Skates have been around since the 1700’s. Skating entered mainstream popularity in the 60’s and 70’s, and now skating is enjoying a resurgence worldwide once again.
Part of skating’s appeal and durability may be attributed to its diversity of expression.
Skating comes in many varied formats: rollerski, speed, artistic, inline alpine, inline downhill, inline freestyle, roller freestyle, inline or rink hockey, roller derby and skate cross. All of these versions of skating are played both at a social as and competitive level.
Skating overall is a popular recreational outlet for children, teens and adults alike. It has remained a popular sport for several reasons: the increasing affordability and durability of the equipment and it’s value both in recreation and in transportation.
Skating can be done outdoors – encouraging long distance workouts – and indoors – allowing year-round all-weather play and training.
Why is skating good for you?
Skating provides participants with aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Skating shares the same fitness benefits as running, while remaining a low-impact endurance exercise.
Skating strengthens core and lower limb muscles and improves balance overall.
The sideways movements in skating also engage muscle groups that are often difficult to target and strengthen.
Exercise that engages different muscle groups simultaneously is called ‘compound exercise’. This type of exercise has been shown to be key in getting an effective workout in a short amount of time.
Aside from fitness and endurance, the motor skills gained during skating can be used across most roller sports and in several snowsports (such as ice skating, speed skating, ice hockey, skiing and so on).
What’s the difference between rollerblades and rollerskates?
Rollerblades have two to four wheels in a single line per shoe. Roller-skates (‘quad’ skates) have four wheels, set side by side in pairs.
Inline skates are more popular and more common than quads.
Inline skates are designed to withstand more regular usage than traditional quads, allow for better manoeuverability and can move faster than ‘quads’.
The easy manoeuverability and speed (up to 40 km/hr – or more) unfortunately means that inline skates are less stable than quads.
To be clear, though, serious injuries can be sustained from the use of any type of skates.
What are the common patterns of injury?
The top three regions of the body injured on skates are:
- 46% affect the upper limb
- 19.4% of injuries involve the lower limb
- 10% affect the face and head
The mechanism of falling on an outstretched hand results in the wrist being the most injured joint as it is forcibly pushed backward. Most injuries at the wrist comprise of fractures or dislocations.
Head injuries account for some of the more serious injuries sustained during skating.
Most skaters who sustain injuries are first-time or intermediate skaters. More experienced skaters sustain injuries while attempting to perform tricks and/or were moving at extremes of speed.
Older teens get injured more than any other age group with slightly more males than females affected.
Protective gear
Governing bodies in the sport recommend that skaters always wear full protective gear: helmet, wrist guards, and knee and elbow pads. Additional safety gear includes padded skate shorts.
Studies show that a third of serious skating injuries could be avoided by wearing wrist guards alone. These injuries include cuts, sprains, dislocations, and fractures.
Helmets in particular are important to wear due to the potential of head injuries to cause significant and long-term injuries, with social, medical and financial consequences. Multipurpose helmets and cycle helmets should suffice.
In surveys of several skaters who got injured without safety gear on, a majority started wearing their safety gear afterwards.
How to avoid injuries
Skating, as fun as it is, counts as one of the top 10 summer sports that results in injury.
Aside from wearing proper gear, many of these injuries can be prevented by following common-sense precautions: avoiding overexertion, recovering after injury, taking regular breaks during play and avoiding skating when fatigued, as this increased one’s risk of injury.
If lessons are offered where you live, do take up a lesson. The more lessons taken, the lower the risk of injury. These lessons will cover the essentials of correct technique – both in stopping and in moving safely and efficiently.
Where to skate
Skate in the day or in well-lit spaces.
When starting out on wheels, it is important to start learning to skate on a level surface in a safe environment.
Skate in areas free of obstacles, debris (sand, dirt, leaves, twigs, gravel – all of which change the friction or may get wedged between the wheels) and wet or oily patches.
Always remain alert to your environment.
When skating outdoors, one must be especially aware of motor vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, pets, pathway debris, paving defects and obstacles.
Practice near a handrail or other rigid barrier for support. It may also help to practice some of the techniques on a padded surface – like grass, a carpet or a mat to avoid severe injury from an unexpected loss of balance.
How to skate
Some of the early lessons you will need to learn will include how to fall safely and how to get back up.
Tuck in your fingers when falling to avoid getting them rolled over by other skaters. When getting back up after a fall, first kneel and then plant one foot on the ground before attempting to stand on the other.
The next step is to learn to skate in with the correct posture (knees and hips flexed without leaning too far forward or too far back). It is important to ensure that your boots are correctly sized and well fastened and that your feet are in the correct position.
Skate at a speed from which you feel comfortable stopping at. Caution is advised when approaching intersections – particularly if the surface does not flatten before.
If you do not have access to lessons, there are several educational and informative channels and skate demo videos online teaching the techniques needed to keep you safely rolling for years to come.
Dr Anne Maina
Specialist Orthopaedic surgeon
MBBCh (Wits), FC Orth (SA), MMed Ortho (Wits) CIME
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