Beginner roller skating
Your Next Stride Is the Same Stride, Piece by Piece
The beginner basic stride and the intermediate fitness stride are the same move at two levels, says ICP-certified coach Asha Kirkby. Progress from one inline session to the next is not a new move: it is one component of the same move improved, a stronger side push, a cleaner edge glide, a set-down without the V, until the whole stride is rebuilt from its parts.
Beginners often imagine progress as a list of new moves. A certified coach describes the stride differently: the beginner's basic stride and the intermediate fitness stride are the same move at two levels, not two moves.
What separates them is the quality of each component. A stronger push out to the side. A cleaner glide on a centre or outside edge. A set-down that no longer lands in a V. Same three parts, each done better.
That is what progress from one session to the next looks like on the stride. Not a new move, but one component of the same move improved, until the whole stride has been rebuilt from its parts and the beginner stride has quietly become the fitness stride.
It also tells you what to work on next. Film a stride from the side, find the weakest of the three parts, and the next inline session is that part, on its own, before it goes back into the whole.
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.
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