Inline skating has many health benefits but it's also a fun way to get outside and see your neighborhood in an entirely new light. We often hear of skaters getting too discouraged to start skating and we understand. New things can feel challenging and scary but we're here to help! In just 4 easy steps we will walk you through trying on your skates for the first time and how to start rolling around.

In this guide and I’m going to teach you how to start inline skating from getting up, simple strides, turns and stopping.

Before we start, we’d like to remind you that wearing protective gear is highly recommended for beginners because too often skaters get their first pair of skates, get pre-maturely injured and then feel too discouraged to get back on their skates. Start safely and I promise you’ll have a much better experience learning how to skate.

To get up you’re going to get your knees underneath you and pick up either foot you feel most comfortable with in it a lunge pose and put your body weight over it.

Push up, if you need use a fence or obstacle near you for support to find your balance.

Now get into a skater position with your shoulders up, back and over your hips. Be sure to bend your knees, if you feel unstable bend them more.

Stacking your bones this way is really good for balance and it might feel a bit like the chair position in yoga because it kind of is.

If you need a deeper explanation on how to inspect them, we have a “pre-skate check” video that you can reach below and it’s useful for every time you skate.

This is not walking, this is transferring your weight from side to side in a ski-like way. You’re going to place your feet in a v-position, and while keeping your body weight centered over your feet, you’re just going to lean from side to side. If you lean too forwards or backwards you’re more likely to fall one way or the other.

They’re actually more simple than you would imagine, all you need to do is stand in a wide star-like stance and put more pressure onto the outside skate of your turn. When turning back and forth, you can slow yourself down

To stop on your inline skates by using your brake you’re going to still be in your skating position, you’ll just place the foot with the brakes ahead of you and sit further down into that position.

You can slow yourself down by turning back and forth. You can also use a “plow stop” which is making the opposite v-shape from your strides by positioning your heels out and toes in.

That’s how I would teach an absolute beginner but please let us know if you want more videos like this or if you have any questions, I can help you in the comments below the video on our YouTube channel.