Re:What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)
by ahartmetz on Sunday September 05, 2021 @11:01AM
(#28424840)
You might have just given me a solution to a problem I thought about this weekend: a place I need to visit for work is >= 1 km from the next public transport stop - the walking is a little tedious. I was using my car for pandemic (currently: train strike) reasons, but I want to stop that again after, and I do own rollerskates... still from the 90s.
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Re:What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)
by the_third_wave on Sunday September 05, 2021 @01:33PM
(#28426045)
Go for it, wear some wrist protectors and you should arrive in one piece. That is the only protection I use given that it actually work as intended and broken wrists are fairly common in all forms of skating.
Re:What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)
by faeyanpiraat on Sunday September 05, 2021 @02:01PM
(#28426281)
The first thing hitting the concrete when falling is your palms, so having a glove with plastic protection will help not losing any skin from your palms.
Also wear a helmet.
Re:What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)
by noduerme on Sunday September 05, 2021 @03:30PM
(#28427053)
When I was a 13 or so, in the early '90s, I took an "extreme rollerblading" class on the weekends. The class started by teaching various kinds of stops (T-stop where you drag one skate behind you sideways, spin stop ...no one ever used a brake), and then moved on to going down stairs, performing jumps, and so on. We were required to wear elbow, knee and wrist guards as well as helmets. But one thing they taught us early on was how to fall correctly, or come to a falling stop. You want to try to go down with a kneepad first followed by the wrist guard, so you're using the knee to brake. This was something we practiced.
It's been over 20 years since I was on rollerblades and I don't even know if I'd have the balance anymore, but I wouldn't do it without at least one knee guard and both hard wrist guards.
Re:What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)
by the_third_wave on Sunday September 05, 2021 @03:43PM
(#28427140)
I nearly entirely rely on the T-stop, most of my skates never had any brakes and I removed it from the ones which did since it is only in the way and of questionable efficacy. The disadvantage of dragging a skate is the enormous wear it puts on wheels but apart from that it serves me well. Knee protection might work for some but I never felt the need and just feel those things are in the way, the same goes for elbow protection. Having skated for decades without damaging either knees or elbows I'll probably be OK but by all means use them when you're just starting off, I did this as well.
Re:What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)
by noduerme on Sunday September 05, 2021 @04:02PM
(#28427287)
My favorite were spin stops - I'd do that 90% of the time, or drag a T until I was slow enough to do one. The other problem with a T is your foot can catch if you're on a sidewalk. But playing hockey I would intentionally take a knee sometimes, so I think that would still be something I'd do automatically.
Re:What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)
by motardo on Sunday September 05, 2021 @02:23PM
(#28426467)
> The first thing hitting the concrete when falling is your palms
Yes, if you're young and have good reflexes, you can break your wrists. If you're old with slower reflexes, you can't get your arms out in time so you break your hip instead.
Re:What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)
by scrollaway on Sunday September 05, 2021 @02:20PM
(#28426447)
If you're looking for good gloves for rollerblading I recommend looking at motorbiking gloves. They're a bit expensive but they can be super comfortable and have a ton of protection around the wrist and knuckles.
Re:What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)
by the_third_wave on Sunday September 05, 2021 @03:44PM
(#28427151)
Motorbike gloves do not include the essential part of wrist protectors, namely the hard plastic backbone which is meant to catch the fall and keep the wrist joint from overextending. If you want to wear them, fine, but make sure to use wrist protectors - with a rigid backbone - as well.
Re:What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)
by scrollaway on Sunday September 05, 2021 @04:35PM
(#28427519)
Not all of them do but as far as I can tell some of them definitely do. I don’t ride motorbikes so I’m not an expert in this but my friend who does showed me her gloves which do include wrist protectors. I’m in Europe if it makes a difference…
Re:What the Heck Happened to Rollerblading? (2017)
by elliekelly on Sunday September 05, 2021 @02:12PM
(#28426388)
This is exactly why I stopped rollerblading. I had a coach who made us all sign “contracts” promising we wouldn’t rollerblade because so many players were injuring their wrists.