If you were taking up skiing for the first time, would you just strap on a pair of skis, hop on the chair lift, and head down the mountain? Probably not! And yet millions of skaters do something similar each year. Getting a skating lesson, be it in person or online, is important for your safety and for your fun. Learning to stop is a requisite. However, skating efficiently can make your skating so much more fun that you will be amazed you ever enjoyed the sport before you learned the proper technique.

Skating is not an inherent motion for humans. We don’t normally propel ourselves forward by pushing to the side. Because skating is not a natural motion, most people (even good athletes) who have not received a lesson simply do not skate efficiently. The ironic thing is that most people don’t know this! We instructors constantly watch skaters as they swing their arms from side to side, kick back their legs, and lift their toes into the air – all natural movements that don’t help your skating!

In the Technique section of our MarathonSkating.com training programs, we will help you improve your skating. What you learn will vary depending on whether you register for the First Timer, Two Hour Marathoner, or Advanced Skater programs. For the First Timer, we will focus on learning to scissor (a safety move), proper braking, skating on hills, and getting an efficient Fitness Stride. For the Two Hour Marathoner we will focus on improving your Fitness Stride and learning how to draft with other skaters – the two things that will most improve your marathon time. For the Advanced Skater, we will focus on the minor details of an efficient stride, crossovers, the double push, and drafting.

Our Skating Technique comes from two main sources. The first is the recognized program of the Instructor Certification Program of the International Inline Skating Association. This program has a variety of courses but we have used it mostly for our beginning instruction. The second is the proprietary Nine-Step Fitness Skating Clinic taught by guides/instructors on tours run by Zephyr Inline Skate Tours. The information presented here is not the complete Nine-Step program (you have to join a tour for that) but does use some of the parts.

Learning online is not the best way to master skating. However, our combination of text, photos, and short video clips is about as good as online instruction gets. In addition, you have several options for adding in an online component. First, you can join our Marathon Weekend at the Cactus Classic Marathon in Tucson so that we can actually watch and correct your skating in person. Second, you can take a lesson from a local instructor. Third, starting in 2004 we will have coordinated online and local instruction with specially-qualified skating instructors in some cities across the United States.

After taking our online training program once, you will likely be watching other skaters as they cruise down your local path, wondering why they don’t take a lesson.