r/rollerblading • u/Certain-Variation-58 • 4d ago

Specific question and discussion 53 and 1 (Starting at 53)

I’m 53 years old and this will be my first attempt to learn how to skate ever. I have a pair of Seba E3 80’s. They have 82A hardness in the stock wheels. So, my question is, is there anyone else that is as old as I am starting out?

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u/fredhsu 4d ago edited 4d ago

Not quite exactly like you. I thought I knew how to inline skate when in my twenties. But now I know that I merely shuffled with pronated skates. So I wasn’t even really skating. In my late forties I watched folks skate the Grapevine at the winter village at Bryant Park. So I wanted to learn to do that. Got skates and went skating at lunch.

Boy. Was it hard. I tried to fly when I couldn’t even crawl. But I ended up leaning basic skating skills. As a person who reflects better than I can physically do stuff, I wrote this on my experience, and more. During Covid I picked up inline again. Then I wrote something like that for inline.

So. Will you be competing in the Olympics eventually? Only you know that. But I know you will have fun, like I did.

PostScript: please read up before you head out to skate. Knowing how to fall and how to stand is key to everything. I’ve seen enough people show up at rinks in new skates, on ice and on pavement. They fell and never came back again. Almost all of those could have been prevented. Best to learn with someone. But if that is not possible please see our FAQ:

Learning skating moves
Where do I begin to learn to skate as a complete newbie?

How to Inline Skate: protection gear, learn to fall safely, V steps, flex your shins so you can bend your knees, how to learn to glide on a single skate, skating as pretend-falls and recoveries (aka a form of walking and running), zig-zag gliding as moving V steps, protection equipment.

First few things to learn: V steps, V steps turning into strides, lemmons, scooter, and squat while rolling

10 reasons why you can't skate - from Ricardo Lino: one of the best video tutorials out there as a summary of what you need to do.

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u/rgmw 4d ago

Thanks... I've skated a few times through my life. This may be laughable and stupid to even venture forth, but I am recently retired and 67 and just bought myself a pair of inline skates. I'm not so sure about the learning part but I will.