Roller Blading

Question
Hi! I really want to find a sport that suits me well. So I picked to roller blade. I already got my blades and learned how to skate and turn. Now I want to learn how to stop and do tricks. I have nobody to help me and I can't afford private lessons far away from me. I want to impress people by skating and I want to get fit which is why I need to learn to do tricks. So my question is, how could I learn to roller blade very well and be able to do numerous tricks if I don't have anyone to help me?

Answer
Hi Stephanie,
  It sounds like you can already skate but the only way to get better is to practice.  Skate all you can and watch other skaters to see how they do things.

  I'm not sure what kind of tricks you want to learn but there are quite a few web sites that can help you.

  One is:
         http://simon27.tripod.com/      

just copy and paste this web site to your browser or use a search engine and type in roller blade tricks or aggressive inline tricks etc.  It will show you a lot of web sites than can explain how to do various tricks.  Print them out then try doing them.  

If you know of a place where other skater skate, go and watch them or skate with them and ask for help.  Most skaters are very willing to help others learn.

As for stopping?   You should have a brake on on the back of one of your skates.   Put your feet together, bend your knees and move the skate with the brake on it forward while lifting your toe until you feel the brake grab the ground.  The harder you push your heel down the faster you will stop.

Good Luck, do your research and I'm sure you'll get all the info your looking for.  

Pat