How to choose your first rollers. Guide for beginners

If you’re not a fan of sideways skateboarding, you should definitely try rollerblading. They have a “normal” stance, and skating is often mastered intuitively. Let’s start with the basics – we will choose our first roller skates.

Despite its simplicity of appearance and design in general, most people have the opinion that to pick up the rollers for skating – it’s easy. This is only partially true, although there are many nuances to pay attention to in the store.

Aggressive rollers – several types of skating fall into this category:

• speedskating – speed skating;
• freestyle or freeskate – fast riding, jumps and slides;
• Slalom – beautiful and maneuverable riding around cones;
• aggressive rollers – street riding on rails and performing amplitude jumps with different grips;
• offroad rollers – riding on rough terrain.

Each subspecies has its own characteristic features. But they are united by the fact that they have a solid construction, rigid frame and have good lateral support of the foot and ankle.

When choosing

Igor Anikin

freeskate instructor at Rollerline school

The first thing to think about before buying rollers is how seriously you will be skating. For example, if you plan to just ride in the parks, along the river, you will fit the usual fitness rollers with a soft cloth boot. If you plan to progress, skate around cones and jump – you need rollers with a plastic boot, the so-called Hard Boot.

Keep in mind that the foot should not dangle in the rollers. The foot should sit tightly and not walk to the left and right, but also should not be strongly transmitted so that after 5-10 minutes you will no longer feel it. Focus on relative comfort. New rollers are going to feel a little pressure anyway – that’s normal. When we buy new sneakers, they also give us a little pressure, and then they wear out. So when you buy new sneakers, look for a little bit of pressure, but without much discomfort or pain. In this case, they will fit you.

What else you need

In addition to the rollers themselves, you need to think about buying protection – during training you will fall. To keep the desire to skate, you need to buy kneepads, elbow pads and “brushes”.

The “brushes” should have two bands of rigidity, plastic should be both above and below. Very often wrist protection covers only the palm and saves from scratches, but the wrist joint itself is not fixed, and, in fact, the protection becomes almost useless. It is also recommended to buy a helmet, regardless of whether you are a regular skater or a serious jumper, tricks and slides.

It’s a good idea to hire an instructor for the first time. He or she will explain you the correct skating technique, tell you the nuances and help you decide on the style of skating in the future.