It's so weird, because I am still in the beginning stages of re-learning to skate. But for some strange reason, I have yet to use my toe stop. At least not for stopping. I think I've only used it to try and stay steady a couple of times while standing in place. But I always use the plow method to stop. Not sure why exactly, but maybe because I've watched so many of your videos where you talk about that method of stopping. So I guess it's it's a good thing I don't rely on them! 😃
Every time I see you do the hez I’m reminded I need to learn it but I always forget until I see someone do it at the rink and I’m like what’s that that’s cool
I kept my toe stops in cuz I wanted to try doing things like crazy legs with them in to be in more control but it honestly a lot nicer without a toe stop and I don’t have to worry about accidentally hitting them when skating on my toes so I took them back out.
I agree. I tried here to do some of the skills with them in and I failed horribly. Haha. I think because my muscle memory of the move is without I dip the foot too low and hit the stopper. I’ve seen people do it with stoppers but I prefer without myself
I kind of think you should be able to do pretty much everything with toe stops instead of jam plugs. Even things like grapevines with just the front two wheels in the toe manual position. It just takes very fine motor skills that you get from constant practice. My feeling is that if you require toe stops for something like artistic freestyle jumps, then leave those toe stops in 100% of your time. Otherwise you can train bad habits if you have jam plugs in and then need to use toe stops later on. Specifically, with jam plugs you're going to develop muscle memory for using toe manual kinds of techniques that will just start tripping you up once you put on toe stops. Even normal stuff that you wouldn't think about (like normal forwards stroking) can trip you up with the toe stop on after practicing a lot with jam plugs. So if you have to use toe stops for anything, honestly I think it's just better to leave them on all the time in order to train your muscle memory consistently. I could be wrong. Maybe it's not a big deal for some people.
I regularly swap between rhythm skating, in plugs and then to artistic, with toe stops. Yes there is a small adjustment period of a couple of minutes where I feel the toe stops are heavy, but I think maybe I’m just used to swapping. It’s an interesting theory. I know there are skaters that do skate all styles with stoppers. At the end of the day I guess it’s personal preference.
When i first started i instinctively started skating without pushing myself using the stops probably because i started with roller blades before but the stopping was harder because it takes more strength on the rollerblades while the rollerstakes needed more subtle stopping way so i always ended up losing balance
Making more of a V position can also help stop wheel wear as the V position allows the wheels to keep rolling more than the full right angle of the T. I love these type of skating facts! I’m a skating geek! 🤩💕⭐️😎🛼
With adjusting toe stops, how much space should you leave between your toe stop and the ground? From an artistic viewpoint. I want to do artistic jumps and spins and I don't know how low I should have my toe stop. I get that it's probably personal choice, but I'd like to have a starting point :)
For jumps they need to be lower to the ground. I used to have mine super low. I could just get my hand flat between the ground and the stopper. If you’re used to them high be careful as you can trip over them.
Hey skatie! I was wondering what skates you typically use? I’ve been skating for quite a while now and want to upgrade to a more advanced pare. I’m looking for ones suitable for artistic skating (jumps, spins, ect.) I typically skate outdoors in a smooth-ish parking lot, but occasionally go to the rink. When looking into different brands I keep being led back to either Riedells or Jackson. Though I’ve noticed neither seem to have metal plates which I know is typically a bad sign. As a broke college student I’m not looking to spend much more then $200. Would you happen to have any recommendations?😅
Sounds like you’ve done your research. I’d recommend looking in the second hand market as there are some real bargains to be had. There are lots of artistic selling sites on Facebook and also eBay is a good place to look. I’d recommend looking for an artistic entry level boot Riedell, Jackson, Risport, Edea on a roll-plate. The most common roll-lines are variant or minstrel but all roll-lines are great quality.
What Katie has said. Picked up a pair of artistic skates for my 9yr old daughter for $75 in outstanding condition. She will outgrow them before she "out-skills" them. Not to get too detailed, but they are Ridell 220's mounted on sure-grip classics sporting original powell-bones 62mm/98a.
You can just leave the hole empty but most rinks will want you to have a jam plug to protect their floor. However, I do use my jam plug to dance so you prefer to try with a plug.
