All About Inline Skating/Roller Blading

[jedamum]

lwm99:

Yes, this is an expensive sport.

I am pretty hesitant to sign up for such courses cos after all my dad taught all of us to rollerskate (the 4 wheels-no-inline type) and I 'taught' my husband (and a friend) to blade - more on the 'guts' part than the 'technique' part.
Is there a 'course' guide whereby they will list down what are the stages the kids will go through? I think it is good to go for such lessons only for the initial part to build up the confidence, and thereafter to just let the kid pick up on his own from there (or practice with with the parent if the parent knows how to blade ).
I once saw a dad teaching his 2 young dds skating. One was holding onto the waist of the other who was then holding onto the dad's waist. The dad deliberately made a turn towards the grass patch, made an sudden stop and let his girls fall onto the grass patch. I think he was teaching them that falling is part and parcel of learning.

[buds]

Yes, you're right, jedamum.

My dad, brothers and I learnt it
thru trial and error! :shock: There
are definitely hazards, hahahakh...
scrapes... other minor injuries but
sure was lotsa fun!

Nothing technical. All hands on.
And i found we did pretty good, even
tried stunts and all!
:!:

Wuakakkaa.. They
were accidental stunts. :lol:

Hubs was a sk8ter boy, bl8er freak and sk8boarder dude..
Coupled with moi stunts and tried and tested skills, our girls
manage to learn blading for FREE! The girls received
new blades courtesy of ever doting grandpa (who is always
up to date with the sports for growing kiddies), i received a
nice Roller Blade brand myself and hubs eventually got himself
the K2... one sleek blade i tell you! We blade together with grandpa
who has his own K2 on and off at Sentosa, East Coast (etc) when there
are long weekends or school hols or somebody's chalet time.. other days
after school HW & assessment we go to the nearby park to blade as chill
out time & also de-stress from the academics

We taught our girls to fall first before even going into the moving..
It is important they know how to fall properly and gracefully to
avoid unnecessary pain to the bum, back and other peculiar places.
Avoid injury too.. Now, they know how to pre-empt a fall and save the
pains for speed stunts. Wuahahahahaa! The elder one at least.. Younger
one still toddling in her blades but brave nevertheless to still play with
us.

[Miracle Child]

jedamum:

lwm99:

Yes, this is an expensive sport.

I am pretty hesitant to sign up for such courses cos after all my dad taught all of us to rollerskate (the 4 wheels-no-inline type) and I 'taught' my husband (and a friend) to blade - more on the 'guts' part than the 'technique' part.
Is there a 'course' guide whereby they will list down what are the stages the kids will go through? I think it is good to go for such lessons only for the initial part to build up the confidence, and thereafter to just let the kid pick up on his own from there (or practice with with the parent if the parent knows how to blade ).
I once saw a dad teaching his 2 young dds skating. One was holding onto the waist of the other who was then holding onto the dad's waist. The dad deliberately made a turn towards the grass patch, made an sudden stop and let his girls fall onto the grass patch. I think he was teaching them that falling is part and parcel of learning.

Hi Jedamum,

My son just completed the Level 1 course with Skateline. We went to the one in East Coast Park. The course is structured such that you pay $99 for 1 mth and you can go as many lessons as required during that 1 mth (the max no. of lessons would be about 16 ie. 2 per Sat and Sun for the same level).

Level 1 course covers the following:-
(a) gearing up
(b) how to stand up from a kneeling position
(c) how to fall down without hurting yourself
(d) how to stand without need to shuffle the blades
(e) stomping on the spot (to increase confidence)
(f) Stride 1 (basically, slow blading with feet initially in V-formation and subsequently glide in an 11-formation)
(g) heel stop (stopping using the right blade heel)
(h) A-frame turn (left and right turn)
(i) scootering (maintaining one leg in a straight motion and using the other left to kick outwards - this is important for faster blading)
(j) swizzel (bringing the blades toghether, then outwards and then back together)
(k) evaluation (if you want to move to level 2, you need to clear the evaluation)

Hope this would help anyone who wishes to know what is covered in the basic course.

[jedamum]

Miracle Child:

Hope this would help anyone who wishes to know what is covered in the basic course.

Hi Miracle Child,
Sounds pretty good. Thanks for sharing.

[buds]

Awrite lar, Miracle Child!

:celebrate:

We now know the names & steps
of our self-taught skills! Rah Rah! :rahrah:

[smurf]

just want to know what are suitable/steady age to roller blade (inline kind)?


my boy is 4.5, and i thought that is a good age? :?

well, he is quite clumsy, and scare to fall. when he's riding bicycle, he fell few times, after that, he said he dun want to ride bike again.

so when i read Buds' post about learning how to fall, I can't help, but think maybe 7 year old is the right age to skate? :roll:

[Miracle Child]

smurf:

just want to know what are suitable/steady age to roller blade (inline kind)?


my boy is 4.5, and i thought that is a good age? :?

well, he is quite clumsy, and scare to fall. when he's riding bicycle, he fell few times, after that, he said he dun want to ride bike again.

so when i read Buds' post about learning how to fall, I can't help, but think maybe 7 year old is the right age to skate? :roll:

Hi smurf,

My son is 6 this year and he has just completed level 1 last Sunday. What age to start? I am not sure either. I saw a kid as young as 4.5. It also depends on build of your child. Remember that the blades are relatively heavy and thus for a very small built child, it can be quite difficult to lift up the skates.

[buds]

Heheh.. We started when 2nd daughter was abt 4 years old and the jie-jie

was abt 6 years old. Fall on grass patches first. East Coast grass, Sentosa
grass, neighbourhood grass... then when learning to get up from the
ground and try the V-lock stance also started on short trimmed grass
areas followed by paths/pavements that allow for cycling and blading in
the parks... We only do short sessions each time and extend them when
we observe escalating interest in them. If they're tired we will let them
rest and go playground. The younger daughter will want to walk on the
reflexology pebble path to soothe her aching feet. :lol:

[smurf]

really ah? then maybe I can let boy try.hee. :celebrate:

[JHJC]

i heard abt the East Coast school. My fren told me her girl can skate after she complete the class, she is 4.

I have been looking around for a school in the West for my girl 4, anyone got loban?