October skating 2009

Trying to make some progress in technique and checking it in the video.

I avoid setting down under my body. When setting my skate down beneath my nose (the traditional concept) I am in a vertical position. In a vertical position I can push but downward. That does not take me forward at all. Pushing in a vertical posture takes more energy than leaning to the side by using my hips (the general center of mass) and the generous help of gravity.

In inline skating the main thing is to always roll, to always keep going forward. It's all about rolling. Everything else loses its meaning if the skater is not going forward. Its all about making the wheels roll, not making the muscles hurt.

When the wheels are rolling, you are using the edges of the wheels. One should roll on both edges using the profile of the rounded edges of the wheels gradually from the bottom of the edge to the top of the edge. While leaning alternately to both sides the skater is able to roll on smoothly and gradually on both edges of the wheels without any breaks or useless movements, that is, to roll on more continuously, efficiently and powerfully.

By pushing of horizontally I mean leaning and falling to the side. So, I try to set down not under the body but very late beside the support leg using the outside edge of the setting-down skate. The setting-down skate continues to roll taking the place of the support leg. The change of the support leg would happen smoothly and without an extra effort. This way I can fall in to either side using gravity and lean almost continuously.

The wheels should be rolling all the time. There shouldn't be any remarkable differences in rolling on outside or inside edges of the wheels, between the outside and inside push (with some exceptions like skating in wet conditions, sprinting and on hill roads).

The skater in the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMyIIt... uses his hips efficiently by leaning to both sides in a pedulum-like motion while this skater http://www.youtube.com/user/tedooijev... uses heavily his legs under his body which takes more energy.

I try to avoid the word "to push" and I like use "to roll" instead. It is of no use to push hard if the wheels are not rolling. If I'm pushing too hard, there must be something wrong in my technique. With the gyms done and the base built one should begin to think one's technique. For me rolling is to swing evenly the hips like a pendulum while rolling on the continuous s-like curve. I achieve the pendulum-like motion by delaying the set-down of the returning skate and thus leaning laterally. Delaying the set-down and at the same time using the edges to their limits means continued rolling.

In physical terms that means a continuous nonuniform circular movement. When skating like this I am always on the arc of circle. When on the curve (on the arc of a circle) I am pushing directly to the side (perpendicularly to the tangent of a circle) and not backwards. The result is a continuous accelerating rolling. Thus I'm getting more momentum and speed.

It's an old truth that skating on the curve requires the skater to lean to the center of the imaginary circle. With every pendulum-like lean (fall) the center of the imaginary circle changes either to the right or left side of the skater. These acts form a curved s-like movement of the skating stride.

This is what I mean: Sven Kramer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Tcij... and Diego Rosero http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5tRRs... skating. They both have a late set-down because of leaning and efficient use of the edges of the skates. Having a late set-down means a continuous glide. I like much the style of skating of a frenchman Julien Levrard http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6vs... . He was the 2nd in the marathon of the Worlds in 2008 and a winner of the 100k New York Marathon in 2006 at only 22 years! Perhaps the technique of Joey Mantia is one of the most refined one can see nowadays. I think the smooth usage of both edges of the wheels is one of the secrets of his skating. See Mantia skating uphill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlSHPSx0wMo .

Watching Mantia one can understand how a true and efficient usage of the rounded profile of both edges of the wheels and a good lean really means a better rolling and great speed. Use the profile of the wheels to roll efficiently!

Note, however, that skating on the ice is a bit different. Especially skating on the edges of the wheels makes a better use of skating on the curve. You are on the curve even when skating the straight! The profile of the wheels with rounded edges make the difference allowing the inline skater to to lean to both sides during one stride. An inline skater using the both edges of the wheels is continuously leaning to the curve using maximally the rolling potential of the wheel profile of the inline skates.

(The new version 25.01. 2009 with slight changes)

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• inline
• roller
• speed
• skating
• training
• technique
• double
• push
• double-push
• skate
• rullaluistelu
• harjoittelu
• tekniikka
• Tampere
• Finland
• 2009

[kentek3141]

Nice style...

My only comment- step across further. You will feel like you are falling but you wont. The knee bend will automagically work itself out.

[firstskate]

@kentek3141

"automagically", I agree. A better knee angle is the right answer. I fully agree with you! Yes, it's much like free fall.

[zi6film]

the less bent your knees are the shorter the push stride will be so bend the knees around 110 deg and try that

[firstskate]

In fact the strides here are longer and the turns are not so tight. The long focal length of the camera lens used distorts, i.e. flattens, the perspectice. The straigtaway I skate on is much longer than seems to be.

That was one of the last outdoor days on wheels last year. I just tried to adjust the lean angles and to set down a bit earlier than usually. You are right knee angles should be near 110 degrees. When sprinting it's near 90-100 deg, in the pack it may be even 130 at times.

[minorlogic]

Don't you think about more horizontal amplitude to your heaad? opposite to direction of push.

[firstskate]

I'm working on that. As I lean the head should move in line with the vertical (longitudinal) axis of the body. I have had difficulties in keeping the head and the upper body with the vertical line of the body when I am leaning. By keeping the whole body (and the head) straight with the body when leaning results in more weight directly on the skates. This gives more power in skating. I think the only way to get more horizontal amplitude (lateral movement) for my head is to lean more.

[Aeshmauniversus]

if you do not lean your knees more , push with the heels and move your hips transferring your body weight on the heel , double push will not occur.

do not forget throw the skate that is in the air behind the knee to give more weight and consequential power to underpush.

[skater833]

Your foot is landing too far underneith your body. There is not a true underpush happening. With a DP, your foot should land straight or slightly pigeon-toed. At that time, your weight shifts over your leg causing the underpush to occur. In your video, your foot is landing too far underneith and no power is being generated by the double push. It looks like you are trying to generate the underpush with your legs rather than your body (shifting your wieght).

[bboynezz]

Nice try man you´re close to get it, an advise: Try to transfer more the wieght or your weist to each side, so the double-push will be more powerfull and you´ll advance more, try to work on your knees angle, you´re kind of standed, get down little more

[travis787900]

i do that when i suffle skate with my quads dose that mean it will be easy for me to dubble push when i get my inlines

[PlichKrzysztof]

Roll4life ;)