All About Inline Skating/Roller Blading

[momresource]

I just want to share my experience with skate-with-us after we just had a trial class with the school. We are very disappointed after the recommendations here that they are good with young children.

The instructor basically said out the command like knee down first, v-stand that my 5yr old has totally no clue about it. My hubby has to physically adjust my boy’s feet to comply to the instructions given on the hard ground. All the instructor did was just standing there and watch. Totally no effort to bond with the kid whatsoever. There was no starting off at grass patch and luckily my hubby was by his side, too many times that he fell backwards; I can’t imagine how anyone could do more before he could even balance himself on the rollerblade. The lucky thing after class was that my boy just told my hubby that he just stick to this Fisher price roller skate. But nevertheless, we intend to check out Skateline in east coast this weekend… hopefully kiddo will pick up rollerblading this school holiday.

[concern2]

momresource:

The lucky thing after class was that my boy just told my hubby that he just stick to this Fisher price roller skate.

I also bought my kids a pair of Fisher Price adjustable roller skates for them to practice at home! I never did let my kids take up any lessons after my last post on roller skates - thought I might as well wait till they're older in case they outgrow their skates...

[edmundv]

@momresource


Youngest age for learning to skate:
The youngest known age for starting to learn skating is 2 plus years old. However, every child has a different athletic ability. For every early-bloomer, there are as many late-starters. Children starting to skate at this age are rare, and is often more common in countries with a strong history/culture of skating, like Canada, North America and Northern Europe. Also, if the child has a certified and experienced instructor, the chances of starting young is much higher. In Asia, general, 4 to 5 years is a very good start age. If the child is already regularly swimming or cycling, the chances for an early start is much higher. This is because the child is likely to have a higher muscle tone in the main muscles associated with inline skating.

Inline skating requires muscle strength in the thighs and lower back. For young children whose thighs are not strong enough, they will be unable to maintain the skates in a posture to remain standing. This causes them to be fighting gravity constantly. Many young children start before they are ready, or without proper instruction, resulting in frustration even when the child tries his or her best. The end result is that the child may find skating un-enjoyable, and so lose interest in the sport.

If a child is taking lessons from an ICP certified instructor, but is unable to standup unassisted, and move unassisted without falling after a total of about 2 hours of supervised skating lessons, most likely, the child does not have enough muscular strength needed for skating yet. In such a case, the solution will be to defer the skating lessons, and first take swimming lessons, or start to cycle. Cycling with training wheels is acceptable. The purpose of swimming/cycling is to increase the muscle tone of the child in the calfs and thighs before trying to skate again after 6 months.

Regarding outgrowing of skates, it will be useful to know that most junior/children skates from major manufacturers are adjustable for up to 3 sizes. This usually means a growing child can use the skate for 2 to 3 years.

I also take this opportunity to remind all parents to ensure that for the safety of the child, full protective gear (helmet, wrist, elbow and knee) should be worn at all times during skating. I also strongly recommend taking lessons from a certified instructor to avoid unnecessary injuries or bad self-taught habits.
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@mother_teresa

I'm sorry you didn't have a positive experience with a lesson conducted by Skateline.

Presently, Skateline's policy is to have a student-instructor ratio of no more than 1 instructor to 15 students, for lessons in MOE schools. Our instructors adjust the ratio based on the needs of the school. For example, for younger children, our ratio will be 1:8 or smaller, and for children with special needs (like autism), 1:3. Skateine also fields only ICP certified instructors, unlike other schools which may field un-certified instructors, or a single certified instructor supported by a number of un-certified instructors.

Skateline is continuously improving our skating service to schools, and is privileged to have provided skating service to more and more schools. You may see the listing of the schools we have taught here:
http://www.skateline.com.sg/article/view/Students-We-Have-Taught-00010101.rails

For more information about our non-school skating lessons, you may visit http://www.skateline.com.sg/article/view/Skate-Instruction-Lesson-Fees-20080324.rails

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If anyone has any questions about skating for young children, I will be very happy to answer them here.

Warmest regards
Edmund Vong
Head of skate school, Skateline.
[email protected]
http://www.skateline.com.sg

[edmundv]

[Editor's note: Topic selected for http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/choosing-skating-equipment-juniors.]

@concern2

Some points about choosing skating equipment for juniors:

Since inline skating became popular in the early 1990s, many manufacturers have produced low-price copycat products which are available at a very low price. This has resulted in a wider range of choices for parents, but remember that you get what you pay for.

A pair of good qualify adjustable inline skates for children, made by a reputable inline skate manufacturer like Rollerblade and K2 (these are currently the Nike and Adidas of skating products), will cost between S$150 to $300. You will be able to find skates at as cheap as $59 in certain big department stores. Many parents buy the low-priced products because they can't tell the difference between good and poor quality skates. I will compare them here, part by part.

A)Skate boot:
Good quality:
a single or double piece synthetic material, which should feel and fit like a pair of running shoes. The foam should be SOFT, PLUSH and THICK. This will hug the feet, ensuring good fit, comfort, and avoiding compression muscle aches or blisters.

Poor quality:
Plastic outershells encasing a thin liner. Liner is removable, and often made of thinly padded foam, which gets compressed with repeated use. These boots are painful to use, because the hard shell boots compress and rub against the skin and muscles through the thin liners. Poor fitting also affects the skating motion and balance. The most common symptom of poor quality boot is if the ankles are consistently tilted outside or inside (not straight/vertical) even when a correct sized skate is properly worn.

b)Skate frame (the part that holds the wheels)
Good quality:
light Aluminum/Magnesium alloy or high quality composite plastics. These are durable, light, and stiff. They transmit power through the frame resulting in an efficient stride. End result is a faster skate with the same effort.

Poor quality:
Heavy plastics with poor molding, often with rough or sharp edges OR thick aluminum frames which are cumbersome and heavy. These frames transmit power poorly, and are often heavy. The result is an exhausting skate, and a constant feeling that one is not going fast enough for the same effort.

C)skate bearings
High quality:
ABEC/SG/ILQ rated 3 or 5, made by a reputable brand. These are high precision parts which spin efficiently, resulting in a smooth glide with little effort.

Poor Quality:
ABEC/SG/ILQ rated 3 or 5, made by an unbranded manufacturer, or unrated bearings. These are often slow to roll, resulting in a slow, tiring skate.

D)Skate wheels
High quality:
polyurethane made by a reputable inline skate or wheel manufacturer. With this you get high rebound, and a smooth, efficient roll. They also grip the ground firmly even when cornering or on wet ground.

Poor quality:
hard plastics which makes a \"clack, clack\" sound when it hits the floor, OR low quality polyurethane which have low grip and wears away quickly. Hard plastics in the wheels transmit shock from the ground to the ankles and knees, which increases the chance for injury for long term use. Poor material means reduced grip, increaseing the chances of falling due to sudden loss of friction on wet ground or when making a turn.

Skate specialty stores often refer to low-quality skates as \"toys\". You can tell that a skate is really a toy if a very young child can step around (with little or no roll) in the skate without learning to skate. Skates of low quality can cause discomfort, resulting in the child not enjoying the sport, or cause outright injury. Whereas skates of proper quality will let the child focus on learning the sport with little or no equipment distractions.

Edmund Vong
Head of Skate School, Skateline
[email protected]
http://www.skateline.com.sg

[buds]

It's nice to have YOU here, Edmund!

And definitely and honour! :celebrate:
My family and i did not do any roller blading
courses. We sorta trial and error & managed
to just-do-it somehow. But would love to in the
near future seek your advice on skill areas if you
won't mind...

[edmundv]

@buds


You are most welcome. I will be very happy to answer any general questions about skating here.

[buds]

Thanks in advance. :celebrate:

[momresource]

edmundv,


thanks for your advice. My kid was already using the Fisher price skates when he was about 3 and we hesitated to start him on blades too early as we have the concern what you have indicated on physical ability such as muscle strength… however, this is school holiday and before school gets hectic for him in K1 next year, we thought just go with his flow, thus sign him up for trial lesson.

Another observation is that the rental gears are very worn and the protective gears were all too loose. Got to tie it to secure. So, although trial is free, you pay $25 for these rental gear. Anyway, I am just sharing my experience that’s all. There must be many good instructors so that to make the school popular, we are just unlucky…

[concern2]

Thanks Edmund, for the detailed explanation on choosing the right skates!

:goodpost:
My kids are very mobile, but they probably lack the muscles like you said. I think it is a good idea for them to start swimming lessons to build up their muscles first!

[cristlanne]

Hi Everyone,


Anyone knows or could recommend a coach to teach inline skating?

Thank you.

Regards,
Cristl