Previously, before children, I
skated all the time for exercise. However
that was on rollerblades. If you have
never skated, there is a fundamental difference (besides the obvious quad vs.
row of wheels.) In rollerblading you
stop by tilting your toe up because the stop is located behind the wheels. On quad skates instead there is a toe
stop. If you tilt your skate up on quad
skates you are going to land on your ass.
HARD. So it is fitting that one
of the first things they teach you is toe stops. Every instinct in my body told me to lean
back to stop and this made me a very wobbly stopper. But once I figured out not to lift my toe to
stop and lift my heel instead, then toe stops where pretty easy to master. Especially when compared to the T stop.
To a new skater the T stop is
daunting and feels very unnatural. However,
as you watch the veteran skaters it also looks (& sounds) very cool. I will try to explain so you have a visual
of a T stop if you have never had the opportunity to try one. Since
I am a righty I will use my right foot for this. As you are skating you
essentially lift your right skate and turn your toes out at a 45 to 90 degree
angle and push against the floor to bring yourself to stop. If done effectively you will succeed in not
only stopping but also making an offensive and most enjoyable grinding sound
from the wheels friction on the floor.
If not executed correctly -you will only succeed in having an unattractive
flopping leg look as you skate. Kind of
like you’re shaking off a leg spasm and you may possibly fall or hit the wall
since you do not actually stop. And it
does not make that lovely grinding noise and instead sounds more like a thu-wump, thu-wump as a flat tire
makes. All in all, not a cool derby look. Our fresh meat trainer, Hipburn, makes it
look cool when she drags her leg, comparing it to a Zombie dragging their rear
leg. In roller derby, zombies are cool.
I, however, am absolutely terrified of zombies.
I will probably have nightmares from thinking about them now. Alas I digress, as this blog post is about
stopping and not about zombies. Maybe someday I will write a blog about zombies
and my imaginative plans for thwarting them for you.
I would like to say I master the t
stop quickly but I don’t. However I
don’t fall at all so that is a big plus. It is many classes before I successfully
master the T stop and many months before I successfully complete one with my
left foot. The trick for me ends up
being when someone tells me to lift my inside two wheels higher and push those
down after the back two touch the floor.
I can’t recall who taught me that but it is my little “aha” moment. Once I figure that out I am the t-stopping
master. Not really, but I can at least
stop instead of looking like a floppy legged zombie.
-
Knock Out Nelly
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