Problems learning to turn
I used to rollerblade some when I was a young teen, but all I remember doing is repeatedly going as fast as I could and purposefully pushing my arms out against a wall to stop. I'd never taken the time to learn how to brake, and apparently hadn't learned how to turn properly, either. So when I bought a new pair of inline skates just recently, I wanted to figure these things out so that I could skate around my neighborhood.
I've been looking up YouTube videos about stopping and turning, but I still can't figure out how to turn with both skates pointed in the same direction, or parallel turn or slalom. I can do a slow lemon move, where I mirror my skates inward or outward, but I can't push them into the same direction. I seem to need an anchor to push off against in order to change the direction of a skate, and when doing the lemon move, I can push the skates against each other. I've tried everything that the tutorial videos have said: I put one foot in front of the other, I lean the skates onto their sides, I twist around to put my weight into the turn... I just end up with my skates staying in the forward direction and my arms uselessly waving and grabbing toward the side. And I can't find anything online about this problem.
The closest I can come to turning is just forgetting all that and simply pushing off against each skate separately, almost instinctively (and its unlike any of the proper turns). But I'd wanted to learn how to do those smooth, quick little turns that I keep seeing in videos. (There's also the type of turn where you bring one skate over the other a few times, but I know not to try that, since I would obviously trip myself up if I were to try crossing my feet.)
Comments
I might've figured out the secret... I think I have to balance on the back wheels instead of in the middle or front, then I would be able to slightly lift the skates, pivoting on each back wheel, and reposition them as I turn (yeah, yeah, I'm sure everyone knows that already, but I'd never really balanced on my heels before like that, so how was I supposed to know?). But it's still hard for me to turn, and I still can't figure out how people can make it look so effortless and graceful. And why does there have to be so many steps to turning? If turning is supposed to be a way to dodge obstacles, then how would anyone be able to do all those steps fast enough before hitting the obstacle?