Are you learning to roller skate? If so, congratulations! Roller skating is not only a fun social activity, but can also help you stay in shape. Once you’re confident staying upright on skates, it’s time to learn how to stop once you’re in motion. Today, we’re going to teach you how to T-Stop on skates, one of the many skating skills covered in our roller skating lessons!
How to stop on skates
There are several common methods of stopping on roller skates:
- Knee Stop (only if wearing knee pads)
- Using the toe stop on quad skates or the heel stop on inline skates
- Plow Stop
- T-Stop
How to do a T-Stop
- Bend your knees – This is important to lower your center of gravity and help you keep your balance when coming to a stop.
- Move your feet into position – Your dominant foot should move forward slightly, while your non-dominant foot moves backward. Shift more of your weight onto your dominant/front foot, so that your non-dominant/back foot will be free to reposition.
- Make the T – Raise your back foot slightly so that you are gliding on only your front foot. Turn your back foot at a 90 degree angle, perpendicular to your front foot. Gently lower your back foot, allowing it to make contact with the skating rink floor. Continue to keep most of your weight on your front foot.
- Maintain your trajectory – Keep your hips facing forward in line with your front foot. If you allow your hips to open up or get pulled to the side, you’ll start to veer off course, which could result in a collision with another skater.
- Come to a stop – Continue dragging your back foot until you come to a stop. The more pressure you apply to that foot, the faster you’ll stop – but be careful not to stomp down too abruptly or you may lose your balance.
If you want to learn more basic roller skating skills, we encourage you to join our skating lessons at Chester Skateland! And remember, practice makes perfect, so you can always come out to our open skating sessions to hone your skills and have a great time!
Leave a Reply