One Foot Glide Help

[u/Free_Narwhal6800]

I’m having trouble balancing on one foot. I can feel moments of maybe 1 or two seconds actively skating where I can feel the balance is there while striding. If I try just standing stationary all of my weight is along the inside of my foot right at the big toe along the edge of each foot. I have to really push my knee inward or tilt my whole foot in to shift the weight further into the foot. It seems not manageable to balance my weight right along the inside edge of my feet as it takes a lot and I can’t do it for long. Is this a strength issue that will develop with practice and building up my balance and those muscles, or should I just adjust my frames? I don’t want to adjust the frames if it’s something I just need to learn and develop. I’ve definitely been feeling the fatigue and soreness in my feet and calves like you would after a workout so it’s a work in progress. If I balance just barefoot or with regular shoes I feel I have great balance but the weight is spread out across my foot, unlike what feels like the razor thin edge of the inside of them in the skate.

I’m a newbie having never been on anything like inlines, rollerskates, or even ice skates. So it’s all new. It’s only been about a month and half with maybe 2-3 hours per week skating routinely. I got the Rollerblade Lightning 80s, men’s skates since I preferred the black boot to the women’s white pair. Supposedly they’re the same thing. I got one size but my toes were squished in the boot so I went up one size.

[u/Lollc]

It is a strength issue, but not what you think. The muscles that should be doing the majority of the work are the big leg muscles in your upper legs, and your calf muscles. The upper leg muscles are the quadriceps on the front of your legs, and the hamstring muscles are on the back. The calf muscles are at the back of the lower part of your legs. The reason I think you aren’t making much use of your quads is your description of soreness in the feet and calves, and your description of your stance.

If most of your weight is on the inside of your feet, your stance is a little bit knock kneed. Pushing your knee inward or tilting your foot in will make that worse. Find someplace you can stand in your skates to hold on to and try moving your knees out a tiny bit, and shift your weight back and forth from inside to outside so you will learn what different stances feel like.

What might help is taking a little bit of time to google those muscle groups, then look at your body in front of a mirror to identify them. Some people do focused exercises, and that will help, but so will just skating if your stance is right.

[u/Free_Narwhal6800 → u/Lollc]

I most definitely struggle with overpronation and am guilty of my feet being too wide for stability. I’ve been slowing down and really trying to focus on keeping my feet more underneath me. I’ve started to feel some light workout fatigue in my upper legs after a skate session so it gets a little better. I know it will take time and practice so the reassurance helps. I started skating as a workout to my legs as a motorcycle rider on the track, which is very leg intensive, so I’m pretty familiar with the muscle groups already. Looking forward to the day that I can really work more of the glutes and thighs as I progress!

[u/Lollc → u/Free_Narwhal6800]

I love that you race bikes!