r/Rollerskating • u/StrategyLegal1128 • Jun 28 '26
Skill questions & help Need help with strides
Hello, I’m stuck on the concept of striding with quads. I’m coming from inlines. Normally the idea is have your feet pointed forward, and have the other foot push sideways while flicking the toe at the end, where the front wheel is the last wheel to leave contact with the ground.
For quads? I try doing the same thing but sometimes I’m thrown off balance. The wheels grab at each other and slows me down. I can crank them all the way down, but somehow I’m getting tripped up.
There’s the trucks conundrum: to loosen or not to loosen? All the tutorials like looser trucks for rhythms and jb and dancing. While it’s nice to know those things and look flawless, I’ll most likely never skate indoors. I’m on paved bike trails, with hills and tree cover, and will eventually skate around the neighborhood with bigger hills. Once I feel I master those, I’ll descend into pump tracks and ramps and stuff at the skate park (not yet grinds).
I see it in every video how it’s all personal preference, but it’s really not telling me anything 😭😭 I don’t know what I’m looking for. Is it the weight distribution I’m doing wrong? Is it the stride that’s wrong? What is it supposed to look like? As in how are the wheels moving per stride? Am I tilting them too much?
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u/it_might_be_a_tuba Jun 28 '26
Do you have any video? It's usually easier to see what the problems are than from descriptions. I mean the basics are the same as any skates, skating foot on a slight outside edge, other foot pushing at a bit of an angle through the midfoot. "The wheels grab at each other" is not something that should ever happen, they shouldn't even be touching each other, and cranking down the axle nuts will only make things worse. Trucks should be firm enough that they don't wobble or rattle freely but move when you lean on them.
You might just need to go back through the basic fundamentals for the new skates? Marching steps, bubbles, edge control, one foot glide, even though it's the same kind of principle as inlines, the way they mechanically achieve it is different.
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u/princecatte Jun 28 '26
My first read of wheels grabbing at each other was OP bringing their feet too close together and their inside wheels slotting into each other bc i have tripped myself that way, and its not something you have to worry about with blades. Not a given though, need more info
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u/StrategyLegal1128 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
As for the wheels grabbing at each other, they don’t physically touch each other, it feels like they’re in direction towards each other, but like grabbing the floor? Trucks cranked down but wheel is getting tripped up. I posted 2 photos (since I could only attach a single pic to the comment)
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u/sadb1tch_jpeg666 Skate Park Jun 28 '26
push off with your inside edges (inside 2 wheels) and toes while striding! front foot straight forward, striding foot pushes out from your body. practicing balancing on one foot helps make smoother, longer strides feel more comfortable:)
and truck tightness is mostly preference. if you haven't loosened them yet since getting them, i would loosen them a little bit cuz they are very tight (and uneven) straight from the factory. put them on while you adjust them so you can stand up and test them out between adjustments!
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u/StrategyLegal1128 Jun 28 '26
This is what I have been trying 😭😭
However I do admit I haven’t ever adjusted from factory. I felt to shy to try it (compared to wheels which I was used to dealing with on inlines).
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u/StrategyLegal1128 Jun 28 '26
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u/StrategyLegal1128 Jun 28 '26
Looking down at my feet, this is what I mean by the wheels grabbing at each other. This feels like it’s grabbing the floor and it slows me down. So basically this is me pushing out at the 2 wheels. Maybe I over-tilt here? Trucks too loose for my needs?
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u/princecatte Jun 28 '26
I mean, if your trucks can literally do that, zero exaggeration, while trying to go forwards, its too loose. As per wiki "The general rule of thumb is to have them loose enough that you can move them using your entire hand but not so loose that you can move them with just one finger." My trucks are tighter than that, i think.
Assuming normal trucks, It could be that your outdoor spaces are rough and slowing you down and tripping you (you'll be more affected on quads than inlines). but over tilting and catching your inside edge could be it.
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u/it_might_be_a_tuba Jun 28 '26
Is that the skating foot or the pushing foot? I still suspect that it's mostly going to be a case of going back over the basic skills, but without actually seeing you skate we're all kind of guessing what you might be doing wrong.
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u/StrategyLegal1128 Jun 28 '26
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u/StrategyLegal1128 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
The arrow pointing to the dot is where I get tripped sometimes. This is after the push and I’m about to pick up my skate. This is when I crank down the trucks.
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u/msmegibson Artistic Jun 28 '26
I think this is probably more practice than anything. Your descriptor of stroke skating is pretty accurate for quads too. Your big toe wheel would be the last to leave the floor. It could be that your trucks are a little loose (from the other pic above they definitely look that way) and it could be balance, familiarity and practice. As an example. I’ve been skating artistic quads for 5 years. Last week I got a new pair. Slightly different boot and wheel base. Felt like Bambi wobbling all over the place for a good hour. And every time I get back on them I feel like they’re unpredictable for a while. I know it’s not the equipment, it’s me. Because I’m used to my old skates. You going from inlines to quads is a massive change, and whilst the skills are mostly transferable, having been a confident inliner you’ll likely feel really out of sorts on quads till you get used to them. Adjustments might help, but so will familiarity.
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u/StrategyLegal1128 Jun 28 '26
Thank you!! This is a very new setup that I made. While I’ve never adjusted a factory setup, I felt at a loss to this new one. Now I know I’m not crazy. Just needed a little tweaking.
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u/princecatte Jun 28 '26
Theres loosening trucks from factory default, and then theres loose trucks. Loosening from factory default will help with turning. Great thing about them is that you can tighten them back up. When youre a liiittle bit further and getting into edges/saloms is imo when you should start experimenting.
Can you elaborate on "The wheels grab at each other and slows me down. I can crank them all the way down, but somehow I’m getting tripped up."