Skaters often ask, "what can I do at home to help me improve my skating?"...
Well, there's exercise and dry training etc. But there's something far more important you should be doing, at least once a month!
Skate Maintenance!!!!...
Even young skaters can and SHOULD be helping maintain their own skates.
If you dont look after them, firstly don't expect them to work well no matter how hard your try and secondly don't expect that anyone will want to buy them off you when you want to upgrade.
Boots can become scuffed and dirty which make the outer layer weak and prone to ankle creasing, once a boot has creased your ankle support has gone and they become useless and unsellable.
Axels will become clogged with hair and dirt that will slow down your wheels and make it hard for you to roll.
Bearings will get dusty and dirty and eventually seize up, stoppers that aren't frequently rotated will wear down slanted and rubbers will degrade leaving you no suspension or support in your plates!
So if you're struggling with anything you're learning, ask yourself first.. when was the last time I checked my skates are cleaned and all the bits still work as well as they could?...
Here's what EVERY skater should be doing...
Weekly...
Take off wheels, remove any hair from around the axels, lightly wipe the wheels and bearings then use a quick spray of WD40 or fishing rod oil in each bearing before putting them back on. Quickly wipe over boot with soapy water and dry quickly and use a shoe deodoriser.
Monthly ..
Removing wheels and taking out bearings, place bearings in a container with white spirit and shake until clean. Leave them to dry on a cloth or kitchen roll. Once completely dry, oil bearings and wipe clean any excess leaking oil
Clean your wheels and check for flat spots or coning of wheels! Coned wheels are extremely dangerous and should be replaced asap!.
Wipe over the outer boot as usual and cover any marks or scuffs with trainer whitener (do in a thin layer and dry with hair dryer, then let the layers build up) if you get any big scuffs you can buy edea paint which covered anything.
WASH your insoles!.. let's be honest, we are doing a lot of hard work in our skates and we all sweat, so we all need to be washing insoles and replacing them when needed.
Once you've cleaned your boots and insoles and cleaned and oiled bearings, you now need to check over your plates... a quick brush with an old toothbrush should remove any dust.. but you then need to check your stoppers aren't wearing down at the front, if they are, loosen the stopper bolt and rotate the stopper half a turn. Most roll-line stopper have holes in the underneath, is this some magical technical elements to ensure you get optimum height on your jumps? Nope.. its an indicator of wear!... if the holes have almost disappeared.. its time to renew your stoppers!
Always check your suspension rubbers too, look to see if there's any splitting of rubber or if they have worn down at all as this will loosen your actions, you nay need to tightened them up again! Once again of you are seeing too much screw coil in your action bolt your rubbers are too low and need replacing. PLEASE do not choose rubbers by prettiness of colours, they are colour coded by the weight range they carry. So will notice small kids have green or white, beginner adults will have yellow and those needing stronger suspension to land jumps without causing knees and hips damage will have clear or blue rubbers!
Weekly skate maintenance should take no longer than 5 to 10 mins of your time and monthly maintenance maybe 30 minutes once your used to doing it...
Would you drive your car without good brakes? With broken suspension or weaken bodywork?.. so why would you skate on damaged skates?
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