Freeline Skating
Freeline Sports is a California-based company that was built around their product, Freeline Skates, or simply Freelines. Freelines are a unique method of transportation and thrill seeking, with roots in skateboarding, snowboarding, and rollerblading. They are essentially two small skateboard-like boards, with custom trucks (the metal that attaches wheels to board), and skateboard-like wheels; one for each foot. There are no bindings to the skater's shoes as with rollerblading though, which makes it much more complex to master and do tricks with. The wheels are aligned pointing perpendicular to the direction the skater is facing - much like skateboards, and the experience is much like snowboarding (another sport I love).
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| Freeline Skater (1) |
There are many videos on YouTube that demonstrate how to skate with Freelines, but it's still not readily apparent how they actually work; simply put, it's all about friction. Imagine turning your back foot at an angle, and leave your front foot pointing in the direction you want to go; when you push your back foot out, the wheels can't turn because of the friction. The wheels on your front foot, which are facing in the correct direction, turn freely and you start moving. Bring your back foot back to pointing in the direction you're moving, and you begin to move. This is a simple example of how the friction gives you momentum, and when the skater has gotten the hang of it, the motion is S-shaped, where one foot is used to gain momentum from friction, and the other is left rolling freely.
This isn't easy to describe in words, and as it is when learning anything, practice makes perfect. It took me about three weeks to be able to actually skate around and generate my own momentum and build up some real speed.
Freelines are a relatively new invention, and so people are still learning how to use them, and how to create tricks and styles (similar to how the skateboard was invented and evolved). Check out some videos of Freeline tricks on YouTube to see how tricks are actually done. Mattie Tyce is one of the major innovators of the sport, and a video showcasing some of his skills is included at the bottom.
YouTube: Freeline Skates: Mattie Tyce (new footage added)
/http://www.freelineskates.com/
Check out Oliver's Blog "The Thrill of Fear" here!.
Freeline Skater. Retrived December 9, 2012 from:
http://www.gadget-o.com/sports/freeline-og.html
