How to Stick With Rollerblading

Practice can be smaller than you think

You can want to learn rollerblading and still struggle to get yourself out to practice.

An hour outside sounds like a lot after a busy day. You’re not sure which exercises to do, or whether you have the energy for them. And if your last session felt difficult, it’s easy to put the next one off.

Sometimes the problem is how much you think a practice session has to involve. You picture a full workout, with a proper plan and enough time to make it worthwhile. A spare 20 minutes hardly seems worth getting your skates out for.

But those 20 minutes can be your practice.

Especially at the beginning, when you’re putting in effort without feeling much difference yet, it helps to have a way to practice that doesn’t ask too much of you every time.

These are the guidelines I use in my own practice.

1. Remember what you want to be able to do

You don’t need an ambitious goal. Maybe you want to skate through the park without feeling tense, join your child on skates, or feel more comfortable moving on wheels.

Keep that reason in mind when you’re wondering whether the effort is worth it. The exercise you’re repeating might not be particularly exciting, but it’s part of learning to do something you chose.

Your reason won’t make you eager to practice every day. That’s why the practice itself needs to be manageable, too.

2. Let 15 or 20 minutes be enough

Waiting for a free hour can mean not practicing at all.

A 15- or 20-minute session gives you another option. For a beginner, that can be a complete practice, not just the start of a longer workout.

You have time to revisit a few movements and work on something that needs attention. Then you can stop and get on with your day.

Short sessions are also easier to fit into your week again. You don’t have to wait until you have a whole afternoon free.

3. Decide what counts as a complete practice

Before you put your skates on, choose a small amount of practice you intend to do.

For example, you could spend 10 minutes on familiar movements and another 10 on one skill you’re still learning. Any skating after that is optional.

Choose a minimum you’re willing to start even on a day when you don’t feel particularly motivated. An ambitious plan won’t help much if you keep putting it off.

When you’ve done what you planned, you don’t need to negotiate with yourself about whether it was enough. You came to do 20 minutes, and you did them.

4. Go back to exercises you already know

You don’t need to find new drills every time you practice. When you’re unsure what to do, start with the movements from your last session.

Choose something that usually goes well, then work on something that still needs attention. The familiar movement gives you a chance to settle in before you take on the harder task.

Repeating an exercise doesn’t mean you’re stuck. There’s still plenty to learn within the same movement: doing it with less tension, placing your feet more precisely, or being able to repeat it without quite so much concentration.

You don’t need to move on just because you’ve done it before.

5. Make one small change at a time

When an exercise gets easier, you don’t have to replace it with a completely new skill.

Try the other side. Focus on being more precise. Use a little less support when you’re ready. Change one detail and notice whether you can still control the movement.

That’s how the progression works in Your First Week on Rollerblades. You begin with a basic stance, weight shifts, steps, and turns. Then you add a wider stance and 180-degree turns. Later, you return to those movements with cup-balancing tasks, first with one cup and eventually with two.

Most of the exercise stays familiar. You have one new thing to pay attention to, rather than a whole new set of instructions to remember.

6. Do fewer attempts when the skill is harder

The hardest exercise doesn’t have to get the most repetitions.

As a rough guide, I might do up to 20 calm repetitions of a familiar movement, around 10 good repetitions of something moderately difficult, and just a few focused attempts at a new skill.

Those numbers aren’t targets you have to reach. Stop earlier if you’re losing concentration or the movement is getting less controlled.

You also don’t have to keep working on a difficult skill until you get it right. A few attempts where you notice what’s happening can give you something useful to return to next time.

7. Finish with something you can control

After working on a difficult skill, go back to a movement that works fairly consistently. It can still require attention, but it shouldn’t feel like another struggle.

Do a few controlled repetitions and finish there. It gives you something to remember besides the part that was frustrating.

This doesn’t mean you have to keep practicing until you get a perfect final attempt. Make the task easier rather than chasing success at the hardest version. And if you’re too tired to practice safely, stop.

The point is to avoid ending every session exhausted and annoyed with yourself, not to add one more thing you have to achieve.

8. Keep extra skating optional

Once you’ve done what you planned, you might want to skate a little longer or repeat a movement you enjoyed. You might also be ready to go home.

Be careful not to turn “I could do a little more” into “I should do a little more.” Otherwise, the short session you agreed to becomes a longer commitment every time.

Enjoy the extra time when you feel like it. On the days you don’t, your planned practice still counts.

Need a plan to start with?

My free Your First Week on Rollerblades plan includes five short practices, each around 15–20 minutes, for people who have never been on rollerblades before.

You won’t need to choose the exercises yourself. The plan takes you through basic movements, brings you back to them, and adds one challenge at a time.

Despite the name, you don’t have to finish it in exactly seven days. Repeat a practice when you need more time with it, and move on when you’re ready.

Some days, you’ll still be reluctant to begin. Having a short plan won’t remove that feeling completely, but it means you know what you’re going to do and when you’ve done enough. That can make putting your skates on feel like much less of a commitment.