7 positions
Base position Ampersand Standing	Scissors Slalom Alpine
The cork

 

Base position

In shoes to begin Feet side by side, separated by the width of 2 hands. Knees bent. Butt pulled in. You pull in the butt to support your back; this tilts the pelvis so that the upper body rests on a strong, stable support -- your hips -- instead of a small sharp angle at the base of the spine. People who complain of a sore back after skating a few minutes have their butt sticking out.   You bend your knees for two reasons: So your legs will be springs and shock absorbers. So your push will be longer and more effective. There's no hard and fast rule about how deeply to bend your knees; it depends on the individual and what kind of skating you're doing. Sprinters should get down as close as they can to a 90° knee-bend, but this position is too tiring to maintain for very long. For inline skating it's generally recommended to have your knees at an angle of 110° to 125°.   How to get centered   For maximum stability, your weight should rest on the center of each skate. Too far forward and your skates are hard to control, plus there's a risk of tripping. Too far back and though your skates are easier to control, you could end up on your butt. When you're new to skates it can be hard to recognize when you're centered and when you're not.   Put on your skates and do the following exercise (safest in the grass): Slowly lean forward until your weight is on your forefeet. Slowly lean back until your weight is on your heels. Slowly rock back and forth between those extremes, gradually cutting back, till you find your perfect center. Even veterans have days when they feel out of balance. Often all it takes is a few quiet moments to find the center.   Going further Base position, knees well flexed. Hands comfortably behind your back. Back rounded, bent at the waist, butt in to support the spine. Head up so you can see where you're going. That's base position in speedskating terms. It's comfortable and efficient, letting you slice through the air like a knife. You get used to not needing your arms for balance, swinging them only when you want more power.

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Ampersand position

In shoes to begin Base position first of all: feet parallel, knees flexed, butt in. Lift one foot a few centimeters and hold it a little behind, with the knee and the foot pointing down. Balance on the other foot, as if you were gliding on one skate. The knees should gently touch, or almost. Eddy Matzger calls this the "ampersand", after its resemblance to the symbol "&". It's like a heron stalking in shallow water, ready to strike; it's a skater gliding, ready for the next push. It's fundamental to good skating.   Simulate the motions of skating Ampersand position as above; we'll start with the left foot down, the right foot lifted. Initiate the movement by swaying your hips to the right. Let yourself "fall" to the right, catching yourself at the last moment by setting the right foot down. When you set your foot down, transfer all of your weight directly onto it; center yourself on that foot, in balance. Swing your left foot in a semi-circle behind you, till you're back in an ampersand but with the left foot lifted. This is called the recovery. Repeat everything you just did, but now swaying your hips toward the left side. It's the hips that lead, not the shoulders. Continue the sequence in slow motion, from one side to the other: ampersand position, fall with the hips, set your foot down and transfer your weight, recover in a semi-circle. Ampersand, fall, setdown, recovery... Ampersand, setdown, fall, recovery. Each time you return to the ampersand position, gently touch your knee to the one supporting you. Of course you won't do that while skating (except as a technical drill), but it's a very good trick to help you center your legs under your body.   Simulate pushing   At the very moment when the fall requires you to setdown to catch yourself, simulate a push with the other leg. Always push to the side, never backwards. Push with the whole foot, or better still with the heel, never with your toes. At the very instant when you setdown, lift the foot that was pushing. A good push finishes with a kick. In skates now   Okay, to start rolling you do need to make at least one push toward the rear. But once you're moving you should push toward the side, especially as speed increases. Knees flexed, butt in, ampersand position, hips beginning the sway, complete weight-transfer from one skate to the other, recovery in a semi-circle. Beginners tend to wedge their weight between their skates, never centering it on one skate at a time. Don't let this become a habit! Why push to the side? Once you're going at even moderate speed, it's impossible to kick back fast enough to accelerate more. By pushing to the side you maintain effective contact with the asphalt through the entire extent of the push, even at high speed. In addition, pushing to the side is easier on the back, because the upper body stays motionless instead of bobbing up and down. Why recover in a semi-circle? It's a fluid motion that naturally sets up the next push; mainly though, it returns the skate (and the entire leg) directly under the body. Skaters who recover sideways tend to make two mistakes:   Before recovering they hang their skate out to the side like a wing. This commits them to a long glide (inefficient on inlines), and makes them dependent on the "wing" for balance. They get lazy about recovering, so that when they finally set down they do so to the outside, under the shoulder for example, instead of under the navel. When you skate like that, either you have to jump from side to side to get your weight onto your skates, or you're never quite on top of one skate or the other. The first is a waste of energy, the second a loss of potential power. Inline-skating technique is different from ice-skating technique. On ice, you push with the entire foot, the skate does slip somewhat backwards, and the push ends on the forward part of the blade. In inline skating, the most effective technique is to push with the heel, carving the skate into a curve to stay beside you (or even kick forwards), and the push ends on all wheels together, with the greatest pressure on the back two or three.

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Standing position

The "T" Set the heel of one skate at a 90° angle against the middle of the other to form a "T". In this position it's impossible to roll in one direction or the other, because one of your skates will be perpendicular to the direction of motion.   Open ankles To overcome the tendency to let their ankles cave in, some skaters intentionally do the opposite. You'll see them standing with ankles open (caved outwards, in other words), so that the wheels of both skates are on the outside edge. This isn't a weakness but something they do on purpose to break a bad habit. It's also a way to get used to your outside edges.

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Scissors position

The scissors position is one of the most valuable tools a skater can have. It makes turning a breeze, adds a measure of security to downhills, lets you roll safely over all sorts of obstacles from gravel to railway tracks, and enables you to come to an easy stop in the grass. Without it, all of these manoeuvres are risky.   In the grass to begin Knees flexed, butt in. Skates separated by the width of one or two hands. One skate forward... the heel at about the toe of the other. Experiment with this a little. How is your weight distributed? Make sure there's less of your weight on the front skate, and less on your forefeet. Sway your hips a little to one side and the other, keeping your balance. Switch the skate that's in front. Limit the lateral separation between your skates, especially when one is well in front of the other.   On asphalt now, but without rolling   Make a scissoring motion, slicing your skates forwards and back while keeping them fairly close. Use your hips to keep your balance. Notice that to scissor your skates you advance one skate to slip it in front, removing a little weight from it, keeping your weight off the forefeet. If you did the opposite, pushing one skate back to set it behind, you'd end up with your weight on your toes. In scissor position the weight should always be towards the rear: a little more on the rear skate, a little more on the heels. This way the front wheels of both skates will roll over practically anything. Scissor position is impossible if your skates are too far apart sideways. It's the old problem of fear: people set their skates wide to be "more stable", but it prevents them from achieving real stability. Standing wide, your skates can only be parallel, and will have a strong tendency to cave onto the inside edge. This makes it easy to stumble, hard to turn, and impossible to stop. The further ahead you set one skate, the closer it will come to being in a line with the other. Notice though that when you scissor your skates back and forth, when they're parallel underneath you they're naturally separated by the width of 2-3 hands. The key word is naturally. Do this scissoring and watch how the coming and going front-to-back sets up an opposite coming and going side-to-side; it's like breathing. In order to stop with a heel-brake, you must master scissor-position! If you're a beginner, practise the scissor position every time you skate. You'll be more at ease with one skate in front rather than the other, but be sure to practise with the other in front too. Use your hips for balance. And when you practise braking, do it in scissor-position -- putting the braking-skate in front, of course!

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Slalom position

In the grass to begin Base position: knees flexed, butt in, skates parallel, separated by the width of 1-2 hands. Wheels vertical. Sway your hips to the right, stay there and look at your wheels. If you've moved correctly, the wheels of your right skate will be on their outside edge, while the wheels of your left skate will be on their inside edge. Sway your hips from side to side, so that your wheels too lean to one side then the other, now on the inside/outside edges, now on the outside/inside edges. What does it feel like when one of your skates is on the outside edge? Your ankle, your foot in the boot... Learn to feel okay in that position. On the asphalt now, rolling slowly Repeat everything you just did on the grass, making sure not to let your skates get too far apart. Use your hips to keep your balance. Explore the sensations of having your wheels on the inside and outside edges. For the moment, keep your skates parallel (side by side). Just by swaying your hips and tilting your wheels, you're making your skates want to turn, aren't you? It doesn't take much to transform that into really turning, safely and vigorously.   To begin a turn, swing your hips to the side you want to turn towards, making your skates tilt together in the same direction. At the same time, do the scissors, slipping forward the skate that is on the side you want to turn towards. Remember to keep that skate on its outside edge. Want to turn right? Swing your hips right and scissor the right skate forward on its outside edge. Want to turn left? Swing your hips left and scissor the left skate forward on its outside edge. A slalom is just a chain of turns, but when you try to do it quick and tight you'll feel the asphalt resisting. To make each turn easier, take a little weight off your forefeet, especially the one in front -- even to the point of raising the front wheels. Use the front skate to steer you through the turn.   The last step is to add a little push to each part of the slalom -- with both legs simultaneously -- exactly as if you were skiing. This is an alternative (and sometimes safer) method of propulsion.

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Alpine position

For the best downhill speed. This position is for experts only. Knees well bent, trunk well bent, forearms resting lightly on thighs. Skates parallel and widely separated. Wheels vertical or on the outside edge (both skates), never on the inside edge. (Having your wheels on the inside edge, in this position, creates a braking effect with a risk of unexpected veering. To be absolutely sure, open your ankles so that it feels as if you're on your outside edges.) Eyes forward. You never want to be surprised on a downhill. If it's a long descent, briefly duck your head now and then to relieve your neck. When you see anything tricky coming up, like gravel or a bump, switch immediately into scissor-position for maximum front-to-back stability. When you get up from this position to resume pushing, remember to bring your skates closer together; otherwise it's hard to shift your weight over onto one skate. Trying to take a push with skates far apart, at high speed, can be very risky. At high speed, the wind created by your descent can buffet you from side to side like a pitcher's knuckle-ball. To eliminate this effect, hold your hands out with palms together like a prow -- it really works. To follow a curve on a downhill, just shift your hips in the direction you want to go.   Sometimes at high speed a skater will experience the wobblies -- an uncontrollable oscillation in one or both skates. It may be the fault of the skates, or of the skater. Either way, you must deal with this immediately and firmly, insisting that you're going to roll properly -- because the fact is, wobblies are controllable. Often a wobble starts because you're on an inside edge, a timid position. So you correct that.   If you do suddenly feel a skate begin to wobble, the natural response is to take your weight off that skate; but that's what you shouldn't do. Removing weight just leaves the skate free to wobble all it wants. Even if there's a problem with your skates, you can break the vibration by shifting your weight back and forth onto one skate then the other, firmly. It's okay to be afraid, but you mustn't be timid.

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Cork position

Here's how NOT to skate!!! Skates parallel and wide apart (shoulder-width or worse). Ankles caved in, the wheels of both skates on the inside edge. Legs more or less straight, fairly rigid. I call this the cork position because the skater wedges himself between his skates, like a cork in a bottle. He is stuck inside his fear, unable to give himself the freedom to skate for real. The pleasure of free gliding is like wine, it has to flow...   Please don't skate in the cork position! It straitjackets you because your body is never fully engaged. It's an un-safe way of trying to be safe. If you're constantly tipping from one skate to the other, you can never develop dynamic stability -- the natural ease (like riding a bicycle) of balancing freely while in motion. If your weight is never 100% on one skate at a time, your push won't be as powerful as it could be. This is like removing some of the powder before lighting the cannon. Only when the full weight of the body is on one skate is your push fully loaded with your body's potential. It severely hampers braking. In cork position you can't put the brake skate forward, which is the one essential for effective use of a heel-brake. Either you'll veer out of control to the side opposite the brake, or the braking action will be too weak to be of any use in an emergency. As for the T-stop, this requires the ability to glide on one skate - the antithesis of the cork position. Turns are difficult and risky. Even some speedskaters, though they may be very fast indeed on a straight line, lose it when they see a tight turn. Awkward and fearful, they switch into cork position, veering wide, endangering other skaters. Ask a friend to skate or cycle behind you and observe your movements closely. Are you setting down directly under your body, or out to the side? Are you setting down on the outside edge (or at least on the tops of your wheels), or on the inside edge? Are your ankles straight, or always caved in? Can you glide on one skate in a straight line for a few meters, or do you immediately start falling and have to set down the other skate?

 

Rod Willmot