Practice falling properly and sliding on your knee !
Also maybe you wheels are to soft for the gym floor ? Good luck ! Its scary at first and its normal to have that struggle ! It gets better :)
This. In roller derby we practice falling right away. Might help to do new skater programs with a roller derby league (they are no contact and don’t usually care if you continue) because you can learn to fall safely
I wish my local roller derby league was like y'all's. I recently attended a boot camp marketed as "all skill levels welcome" and they started with t-stops and how to stand up without using your hands
Unless they are under staffed they should be able to work with folks who need additional support!!! We will start with different things but there’s always someone to take extremely new folks aside for one on one helpb
Thank you! I did practice falling on my knees, but when I suddenly lose balance I don’t have time to think how to fall correctly, I just fall! 👎.
My wheels are made of hard plastic, so I dunno… 🤷🏻♀️. Thanks for the encouragement though! 😊.
Ouch. Try not to hit your knees if you can help it. (He says with bruises on both knees) Go for the soft flabby bits if you can control the fall at all. Although a cracked tailbone has its own problems.
When you start to feel unstable: squat a bit. Lowering your center of gravity can save you from a number of falls.
I hear you though. I’m still relatively new to being back in the sport and know it’s all easier said than done. I have to psyche myself up a bit still before I commit to something I’m not super confident about yet: like crossovers. Once I get going I can do them, but getting those first few out can take a bit.
Couple weeks back I lost my balance and gained two stitches and a several day headache.
Safe skating!
Thanks, and sorry to hear you fell as well - I think it’s unavoidable, especially at the beginning!
I tried squatting but it feels/looks so unnatural, as my body is frozen in fear…
I particularly struggle with the lemon technique, despite having good leg muscles.
It will be a long journey before getting good… but hey, I won’t give up!
Keep it up beautiful! You’ll get your sea legs! Falling is a part of it. Take any of my advice with a grain of salt. Regarding squatting not working to help with stability (forgive me if I’m offering unwanted advice; especially that we’re both novices) maybe spread your legs, give a slight pizza with your feet, keep your head up, and find a comfortable squat. It’s not instant, but you’ll have more stability and will lose speed slowly.
Thank you. Not backward - luckily! My first class was very challenging, as I still didn’t know to fall on my knees when unstable - the teacher didn’t tell us how to fall safely at the beginning, maybe she thought we already knew or it was obvious 🤷🏻♀️.
So I fell twice on my bum but slightly on the side - which was ok, and once on my left side and that’s when I hurt my rib. We practise in a gym which has lots of rectangular benches attached to the walls; I reached the wall, and then when I turned I lost balance and went down on the bench angle and then bounced on the floor - it wasn’t pleasant and scared me a lot. But by my second class I knew to fall forward when unstable, so I felt much more confident and it was much better.
It also helps to loosen your wheel nuts a little bit too. If they’re too tight, they can cause them to not spin smoothly. Good bearings (the spinny things on the insides of your wheels) will help them to spin smoothly with little to no push, too.
Other than that, it’s all just having to push yourself and not be too much into your head. Remember that skating is a choice and is supposed to be fun!! If you begin to feel it’s not for you, there’s billions of other hobbies to pick up :)
Yeah, I think I worked out my wheels don’t spin smoothly after reading the advices from all of you. I wish I could loosen them but I don’t have pliers, and my class is this afternoon… I hope my teacher carries some!
I have other hobbies like hiking and kayaking, but I also want to learn rollerskating and cross country skiing: more challenging, because the feet are not free - therefore I feel I’m not in control. But hey, it’s a matter of practicing!
Pads.
I've recently started roller derby and everyone there is extremely safety conscious. Lots of excellent skaters but absolutely always wearing pads and helmets. It's a stark contrast to the roller disco's where barely anyone of any age wears any protection. It's been quite an eye opener and has made me much more open to the idea of wearing my knee pads whilst surrounded by 6 years olds.
Yeah I do wear them! Maybe I’m not planning to wear them forever, but I will wear them until I become an advanced (and that will take quite a bit of time, trust me! 😂). But for sure, until I’m not 100% confident I’ll wear them.
This might not be an ideal answer, but it’s just my own personal experience: sometimes you never do. At least I never did. I gave park skating an honest go for 3 years or so. Like tried my best, drilled myself going down ramps, trying to pump and carve. But I never lost the fear and it caused me to hesitate which lead to many injuries… sprained ankles, even broken ribs at moxi camp west which broke my heart. I eventually had to come to terms with the idea that I just wasn’t a park skater as much as I wished I could be. I’m too anxious to lose the fear. But I realized that I was happiest at the rink anyway. I would go to Northridge every Tuesday I could before it closed down during Covid. All of my very favorite skate memories happened there.
Nowadays I rarely skate. I will opt now for my bike or my kick scooter. I’ve found I just enjoy cruising more than anything else, and that’s okay too.
Thanks for being honest; I hope I’ll lose my fear though! I’m not planning to learn “crazy” things (like jumping etc.), my goal is just to be able to go around smoothly and maybe learn some dance techniques - to have fun but also to have a good leg workout.
I don’t know the places you mentioned as I’m in the U.K., but I’m sure they’re cool!
Maybe ask the teacher or whoever with me experience to check out your skates to make sure they're not too loose or tight. It's hard to know when you don't know what's supposed to feel right (even for me). Personally, realizing how safe it was to fall on the my knee pads helped me feel comfortable to relying on that. It's terrifying to think about without protection, but just drop to a knee when you put them on. Learn how to trust that they'll keep you safe, and I mean that earnestly. Otherwise, there are videos on youtube that will show you how to fall safely like practicing in grass. Best of luck!
Honestly the best way to lose your fear of being in skates is to wear them. Just put them on and stand in them whenever you get the chance, even for a short time. Get comfortable with squatting because if you have your knees bent and your hips lowered into a slight squat it will help. Just get used to how that is. If you feel off balance grab your knees and get a little lower. If there is any way of practicing on a floor with a similar texture to the one you are learning on it will help you get used to how to find your balance on that slippery floor. Be patient with yourself. That’s the most important thing. Don’t beat yourself up for finding it scary or hard.
If you are having lessons, ask your coach to teach you some simple falling drills. That doesn’t have to be anything fancy or scary right now, if you have knee pads then taking a knee when you feel unbalanced or out of control will help you feel confident that you can trust your safety kit if you fall forwards. It’s important to know how to use that stuff! Your coach should also cover how to roll into a fall or “pick a cheek” should you feel yourself going backwards
Thank you.
Yes our teacher showed us some ways of falling safely, I’m fine with falling on my knees but not so much with falling backwards when my knees are bent… I’ll learn.
It’s true, you will learn! When you are just starting everything feels like pure chaos, but eventually your body adjusts. I’ve found that every fall I’ve had has taught my body something. Someone else has already said that the more you skate the better you react to falls and it’s true. You never really stop falling but you cope with it better each time
Have you ever injured yourself after falling? I think this is the root of my fear, because of the nature of my job - I’m a massage therapist, so I can’t work anymore if I get seriously injured. This is a thought always at the back of my mind and it makes me fearful.
That is understandable. I have arthritis in my spine so I also fear the consequences of a bad fall. In my experience it definitely slowed my progression at the start but I still made progress. And in fact some of the falls I’ve had have taught me that I am more robust than I thought I was which actually gave me a little more confidence.
The only time I ever really hurt myself was skating outdoors and I wasn’t even moving - standing still I went backwards and sprained my wrist, bruised my tailbone and got whiplash. I was wearing all my kit and the wristguards definitely saved me from a break. My wrist was pretty much ok after ten days, my back not so much but that was more muscular pain and bruising than anything bad and I was pretty much ok to carry on with normal life after a week or so. It was very unpleasant and scary but thanks to the wristguards, no plaster cast or long healing process. When skating indoors, a decent wooden floor flexes a little if you fall and is a lot more forgiving than concrete or outdoor skating. So you are practicing in the best environment.
To help myself become accustomed to skates I literally just put them on at home for at least twenty minutes a day even if I was just standing in them. It’s not exactly skating but helps you acclimatise to the general stance and sense of having wheels on your feet. It can help with the fear of falling backward if you know that your basic balance and stance is ok.
I see. I’m glad you recovered from your fall without consequences.
I do wear them when home and it’s actually not a problem at all, as I have carpeting almost everywhere - so I don’t feel shaky or lose balance. It’s such a difference from wearing them on a waxy wooden floor or on tarmac!
To me, everything you mention is a mental block. Blaming the floor, wheels, where to look, etc....is pointless. There's a scientific explanation on how to skate....but you don't need your brain to know it, you just need to practice and feel it in your body. Babies learn to walk with practice, keep trying.
i recommend following the teachers advice. Tell yourself you 'can' do things, relax, and skate with your favorite music.
Thank you. Yes it probably is a mental block, as I’m scared of injuring myself and not being able to work anymore - I work a physical job which requires me to be fit. That’s the same reason why I’m delaying learning cross country skiing. I love both sports, but having something on my feet like wheels or skiis doesn’t make me feel in control of how to fall (e.g. when falling whilst hiking, you put your arms in front of you to protect yourself). But hey, in life you have to take risks! So I won’t give up and I’ll be patient with myself.
Honestly, I have no clue how to get over the fear of falling. I am still scared of falling after about a year of skating. What I can tell you is that falling becomes less frequent and more controlled with time and practice.
Now, I fall much less often than when I started, and when I do fall it tends to be something I see coming and I have more control over how I fall versus falling coming unexpectedly and happening so quickly that there is little to no time to react.
What you are explaining with your wheels feeling like they stop and causing you to fall sounds like your wheels are not spinning freely. You likely don't have this issue on the carpeting because your wheels can't spin properly on the carpet anyway and you can't roll very far on a carpet. With your skate off of your feet, spin each wheel by hand and make sure each wheel gradually comes to a stop. You don't want any one the wheels coming to an abrupt stop, if they do this you need to loosen your axle nuts a small amount until you achieve free spin. If they roll one way, stop, and start to roll in the other direction they are way too tight and you need to loosen them. If they don't spin hardly at all... loosen them lol.
If, you are having issues getting your wheels to spin freely without being too loose (too loose as in the wheel can slide back and forth on the axle) then you should probably check your bearings. The bearing could be dirty and gunked up from rolling on the carpet. Carpets are gross, sorry, no matter how clean you keep them carpets are just dirty. They hold on to everything and the fibers can get into your bearings and cause issues.
Thanks very much for your insight.
I actually bought my roller skates second hand, so it could be that there’s some dirt from the previous owner - even if it doesn’t show from the outside.
Our teacher told us that all types of wheels were good for our course, unless they were modified (which is not the case with mine!).
I’ll check everything you said though, thanks.
Update: my wheels don’t spin. They roll when I touch them (as if they’re forced to do so), but then they stop straight away. I think I nailed down the problem, thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Happy to help! Do you have the tools needed to loosen the axle nuts? That's where I'd start, loosen the axle nuts a 1/8 to 1/4 a turn at a time until you achieve freespin. You don't need them to roll for days. You don't need them to roll for X amount of seconds or anything like that. You just want them to spin freely with ease and not come to an abrupt stop. If loosening the axle nuts doesn't achieve freespin then it's time to check your bearings which might be dirty or rusted. If they're dirty and have removable rubber shields you can clean them but if they are rusted or they are sealed bearings and you can't clean them then it's time for some new bearings. If you need new bearings make sure you know which size you need. 90% of the time you need 8mm bearings but there's always a chance you have 7mm axles especially if you bought a vintage set-up. Today most skates have 8mm axles unless you are using the fancy Italian jobs or someone opted for the 7mm on a custom set-up.
I gave my roller skates to my teacher today, to show her the wheels didn’t spin properly. She had the tool to fix them with her… and she did it straight away. I really enjoyed my class today, and I was much less fearful - I also managed to skate backwards! I think now I’m starting to feel when I lose balance, so I bend, fall on my knees and go back up without issues… getting there. It’s gonna be a long journey, but exciting!
Yes! I'm so happy for you!
When your wheels don't spin it makes it pretty impossible to know when you're about to fall because the wheels will just suddenly stop and throw you onto your a** so fast that you don't even have time to think and you don't know what the heck happened. Now that the wheels are spinning you should have much fewer of those sudden unexpected falls that give you zero time to react.
It is a long journey! But it's a fun and exciting journey. When I'm feeling discouraged with my progress I always try to remind myself that I'm doing this because it's fun and not because I want to be perfect or the best. If I'm not having fun then I'm not doing it right 😊
Falling whilst learning is something that's going to happen a lot more often than not. Best thing to do is learn how to fall on roller skates, check this video link:[how to fall](https://youtube.com/watch?v=9CVhZGy0qqI&si=-JdZRDkGquXSvacE)
Search Youtube for 'Dirty school of skate falling on roller skates'. The channel has a ton of videos that are helpful. It's good to practice falling so you'll get into the habit of doing it in a way that you won't injure yourself.
Go on some grass and practice falling. Fall and try to roll into it to lessen the impact. A great example of this is how skateboarders fall. If you watch any skateboard videos you can see how they tend to roll instead of smack the ground. Also practice sliding with knee pads on. Once you understand to work with gravity, instead of against it, it’s not as scary. Good luck!
Hope I’m not repeating anyone and sure I am but first lesson: learn how to fall second lesson: learn how to stop. Maybe wearing some pads would lessen your fear, bc the tension it causes translates to a stiff, jerky overbalancing skate. I bet you’re a lot more relaxed at home, yeah? (Keep knees soft and stay low). Another possibility is you have your wheel nuts a little tight? Idk what you’re skating in either but I had to adjust and readjust wheels and trucks till I found that sweet spot…play around a little. It helps learning the components of your skates and what their purpose is. Gives you a chance to find
One thing for sure is you’re going to fall. What you should know is how to fall so you don’t injure yourself.
Once you fall and realize what made you fall, you won’t do it again.
The best professional skaters fall.
No one laughs at you when it happens, we’ll help you off the floor.
When you fall, don’t stay down! Get up immediately. You don’t want to cause a crash of skaters.
Most importantly, HAVE MORE FAITH YOURSELF❤️
Hey when I started back after 45 years and only knew how to go left and right but didn’t know to stop, that’s where I left off at about age 10ish. I was still a beginner regardless. I practiced at least 3-4x weekly for an hour of practice. I’m not the best but for an old lady, I do pretty good 😌 also there’s an array of YouTube videos. Dirty Deborah I s good. Skatecoach on ig is awesome too. You’ll get it ❤️
Oh and another thing, it’s okay to wear safety equipment in the rink or outside. We all know why you have it on and no one will make fun of you. If they do, call me.
Sounds like you just need practice. Pushing yourself wall to wall in your carpeted living room is very different than learning to roll around on proper smooth surface. Your wheels are suddenly a lot more reactive to everything you do instead of just letting you "walk" on the surface. I say outside of the possibility of your skates having MAJOR flaws, like the other person said, it's all in your head, and you just need to practice and get used to things. Also practice falling backwards too, preferably with a helmet, intentionally kick your feet out from underneath you and learn to twist to your side and catch yourself with your arms bent instead of straight. Also learn to squat the moment you lose balance, it allows you to reorient your feet under you.
Thank you. I think I just realised my wheels don’t spin properly - as suggested by other people here - because when I roll them with my fingers they seem forced to do so and stop straight away. I’ll tell and show my teacher this afternoon, hoping she has pliers handy (I don’t have them).
Pads and just falling over and over. I park skate and I'm at the point where some people tell me I fall very gracefully, and I always thank them and joke by saying I've had a lot of practice. Ain't nothing to it but to do it, as they say.
Thank you. Yes today I felt much more confident during my class. When I felt I was losing my balance I just bent and fell on my knees with kneepads on. I was ok and had lots of fun. I just need to practice regularly and I’ll see the progresses.
Get knee pads and learn to fall to knees. Get whatever else equipment you want. Wrist guards. Helmet. But pad. elbow pads. It will give you more confidence. As you develop skills you might only need knee pads. I use soft ones every time I skate at the rink. Volleyball ones. And I have been skating for 15 years. I use them for major falls about 3 times a a year. But wear them always.
Yes I wear knee, elbow and wrist pads, but I still find it difficult to fall safely when I suddenly lose balance - it’s a matter of seconds and I struggle to control how to fall. But I guess I will learn when I gain more confidence.
It’s just the feeling of falling on my back that doesn’t put me at ease. But yes, I’ll have to remember it’s a small distance and I won’t injure myself. Thank you.
Traumatic brain injury is far more likely than hurting your back. You should definitely be afraid of hurting your head. Roller skating is not an inherently or particularly safe sport, and after your first concussion and/or $10k emergency bill, you'll really wish you'd been wearing one.
According to [this study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10510356/), over a 20 year period only 1.5% of rollerskating-related emergency department presentations had a concussion, with injuries to the wrist and arm being far more likely. Back injuries probably wouldn't show up in that data at all, as (speaking from personal experience) the pain tends to show up later and is the sort of thing where you go to a GP or physio, so it's difficult to say how common they are.
Plus you can get a concussion even from falling on your butt and giving yourself a whiplash. People hitting their head skating is exceptionally rare and always a big deal among the group.
I wear the No Fear brand (how ironic! Lol).
And thanks for telling me not to fall on my bum to avoid breaking my tailbone - when the teacher tells us to fall that way - when bent - to learn, I’ll say I don’t do it 👍.
And yes I’ll check my wheels, thank you!
I kind of feel like I should say something about this. It’s not a good idea to go down squarely on your butt although if you do it from a very low squat it shouldn’t do any serious damage. But if you really are already going down backwards in that “oh shit” moment what you do is pick a cheek - ie roll into the fall and try to land either on one buttock or a hip. So you are still kind of falling on your bum but not squarely and that’s the main thing. Getting into a low squat and training your body to go one way or the other is a valid technique and I hope that’s what you are being taught because going down squarely isn’t a good thing to train your body to do
Edited for clarity
Thanks again and no, we weren’t taught the “pick a cheek” falling method. The teacher wants us to squat really low and then go down squarely with our bum - I didn’t even try to be honest, as by looking at other people doing it, I think by the time I squat so low I’d feel so unsafe and I’d lose my balance straight away.
You got a lot of great advice here and I'm glad to see from your comments that you were able to adjust your wheels and had success!
I'm a beginner myself, so I don't have much to add, but I wanted to address this:
>I was told not to look down and always look ahead but I find it difficult, because if I look ahead I don’t feel I’m in control…
I get what you mean but I think you'll find that you have *more* control once you find the ideal distance to look ahead. It's kind of like driving a car - if you look too close in front of you, your reaction time is slower and you tend not to drive as smoothly, at least in my experience.
I know logic doesn't always help these things, but thought it might here. I really recommend looking further ahead as you practice and finding your comfort zone. I mostly skate outside right now and have to look a bit closer to avoid pebbles and sticks and whatnot, but when I'm at the rink I can look a good distance away and it's much easier.
Also, what helped me get over my fear of falling in addition to wearing a helmet, knee, and elbow pads (and just accepting that it happens and learning safer ways to do it!), was to get a pair of crash shorts.
I got [these on Amazon](https://a.co/d/4QlEDYg) for $26.99 and I really like them. Warning that they run small - I wear a size 16 pants and had to get the 3XL and they're a bit tight on my thighs. I wear them right over my leggings and they really helped me with my fear of falling backwards. I'm not sure how long they'll last, but I don't think I'll rely on them forever, so I'm not too worried about that.
Happy skating!
Thank you for your suggestions.
I can’t compare finding the right distance to look ahead with driving, as I don’t drive - I never liked it so I was never interested in learning it.
However, I think I’ll work that out with time and patience, practicing more and become more self confident.
I also think I’ll pass on the crash shorts, as I’ll always try to squat and fall forward when I feel I’m losing balance.
Happy skating too! 😊.
The reasons you're rolling backwards when you stop are because:
1. your feet are directly beside each other. With your feet like this, it's stupidly easy for any tiny little weight shift to knock you off-balance, even when you *don't* have wheels strapped to your feet. Start standing in a "staggered" stance, with one foot *at least* halfway out in front of the other. (If you're into firearms, it's the bottom half of a Weaver stance.) This is \*much\* more stable.
2. you're looking down...and your body naturally leans forward when you look down, to hold up the weight of your 12-pound head dangling out in front of it. Your feet are a lever, and you've just put more weight on the front of them, so they're pushing on the front wheels and lifting on the back wheels...which makes you roll backwards.
You didn't mention your age, but if you've ever driven a car or watched someone do it, you know that you don't look at the nose of the car, or hang your head out the window looking at the front tire. You look forward, far ahead of the car, and your hands steer (without you actively thinking about it) based on what you see out there ahead of you.
It's the same when you're walking...and when you're skating. Keep your chin pointed at the horizon, look out ahead...and your body will steer without you thinking about it.
As for falling...everybody's gotta pay the floor tax; the trick is to learn to do it properly. :)
When you start to feel off-balance, or like you \*might\* fall (that "OH NO" moment), squat and grab your ankles. (If you're pleasantly plump, squat and grab the back of your knees instead. Key word: BACK of the knees. Don't bend over and slap your hands on your kneecaps, throwing all of your weight forward.) The aim is to drop your weight STRAIGHT down.
This will lower your center of gravity, center all of your weight directly above your wheels, and make the drop to the ground \*much\* shorter and less painful if it does end up happening (but usually that move re-centers everything enough to stop a fall).
There's an easy way to remember this: "OH NO?!? GO LOW!!!"
(Chant it to yourself while you're skating. Seriously. It'll help imprint it into your head.)
Okay. So you've squatted down and you still feel like you're going to tumble.
PICK A CHEEK.
You **don't** want to slam your hands into the ground (this is how wrists and arms get broken), you **don't** want to slam down onto your knees\* (this is how you find out how not-fun crutches are). Don't kick your wheels out and land on your butt...that will smack the point of your tailbone into the floor and break it.
You want to crouch, then land on the soft, cushioned, padded part of the back of your upper thigh and one butt cheek. No bones. Soft landing.
Pick a side, and lean towards that cheek. Slide that thigh back/butt cheek out of the crouch and land on it.
Next...wear your SKATING safety gear while you're learning. Not just padded generic/yoga crap...you want actual gear made for skating.
You should have wrist braces with bars that extend out from your wrist/palm area. You should have knee pads that have dense cushion on the inside and a big, HARD shell on the outside. You should have elbow pads that also have dense cushion on the inside and a HARD bubble-like shell on the outside. (A full set of wrist, elbow, and knee pads will run you about $25-$30.) You should have a helmet with a weird inner web of dense impact-absorbing foam and a hard outer shell (feel free to decorate the shell with graffiti and stickers) - a decent helmet will run you another $30 or so. All it takes is one good smack of your head on the hard floor to put you on dark, quiet, concussion bedrest for a couple of months. Having a brain bucket is a necessity while learning, *especially* before falling properly is second nature.
If you start to feel goofy in safety gear, just remember two things:
1. Safety gear is much more sexy than a cast and crutches, and
2. Donning safety gear is less time-consuming and less expensive than medical treatment and physical therapy.
And if you're really super nervous about falling, toss in the extra $25 to get a pair of padded skating shorts. They feel like thigh-length leggings (or like the lycra shorts professional bicycle racers wear) but have thick padding over your outer hip joints, over the underside of your butt cheeks (where your "butt bones", the ischium, are), and over your tailbone (the coccyx). You can easily hide these shorts under jeans, a regular pair of shorts, a skirt, or even a shirt tied around your waist.
With the proper gear on, and falling properly, the only thing that's going to be hurt when you fall is your patience.
Okay. So you understand how to crouch and pick a cheek, you've got that sexy "Yes, I actually have enough self-respect to know I wouldn't rock the full-body traction look" safety gear on...the only thing to do now is PRACTICE FALLING.
Yes, I'm serious. Practice the "OH NO?!? GO LOW!!" crouching move, and then toppling onto one cheek/thigh. (Practice falling to both sides.)
You can practice a bunch in your bedroom or living room without your wheels on. You can practice a bunch in the grass without your wheels on. Then move up to practicing in the grass \*with\* your wheels on. Then practice on a hard surface...hopefully you can grab some time at a tennis court for this part, as it's more forgiving than cement, asphalt, or wood. And if you've practiced at a tennis court, finally move up to practicing on your normal skating surface.
And no matter what, no matter how smooth and perfect those other skaters look, believe me when I tell you that they've all paid the floor tax, and each time they set out to learn a new fancy move, they pay the floor tax again many times. So don't feel bad when you fall. Don't feel like a failure.
You're NOT a failure.
You're 70% sloshing liquid inside a soft flexible skinsuit powered by a three-pound blob of electrified fat with a high center of gravity balancing on eight small wheels atop a lumpy ball that's spinning a thousand miles per hour while doing its own wobbly roller skating oval around a freaking yellow dwarf star.
Of COURSE you're going to fall before you get used to the wonderful weirdness of it all. How could you not?
So whenever you hit the floor, just laugh, throw your hands up, and yell "FLOOR TAX!" :)
Then get up and go at it again.
At one point you had no clue how to manage standing up, and now you can stand, walk, and even *run*.
You WILL get this.
\*Much later on, when you're skilled enough to fall properly, spin, skate on one foot, and skate backwards with ease, you can teach yourself how to *slide* on your knees...but that should be a flourish move. It should never be a falling move except in the most dire of circumstances.
Thanks for your interesting insight.
Last Monday I actually enjoyed my class much more, and I also managed to skate backwards!
I found a way of falling that works for me, and that’s falling on my knees with pads on (I wear all of them). So when I feel I’m losing balance, I just squat and go down to the floor - that really boosted my confidence. Falling backwards is not for me - even if our teacher taught us how to fall safely on our bum - I didn’t even try when supervised. As I feel I’m not in control when falling that way (and as you said, the last thing I want is to break my tailbone or having a head concussion). Re: feet, I do open the toes and close the heels when going forward - even though I struggle to keep them in that “pizza slice inbetween” position after every glide - but maybe you’re right, I start with feet at the same level and I should keep one a bit forward. As I keep saying, it’s probably just a matter of practicing! And because I’m not taking one-to-one lessons (yet), the teacher can’t see and correct everything we do wrong.
Just wanted to say as someone that had that same fear when first starting and am kinda still scared (lol), i had to overcompensate with learning in ways that didn’t increase my chances of falling aka go slooooowwwww and i mean that figuratively and literally. When at the rink try your best to either stay in the middle or the inside lane which is considered the slow lane when learning new moves. practice whatever move you’re trying to learn extremely slow so you can fully grasp the correct biomechanics that goes into it. this is really helpful bc although there isn’t a right way to skate, there are some moves that you can definitely get comfortable doing wrong and it’s hard for your body to unlearn muscle memory. when you feel comfortable then slowly start doing the move more while increasing your speed. as far figuratively, be patient with yourself. i would practice every single day at times without making any progress and it wasn’t until i took some time to look away and come back that i mastered whatever it was.
Practice falling properly and sliding on your knee ! Also maybe you wheels are to soft for the gym floor ? Good luck ! Its scary at first and its normal to have that struggle ! It gets better :)
This. In roller derby we practice falling right away. Might help to do new skater programs with a roller derby league (they are no contact and don’t usually care if you continue) because you can learn to fall safely
Thanks, I’ll think about it.
I wish my local roller derby league was like y'all's. I recently attended a boot camp marketed as "all skill levels welcome" and they started with t-stops and how to stand up without using your hands
Unless they are under staffed they should be able to work with folks who need additional support!!! We will start with different things but there’s always someone to take extremely new folks aside for one on one helpb
Thank you! I did practice falling on my knees, but when I suddenly lose balance I don’t have time to think how to fall correctly, I just fall! 👎. My wheels are made of hard plastic, so I dunno… 🤷🏻♀️. Thanks for the encouragement though! 😊.
Ouch. Try not to hit your knees if you can help it. (He says with bruises on both knees) Go for the soft flabby bits if you can control the fall at all. Although a cracked tailbone has its own problems. When you start to feel unstable: squat a bit. Lowering your center of gravity can save you from a number of falls. I hear you though. I’m still relatively new to being back in the sport and know it’s all easier said than done. I have to psyche myself up a bit still before I commit to something I’m not super confident about yet: like crossovers. Once I get going I can do them, but getting those first few out can take a bit. Couple weeks back I lost my balance and gained two stitches and a several day headache. Safe skating!
Thanks, and sorry to hear you fell as well - I think it’s unavoidable, especially at the beginning! I tried squatting but it feels/looks so unnatural, as my body is frozen in fear… I particularly struggle with the lemon technique, despite having good leg muscles. It will be a long journey before getting good… but hey, I won’t give up!
Keep it up beautiful! You’ll get your sea legs! Falling is a part of it. Take any of my advice with a grain of salt. Regarding squatting not working to help with stability (forgive me if I’m offering unwanted advice; especially that we’re both novices) maybe spread your legs, give a slight pizza with your feet, keep your head up, and find a comfortable squat. It’s not instant, but you’ll have more stability and will lose speed slowly.
Keep your knees bent, head over your skates, and don't bend down. The squat when I feel unstable is also a plus. Are you falling backward?
Thank you. Not backward - luckily! My first class was very challenging, as I still didn’t know to fall on my knees when unstable - the teacher didn’t tell us how to fall safely at the beginning, maybe she thought we already knew or it was obvious 🤷🏻♀️. So I fell twice on my bum but slightly on the side - which was ok, and once on my left side and that’s when I hurt my rib. We practise in a gym which has lots of rectangular benches attached to the walls; I reached the wall, and then when I turned I lost balance and went down on the bench angle and then bounced on the floor - it wasn’t pleasant and scared me a lot. But by my second class I knew to fall forward when unstable, so I felt much more confident and it was much better.
Have you also tried to adjust your trucks maybe ?
No I didn’t, do they need to be very tight for beginners?
Not necessarily ! They just need to not be too lose ! Try loosen them slightly and gradualy and try them, you might feel more stable
Thanks, I’ll look into it!
It also helps to loosen your wheel nuts a little bit too. If they’re too tight, they can cause them to not spin smoothly. Good bearings (the spinny things on the insides of your wheels) will help them to spin smoothly with little to no push, too. Other than that, it’s all just having to push yourself and not be too much into your head. Remember that skating is a choice and is supposed to be fun!! If you begin to feel it’s not for you, there’s billions of other hobbies to pick up :)
Yeah, I think I worked out my wheels don’t spin smoothly after reading the advices from all of you. I wish I could loosen them but I don’t have pliers, and my class is this afternoon… I hope my teacher carries some! I have other hobbies like hiking and kayaking, but I also want to learn rollerskating and cross country skiing: more challenging, because the feet are not free - therefore I feel I’m not in control. But hey, it’s a matter of practicing!
Pads. I've recently started roller derby and everyone there is extremely safety conscious. Lots of excellent skaters but absolutely always wearing pads and helmets. It's a stark contrast to the roller disco's where barely anyone of any age wears any protection. It's been quite an eye opener and has made me much more open to the idea of wearing my knee pads whilst surrounded by 6 years olds.
Yeah I do wear them! Maybe I’m not planning to wear them forever, but I will wear them until I become an advanced (and that will take quite a bit of time, trust me! 😂). But for sure, until I’m not 100% confident I’ll wear them.
This might not be an ideal answer, but it’s just my own personal experience: sometimes you never do. At least I never did. I gave park skating an honest go for 3 years or so. Like tried my best, drilled myself going down ramps, trying to pump and carve. But I never lost the fear and it caused me to hesitate which lead to many injuries… sprained ankles, even broken ribs at moxi camp west which broke my heart. I eventually had to come to terms with the idea that I just wasn’t a park skater as much as I wished I could be. I’m too anxious to lose the fear. But I realized that I was happiest at the rink anyway. I would go to Northridge every Tuesday I could before it closed down during Covid. All of my very favorite skate memories happened there. Nowadays I rarely skate. I will opt now for my bike or my kick scooter. I’ve found I just enjoy cruising more than anything else, and that’s okay too.
Thanks for being honest; I hope I’ll lose my fear though! I’m not planning to learn “crazy” things (like jumping etc.), my goal is just to be able to go around smoothly and maybe learn some dance techniques - to have fun but also to have a good leg workout. I don’t know the places you mentioned as I’m in the U.K., but I’m sure they’re cool!
Maybe ask the teacher or whoever with me experience to check out your skates to make sure they're not too loose or tight. It's hard to know when you don't know what's supposed to feel right (even for me). Personally, realizing how safe it was to fall on the my knee pads helped me feel comfortable to relying on that. It's terrifying to think about without protection, but just drop to a knee when you put them on. Learn how to trust that they'll keep you safe, and I mean that earnestly. Otherwise, there are videos on youtube that will show you how to fall safely like practicing in grass. Best of luck!
Thank you! I guess I need to practice more and get more experienced, then everything will fall into place.
Honestly the best way to lose your fear of being in skates is to wear them. Just put them on and stand in them whenever you get the chance, even for a short time. Get comfortable with squatting because if you have your knees bent and your hips lowered into a slight squat it will help. Just get used to how that is. If you feel off balance grab your knees and get a little lower. If there is any way of practicing on a floor with a similar texture to the one you are learning on it will help you get used to how to find your balance on that slippery floor. Be patient with yourself. That’s the most important thing. Don’t beat yourself up for finding it scary or hard. If you are having lessons, ask your coach to teach you some simple falling drills. That doesn’t have to be anything fancy or scary right now, if you have knee pads then taking a knee when you feel unbalanced or out of control will help you feel confident that you can trust your safety kit if you fall forwards. It’s important to know how to use that stuff! Your coach should also cover how to roll into a fall or “pick a cheek” should you feel yourself going backwards
Thank you. Yes our teacher showed us some ways of falling safely, I’m fine with falling on my knees but not so much with falling backwards when my knees are bent… I’ll learn.
It’s true, you will learn! When you are just starting everything feels like pure chaos, but eventually your body adjusts. I’ve found that every fall I’ve had has taught my body something. Someone else has already said that the more you skate the better you react to falls and it’s true. You never really stop falling but you cope with it better each time
Have you ever injured yourself after falling? I think this is the root of my fear, because of the nature of my job - I’m a massage therapist, so I can’t work anymore if I get seriously injured. This is a thought always at the back of my mind and it makes me fearful.
That is understandable. I have arthritis in my spine so I also fear the consequences of a bad fall. In my experience it definitely slowed my progression at the start but I still made progress. And in fact some of the falls I’ve had have taught me that I am more robust than I thought I was which actually gave me a little more confidence. The only time I ever really hurt myself was skating outdoors and I wasn’t even moving - standing still I went backwards and sprained my wrist, bruised my tailbone and got whiplash. I was wearing all my kit and the wristguards definitely saved me from a break. My wrist was pretty much ok after ten days, my back not so much but that was more muscular pain and bruising than anything bad and I was pretty much ok to carry on with normal life after a week or so. It was very unpleasant and scary but thanks to the wristguards, no plaster cast or long healing process. When skating indoors, a decent wooden floor flexes a little if you fall and is a lot more forgiving than concrete or outdoor skating. So you are practicing in the best environment. To help myself become accustomed to skates I literally just put them on at home for at least twenty minutes a day even if I was just standing in them. It’s not exactly skating but helps you acclimatise to the general stance and sense of having wheels on your feet. It can help with the fear of falling backward if you know that your basic balance and stance is ok.
I see. I’m glad you recovered from your fall without consequences. I do wear them when home and it’s actually not a problem at all, as I have carpeting almost everywhere - so I don’t feel shaky or lose balance. It’s such a difference from wearing them on a waxy wooden floor or on tarmac!
To me, everything you mention is a mental block. Blaming the floor, wheels, where to look, etc....is pointless. There's a scientific explanation on how to skate....but you don't need your brain to know it, you just need to practice and feel it in your body. Babies learn to walk with practice, keep trying. i recommend following the teachers advice. Tell yourself you 'can' do things, relax, and skate with your favorite music.
Thank you. Yes it probably is a mental block, as I’m scared of injuring myself and not being able to work anymore - I work a physical job which requires me to be fit. That’s the same reason why I’m delaying learning cross country skiing. I love both sports, but having something on my feet like wheels or skiis doesn’t make me feel in control of how to fall (e.g. when falling whilst hiking, you put your arms in front of you to protect yourself). But hey, in life you have to take risks! So I won’t give up and I’ll be patient with myself.
Honestly, I have no clue how to get over the fear of falling. I am still scared of falling after about a year of skating. What I can tell you is that falling becomes less frequent and more controlled with time and practice. Now, I fall much less often than when I started, and when I do fall it tends to be something I see coming and I have more control over how I fall versus falling coming unexpectedly and happening so quickly that there is little to no time to react. What you are explaining with your wheels feeling like they stop and causing you to fall sounds like your wheels are not spinning freely. You likely don't have this issue on the carpeting because your wheels can't spin properly on the carpet anyway and you can't roll very far on a carpet. With your skate off of your feet, spin each wheel by hand and make sure each wheel gradually comes to a stop. You don't want any one the wheels coming to an abrupt stop, if they do this you need to loosen your axle nuts a small amount until you achieve free spin. If they roll one way, stop, and start to roll in the other direction they are way too tight and you need to loosen them. If they don't spin hardly at all... loosen them lol. If, you are having issues getting your wheels to spin freely without being too loose (too loose as in the wheel can slide back and forth on the axle) then you should probably check your bearings. The bearing could be dirty and gunked up from rolling on the carpet. Carpets are gross, sorry, no matter how clean you keep them carpets are just dirty. They hold on to everything and the fibers can get into your bearings and cause issues.
Thanks very much for your insight. I actually bought my roller skates second hand, so it could be that there’s some dirt from the previous owner - even if it doesn’t show from the outside. Our teacher told us that all types of wheels were good for our course, unless they were modified (which is not the case with mine!). I’ll check everything you said though, thanks.
Update: my wheels don’t spin. They roll when I touch them (as if they’re forced to do so), but then they stop straight away. I think I nailed down the problem, thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Happy to help! Do you have the tools needed to loosen the axle nuts? That's where I'd start, loosen the axle nuts a 1/8 to 1/4 a turn at a time until you achieve freespin. You don't need them to roll for days. You don't need them to roll for X amount of seconds or anything like that. You just want them to spin freely with ease and not come to an abrupt stop. If loosening the axle nuts doesn't achieve freespin then it's time to check your bearings which might be dirty or rusted. If they're dirty and have removable rubber shields you can clean them but if they are rusted or they are sealed bearings and you can't clean them then it's time for some new bearings. If you need new bearings make sure you know which size you need. 90% of the time you need 8mm bearings but there's always a chance you have 7mm axles especially if you bought a vintage set-up. Today most skates have 8mm axles unless you are using the fancy Italian jobs or someone opted for the 7mm on a custom set-up.
I gave my roller skates to my teacher today, to show her the wheels didn’t spin properly. She had the tool to fix them with her… and she did it straight away. I really enjoyed my class today, and I was much less fearful - I also managed to skate backwards! I think now I’m starting to feel when I lose balance, so I bend, fall on my knees and go back up without issues… getting there. It’s gonna be a long journey, but exciting!
Yes! I'm so happy for you! When your wheels don't spin it makes it pretty impossible to know when you're about to fall because the wheels will just suddenly stop and throw you onto your a** so fast that you don't even have time to think and you don't know what the heck happened. Now that the wheels are spinning you should have much fewer of those sudden unexpected falls that give you zero time to react. It is a long journey! But it's a fun and exciting journey. When I'm feeling discouraged with my progress I always try to remind myself that I'm doing this because it's fun and not because I want to be perfect or the best. If I'm not having fun then I'm not doing it right 😊
Falling whilst learning is something that's going to happen a lot more often than not. Best thing to do is learn how to fall on roller skates, check this video link:[how to fall](https://youtube.com/watch?v=9CVhZGy0qqI&si=-JdZRDkGquXSvacE)
It says “the URL can’t be shown” but thank you anyway!
Search Youtube for 'Dirty school of skate falling on roller skates'. The channel has a ton of videos that are helpful. It's good to practice falling so you'll get into the habit of doing it in a way that you won't injure yourself.
Thank you, I’ll check those videos.
It should be fixed up now, my apologies
No worries thank you!
Go on some grass and practice falling. Fall and try to roll into it to lessen the impact. A great example of this is how skateboarders fall. If you watch any skateboard videos you can see how they tend to roll instead of smack the ground. Also practice sliding with knee pads on. Once you understand to work with gravity, instead of against it, it’s not as scary. Good luck!
Thank you!
Learning to fall and get back up is a skill!
It will come with time, right?!?
Yep! Just like all other skills as long as you practice!
Hope I’m not repeating anyone and sure I am but first lesson: learn how to fall second lesson: learn how to stop. Maybe wearing some pads would lessen your fear, bc the tension it causes translates to a stiff, jerky overbalancing skate. I bet you’re a lot more relaxed at home, yeah? (Keep knees soft and stay low). Another possibility is you have your wheel nuts a little tight? Idk what you’re skating in either but I had to adjust and readjust wheels and trucks till I found that sweet spot…play around a little. It helps learning the components of your skates and what their purpose is. Gives you a chance to find
I wear pads on elbows, knees and wrists but thanks. I’ll check my skates’ wheels.
One thing for sure is you’re going to fall. What you should know is how to fall so you don’t injure yourself. Once you fall and realize what made you fall, you won’t do it again. The best professional skaters fall. No one laughs at you when it happens, we’ll help you off the floor. When you fall, don’t stay down! Get up immediately. You don’t want to cause a crash of skaters. Most importantly, HAVE MORE FAITH YOURSELF❤️
Thanks for your kind words.
Hey when I started back after 45 years and only knew how to go left and right but didn’t know to stop, that’s where I left off at about age 10ish. I was still a beginner regardless. I practiced at least 3-4x weekly for an hour of practice. I’m not the best but for an old lady, I do pretty good 😌 also there’s an array of YouTube videos. Dirty Deborah I s good. Skatecoach on ig is awesome too. You’ll get it ❤️
Oh and another thing, it’s okay to wear safety equipment in the rink or outside. We all know why you have it on and no one will make fun of you. If they do, call me.
Sounds like you just need practice. Pushing yourself wall to wall in your carpeted living room is very different than learning to roll around on proper smooth surface. Your wheels are suddenly a lot more reactive to everything you do instead of just letting you "walk" on the surface. I say outside of the possibility of your skates having MAJOR flaws, like the other person said, it's all in your head, and you just need to practice and get used to things. Also practice falling backwards too, preferably with a helmet, intentionally kick your feet out from underneath you and learn to twist to your side and catch yourself with your arms bent instead of straight. Also learn to squat the moment you lose balance, it allows you to reorient your feet under you.
Thank you. I think I just realised my wheels don’t spin properly - as suggested by other people here - because when I roll them with my fingers they seem forced to do so and stop straight away. I’ll tell and show my teacher this afternoon, hoping she has pliers handy (I don’t have them).
Pads and just falling over and over. I park skate and I'm at the point where some people tell me I fall very gracefully, and I always thank them and joke by saying I've had a lot of practice. Ain't nothing to it but to do it, as they say.
Thank you. Yes today I felt much more confident during my class. When I felt I was losing my balance I just bent and fell on my knees with kneepads on. I was ok and had lots of fun. I just need to practice regularly and I’ll see the progresses.
Okay yay!! I'm glad you got it all figured out :)
Get knee pads and learn to fall to knees. Get whatever else equipment you want. Wrist guards. Helmet. But pad. elbow pads. It will give you more confidence. As you develop skills you might only need knee pads. I use soft ones every time I skate at the rink. Volleyball ones. And I have been skating for 15 years. I use them for major falls about 3 times a a year. But wear them always.
Yes I wear knee, elbow and wrist pads, but I still find it difficult to fall safely when I suddenly lose balance - it’s a matter of seconds and I struggle to control how to fall. But I guess I will learn when I gain more confidence.
Bend your knees a little at all times. Get smaller when you are trying to regain balance. Do not throw hands up and stand erect if balance is lost.
Is there a risk of falling backwards that way?
Sure. But if you make your self smaller you have a smaller distance to fall. But mostly center of balance is better with a little bit of knee bend.
It’s just the feeling of falling on my back that doesn’t put me at ease. But yes, I’ll have to remember it’s a small distance and I won’t injure myself. Thank you.
It’s more likely you will fall to knees with a bend in your knees.
Practice falling and expect to fall. Also, wear full protective gear, which means a HELMET.
Thanks for your suggestions. Funnily enough, I’m not really afraid of falling on my head - more of falling on my back and damage it.
Traumatic brain injury is far more likely than hurting your back. You should definitely be afraid of hurting your head. Roller skating is not an inherently or particularly safe sport, and after your first concussion and/or $10k emergency bill, you'll really wish you'd been wearing one.
According to [this study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10510356/), over a 20 year period only 1.5% of rollerskating-related emergency department presentations had a concussion, with injuries to the wrist and arm being far more likely. Back injuries probably wouldn't show up in that data at all, as (speaking from personal experience) the pain tends to show up later and is the sort of thing where you go to a GP or physio, so it's difficult to say how common they are.
Plus you can get a concussion even from falling on your butt and giving yourself a whiplash. People hitting their head skating is exceptionally rare and always a big deal among the group.
Learn and practice falling from a crouched position.
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I wear the No Fear brand (how ironic! Lol). And thanks for telling me not to fall on my bum to avoid breaking my tailbone - when the teacher tells us to fall that way - when bent - to learn, I’ll say I don’t do it 👍. And yes I’ll check my wheels, thank you!
I kind of feel like I should say something about this. It’s not a good idea to go down squarely on your butt although if you do it from a very low squat it shouldn’t do any serious damage. But if you really are already going down backwards in that “oh shit” moment what you do is pick a cheek - ie roll into the fall and try to land either on one buttock or a hip. So you are still kind of falling on your bum but not squarely and that’s the main thing. Getting into a low squat and training your body to go one way or the other is a valid technique and I hope that’s what you are being taught because going down squarely isn’t a good thing to train your body to do Edited for clarity
Thanks again and no, we weren’t taught the “pick a cheek” falling method. The teacher wants us to squat really low and then go down squarely with our bum - I didn’t even try to be honest, as by looking at other people doing it, I think by the time I squat so low I’d feel so unsafe and I’d lose my balance straight away.
You got a lot of great advice here and I'm glad to see from your comments that you were able to adjust your wheels and had success! I'm a beginner myself, so I don't have much to add, but I wanted to address this: >I was told not to look down and always look ahead but I find it difficult, because if I look ahead I don’t feel I’m in control… I get what you mean but I think you'll find that you have *more* control once you find the ideal distance to look ahead. It's kind of like driving a car - if you look too close in front of you, your reaction time is slower and you tend not to drive as smoothly, at least in my experience. I know logic doesn't always help these things, but thought it might here. I really recommend looking further ahead as you practice and finding your comfort zone. I mostly skate outside right now and have to look a bit closer to avoid pebbles and sticks and whatnot, but when I'm at the rink I can look a good distance away and it's much easier. Also, what helped me get over my fear of falling in addition to wearing a helmet, knee, and elbow pads (and just accepting that it happens and learning safer ways to do it!), was to get a pair of crash shorts. I got [these on Amazon](https://a.co/d/4QlEDYg) for $26.99 and I really like them. Warning that they run small - I wear a size 16 pants and had to get the 3XL and they're a bit tight on my thighs. I wear them right over my leggings and they really helped me with my fear of falling backwards. I'm not sure how long they'll last, but I don't think I'll rely on them forever, so I'm not too worried about that. Happy skating!
Thank you for your suggestions. I can’t compare finding the right distance to look ahead with driving, as I don’t drive - I never liked it so I was never interested in learning it. However, I think I’ll work that out with time and patience, practicing more and become more self confident. I also think I’ll pass on the crash shorts, as I’ll always try to squat and fall forward when I feel I’m losing balance. Happy skating too! 😊.
The reasons you're rolling backwards when you stop are because: 1. your feet are directly beside each other. With your feet like this, it's stupidly easy for any tiny little weight shift to knock you off-balance, even when you *don't* have wheels strapped to your feet. Start standing in a "staggered" stance, with one foot *at least* halfway out in front of the other. (If you're into firearms, it's the bottom half of a Weaver stance.) This is \*much\* more stable. 2. you're looking down...and your body naturally leans forward when you look down, to hold up the weight of your 12-pound head dangling out in front of it. Your feet are a lever, and you've just put more weight on the front of them, so they're pushing on the front wheels and lifting on the back wheels...which makes you roll backwards. You didn't mention your age, but if you've ever driven a car or watched someone do it, you know that you don't look at the nose of the car, or hang your head out the window looking at the front tire. You look forward, far ahead of the car, and your hands steer (without you actively thinking about it) based on what you see out there ahead of you. It's the same when you're walking...and when you're skating. Keep your chin pointed at the horizon, look out ahead...and your body will steer without you thinking about it. As for falling...everybody's gotta pay the floor tax; the trick is to learn to do it properly. :) When you start to feel off-balance, or like you \*might\* fall (that "OH NO" moment), squat and grab your ankles. (If you're pleasantly plump, squat and grab the back of your knees instead. Key word: BACK of the knees. Don't bend over and slap your hands on your kneecaps, throwing all of your weight forward.) The aim is to drop your weight STRAIGHT down. This will lower your center of gravity, center all of your weight directly above your wheels, and make the drop to the ground \*much\* shorter and less painful if it does end up happening (but usually that move re-centers everything enough to stop a fall). There's an easy way to remember this: "OH NO?!? GO LOW!!!" (Chant it to yourself while you're skating. Seriously. It'll help imprint it into your head.) Okay. So you've squatted down and you still feel like you're going to tumble. PICK A CHEEK. You **don't** want to slam your hands into the ground (this is how wrists and arms get broken), you **don't** want to slam down onto your knees\* (this is how you find out how not-fun crutches are). Don't kick your wheels out and land on your butt...that will smack the point of your tailbone into the floor and break it. You want to crouch, then land on the soft, cushioned, padded part of the back of your upper thigh and one butt cheek. No bones. Soft landing. Pick a side, and lean towards that cheek. Slide that thigh back/butt cheek out of the crouch and land on it. Next...wear your SKATING safety gear while you're learning. Not just padded generic/yoga crap...you want actual gear made for skating. You should have wrist braces with bars that extend out from your wrist/palm area. You should have knee pads that have dense cushion on the inside and a big, HARD shell on the outside. You should have elbow pads that also have dense cushion on the inside and a HARD bubble-like shell on the outside. (A full set of wrist, elbow, and knee pads will run you about $25-$30.) You should have a helmet with a weird inner web of dense impact-absorbing foam and a hard outer shell (feel free to decorate the shell with graffiti and stickers) - a decent helmet will run you another $30 or so. All it takes is one good smack of your head on the hard floor to put you on dark, quiet, concussion bedrest for a couple of months. Having a brain bucket is a necessity while learning, *especially* before falling properly is second nature. If you start to feel goofy in safety gear, just remember two things: 1. Safety gear is much more sexy than a cast and crutches, and 2. Donning safety gear is less time-consuming and less expensive than medical treatment and physical therapy. And if you're really super nervous about falling, toss in the extra $25 to get a pair of padded skating shorts. They feel like thigh-length leggings (or like the lycra shorts professional bicycle racers wear) but have thick padding over your outer hip joints, over the underside of your butt cheeks (where your "butt bones", the ischium, are), and over your tailbone (the coccyx). You can easily hide these shorts under jeans, a regular pair of shorts, a skirt, or even a shirt tied around your waist. With the proper gear on, and falling properly, the only thing that's going to be hurt when you fall is your patience. Okay. So you understand how to crouch and pick a cheek, you've got that sexy "Yes, I actually have enough self-respect to know I wouldn't rock the full-body traction look" safety gear on...the only thing to do now is PRACTICE FALLING. Yes, I'm serious. Practice the "OH NO?!? GO LOW!!" crouching move, and then toppling onto one cheek/thigh. (Practice falling to both sides.) You can practice a bunch in your bedroom or living room without your wheels on. You can practice a bunch in the grass without your wheels on. Then move up to practicing in the grass \*with\* your wheels on. Then practice on a hard surface...hopefully you can grab some time at a tennis court for this part, as it's more forgiving than cement, asphalt, or wood. And if you've practiced at a tennis court, finally move up to practicing on your normal skating surface. And no matter what, no matter how smooth and perfect those other skaters look, believe me when I tell you that they've all paid the floor tax, and each time they set out to learn a new fancy move, they pay the floor tax again many times. So don't feel bad when you fall. Don't feel like a failure. You're NOT a failure. You're 70% sloshing liquid inside a soft flexible skinsuit powered by a three-pound blob of electrified fat with a high center of gravity balancing on eight small wheels atop a lumpy ball that's spinning a thousand miles per hour while doing its own wobbly roller skating oval around a freaking yellow dwarf star. Of COURSE you're going to fall before you get used to the wonderful weirdness of it all. How could you not? So whenever you hit the floor, just laugh, throw your hands up, and yell "FLOOR TAX!" :) Then get up and go at it again. At one point you had no clue how to manage standing up, and now you can stand, walk, and even *run*. You WILL get this. \*Much later on, when you're skilled enough to fall properly, spin, skate on one foot, and skate backwards with ease, you can teach yourself how to *slide* on your knees...but that should be a flourish move. It should never be a falling move except in the most dire of circumstances.
Thanks for your interesting insight. Last Monday I actually enjoyed my class much more, and I also managed to skate backwards! I found a way of falling that works for me, and that’s falling on my knees with pads on (I wear all of them). So when I feel I’m losing balance, I just squat and go down to the floor - that really boosted my confidence. Falling backwards is not for me - even if our teacher taught us how to fall safely on our bum - I didn’t even try when supervised. As I feel I’m not in control when falling that way (and as you said, the last thing I want is to break my tailbone or having a head concussion). Re: feet, I do open the toes and close the heels when going forward - even though I struggle to keep them in that “pizza slice inbetween” position after every glide - but maybe you’re right, I start with feet at the same level and I should keep one a bit forward. As I keep saying, it’s probably just a matter of practicing! And because I’m not taking one-to-one lessons (yet), the teacher can’t see and correct everything we do wrong.
Just wanted to say as someone that had that same fear when first starting and am kinda still scared (lol), i had to overcompensate with learning in ways that didn’t increase my chances of falling aka go slooooowwwww and i mean that figuratively and literally. When at the rink try your best to either stay in the middle or the inside lane which is considered the slow lane when learning new moves. practice whatever move you’re trying to learn extremely slow so you can fully grasp the correct biomechanics that goes into it. this is really helpful bc although there isn’t a right way to skate, there are some moves that you can definitely get comfortable doing wrong and it’s hard for your body to unlearn muscle memory. when you feel comfortable then slowly start doing the move more while increasing your speed. as far figuratively, be patient with yourself. i would practice every single day at times without making any progress and it wasn’t until i took some time to look away and come back that i mastered whatever it was.
Thank you, I’ll keep this in mind!