Roller skating

Roller skating is travelling on smooth terrain with roller skates. It is often done for recreation and as a sport, but, more often than ice skating, it can be done functionally for moving around (it is faster than walking). The skates come in three basic varieties: inline skates, quad skates, and the quintessence skate.

Inline skating

Inline skating is roller skating done on inline skates. Inline skates are a type of skate with 4 or 5 wheels, arranged in a single line. This type of skating is done on the same surfaces as skateboarding: on the road, sidewalk, various street furnishings like fences and steps, and on special tracks and areas, including skate parks and half-pipes.

Related Topics:
Inline skate - Skate - Wheel - Skateboarding - Road - Sidewalk

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The growth of inline skating (frequently and incorrectly called rollerbladinghttp://www.rollerblade.com/about/index_trade.php?m=3) in the United States was explosive in the early 1990s, but since 1996 sales have dropped as the market became saturated and the sport's trendy status began to fade. Among children, inline skates were supplanted in popularity by new designs of push scooters; meanwhile for adolescents there was a resurgence in the popularity of skateboarding. Today a few inline skaters can be found sharing public and private skateparks with skateboarders in cities around the world.

Related Topics:
Rollerblading - United States - 1996 - Scooter - Skateboarding - Skateparks

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Speed Skating

:See main article: Inline speed skating

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In the early 2000s, event organizers began to promote inline skating marathons to adults, whose use of inline skating for fitness had remained strong. The largest inline racing event in the world is the marathon in Berlin, which had more than 9000 skating participants in 2003. The NorthShore Inline Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota is the largest inline skating event in North America, with over 3000 skaters attending the September event.

Related Topics:
2000s - Marathon - Berlin - 2003 - Duluth, Minnesota

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Aggressive Skating

:See main article: Aggressive skating.

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In addition to speed/fitness skating, some skaters prefer "aggressive" skating. Aggressive skating is comprised of a variety of tricks, grinds, jumps, and other advanced skating maneuvers. It is sometimes referred to as "street skating", though there are subtle differences between the two. The skates are very rigid and heavy compared to speed skates and recreational skates. The wheels are small (about 56mm) and the overall speed which this skate allows is relativly slow.

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Aggressive Skating is related to skateboarding.

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Free skating

A skating category that lies somewhere between aggressive and recreational skating, free skating allows many tricks such as jumps and slides but is less suitable for other tricks such as grinds. The boots of skates suitable for free skating tend to be more rigid for better leg support (like the aggressive skate), while the wheels tend to be larger and faster like the recreational skate.

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This type of skating is also known as urban skating.

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Competitive Skating

Competitive roller skating is composed of a variety of events for inline skaters. Competitions are held in roller hockey, speed skating, and artistic skating, where skaters compete in figures, team and solo dance, and free dance events. Inline dancing, especially at locations such as New York City's Central Park, can be especially popular during the summer months. There are competitions held throughout the world. Other sports include roller soccer and inline basketball.

Related Topics:
Artistic skating - New York City - Central Park - Roller soccer - Inline basketball

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Figure skating

:See main article: Artistic roller skating

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Similar to figure ice skating, skaters compete in Ladies, Men, Pairs and Dance categories, as well as in teams (synchronized skating).

Related Topics:
Figure ice skating - Synchronized skating

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Group Skating

Among skaters not committed to a particular discipline, a popular social activity is the group skate, in which large groups of inliners regularly meet to skate together, usually on city streets. Although such touring existed among quad roller skate clubs in the 1970s and 1980s, it made the jump to inline skates in 1990 with groups in San Francisco, California, Washington, DC, and New York City. In some cases, hundreds of skaters would regularly participate. In the late 1990s, the group skate phenomenon spread to Europe and east Asia. The weekly Friday night skate in Paris, France (called Pari Roller) is believed to be one of the largest repeating group skate in the world. At times, it has had as many as 35,000 skaters participating on a single night. The Sunday Skate Night in Berlin also attracts over 10,000 skaters during the summer, and Munich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Tokyo host other popular events. For some group skates in both North America and Europe, Halloween is the most popular event of the year. Charity skates in Paris have attracted 50,000 participants (the yearly Paris-Versailles skate).

Related Topics:
San Francisco, California - Washington, DC - New York City - Europe - Asia - Paris, France - Munich - Frankfurt - Amsterdam - Tokyo - Halloween

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