I am by no means an expert at slaloming but I often get asked for advice, so here I have compiled my personal pointers to getting started:
- You will fall. Be prepared to fall. I put my knee and elbow pads back on when I started slaloming. Throw yourself onto your knee pads and remind yourself that it’s not that bad.
- If you haven’t got cones yet that isn’t a problem. My first six weeks I spent weaving in and out of random chalk marking on the floor and other small debris. This way you can concentrate on your new manoeuvres without worrying about hitting the cones.
- Lose the heel brake if you haven’t already. This will definitely get in the way of some of the more complex tricks.
- 20 cones, 80cm apart makes for a standard slalom line.
- (They also have 50cm and 120cm cone distances too).
- You can slalom in any type of skates however skates designed for slaloming will make your life a lot easier. Skates with 80mm wheels and a hard boot are best. I use Seba FR1.
- When starting out don’t try and learn too many tricks at once. Take it easy and get all your foundation moves nice and solid. Essential tricks include Forward Cross; Backwards Cross;, Snake; Backward Snake; 1 foot..
- Both sides. Everyone has a stronger leg and it’s essential to practice the same trick equally with both legs leading.
- You need to be relentless with your practice, but also be sure to take breaks.
- I’d recommend filming yourself regularly. This will help you notice any problems you are making. Also to spot things you weren’t aware of such as flapping arms. It’s nice to review yourself after a few months to appreciate that you are making progress even if you haven’t noticed right away.
- If you listen to music while you slalom it’s worth trying something with a slower pace as it does seem to have an effect on the way you skate. Faster tracks tend to mean more cone kicking for me.
- Rockering your skates involves having your toe or/and heel wheel smaller than your two middle wheels. This will mimic the setup of ice skates giving you more flexibility and making it easier to turn.
It does take a while to get used to, as you’ll feel quite unstable at first. Admittedly I didn’t like it to begin with, especially as it kills your overall speed. Now I prefer to only slalom on rockered skates.
If and when you rocker is a personal choice, but I’m pretty sure all of the pro’s do. - Marking out a trick with chalk is a great visual cue. Get two different colours, each representing each foot.
- Skate with people better than you. That goes with any type of skating as people are often willing to share their own experiences. You can learn a lot from even just watching. Or to just be inspired.
- When I began slaloming I was disappointed by the lack of information on this very niche sport. I wished this book by Naomi Grigg (former World number 3) was published when I started. While I don’t think the book alone will teach you how to become a pro, it is a wonderful supplement to read as you take your first steps. Guiding you through essential troubleshooting tips. There’s definitely a lot I can relate to here:
The Art of Falling was literally an impulse buy for me.
Show some love on Naomi's facebook page too. - Naomi also posted this video of the grapevine which I played over and over. I found this video to be a key find in my slalom development.
- Skate Freestyle is the name a group of slalom instructors go under setup by Naomi. The website has some useful information with tricks.
- Natalie Ujuk (Current UK number 1) from Skate Freestyle runs most of the slalom workshops in London these days. Workshops are probably the best way to learn, as you’ll get professional qualified training, which is a more efficient way of learning slalom than scrubbing through videos on Youtube. (Speaking from experience).
She seems to advertise workshops more through word of mouth and Facebook. Worth getting in contact with her, as she’ll host additional workshops if there’s extra demand for her excellent expertise.
- Here's a really good blog by Megan McIntosh also from Skate Freestyle, who ran the first workshop I did. She doesn't update her blog much these days but all the past posts are still relevant. I learnt to do the footgun from her step by step guide.
megan9mm.blogspot.co.uk
- Kewidude.com has a nice list of tricks that includes some videos and handy animated gif images.
- Be aware that some tricks can have different names depending on where you are. For example the Crazy is sometimes called the grapevine. The grapevine can also be a name of another trick too. Some people get really irate about it, but just let them be. As long as it looks cool then who really cares?!
Most importantly enjoy it. Slalom can be quite a slow progression at times. Equally however you'll find some of the fancier tricks are easier to pick up than you first thought...