Boards and Blades

A grind on rollerblades feels smooth – plastic on a waxed curb or a rail. When I first tried one I fell on my ass. I leaned into the grind, pushed my feet forward a bit, and my legs shot out from under me. Up until then, I’d always done grinds on a skateboard. Metal on metal or a curb. The trucks dig in and grind. Because I’d always had to push the board along, I wasn’t ready for the smoothness of rollerblades.

Even though there’s variety in both, that’s the biggest different between styles: skateboarding is force while rollerblading is finesse. Skateboards pop and snap; you flick the board and catch it. It takes serious coordination, much harder for beginners than rollerblading, and most pros make it look fluid and easy. Usually it’s a rodeo on concrete. Rollerblades glide and cut; you roll through lines and transition between grinds. It also requires serious coordination, but more in a gymnastic sense. The best pros get acknowledged as much for their style and pose as the acrobatic and/or ballsy trick they’re pulling off.

Someone rollerblading for two years will impress the average onlooker more than the skateboarder of two years. Especially at a skatepark. When I’d skateboard with friends, we’d land about 50% or fewer of our tricks. Many afternoons of my teenage years were devoted to a single trick. Just to land it once, with the hope that eventually I’d have it down. But in rollerblading, about 75% or more tricks are “landed.” It’s just a question of whether the style was right, the grind was long enough, etc.