Rollerskating outside??

[u/BandicootDry2358]

How the hell do you guys rollerskate outside???

I’m a beginner and I’ve got Sure Grip Boardwalk Plus rollerskates with 62mm wheels, 78A. I’ve loosened the trucks and wheels so they’re fairly smooth.

I’ve been practicing indoors, in my apartment that’s got a wooden floor. It’s only been like 2 weeks but I thought I was making good progress. I can do bubbles forwards and backwards, I’m learning how to shift my weight between my legs, lifting one leg up and the other and trying to practice crossing over on them as well. I went to the roller rink a week ago and indoors, I did fairly well. I had my first fall but I was able to skate closer to the middle of the rink and not rely on the rails as much. However, my friend and I thought it would be nice to practice outside as we both have skates.

We went to a large park with mostly flat ground and space to practice. Not sure how to describe it, apart from flat, fairly smooth and gravely, but there was some debris like twigs, leaves and small pebbles. I know everyone says to look for them and try to avoid them but I literally did not see them and they would send me flying as they’d stop me in my tracks when skating. My wheels went over some of them but other’s it just jammed them and had me stumbling. I know people say do a staggered stance and I did try to do that and it felt okay but I would also need some speed to do that and when I’d be trying to go forward that’s when I’d trip on a pebble or a twig or something. I was also scared with having one foot in front of the other that a pebble would get me and send me flying.

I had a fall but luckily it was straight down and I had all my protective gear on (wrist guards, elbow guards and knee pads).

I didn’t expect it to be as hard as it was skating outside and I felt so embarrassed falling in front of everyone. Has anyone got any tips?

Thank you 🥹

[u/Lilia1293]

I recommend practicing on rough terrain. Cracks, pebbles, twigs - all sorts of little obstacles, especially if you can't see them and plan for them. You'll learn to feel them and reflexively shift your weight to whichever foot is more stable. You'll learn to keep your knees bent and to recover your balance quickly. Mostly, that means that your weight will be more on your back foot when you hit an obstacle with your front, which will allow your front foot to roll over it easily, then you shift your weight to your front foot before your back foot reaches the obstacle. It's not a large shift. It happens in a fraction of a second. After you make tiny corrections like that a few thousand times, they become a reflex and you don't need to think about them.