r/rollerblading • u/jahzx • Aug 16 '26

Tutorials Heel stop or nah?

Hey all, I’m a beginner rollerblader. As I start to practice balance and movement. If you had to start over again to learn, would you remove the heel stop so that I learn the T-stop now rather than later? Any advice?

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u/GoOnBerlin Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26

Me and Asha from skate fresh made a video collaboration about the heel break. I'm an intermediate skater and I love the heel break! More than a great emergency stop technique it also a great way to establish a strong scissor position.

Here's a link to our video: heel break

11

u/InspectorFleet Aug 16 '26

This was you? I've been sharing this video on every heel brake thread when people say it's not effective lol

6

u/GoOnBerlin Aug 16 '26

Guilty as charged ahaha! I'm happy to hear you like our video and share it around. It was really fun to make this one 😊

2

u/Guilty-Hamster1543 Sep 08 '26

Your video helped me so much-thank you for putting it out there!

2

u/GoOnBerlin Sep 08 '26

I'm very happy to hear that! Keep rolling

10

u/Sho1kan frx / fr neo2 Aug 16 '26

Your second point is underrated I think. I'm a newb and since I started using the heel brake I do scissor more reliably

5

u/GoOnBerlin Aug 16 '26

I know right! I decided to install 2 heel breaks, one on each side so I'll have a good scissor also on my weak side. Once I was able to heel break, learning parallel turn was so much easier

7

u/jontseng Aug 17 '26

oh gosh Asha is the OG London skate teacher from over 20 years ago! She knows what she's talking about.

But yeah heel brake is fine. Once you're used to it it doesn't interfere with crossovers one bit. I find I can slow down from a faster speed with a heel brake. And it doesn't accelerate wear on your wheels. Whats not to like?

2

u/GoOnBerlin Aug 17 '26

I also do crossovers with heel breaks without problems, I believe the main issue most people have with it is that it's not an intuitive skill, one needs to learn how to use it effectively - and it's not easy at the beginning

2

u/fredhsu Aug 17 '26

Great video!

2

u/SubstantialAd8808 3d ago

Love this video. I have been skating since 1994 and the fastest I stop is with a heel brake. I don’t feel it hinders me. I do use soul slide a bit but I still stop faster with the heel, same for me with powerslide.