Beginner roller skating
The Heel Brake: A Certified Coach Swears By It, I Don't
ICP-certified coach Asha Kirkby teaches the heel brake as the first stop every inline skater should learn — every other method is harder to master. My own experience was rougher: it didn't always stop me in time, left my shin sore, and later got in the way of crossovers, so I take it off now. Two honest views, each attributed: teaching method from ICP-certified coach Asha Kirkby; personal account from me, Cass, a non-professional street skater.
Ask five instructors about the heel brake and most will tell you it is the first stop every beginner should learn. Ask five real skaters who have actually worn one out and the answer gets messier — because the two questions are not the same question.
The case for it, from a certified coach: Asha Kirkby teaches the heel brake first because every other stopping method — the T-stop, the powerslide, the hockey stop — is technically harder to learn and to control. She does not recommend removing it until you can reliably stop from top speed with two or three other methods instead.
The case against it, from someone who actually wore one out: on untrained legs, mine either was not strong enough to stop me in time or left my shin sore from the effort of pressing it hard enough. Once I got comfortable skating, it started getting in the way of crossovers, and I take it off now.
Neither account cancels the other. A total beginner and a comfortable street skater are solving different problems at different stages, so this page publishes both instead of picking a side. Heel brake teaching method from Asha Kirkby, an instructor certified by the Inline Certification Program. Inline technique — that is the discipline this page is about. Personal account from Cass, a non-professional street skater — not a coach, and this page does not pretend otherwise.
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