I truly believe that if you want to feel 100% comfortable and confident in your skates, you should push yourself to get out of your comfort zone. Try out different styles of skating,
I honestly look back at my skating journey and regret not going to the skate park or going trail skating sooner. I think a huge battle with skating is just becoming comfortable to begin with, so when I found my little “style” or my way of skating, I didn’t want to venture elsewhere. Now in some ways, I’m grateful for this. I’ve really developed a flow of skating to music while I dance, and grooving out to a nice song can really be when I feel like I’m in my element.
I missed out on the opportunity on a lot of days to just take a breather and enjoy the ride.
I only recently started skating on a trail in the early mornings and it’s complete and utter bliss. Not to mention, it can be a really great workout too. As someone that struggles with anxiety, starting my days off with an hour to get outside and enjoy the moment is extremely relaxing. It puts me into a more positive mindset, and makes me feel like I’m getting a good start to the day.
I think trail skate is also a great option for when we hit plateaus. The worst feeling is to feel like you’re really making progress and then suddenly… bam. You’ve hit a wall you can’t get past. But that’s the great thing about trail skating, you don’t have to worry about “progress”. You can go as slow or as fast as you want. You can just keep going straight, or you can intertwine some tricks while you’re skating and practice going backwards a little bit. Trail skating is a great time to just be in the moment with yourself and stop worrying about what you look like.
Now really, push yourself out of your comfort zone.
The skate park. Absolutely terrifying. Extremely daunting. Not only are there huge scary ramps, but also a lot of teenage boys like to hang out in skate parks. The last group of people I want to be around is a group of teenage boys.
Skate parks are a struggle. Roller skating is about trusting your body and your skates, and skate parks take that to the next level. But it’s worth the risk, and you don’t have to go from zero to one hundred all in one day. You can take it slow and really get comfortable with the basics. Becoming the master at the skate park is not going to happen overnight.
Stop telling yourself that you’re not “good enough” to go to a skate park yet.
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Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying to rush to the skate park in your first week of skating. I would definitely get very comfortable transitioning, turning, going backwards, and stopping. But you don’t have to be the master at skating to go to the skate park. You may never want to go to the skate park, and that’s completely fine! But if that is on your radar, remember that at some point you will have to take the leap of faith and just go to one someday.
Don’t forget to drill
If I’ve neglected anything the most in my journey so far it’s drilling. I love watching people practice crazy feet and just spend time drilling on skates, but for some reason I just never want to do myself. It’s one of those things I do when I want to push myself to skate, but I don’t really feel like going outside.
Drilling is something that will really help you understand how the skate moves and the technicalities of it. It will give you so much more control over your skates, and will probably just make you look like a more advanced skater. Now again, this isn’t something I really have personal experience with, but I wish I could go back and change all the days that I took off from skating and just do a few moments drilling instead.
Do whatever feels best for you
Okay, I’m sure you get my point that there’s a lot of benefits to mixing it up every once in a while. But having a favorite style of skating is definitely natural and it may just become your addiction. If you want to really master the skate park, go for it. Dedicate most of your hours and time to those tricks! You got this.
But also, if you don’t want to pick a favorite way of skating that’s alright too. There’s no pressure to find where you “fit” in, you may just want to do it all forever. Do whatever feels best for you and remember to always enjoy the ride.
