Rollerblading is my passion and I aspire to someday be the greatest aggressive blader to ever exist. Aggressive rollerblading is all about landing the most difficult tricks, no matter how pretty. The main kinds of tricks in aggressive rollerblading are spins, ground tricks, and air tricks.
Prior to learning ground tricks and air tricks, a blader (rollerblader) must learn to spin. Spinning is for the most part easy to start. On the other hand, landing can be a bit of a problem. A blader must always be thinking ahead, as with many other sports, and remember to stay level with the ground. In the same way a blader needs to remember to stay level, he or she must also decide how far to spin which means deciding which way to end up facing and how hard to twist. When one learns to spin correctly, he or she should continue to ground tricks.
Like spins, ground tricks require the blader to think ahead, but not as drastically. Ground tricks include one-footers, lots of variations of two wheel balancing tricks, crisscrossing, and grinding (sliding). Balance is the key to ground tricks, but the only way to truly maintain balance on blades (rollerblades) is to practice. Once a blader can balance, he or she should practicing keeping a rhythm while doing ground tricks to keep steady. Any ground tricks can be enhanced by jumping, spinning, and/or transitioning from one trick to another.
Finally, air tricks are the most spectacular and most dangerous tricks of aggressive blading. Therefore they should not be attempted without the necessary safety equipment or experience. Air tricks are fueled by ramps, quarter-pipes, and half-pipes and require a lot of speed (Ramps are flat slopes while pipes are curves that change gradually from parallel to perpendicular to the ground.) Riding ramps is all about shifting weight. The blader’s body must be parallel with the surface of the ramp or pipe which means the blader must stand straight on flat ground and shift his or her weight to an angle on a ramp, but on a pipe, the blader must be constantly shifting weight to equal the current angle, or tangent, of the pipe until he or she is facing straight up to the sky. While airborne, the blader can apply his or her techniques from ground tricks to the air, and the same can be done off ramps. In addition to that, the blader can also do new tricks called grabs by grabbing the blades and twisting into a position.
In conclusion, aggressive blading can be a huge rush. I intend to keep practicing until I am the best. Spins, ground tricks, and air tricks are what make blading so much fun, and I am committed to taking full advantage of that fun.
