities how to learn new skills efficiently, without trial and error, using specific, tested and safe techniques. This video series of two tutorials shows you how to get going safely and how to skate backwards on roller skates if you’ve never tried it before.
Remember that generating speed on roller skates is more difficult than inline skates which roll more freely and have less friction action on them due to different wheel size. So it’s even more important on quads to do the correct technique to get moving.
How to Skate Backwards on Roller Skates/Quads Part 1 – Balance and propulsion
In Part 1 you’ll be introduced to the safest and most efficient way to find your balance and get moving when learning how to skate backwards on roller skates. It’s the exact same method that we use to teach people to skate forwards (avoiding the self-taught keeping all wheels on the ground non-method, that doesn’t get you very far).
Watch the video to find out the common mistakes and how to fix them, so you don’t develop bad habits that then take ages to undo.
How to Skate Backwards on Roller Skates/Quads Part 2 – Steering
In the Part 2 video below, I explain how to accurately steer your roller skates while skating backwards, to avoid it becoming a random exercise in not tripping yourself up. Easy steering relies on your weight being on the front half of your feet so your heels are lighter (and therefore “steerable”).
The technique of backward lemons provide the perfect shape to test your steering, as you glide your skates out and then in without hitting them together. Most skaters do this with skates too wide showing a natural resistance to steering the skates close together.
Later in the lesson I show you how to develop your steering (and propulsion technique) by doing half lemons which means weight bearing more on one skate than the other. This looks way easier than it actually is and the weaker side will often feel impossible at first because your body doesn’t want to bear weight on your weaker leg.
I hope you enjoy these how to skate video tutorials – let me know on Instagram or Facebook how you get on!
Remember that learning to skate is pure physics and not random in any way. To stay in control of and learn to skate safely and smoothly, there are correct things to do and things to avoid.
Let me know in the comments below the videos on YouTube how you get on and what problems you may be having, I’ll try to help.
Read more Skatefresh blogs:
Want expert tuition to improve your quad skating?
For more from Skatefresh in your feeds join us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.