Rollerblading / Inline Skating Tips

Back flips are not very popular in some circles but are always great if you do them big enough but don't start by going out and just doing it. There is a way to practice without actually completing one, it's called a ninja turtle or at least it used to be, I hope I can explain it well enough.

1 - (Learning a Ninja Turtle) This is a trick you must practice on a half pipe. The way you do this one is to ride forward up the ramp and lean forward and to the side so you put your hands beside you on the transition (the curve of the ramp) or the vert (if it has any) as if you were doing an invert except instead of stopping yourself from going over with your arm you keep this type of FLAT spin going and push yourself off the ramp with your hands all the time keeping your self facing the one direction (towards the ramp). When you are about to get back upright pull your knees back in and get your feet under yourself again and roll out of it backwards.
2 - If you can get that good enough the next step is to push out a little more with your feet rather than with your hands in the later part of the trick so you end up not being able to touch the ramp so it is just like a back flip except to the side a little.

3 - Once you can get that the next step can be done on a half pipe, jump ramp or anything else that resembles that sort of thing. This one is the actual back flip. The first step is to hit whatever transition you are skating at straight (unless you want to drift but for learning you want to do it straight) and jump up, (if you're on a half pipe you want to jump back as well as up) the smaller the ramp the further back you need to jump, so as not to land on the coping)

4 - While you're in the air, there is a way to do this. You can only know this after you have done this a few times, but while you're in the air if you tense up your body you will find that you're quicker and if you relax your body you'll find you spin slower. This can be very handy if you're trying a flip on something you have never flipped off before and its quicker or slower than you anticipated.

5 - Landing is all about compressing all the energy of the flip in your legs where if you flip high you will need to land with a lot of co mpression on your legs and sometimes to not hurt your feet you will need to land in an almost sitting position.

6 - After you get the trick a few times, it's time to try and grab when you are doing the trick. It is easier to grab if you can get the trick in a relaxed position where a little movement of your arms and / or legs won't make you fall.

TIPS ON STYLE

To make this trick look better one way I've found is to drift it across a ramp not straight up and down like you would do it if you were just learning. Grab it every time even if it's just a safety grab.

Video Clip (Demo - Flemington Sydney, NSW)

This tip was provided by Iain Smith.

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