What should you expect at your first inline skating class?

Question: What should you expect at your first inline skating class?

Each skater is different and comes to an inline skating class with a unique set of experiences to use as foundation. Never compare your rate of learning, comfort level or technical achievements with any other skater. You will eventually notice that after learning the basics of how to move forward without much fear, everyone in your class, including those who may have had prior skating experience, will have waves of improvement and then slow growth periods that will vary from person-to-person. This is normal in inline skating and any sports activity.

Answer: A group skating class usually begins with instructor and skater introductions, class rules and an overview of the program you are in, even though those things may have been covered at signup. Most new inline skaters, even those who have never skated before, will learn how to move forward by duck walking or marching, sit in place and get up from the ground or skating surface during the first skating lesson.

The lessons that follow will cover basics to help with starting, stopping, falling, turning and maneuvering in various ways. These other skating techniques will take longer to learn, depending on prior skating experience, fitness level, how often the student skates and how afraid the skater is when skating. Each instructor may use different methods, but the concepts, techniques and resulting skating will be pretty much the same.

Things you can do to get the most benefit from your lessons:

• Register in advance and find out as much about the class as possible before the first day.
  
  
• Make sure you have something to wear that is comfortable, does not restrict movement and will not get tangled in skate wheels.
  
  
• Come at least 1/2 hour before class, get your skates and gear on early and use the bathroom to take advantage of the maximum skating lesson time.
  
  
• If you are using rental or other short-term inline skate solutions, purchase good skates that fit as soon as you have decided to be a skater.
  
  
• Let the instructor know in advance of each class if there is anything you don't understand or feel insecure doing.
  
  
• Warm up and stretch before lessons to help your body get ready for the adventure. If you don't know how, ask the instructor for a warm up routine.
  
  
• Practice any drills or techniques learned after lessons and on other days to help your muscle memory.
  

There are mixed views on when a potential skater is ready for class training. Some instructors like to get skaters after they have spent some time attempting skating on their own, so they will have a starting point and can compare and appreciate improvements made with the instructors supervision. Other instructors like getting a clean slate, so that all techniques are learned the correct way from the start and there are no bad habits to fix. In either case, all good instructors have information that will help get a new skater started or fix a self-taught one.