I am an intern at KidNews. When I was asked (OK, told) to do a story on learning to in-line skate, I jumped at the chance. I was tired of living in the slow lane; I was sick of my friends passing me by. I was eager to speed up and learn to skate. I grabbed an instructor and found a playground.
First, I strapped on my gear: skates, helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards and crash pads (a foam hip, bottom and tailbone protector). As I wobbled around, knees shaking, I thought, “Feet, don’t fail me now.” I was psyched to hit the pavement (well, not literally).
I asked my instructor, Ken Londe, in-line trainer and owner of Londo Mondo skate shop, what was the first thing skaters should learn.
“First I want to see how comfortable you are on the skates,” he said. “Some natural athletes will pick it up right away.”
I wobbled and didn’t impress him as a natural, so he decided to show me the basics. First, he told me about the right safety gear. (I prayed I had it on!) “The two most important safety items a person could possibly wear are the wrist guards and the helmet,” Ken said.
Wrist guards, had ’em; helmet, had it… I was ready to skate.
I knew I was going to fall before I could really get rolling, so I wanted to learn how to do it correctly.
“The best way to fall is forward,” Ken said. “All the frontal protection on your knees and wrists lessens the impact of the fall and decreases the risk of injury.”
I had heard a rumor that boys and girls fall in different directions, so I asked Ken. “I think that is a myth,” he said.
Falling can be easy compared with getting back on your feet. Ken instructed me to “get on all fours, pull up one knee so that one foot is on the ground, give yourself a quick push and get yourself up.”
My goal was to skate forward. So, following Ken’s lead, I bent my legs, arched my back and shifted the weight of the blades outward until I built up enough momentum to move forward. I made it a couple of feet, but slowly came to a stop. Again I churned my leg muscles, glaring at the skates as if they controlled me and I was just along for the ride.
I practiced and practiced – and it finally paid off. I was in-line skating – sort of. I was zoomin’ all around the playground (though in awkward and unbalanced positions).
I was glad I wasn’t skating alone. “If you are a beginner, I highly recommend skating with a partner,” Ken advised.
As I tried to glide, my hands reached for anything so I could keep my balance. I asked Ken what to grab for if I ran into trouble (poles, stop signs, fire hydrants?).
“Poles are good for bailing out for sure,” he said. “The best thing to keep in sight is grass: If you get into trouble and go out of control, it is best to skate into a patch of grass that will slow you down gradually.”
Could I latch onto people?
“Don’t grab pedestrians or bikers,” he said. (OK, everyone, you’re safe when I’m out there on wheels…)
I slipped on a pair of crash pads to see if they could really lessen the bump on my rump. They felt like a diaper (OK, what I think a diaper would feel like), and I worried if people would notice the puff over my buff.
But my baggy shorts covered all. And what a better way to test crash pads than to fall? That’s what I did plenty of learning to skate. The foam pads protected my rear – I was bruise- and pain-free.
We tested Crash Pads by Lehner Industries Inc. Lehner’s Crash Pads come in different styles and cost $45 to $85 You can call 1-800-964-5993 to find the Crash Pads at the store nearest you.
