Trails


Sunday, February 6, 2005

Start in the Yard
Roll on the TraiIs
Skate like a Pro
Inspect your Skates
Tune-up your Skates
Get a Trail Guide


    Inline Skating Lessons

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    IntermediateAn

    AdvancedA

    ModuleA

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    Rollerblade Maintenance Lessons

    Lessons

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    Rollerblading Trail Guides

    Inline Skating Lessons — Intermediate Skaters

    “A one stop online shop for all of your inline skating lessons.”

    Welcome to the Intermediates page! The Inline Skating Center provide inline skating lessons to help recreational, inline skaters become advanced, trail bladers. Our rollerblading lessons are designed to take the novice skater from the schoolyard to the trail in one season.

    In addition, our inline skating techniques are geared to improving the skills of the intermediate skater until he or she learns to skate efficiently and effectively on flat, smooth trails. Now, let’s do some trail skating!


    Roll on the Trails

    Lesson #2: Intermediate Trail Skating is the second installment in our three-part skating series, which is designed to take the inline skater from the schoolyard to the trails in a single season.

    It’s assumed that you’ve spent between 10 and 12 hours practicing the inline skating techniques from Lesson #1: For Beginners Only, in a safe, controlled environment like an rink, schoolyard, or church compound.

    In addition, you know how to stop, turn, and stride, at least at the beginner level. You feel confident and in control of your inline skating and you’re psyched up and ready to do some serious trail blading. Great, let’s have a look at the second lesson, which is geared exclusively to the intermediate skater.

    Lesson #2: Intermediate Trail Skating

    In this lesson, you’ll learn how to skate effectively and safely on intermediate level trails where the terrain is flat, the surface relatively smooth, and the length is about 10 miles round trip. The goal of this lesson is to enhance your confidence and control even further in an open environment through increased mileage and longer distances.

    Why did we set this type of environment?

    The intermediate skater who is new to trail skating needs an environment that’s safe, uncrowded, and relatively quiet, as well as flat and smooth, so he or she can practice the new maneuvers without fear of running into any obstacles, losing stability on rougher surfaces, or picking up too much speed on steeper hills.

    This lesson contains four inline skating techniques, namely the staggered stance, pump the brake stop, mid-radius parallel turn, as well as the longer stride and glide.

    First, we review the Staggered Stance to ensure you have the proper posture, balance, and stability for trail skating. Second, we take the heel stop to the next level by introducing the Pump the Brake maneuver. Next, the Mid-Radius Parallel Turn is covered since tighter turning is a good method to slow yourself down and control your speed. Finally, we return to the Stride and Glide, but modify the maneuver for trail skating so you learn to skate efficiently and conserve energy over longer distances.

    To view a sample from our intermediate inline skating lesson, click the link below:

    Sample: Pumping the Brake

    Why these four inline skating techniques?

    The reasons have to do with the underlying structure of the three-part series. The lessons were designed as a series of progressive steps. To maintain the progression the intermediate lesson needs to build on the foundation that was established in the first lesson. The beginner learned how to drop into a skaters stance, employ the heel stop, make a parallel turn around a pylon, and do short strides and glides.

    The intermediate uses the same basic movements and maneuvers as the beginner, but modified for trail skating. For instance, the heel stop has now evolved into the pump the brake maneuver which is actually two heel stops with a staggered stance sandwiched in between. The parallel turn in one direction has progressed into a series of linked mid-radius parallel turns. The short striding and gliding procedure has been changed into a longer striding and gliding maneuver.

    Since there are no drastic changes in movements, just modifications, the intermediate skater can leverage what he or she learned in the beginner lesson. This progressive structure of the lessons will accelerate the student’s learning and allow much better retention of the material.

    The inline skating techniques in this lesson prepare you for Lesson #3: Advanced Trail Skating. In the third lesson, you apply your new skills while skating on longer trails and steeper hills.

    Ordering the Lesson or Module

    To order Lesson #2, click below:

    Intermediate Trail Skating

    To order our complete set of inline skating lessons, click the Skating Module link below:

    skating Module

    About our Rollerblading Lessons

    Our inline skating lessons are unique for the following reasons:

    Ample Illustrations

    All procedures are written in clear and concise English in a step-wise manner, with feedback where necessary, so the maneuvers are easy to understand. In addition, all of our skating lessons are well illustrated. The numerous photos and drawings serve to clarify the instructions.

    Solid Foundation in the First Lesson

    The student is free to advance at his or her own pace, but it’s recommended that he or she only moves on after mastering the maneuvers in a particular lesson, which often entails a certain amount of practice and mileage. In this way, the student builds the correct foundation right from the start in lesson #1 and adds more and more skills as he or she progresses from lesson #1 through to lesson #3.

    Complete Curriculum

    Our lessons are designed to take the beginner from the schoolyard to the trails within a single season. To reach this goal, the lessons are set up so the beginner can get comfortable with the basic maneuvers in lesson #1 before moving on to the instructions in the intermediate inline skating lesson, and then onto the advanced procedures in lesson #3.

    In addition, our inline skating lessons teach you everything you need to know to become an advanced, recreational inline skater. There is no need to go anywhere else for lessons. The three-part skating series provides complete coverage of the subject matter.

    We have inline skating articles posted on the site. Here are the topics that we’ve covered so far:

    ABEC Ratings

    Buying Wheels

    The T-Stop

    Longer Strides

    To view, print, or use one or more articles on your web site and/or in your newsletter, click the Article Index button:

    Article Index

    We want to forge partnerships with related sites!

    To add your link to our directory in exchange for a link on your site back to us, click Links Directory for instructions:

    Links Directory

    Visit us often to see what’s new in the world of inline skating. To add our site to your Favorites, click the link below:

    Don’t forget to bookmark us! (CTRL-D)

    We would really appreciate it if you told other inline skaters about our site. To tell your friends, just click below. Thanks!

    Tell a Friend

    Are you looking for a place to skate when you’re on vacation? The Inline Skating site at About.com has a category called the Best Places to Skate.

    Over the coming months they’re going to feature the best of the best in the US and Canada. You’ll want to bookmark the site and check in before you head out on vacation.

    Best Places