from How To Inline Skate on 23 Jul 2019
What’s the best u-turn on inline skates?Let’s first take at look at ice skating.Ice skates have a very good grip.They are also rockered, at least HOCKEY skates are. Inline skates are typically NOT.That said, if you can turn on ice you can turn with inline skates, and vice versa.The techniques are very similar. Just keep in mind that with inline skates you need a lower speed or a wider turn.To do the most basic u-turn, simply keep your skates parallel, feet scissored, knees above your toes, and lean to the side. There you have it!With crossovers you can even accelerate through a u-turn. But you need a lot of space!For a tight u-turn, use very short strides, in fact the crossover turn becomes more like a crossover run.Normally you will use a combination of a parallel turn and crossovers.For advanced skaters, when you need to make a very tight u-turn, you can try this:Reduce speed by dragging a skate behind you, aka the T-stop, then shift all weight onto the dragging skate to intiate a spin.Then when you turned a full 180, you shall be rolling backward with heel-to hell in a eagle or mohawk position.Shift your weight, then accelerate forward with crossovers.I admit I’m not the best at this technique, but the better you are, the more speed you can carry forward.A better option IMO is powerstop to sprint.As you come to full stop, energy is stored in your compressed body, much like a coil spring. Your natural springiness then gives you a flying start.Try to stop with your skates parallel, and your weight more above the outside skate. Like this.And here’s the wrong way of doing it! Here you risk stretching your groin when you start to sprint. Don’t glide on the first few steps. And kick down hard not to slip. Okay, back to the question; what’s the best u-turn?Well, there’s always your monkey arms… whenever you find something to grab onto – bam, there you have it! The best u-turn!Alright, I’m JP Jay. Thank you for watching and subscribe for updates!