Beginner roller skating
The Thirty-Second Check You Do Before You Roll
Two gestures, standing, skates in your hands. Shake each skate sideways: a clicking sound means a wheel nut has worked loose. Then spin each wheel by hand: it should turn for a long time and stop on its own. What you want is firm, not tight - the wheel spins completely free but doesn't wander on its axle. Over-tightening is exactly as wrong as leaving play, and it's the mistake nobody warns you about.
There is a check that takes about half a minute, needs no tools, and catches the two faults most likely to put you down. You do it standing up, with the skates in your hands, before they go on your feet.
First, hold a skate and shake it sideways. A clicking sound means an axle nut has worked loose — the wheel has play on its axle, and play is what turns a small bump into a wobble you did not ask for. Second, spin each wheel by hand. It should turn for a long time and come to a stop on its own.
What you are aiming for has an unhelpful name: firm, not tight. The wheel should spin completely free, and it should not wander on the axle. Those are two different things, and one nut position gives you both.
Over-tightening is exactly as wrong as leaving play, and it is the half nobody warns you about. A nut done up hard squeezes the bearings, the wheel stops dead after half a turn, and you spend the session wondering why you feel slow. If a wheel dies in your hand instead of coasting, back the nut off until it does not.
Keep going: this is one section of the full Roller Skating for Beginners guide — sizing, gear, stopping, and where to skate, in one page.