Inline skating

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A man inline skating at Vondelpark in Amsterdam. Amsterdam - Vondelpark - 1466.jpg
A man inline skating at Vondelpark in Amsterdam.

Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a metal or plastic frame on the underside of a boot. The in-line design allows for greater speed and maneuverability than traditional (or "quad") roller skates. Following this basic design principle, inline skates can be modified to varying degrees to accommodate niche disciplines.

Contents

Inline skating is commonly referred to as rollerblading, or just blading, due to the popular brand of inline skates, Rollerblade.

History of skating

SKF-Speedy, 1978 Skf-speedy-inline-skates.jpg
SKF-Speedy, 1978

An inline skate appeared in a Paris patent in 1819, but were overtaken in popularity by quad skates. [1]

The German branch of SKF developed and produced inline skates in 1978 with wheels designed for hockey rinks and streets. The product was discontinued after one year as the management did not want a consumer product in its portfolio.

Other inline skates were developed as a substitute for ice skates. In 1980, a group of ice hockey players in Minneapolis, Minnesota, were looking for a way to practice during the summer. Scott and Brennan Olson formed the company Rollerblade, Inc., to sell skates with four polyurethane wheels arranged in a straight line on the bottom of a padded boot. They sold the company in 1984 to Bob Naegele jr., who advertised to the general public and sold millions. [2] Life magazine published a photo of American skater Eric Heiden, training for the 1980 Olympics, using such skates on a Wisconsin road.

The sport became popular in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, with tens of millions of participants. In 1996, Jason Lewis completed the first solo crossing of the United States on inline skates, part of Expedition 360, a successful attempt to circumnavigate the globe using only human power. [3] [4] En route he was hit by a car in Colorado, breaking both legs. After nine months he completed the journey from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco. In 2012, Kacie Fischer became the first woman, and the fastest person, to inline skate across the United States; she skated from California to Florida in 47 days. [5] Aggressive inline skating events were featured in the X Games from 1995 to 2005. Popularity waned in the 2000s, with parental concerns over injuries and the rising popularity of soccer, lacrosse, and skateboarding. There was a revival sparked by the need for socially distanced recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic. [1]

Disciplines

Aggressive Inline Jerry 2012 Andrey Kolgan
Recreational inline skating Rollerblading-postojna.jpg
Recreational inline skating
Hundreds of skaters skate into Manhattanhenge from Union Square
Typical In-line skating protective gear includes helmet, elbow pads, wrist guards, and knee pads. Typical Inline Skating Gear.jpg
Typical In-line skating protective gear includes helmet, elbow pads, wrist guards, and knee pads.

Aggressive inline

Aggressive inline skating (referred to by participants as rollerblading, blading, skating or rolling) is a sub-discipline primarily focused on the execution of tricks in the action sports canon. Aggressive inline skates are specially modified to accommodate grinds and the jumping of large gaps. Aggressive skates are identifiable by a prominent gap in between the second and third wheels (known as the H-block) which allows for grinds perpendicular to the direction of the wheels. A hard plastic surface on the sole of the boot known as a "sole plate" or "soul plate" allows for grinds parallel to the wheels. From these grind surfaces comes a lexicon of well-known grind stances, though sliding can occur on any surface of the boot or wheels. Aggressive skates typically have much smaller wheels than regular inline skates. The small size allows for more freedom when grinding as there is less risk of catching on obstacles. These smaller wheels feature a flat profile to accommodate the impact from jumping tall heights.

Alpine skating

Alpine skating on roller skis owes its existence to skiing, enabling skiers to train in the off-season despite a lack of snow. Skaters complete a course marked by gates while descending at high speeds. Its basic movements are therefore similar to those of downhill skiing and many athletes regularly practice both modalities. [6]

Artistic/figure skating

Artistic roller skaters use either quad or inline skates. The sport looks very similar to its counterpart on ice, but it is more affordable in warmer climates. Inline figure skating has been included in the world championships since 2002.

Fitness/recreational skating

Recreational skaters usually skate on roads, bike lanes, or paved trails. They might be skating solo for transportation, fitness, skating with friends, or participating in an organized event. Because urban areas tend to have more hazards from traffic, many cities have organized social groups to make skating safer.

Fitness skaters tend to skate more frequently and go longer distances. Fitness skates typically have faster bearings and larger wheels to generate speed and cover ground more efficiently. Skaters in this category tend to skate 10–15 miles per hour (16–24 km/h) on average. Some challenge themselves to feats of endurance skating for over 30 miles (48 km). [7]

Freestyle skating

Freestyle skating is a form of inline skating performed on flat ground and refers collectively to the disciplines for which competitions are organized by the International Freestyle Skaters Association. Currently IFSA has defined three disciplines which must be offered by any competition they sanction: freestyle slalom, speed slalom, and free jump. Two additional disciplines, high jump and jam, are also defined, but are at present considered optional.

Hockey

Roller in-line hockey is performed in a special rink on inline skates and was originally thought of by ice hockey players who wanted to continue training in their off season. Hockey rollerblades have wheel sizes generally between 72–80mm. The toe end of the boot is characteristically squared off. The feel of the boot is generally the same as ice skates, so the switch off between hockey skates and hockey is diminished, leading to better in-training simulations of ice hockey.

Off-road skating

Roller soccer

Similar to soccer, roller soccer involves five players with skates on each side and takes place in an indoor sports hall or outside space with appropriate boundaries. Players need to score as many goals as possible with a soccer ball, and the team with the most goals wins the match. [8]

Speed skating

Also known as inline racing, speed skating is the sport of skating (usually on flat surfaces, such as roller rinks) with the intent to beat the opponent's time score or get to the finish line first.

Vert skating

A term used to refer to inline skates on a vert ramp–a half pipe with some vertical in it–usually between 6 and 24 in (15 and 61 cm). Vert skating is a form of gymnastics performed with skates. The purpose of vert skating is to ride higher than the coping (which is the metal pipe on top of the ramp) and perform spins or flips. It focuses on complicated hard aerial maneuvers, such as spins and flips. The intent of the skater is to build speed until they are of sufficient height above the edge of the ramp to perform various aerial acrobatics. In competitions, skaters have limited time, often less than a minute, to impress the judges by landing numerous difficult tricks. Vert skating may occur in competition and was once part of the X Games. Vert ramps are also present in many skateparks.

Related Research Articles

Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 countries worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ice skate</span> Boots with blades attached to the bottom for propelling the bearer across a sheet of ice

Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inline skates</span> Boots with wheels arranged in a single line

Inline skates are boots with wheels arranged in a single line from front to back, allowing a skater to roll along on these wheels. Inline skates are technically a type of roller skate, but most people associate the term roller skates with quad skates, another type of roller skates with a two-by-two wheel arrangement like a car. Quad skates were popularized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, while inline skates became prominent in the late 1980s with the rise of Rollerblade, Inc., and peaked in the late 1990s. The registered trademark Rollerblade has since become a generic trademark due to its popularity. To this day, "rollerblades" continues to be used in everyday language to refer to inline skates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roller skating</span> Sport, activity, or form of transportation

Roller skating is the act of travelling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sidewalks, and bike paths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inline speed skating</span> Sport discipline

Inline speed skating is the roller sport of racing on inline skates. The sport may also be called inline racing or speed skating by participants. Although it primarily evolved from racing on traditional roller skates, the sport is similar enough to ice speed skating that many competitors are known to switch between inline and ice speed skating according to the season.

Skating involves any sports or recreational activity which consists of traveling on surfaces or on ice using skates, and may refer to:

The Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports was the world governing body for roller sports, including skateboarding, rink hockey, inline hockey, inline speed skating, inline alpine, downhill, roller derby, roller freestyle, inline freestyle, aggressive inline skating, inline figure skating and artistic roller skating. It was established in April 1924 in Montreux, Switzerland by two Swiss sportsmen, Fred Renkewitz and Otto Myer, who had close connections to the International Olympic Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street hockey</span> Variant of other hockey sports

Street hockey is a collection of team sport variants played outdoors either on foot or with wheeled skates, using either a ball or puck designed for play on flat, dry surfaces. The object of every game is to score more goals than the opposing team by shooting the ball or puck into the opposing team's net. All games are derivatives of either the sport of ice hockey, floor hockey, bandy, and/or field hockey.

USA Roller Sports (USARS), formerly the United States Amateur Confederation of Roller Skating, is the national governing body of competitive roller sports in the United States. It is recognized by the International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS) and the United States Olympic Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roller skates</span> Shoe or overshoe with wheels

Roller skates are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad skate" style became more popular, consisting of four wheels arranged in the same configuration as a typical car.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inline hockey</span> Sport discipline

Inline hockey or roller hockey is a variant of hockey played on a hard, smooth surface, with players using inline skates to move and ice hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic puck into their opponent's goal to score points. The sport is a very fast-paced and free-flowing game and is considered a contact sport, but body checking is prohibited. There are five players including the goalkeeper from each team on the rink at a time, while teams normally consist of 16 players. There are professional leagues, one of which is the National Roller Hockey League (NRHL). While it is not a contact sport, there are exceptions, i.e. the NRHL involves fighting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artistic roller skating</span> Type of sport similar to figure skating

Artistic roller skating is a competitive sport similar to figure skating but where competitors wear roller skates instead of ice skates. Within artistic roller skating, there are several disciplines:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heelys</span> Brand of roller shoes

Heelys is an American brand of roller shoe that have one or more removable wheels embedded in each sole, similar to inline skates, allowing the wearer to walk, run, or, by shifting their weight to their heels, roll. Braking can be achieved by lowering the back of the foot so that sole contacts the ground. Roger Adams patented Heelys in 1999. The headquarters are located in Carrollton, Texas.

Roller sports are sports that use human powered vehicles which use rolling either by gravity or various pushing techniques. Typically ball bearings and polyurethane wheels are used for momentum and traction respectively, and attached to devices or vehicles that the roller puts his weight on. The international governing body is World Skate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Confederation of Roller Skating</span> Governing body of roller skating and inline skating in Europe

The European Confederation of Roller Skating, currently branded as World Skate Europe, is a governing body of roller skating and inline skating in Europe. The World Skate Europe is a member of World Skate, formerly the International Roller Sports Federation (FIRS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aggressive inline skating</span> Sport discipline

Aggressive inline skating is a sub-discipline of inline skating in the action sports canon. Aggressive inline skates are specially modified to accommodate grinds and jumps. Aggressive skating can take place on found street obstacles or at skate parks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vert skating</span> Sport discipline

Vert skating or vertical skating is a discipline using skates like inline skates or roller skates on a vert ramp, a style of half-pipe. In vert skating, the skater is able to achieve more air-time as compared to other styles of skating, meaning skaters can perform complicated aerial maneuvers and acrobatic tricks, such as spins and flips.

The World Skate Games are an international biennial multi-sport event, comprising all the world roller sport disciplines as regulated by the World Skate international federation. The games involve 11 World Championships in one multi-sport event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Skate</span> Roller sports governing body

World Skate is the only governing body in the world for all sports performed on skating wheels. The organisation is the successor of the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS) founded on 21 April 1924.

References

  1. 1 2 The Rise & Fall of Rollerblading
  2. ↑ Moy, Tracie (2017). The Gale Encyclopedia of Fitness. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, a Cengage Company. pp. 529–532. ISBN   978-1-4103-6304-6.
  3. ↑ "First individual circumnavigation of the globe using human power". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 2019-11-12.
  4. ↑ "Global HPC – Human Powered Circumnavigations". AdventureStats by Explorersweb. Archived from the original on 2016-04-24. Retrieved 2013-07-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ↑ "O.C. woman breaks record for skating across U.S." The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on 2015-02-26.
  6. ↑ "Alpine". wrg 2019. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  7. ↑ "Types of Inline Skates" . Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  8. ↑ Bowerman, Oscar (2023-08-29). "Roller Soccer: History, Rules and Where to Play". History Of Soccer. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
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