Beginner roller skating

Your First Backwards Roll, In Three Moves

Face forward, hold a wall, and push your heels apart then together - the same shape as a plow stop, done in reverse. Look over one shoulder, never straight down. Backwards is where most people quit; it takes three sessions, not three minutes.

Stand facing a wall with both hands on it. Push your heels apart so the toes point inwards, then pull them back together. Repeat. That open-close shape is the whole movement, and it rolls you backwards without you pushing at all.

Let go of the wall only when the shape happens without thinking. Then keep the same motion and look over one shoulder, alternating sides. Looking straight down drops your weight behind the wheels, which is the backwards fall.

Expect this to take three sessions. Backwards is where most people decide skating is not for them, and the only difference between them and everyone else is that they stopped on session one.

Keep going: this is one section of the full Roller Skating for Beginners guide — sizing, gear, stopping, and where to skate, in one page.