Learning to stop on roller skates a big challenge when you decide to learn to skate. Mastering stopping is often harder than skating. Read on to understand how to stop on roller skates and quad skates.
This is the easiest way to stop on roller skates. It involves balancing your weight on one leg to achieve a ‘drag’ light enough to drag but heavy enough to slow you down.
· Bend your front knee and balance more of your weight on it.
· Allow the toe stopper of the skate on the other foot to scrape behind the front skate and slow you down.
· Bend your back knee and the foot inside the sliding skate pointed.
Some quad skates have a heel brake at the back (like inline skates). This allows easier stops in steeper slopes and emergency stops.
· Begin with both skates together.
· Bend both knees.
· Place most of your weight on one skate and then roll the other skate in front of you, with the brake on the heel. Apply the brake when it’s just past the front wheel of the back skate.
· Allow it to slide along the ground keeping it at that position so the brake is near the front wheel of the back skate.
· This will bring you to a stop faster than the Toe Stop Drag because your weight is behind the brake.
The T-Stop on quad skates helps you to slow down safely, but it can take time to master.
· Keep the majority of your body weight on the front skate.
· Bend your front knee and keep your body upright with most of your weight on your front foot.
· Drag the other skate behind you on either the two front wheels or all four wheels flat.
There are two different styles of the Plough Stop on quads.
This stop involves balancing yourself in the A-frame – feet wider than shoulders, skates parallel, knees bent and body upright. Roll in this position until you stop. But this will take time to stop and won’t work if you are going downhill.
This stop also begins in the A-frame position. Lift each skate alternately. Place each skate angled inwards every time you change feet. Each skate will roll in towards the center. This will only work if you’ve kept the skate pointing inwards and stepped properly.
You can also combine these stopping methods, for example, T-Stop with Stepping Plough.
Remember not to skate at high speeds before you learn to stop!
If you love skating and are looking for Edea Roller Skate, Riedell Skates, or Roller Skates for Kids or Bones bearings, check out Roller Skate USA NOW!