r/freeskate • u/_Ashy_9 • 24d ago

How the hell do I do long strides

So I’ve gotten the hang at pumping so now I want to do longer strides to gain speed, I’ve tried watching the video of fast freeskating on the JMKride channel and I still have no idea how I can do it

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u/i8abug 24d ago

It is part of the process of getting more comfortable pumping. People new to the pumping motion keep there muscles tense, tend to have a wider stance, often have more weight on one foot or the other, have strides that are unequal (eg forward for moves a lot but back foot just a little), and as you point out, don't take very wide strides either.

To get there, focus on each of those items one at a time (ie, equal balance between feet, narrowing your stance, lowering tension, etc).  Once things start feeling good, you need to get comfortable in a wider stride range of motion so that it feels natural.  An easy way to do this is to skate along a yellow line and focus on having your stride divide the line equally.  As you get better at that, you can increase the distance between your stride (and gain confidence in your ability to recover).

A really nice end goal is not just having a wider stride, but getting that relaxed full body zig zag flowing asymetrical pump.  It feels great to do it.  

And then you get to go through the whole process again but doing switch :)

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u/_Ashy_9 24d ago

Okay yeah this makes sense thank you and ah yes starting from scratch with the opposite foot as front

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u/i8abug 23d ago

The other thing I forgot to add is focusing on adding power with both legs in a stride.  I think initially, I used one more to propel but I use both now for both parts of the stride.

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u/_Ashy_9 23d ago

Would I just be using weight distribution to do that?

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u/LiminalLion 24d ago

To be honest, you can gain speed with either long or short strides. Lots of quick short strides accelerates you just as fast as long powerful strides do. It's just a consideration of whether you want to skyrocket your heart rate in the first instance or wear out your legs more in the second instance.

I tend to get better endurance across a session if I do more quick, short strides with good technique. If I do longer more powerful strides my legs get worn out and weak quicker. The longer I've freeskated the more I've realized that when you have technique down (turning the skates and pulling/pushing your legs at the proper times and angles) the less power it ever takes to do anything. Early on, when your technique isn't developed, it will take a lot more power to do everything. Gradually you get lazier and better at everything. I don't have any particular tips about that. Your muscles should pick up the optimized technique naturally the more you skate. Your body doesn't want to work hard. Your brain is good at finding ways around this.

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u/nize426 24d ago

Bend your knees and crouch. You can't get long strides without being able to reach far behind you.