You’ve got your roller skates on… now what?

One of the biggest things I see skaters struggle with isn’t necessarily learning new skills, it’s knowing what to actually practice once they put their skates on.

You might roll around, try a few random skills and then wonder whether you actually achieved much.

But your roller skate practice doesn’t need to be an hour long or overly complicated. A focused 15-minute roller skating practice gives you time to work on your balance, control, edges and footwork — especially when you have a plan.

Want to skip straight to the practice?

👉 WATCH THE FULL 15-MINUTE ROLLER SKATE PRACTICE HERE & FOLLOW ALONG 

Grab your skates, press play and I’ll take you through the entire session!

What to Practice on Roller Skates

For this 15-minute roller skate practice routine, we’re working through a mixture of foundational skills, balance exercises and footwork, with options to make the skills easier or harder depending on your level.

• Warm-up: Start with simple movements to get your knees, hips and legs moving before jumping into your roller skating drills.

• Free skating: Spend a minute simply rolling and focusing on weight transfer, knee bend and feeling comfortable on your skates.

• Bubbles (scissors): A great beginner roller skating exercise for practising knee bend, weight transfer and control while keeping both skates on the ground.

• Crossovers: Start with stationary crossover steps before progressing to moving crossovers as your balance and confidence improve.

• Free-leg balance: Practise balancing on one skate to build the stability and control you’ll use across so many other roller skating skills.

• Manuals: Work on heel manuals and toe manuals before progressing to heel-toe combinations or taking them backwards.

• Crouches: Practise getting lower on your roller skates while maintaining your balance and control.

• Slaloms: Use smooth S-shaped movements to practise your rhythm, weight transfer and roller skate edge control.

• Inside & outside edges: Work on holding your edges through curved movements to develop smoother, more controlled skating.

• Heel-toe pivots: Practise shifting your weight between your heels and toes while keeping your knees soft and movements controlled.

• Dips: Finish with forward or backward dips to bring together balance, edges and flow.

You Don’t Need to Practice for Hours to Improve

One thing I tell my students all the time is that even 15 minutes counts.

You don’t need to wait until you have an hour free or the perfect place to skate. A short, focused session where you’re actually repeating your roller skating skills and drills can be far more useful than putting your skates on with no idea what you’re going to work on.

And you don’t need to master every skill in one session.

Start at the level that suits where your skating is right now, repeat the movement and then progress it when you’re ready.

Ready to Do the Full 15-Minute Roller Skate Practice?

Don’t just read about it — come and skate it with me!

I’ve put the whole session together so you can press play and follow along without having to think about what you’re going to practice next.

There are different options throughout the session too, so whether you’re working on your beginner roller skating skillsor you’re ready to challenge your balance, edges and footwork, you can choose the level that works for you.

👉 WATCH PRACTICE SESSION HERE & FOLLOW ALONG

So go grab your skates and get your 15 minutes in!