from How To Inline Skate on 9 Feb 2017
Backwards Skating Playlist:
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https://www.facebook.com/how2inline/
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How to skate backwards on ice
… and on inline skates it’s pretty much the same.
#1 The Pose.
Stay low. Keep your balance over the balls of your feet. Head up. Lean shoulders a bit back, almost as if you’re sitting back in a seat.
Do not lean too much forward and do not look at your feet. Else, before you know it, you kiss the ice.
#2 Balance & Push
Use one leg for balance. The other for pushing.
#3 First Baby Steps
Now try to alternate. So you push with one, then the other, the other again, and so on.
#4 Maximum Range of Motion
As you get more comfortable, try to fully extend your legs. Each stride begins behind mid blade, or even heel, but the push ends at the toes. It’s often called a C-cut but you wanna make it more like half a heart or half a droplet.
#5 Crossover Start
To accelerate faster, try to begin with a few crossovers.
#6 Crossover Turns
Have your weight centered over your knees and balance on the balls of your feet. Correct weight distribution is very important but also quite difficult.
To gain more speed, have your inside leg reach out. You should be able to reach further and grab more ice than I do here.
At the end of the stride you should stretch your legs all the way out to your toes for maximum power transfer. At least, try this with your outside leg. When you do it right, you can really hear the blades digging into the ice.
More often though, you may want to do quick crossovers, so better practice quick, long, or anything inbetween.
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WARNING
Backwards skating is dangerous. You cannot see that well going backwards. I’ve witnessed very good skaters hurting themselves and others.
Be careful during open ice hours and while rollerblading in the park.
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I collected a playlist of backward skating tutorials.
The SkateFresh tutorial shows some other techniques specific for inline skating. It begins after 3:20, so I recommend you fast forward when you get to that one.