Figure Skating vs. Roller Skating/Blading? | Golden Skate

Figure Skating vs. Roller Skating/Blading?

hanyuufan5

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Medalist
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May 19, 2018
So, the discussion in the motivation thread got me curious:

How many of you who figure skate can roller skate/blade well? If you can't, could you before you started figure skating?

For me, I used to be pretty good at both before I started figure skating at age 10. By age 16, I was so utterly horrible that I couldn't even do it without holding onto the boards, which I never even did when learning to figure skate! It feels ten times slipperier than ice. My brain just refuses to tolerate skates without nice, sharp edges anymore. :laugh:
 

sandraskates

Final Flight
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Country
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Fun question hanyuufan5!

I was a good roller skater on the quad skates. Used to race around the block in contests with the other neighbor kids on the block. In my teens we'd skate outside on the beach boardwalk and down some steep hills (wearing NO protective gear either). I could do some light spins and up to a toe-loop jump. Perhaps my roller skate balance helped me get a good start ice skating as I took to it pretty quickly.

However, I could never get the hang of roller blades. Don't know why, just couldn't.

On one of my rink workdays, I was talking to a guest that was skating around the rink fairly fast in rental skates. He told me it was his first time ice skating but he was good on rollarblades.

I don't have much opportunity to roller skate anymore. I'll just end with it's a much easier fall on the ice and slide than it is to fall on a wood floor or concrete with a thud.:laugh:
 

Nimyue

On the Ice
Joined
May 15, 2018
I did figure roller skating when I was a kid. Ice skated for fun when we traveled only (no rink in my city). I have many many hours roller blading as I took my dog on 4 mile runs on my roller blades for years. I was never exactly taught to do basic skating... I just managed it pretty quickly on my own when I was little.
 

Ic3Rabbit

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I can rollerblade but not quad. I actually have gotten a pair of my figure skating boots mounted to a pic blade for years now and do that for some off-ice fun.
 

Bill S

Rinkside
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Country
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I grew up three blocks from a roller rink, so I got my start there. I won't say how old I am, but a two-hour session on a Saturday afternoon was 25 cents. It was CROWDED with other pre-teens and teenagers. It was certainly a social gathering.

I tried some quad skates again about 20 years ago, and just managed to shuffle around the rink. I got PIC skates instead, and found them similar (but still different) from ice skates. I was doing toe loops and Salchows on them, plus a weak scratch spin.

[like this - http://www.afterness.com/skating/images/pic_spin_09.mp4 ]

I was skating on PICs the same time that I was ice skating, and I got used to the differences switching between them every few days. Moves etc. were much easier on ice than on inlines.

Now I'm strictly ice, but still have the PICs for use when the urge hits again. Lots of good memories with the other adults that I used to skate with at the roller rink.
 

Elija

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 25, 2019
I grew up roller blading, and i think that helped me be more comfortable on ice - just took off the first time I went ice skating. Hate quad skates, the just felt really unstable.

I saw above a couple of people mentioned pic skates - has anyone tried the off ice brand or snow white? If so what are your thoughts? Really keen to get some and mount to my old boots. There are no pic skate dealers in my country though, so would have to be one of the other two brands, as they have online stores.
 
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MalAssada

Medalist
Joined
Jun 28, 2014
I can only roller skate due to living in a tropical country with no ice rinks (not even in malls!). It is... interesting, I suppose. It's all I've known, but I accept it is far less pleasing than ice skating, though I can't quite compare it: the closest I got to truly ice skating was during a trip to Toronto, when I rented skates that weren't plastic for an hour.

Some differences I CAN highlight are:
- the price. Boots are roughly the same, but when on ice you buy blades and that's it. On rollers you need the plate, the wheels, the things that make wheels spin, even the brake can be sold separately. Which brings me to my next point:
- the weight. Those skates are heavy. Mine is a nice Edea/Roll-line set up for single jumps and they weight nearly 5kg.
 

Ic3Rabbit

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I grew up roller blading, and i think that helped me be more comfortable on ice - just took off the first time I went ice skating. Hate quad skates, the just felt really unstable.

I saw above a couple of people mentioned pic skates - has anyone tried the off ice brand or snow white? If so what are your thoughts? Really keen to get some and mount to my old boots. There are no pic skate dealers in my country though, so would have to be one of the other two brands, as they have online stores.

Can't help you with the brands you asked about but there is a way to order pic skates online.

https://www.picskate.com/how_to_order.htm

https://www.picskate.com/order_form.htm
 

anonymoose_au

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For me, I used to be pretty good at both before I started figure skating at age 10. By age 16, I was so utterly horrible that I couldn't even do it without holding onto the boards, which I never even did when learning to figure skate! It feels ten times slipperier than ice. My brain just refuses to tolerate skates without nice, sharp edges anymore. :laugh:

I've noticed this too! I'm all right ice skater, as in I don't fall flat on my butt when I step onto the ice, but I have huge trouble with rollerblades.

Some of that is probably because I've tried doing it on bumpy pavement...But the weirdest issue I have is that in rollerblades my left ankle will roll in, but in ice skates my feet stay straight! What the..?

I have gone skating in quad skates and found it more comfortable, although still way more slippery than on ice!
 

Jetta

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 13, 2018
I always felt just slightly more comfortable on rollerblades, but there were more things I could do on ice. I definitely preferred the sounds and the feel of being on the ice, but I think I just never enjoyed how cold ice rinks were. :) I’ve thought many times about trying out those pic skates.
 

aletheia

Spectator
Joined
Nov 9, 2019
I grew up roller blading, and i think that helped me be more comfortable on ice - just took off the first time I went ice skating. Hate quad skates, the just felt really unstable.

I saw above a couple of people mentioned pic skates - has anyone tried the off ice brand or snow white? If so what are your thoughts? Really keen to get some and mount to my old boots. There are no pic skate dealers in my country though, so would have to be one of the other two brands, as they have online stores.

I got the Snow White ones mounted on my first boots. I could only use them for a couple of months before I moved country and couldn't bring them with me, but I was enjoying them. The feeling is much more similar to ice skating than using normal roller blades. They are heavier too. And I find them less forgiving in terms of balance, going backwards was quite a mission for me! The center of the last wheel sits almost in line with the heel of the foot, a bit of extra weight swifted back and I was sitting on the ground. I constantly missed the extra "tail" of the blades. But I am not very naturally talented for skating in general, so most people would probably be just fine haha On the good side, turning, 3 turns felt super smooth and agile (didn't try spinning on them, I'm terrible even on the ice)

I haven't heard about the off ice brand before, but the shop where I bought mines had both picskates and Snow Whites. I asked if there was any difference or recommendation and they mentioned they were very similar, but people use to prefer Snow White for dance and footwork as they found it easier than with the pic skates. They also mentioned some differences about the 'toe pick' in front which I actually don´t remember to be honest. I chose the Snow White over picskates because dance is what I was interested on, but now I have them and taking into account that short tail thing, I would say maybe pic skates would be a better option for jumps as they seem to be slightly longer at the end. Just take this as an observation as I have't tried pic skates myself and I may be wrong, but I hope it helps :)
 

Elija

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 25, 2019
I got the Snow White ones mounted on my first boots. I could only use them for a couple of months before I moved country and couldn't bring them with me, but I was enjoying them. The feeling is much more similar to ice skating than using normal roller blades. They are heavier too. And I find them less forgiving in terms of balance, going backwards was quite a mission for me! The center of the last wheel sits almost in line with the heel of the foot, a bit of extra weight swifted back and I was sitting on the ground. I constantly missed the extra "tail" of the blades. But I am not very naturally talented for skating in general, so most people would probably be just fine haha On the good side, turning, 3 turns felt super smooth and agile (didn't try spinning on them, I'm terrible even on the ice)

I haven't heard about the off ice brand before, but the shop where I bought mines had both picskates and Snow Whites. I asked if there was any difference or recommendation and they mentioned they were very similar, but people use to prefer Snow White for dance and footwork as they found it easier than with the pic skates. They also mentioned some differences about the 'toe pick' in front which I actually don´t remember to be honest. I chose the Snow White over picskates because dance is what I was interested on, but now I have them and taking into account that short tail thing, I would say maybe pic skates would be a better option for jumps as they seem to be slightly longer at the end. Just take this as an observation as I have't tried pic skates myself and I may be wrong, but I hope it helps :)

Thabk you! From what I’ve seen the pic skates and off ice skates have four wheels, so yeah i think they probably are a bit longer. I have heard really amazing things about the off ice brand, particularly that they feel the most like actual ice skates. But it’s hard to find any comparisons between the brands, as most people have only tried one.
 

Ic3Rabbit

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Thabk you! From what I’ve seen the pic skates and off ice skates have four wheels, so yeah i think they probably are a bit longer. I have heard really amazing things about the off ice brand, particularly that they feel the most like actual ice skates. But it’s hard to find any comparisons between the brands, as most people have only tried one.

The Pic brand number of wheels is decided by the length of set up you need for your boot just like a blade.
 

Elija

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 25, 2019
The Pic brand number of wheels is decided by the length of set up you need for your boot just like a blade.

Ahh ok. I have small feet so maybe would only have three wheels then. My sister is moving to Melbourne soon, where I believe there is a store that sells at least a couple of these brands of inline figure wheels, so hopefully I will be able to have a look at them in person when I visit her.
 

Schpanky

Rinkside
Joined
May 25, 2016
Edea and Roll Line. https://skatesus.com/product/roll-line-linea/ I don't use these because
I do slalom on inlines. This is slalom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIP2FPelYfo&t=36s The rockered plate mimics an ice skate, but it's mostly on toes, so NO toe stops.
I needed better upper body control so I took some ice skating lessons.
That's when I found my true love. There is nothing in the world that feels as good as the deep edges on an ice skate. Inline skates don't have that. So it's hard to go back.
Roller skates (quads) do have beautiful edges, especially with the right plate. I have Edea Roller skates with a Matrix plate and soft cushions, so edges are a dream.
I've been thinking about new ice skates for years, but still use my old Jacksons. Now that Edeas have improved my life on quads, I'm thinking of switching to Edeas for Ice too.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
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Edea and Roll Line. https://skatesus.com/product/roll-line-linea/ I don't use these because
I do slalom on inlines. This is slalom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIP2FPelYfo&t=36s The rockered plate mimics an ice skate, but it's mostly on toes, so NO toe stops.
I needed better upper body control so I took some ice skating lessons.
That's when I found my true love. There is nothing in the world that feels as good as the deep edges on an ice skate. Inline skates don't have that. So it's hard to go back.
Roller skates (quads) do have beautiful edges, especially with the right plate. I have Edea Roller skates with a Matrix plate and soft cushions, so edges are a dream.
I've been thinking about new ice skates for years, but still use my old Jacksons. Now that Edeas have improved my life on quads, I'm thinking of switching to Edeas for Ice too.

Well, of course there is nothing in the world that feels as good as deep edges in figure skates on the ice.

I just wish more people could experience that amazing feeling.
 

tothepointe

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 4, 2018
Well, of course there is nothing in the world that feels as good as deep edges in figure skates on the ice.

I just wish more people could experience that amazing feeling.


I'll have to chime in that roll-line plates with a lower center of gravity like the roll-line Dance plate do feel more like blades that some of the other roller skate plates.

I took a skating sabatical for the last 18 months roller skating rather than ice skating and it is fun if your into dance because they have so many more dances to learn plus a surprising amount of men that still want to skate team. I loved the opportunity to skate in team formation both in training and during socal skates. Unfortunately the commute got too much for me to continue skating due to the dire lack of roller rinks now for training so it'll be back to the ice next year. Doing figures every session was enjoyable also.

Edges are much harder so I'm hoping some of that skill I've learnt with transfer over. I tried doing both at the same time but I'm not talented enough to be able to switch back and forth.

Street skating is a whole 'nother ball game though.
 

chilledicecubes

Spectator
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Jan 17, 2020
Imo roller skating was always way easier than ice skating xD I think it helped teach me how to balance properly, which sort of gave a bit of an edge.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
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Imo roller skating was always way easier than ice skating xD I think it helped teach me how to balance properly, which sort of gave a bit of an edge.

But how? The point of balance on roller skate (quad skates) and figure skates are completely different.
 
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