Beginner roller skating
Pronation Is Not a Style Problem, It Is a Joint Problem
Watch a newer skater's boot roll slightly onto its inside edge with every step. It reads as a cosmetic detail and it is not one: left alone, it leads to slow-onset injuries in the ankle, knee or hip on the side that rolls. And it feeds itself, because setting the skate down in a V with the toes turned out keeps loading that same inside edge. Fix the set-down and you have started on the pronation. Inline technique, from ICP-certified coach Asha Kirkby.
Watch a newer skater from behind and you will often see one boot roll slightly inwards on every step, the ankle tipping over towards the inside edge. It reads as an untidy detail, the kind of thing you would get around to eventually.
It is not a cosmetic problem. It is a joint problem.
Left alone, that repeated inward roll leads to slow-onset injuries — ankle, knee or hip, on the side that does it. Slow-onset is the difficult part: nothing hurts on the day, so nothing tells you to stop, and by the time something does hurt you have thousands of repetitions of it behind you.
It also feeds itself, which is the bit worth knowing. Setting the skate down in a V, toes turned out, loads that same inside edge every time the foot lands. So the angled set-down and the inward roll reinforce each other, and correcting the set-down is where most people should start.
Look at the whole chain too. A boot that is not laced properly lets the ankle move inside it, and an ankle that can move will find that inward tip on its own. Lace from the bottom up, tightening each crossing, and tightest around the ankle.
And do not wait for it to hurt before you deal with it. This is not a matter of looking like a better skater; it is the reason to fix the thing while it is still free to fix. Inline technique, from Asha Kirkby of Skatefresh, an instructor certified by the Inline Certification Program. She teaches inline skating, and that is the discipline this page is about.
Keep going: this is one section of the full Roller Skating for Beginners guide — sizing, gear, stopping, and where to skate, in one page.