Freestyle slalom skating is a highly technical field of roller skating that involves performing tricks around a straight line of equally spaced cones. The most common spacing used in competitions is , with larger competitions also featuring lines spaced at and .

Equipment

Most freestyle slalomers use

inline skates Inline skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates typically have two to five wheels arranged in a single line. Some, especially those for recreation, ha ...

, although some use quad skates. Those who use inline skates tend to use a full rocker

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

configuration, however there are other variations of the rocker set-up which are used. Some skaters prefer to use a 'full hi-lo' rocker, which means the largest wheel is the second in from the back, with the smallest at the front. A common way to rocker your wheels is by putting larger wheels in the center and smaller wheels on each end. An example of this is having 80 mm wheels in the 2nd and 3rd position and 76 mm in the front and back. A short frame (230–245 mm) is used to give the skate the maximum possible maneuverability. Inline skates used for slalom have a very tight fit with a strong cuff, to give sustained ankle support. Popular skates used in the past include the FSK skate range by Salomon, now unavailable.

List of slalom moves

The list of basic moves from easiest to hardest. There are many more moves than the ones shown in the list, and many variations on how to complete each move. The names of these moves may differ between countries. Basic *Forwards Parallel (Fish) *Forwards Monoline (Snake) *Forwards Criss-Cross *Alternating Forwards Cross *Double Cross *Forwards One Foot Beginner *Backwards Monoline (Snake) *Backwards Criss-Cross *Backwards Parallel (Fish) *Forwards Heel-Toe Snake *Forwards Heel-Toe Criss-Cross *Forwards Toe-Toe Snake *Forwards Heel-Heel Snake *Forwards Shifted Cross *Backwards Shifted Cross *Eagle *Eagle Cross (Independent) *Eagle Shifted Cross (Wave) *Eagle Royal *Eagle Royal Cross *Reverse Eagle *Reverse Eagle Criss-Cross *Reverse Eagle Shifted Cross *Fake Side-Surf Intermediate *Crazy *Grapevine (Mabrouk) *Double Crazy *Double Crazy Back *Forwards Stroll *Backwards Stroll *Backwards One Foot *Chapi Chapo *X *X 2 *X Jump (Crab Cross) *Nelson *Nelson Back *Nelson Transfer Back (X-Back) *Sun *Miniman (Small car 5 Wheels Sitting) *Pendulum Advanced *Alternating Cross *Crazy Sun *Mexican *Italian *Volte *Wiper *Footspin *Special *Oliver *Brush *Chicken Leg *Cobra *Butterfly Master *Rocket (Coffee Machine) *Backwards Rocket *Christie *Kasatchok *Toe Wheeling *Grabbed Toe Wheeling *Heel Wheeling *Grabbed Heel Wheeling *Screw *Leaf *Swan *Deckchair (Corvo)

Instruction

Both the ICP and Skate IA offer slalom instructor certification programs which develop the ability of skaters and coaches in breaking down slalom tricks. They also expand instructors' ability in identifying and solving problems in slalom skating.

Competitions

The World Slalom Series Association (WSSA) organised the first World Championships in inline freestyle in 2008. The competition has been held annually since then and in 2015, World Skate recognized it as an official world championships from the organization, known as the Inline Freestyle World Championship. This competition has been part of the World Skate Games since 2017. WSSA still organizes all other major calendar competitions in inline freestyle, including the World Cup.

References

External links

Inline Certification Program websiteBig Wheel Blading Online Magazine is the source for all things on Big Wheel inline skatesInternational Freestyle Skaters Association websiteWorld Slalom Skating Association websiteWSSA World Slalom Series websiteLearn Freestyle slalom skating with kompakombo.com (in french)Freestyle Slalom Information in Germany
{{Inline skating Aggressive skating Inline skating Roller skating it:Pattinaggio freestyle#Style Slalom