Have you ever seen a skater, skate without taking their feet off the ground? It seems as though they are effortlessly moving forward or floating on the ground. This is referred to as sticky skating. This style of skating is detailed below with some really nice examples.
What is sticky skating?
Sticky skating originated in roller derby. The skaters were often tripping each other over so it became customary for them to skate in a ‘sticky’ way with their feet not leaving the ground. The momentum for moving forward or backwards comes from pressure against the ground through the skates, from the thighs. Once mastered it can make your skating look really smooth and effortless.
One example of sticky skating which we really like is the way Coco Franklin skates. She is a well known skater on You Tube and she offers private lessons. See the clip below of her, teach a You Tube audience how to skate backwards in this style.
Learn how to roller skate BACKWARDS with COCO FRANKLIN! – YouTube
Coco suggests that this method of skating preserves energy which flows into creating movement. Her style of skating is enjoyable to watch.
How do you adopt a ‘sticky skating’ style?
This style is achieved by starting off with ‘lemon’ shapes on the ground – carving your skates out and then back in again, over and over, using the force to propel yourself forwards. Once lemons are achieved, you can begin to cross over your skates slightly. It does take a little while for the ‘lemons’ to become ‘comfortable’ but once that happens, crossing your legs right over into a criss-cross sort of shape, to the other side, is much easier.
You can then progress to taking one foot off the ground and carving with just the other foot in a ‘sticky’ skating style.
What sort of skates are best for ‘sticky skating’?
The writer has found that quad skates are easier to apply a sticky skating style – just because the wheel base is shorter so there is less room to stretch around when you criss-cross your legs over each other and back again. However, the style can be achieved with inline skates too. We will soon be posting some of our own sticky skating examples in both quads and inline skates.
So there you have it – I hope we have explained what sticky skating is and this is something you will try for yourselves. If you would like to find some of our best skate reviews for both quads and inline skates, please see the following section of our website: Best roller skate reviews – Sophia Blogs
