10 Roller Skating Tricks For Beginners

Once you have learned all the basics of roller skating, you can advance into the exciting part of learning tricks so that you can add more fun to your skating adventure.

Ensure that you learn the various roller skating tricks for beginners after mastering how to stop and balance.

As a beginner, it will be easier to do the tricks perfectly after you have understood all the basics and not struggling to handle and balance the skates.

Dedication and practice will take your skating skills to the next level. The more effort and time you give, the easier it will be for you to do these tricks.

This article will provide you with more information about the different roller skating moves and tricks you can learn as a beginner.

Tricks For Roller Skating

The following are the top 10 roller skating tricks and how to do them:

1. Backward Skating

Before learning this trick ensure that your surrounding is free from obstacles.

This is to avoid hitting a wall or a fellow skater. The following are the steps of doing backward skating:

• Point your toes to the inner direction to make a V-shape with your roller skates. Slightly bend your knees so that your weight is distributed evenly as both legs bear the same amount of weight.
• Apply slight pressure using the toe of your dominant foot so that you can move backward, and then gently lift the other foot. This will push you backward.
• Now put your lifted foot down then use its toes to push while you lift your dominant foot.
• Slowly skate backward by switching your toes and ensure that you are properly engaging your core. Also, remember to look over your shoulders when skating backward to mind your surroundings. You do not want to face a collision or face because you can get injured.

2. Moonwalk

If you have mastered backward skating as explained above, moonwalking will be quite easy to master and learn. The following are the steps to moonwalk:

• To moonwalk at the skating rink, keep one roller skate flat on the ground and the other one pointing downwards with the toe stopper maintaining it at its position.
• Push the toe stopper and skate backward using the other roller skate.
• Continue moonwalking by alternating your skates.
• Start with small steps and ensure that you are not in a hurry until you gain the momentum and eventually confidence. And before long you will be showing your moonwalking to your friends at the skating rink.

3. Spinning

Once you have learned how to balance and stop, you can now try spinning. It is an easy trick to impress others with it and fun to do. If you want, you can spin in one direction or change your direction midway.

To do roller skate spinning, ensure that you are in the center of the skating rink so that you do not bump into the wall or another skater, then do the following steps:

• Bend your knees slightly and spread your arms so that they are at a 90 degrees angle.
• Start rotating your arms slowly in one direction and ensure that they are centered to your core. Your core muscles are very important for most spinning and skating tricks.
• Lift your body as you gain momentum and then pull the skates creating a flawless spin.

You can also start spinning using a few powerful glides and then turn your roller skates so that they change direction. To keep spinning, ensure that the skates remain turned. Straighten up your feet if you want to stop spinning.

4. Jumping

Most roller skaters at the beginner level are attracted to jumping. There are various of jumping and once you are comfortable skating at a certain pace, you can learn simple jumping.

To jump, bend your legs slightly and hop as you re-focus your center of gravity. Maintain the same momentum and continue skating as soon as you touch the ground after every jump.

You do not have to keep the knees bent when in air but you need to bend them when you are near the ground so that you stick to the landing.

Begin with small hops and you can push yourself further and go for higher or longer jumps as your body become comfortable.

You can put things like cones or any other obstacle so that you can practice jumping over them.

If you are new to jumping tricks, keep the following in mind:

• Begin with a few glides and before jumping ensure that you are maintaining a good pace.
• Stay stable as you can and do not lose your balance when jumping.
• It is not a good idea to jump when you are standing still or skating too fast. Ensure that the between the jumping stages is smooth, therefore, you require a medium speed to be in control of your skating skills as well as over your body.
• Ensure that your skates are together in a parallel position before preparing to jump. This will enable you to land in a parallel gliding position after the jump instead of falling, hence maintaining your balance.
• To gain stability, tighten up your core and extent your arms on the sides if you need balance.
• Slightly bend your knees in a squat position and keep your skates together then jump. When you finish jumping and you are back on the ground, the squatting position helps you to regain balance.
• If you want to perfect your jumping tricks, practice them and you can easily move towards the advanced roller skate tricks.
• When learning and practicing, go at your own pace then as you get comfortable, increase your speed, length, or height.

5. Spread Eagle

The spread eagle trick is a great way of impressing those who do not know how to do the trick and a great way of boosting your confidence.

Before learning this trick, ensure that you understand the practical knowledge of balancing your weight. Follow these steps to learn how to do spread eagle:

• While bending your knees, begin skating in the forward direction.
• Slowly spread your legs then raise your toes gently on both skates.
• Ensure that you balance on the heels of both skates then rolls them towards you. Focus on leg and core muscles to maintain balance and avoid falling.

6. Jam Skating

The following are the steps of doing jam skating:

• When standing still in your skates, move your right skate backward then rest on the toe and raise it. Keep your left skate in front of your right.
• Shift your weight by balancing on both toes and then pivoting so that your heels are pointing inwards together. Keep your core tight and your knees bent to ensure that you are stable.
• Pivot again and move your left skate to the back and balance it on the toe while keeping the right skate in front.
• Repeat the above motions over and over so that you can get comfortable and do them in a fluid and smooth motion.

When you get confident, you can do a toe jam when gliding so that you are performing a traveling toe jam.

7. 4-Wheeler

This is a great trick if you are working on your balance. You can either do this trick with your rear wheels or your front wheels of both skates. The plan is to use two wheels per skate to roll.

Start by rolling one foot while keeping the skate flat then roll the other foot behind using two wheels. Slowly push the flat foot and lean back so that you put your weight on the rear wheels while maintaining balance.

Ensure that you ground one foot before the other throughout this trick. Move your heels from side to side so that you can gain momentum.

8. Grapevine

This is a crazy trick that you can either hate or love. It involves both skating backward and skating forward.

The movement is like the twisted stems of the grapevine, that is where the name came from. Remember to stay low and keep your knees bent throughout this drill.

The condition before doing grapevine is to master skating on the toes to move forward and backward.

Start by moving your right leg forward then take a turn and move slightly backward with your left leg in front. Take a turn again and move forward so that your right leg is now ahead.

9. Backward Cross

If you have tried to master the different roller-skating tricks, then you must have done crossovers.

This is where you cross the left skate over the right skate while moving forward or vice versa. For backward cross, you do the same thing, but you skate backward.

10. Crazy Legs 

As the name suggests, this is one of the craziest tricks to try as a beginner. It combines crossovers with forward and backward motions to create crazy movements as you skate forward.

With this trick, start by doing a straight cross then a backward cross. Continue sideways in one direction. Remember to do the two crossovers using the same leg that you start with.

Other Roller Skate Tricks

Salchow – this trick will give you an adrenaline rush. With this trick, you need to skate backward and do a twist with one leg. Then do a quick jump and land gently on the opposite leg.

Scissors – raise your arms and stand straight to maintain balance. Keep your heels together and move your toes slightly apart so that you are forming a V-shape with both of your skates.

While bending your knees, push your toes gently apart then quickly bring them together as you straighten your knees and skate forward. Repeat this motion to achieve the scissor trick.

Tips When Learning to Do Roller Skating Tricks for Beginners

As a beginner learning skating tricks, the following tips will help you in achieving your goal:

• Buy the best roller skates for beginners with features to suit your needs and style. As a beginner, basic skates are a good option for you especially when learning the tricks.
• Get yourself proper safety armors designed to protect the different parts of your body. This includes helmets, hand gloves, knee, and elbow pads. You are likely to fall when doing the tricks, so it is best to keep yourself safe.
• Practice how to stop, brake, and turn before learning the different tricks.
• Practice the different skate tricks with a group. Joint a skating club or a group of friends because you will learn from others, and it is more fun than doing the tricks alone.

FAQs

Is It Necessary to Bend Forward to Stay in Balance?

To maintain a perfect stance when skating, you need to slightly bend your knees, keep your torso straight, and your feet should be shoulder-width apart.

The stance enables you to maintain your center of gravity and your body stays balanced throughout the skating. A slight bend forward is enough, you do not need to lean too far.

How Should I Proceed If I Want to Become a Professional Roller Skater?

If you want to reach the level of a professional skater, get training sessions from certified trainers or professionals and practice as much as you can. Join a local skating rink and seek advice from experienced skaters.

Once you are done with roller skating lessons, participate in a zonal competition near you.

Final Words

You can push your skating boundaries by learning the different tricks mentioned above. Ensure that you try learning the tricks in an open zone that is free from obstacles.

Before learning these tricks, you need to polish all the basic skills of skating to ensure that you do not fall and injure yourself.

As a beginner, all the tricks for roller skating can be tempting to try, however, you need to understand stopping, skating, and balancing techniques.

It is also very crucial that you wear all your roller-skating protective gear to protect yourself before doing any tricks.

Practice makes perfect. No one learns a trick on the first try, therefore, keep on practicing and in no time you will be a master of all the tricks.