What to Expect in Your First Month of Roller Skating

If you've just started roller skating and you feel like you should be better by now, or you just want to know what to expect from your first month, then this video is for you. So if you're feeling behind or wondering if you're doing it right, let's talk about what your first month actually looks like. Hey, I'm Tracy. I'm from Suns Out Skates Out, and I teach adults how to roller skate with confidence, both in person and online. And this is something I see all the time with my students. They start skating and pretty quickly I get asked questions like, should I be better at this by now? And I see this pattern play out over and over with my students, especially in the first few weeks. Your balance feels off, your feet feel weird in your skates, and you're thinking about every little thing that you're doing. It can feel a bit scary, definitely, because you're not fully in control yet. And you might even start thinking, am I crazy because I want to learn how to roller skate? And once you've bought the skates, your brain's kind of committed now. And this is also the stage where skaters start thinking at week one or two, maybe I'm just not cut out for this. But let me just tell you, this is completely normal. Your body is literally learning something brand new. So, of course, you're going to feel really uncomfortable and it's going to feel unfamiliar at the start. You're not doing anything wrong at this stage. It's just the beginning phase. Everyone goes through this part, even if it doesn't look like it. Then as you move into your second week, this is where things start to feel a little bit different. You'll have moments where you're like, oh, OK, I think I've got this. And then the next session, it feels like you've completely lost it again. So it's very up and down. One day feels good and the next day feels harder again. And this is where it can get a little bit frustrating because you start thinking, why can't I just do this right every time? This is where repetition comes in. Even when I was doing artistic roller skating, just because I landed a jump or a spin didn't mean I could do it every time. It takes repetition for your body to learn something new. So this stage is completely normal. You're building that connection between your brain and your body. This is actually something I focus on a lot with my students. So they don't just expect to be perfect straight away. And then as you move into week three, this is where things start to feel a little bit more natural. Just a little bit. And it's because you're not overthinking every little thing as much. Your body starts to recognize the movements. You feel a little bit more in control. Your toes might not be scrunched up anymore. And your heart might not be beating as fast. And you might also not be clinging onto a rail or a friend for dear life so much anymore. And your confidence might start to lift here. You might have moments where you're like, okay, this actually feels kind of good. You still have wobbly moments and things won't feel consistent all the time. But in this stage, this is where your foundations are really starting to build up. This is why it's so important not to rush ahead. Because this is the stage where your body is actually learning how to skate properly. Learning to skate isn't about doing more. It's about learning those foundations and letting your body settle in and get comfortable with those skills. And I've found this is where some people start to get a bit ahead of themselves and try to jump into harder things too quickly. And it usually ends up with them just throwing their skates in the back of the cupboard or injury or just getting frustrated that they can't do a 360 jump when they've only just started to learn to skate three weeks ago. And then as you move into week four, this is where your confidence really starts to grow. You're feeling more stable. You've got a bit more control. And you're not overthinking every little movement anymore. It feels less scary and you can actually start to enjoy skating a bit more. And by this stage, hopefully you've started to learn your basic skating fundamentals. So you've actually got something solid to rely on when you're skating. This is where having a bit of structure really helps. So you know what to focus on each time you skate. So this is something that I teach in my online program Roller Skate by Sunday. I teach all of those foundations because it's so important to understand how to do these basic skills to be able to progress onto harder skills eventually. But also just a reminder at this stage, you're still a beginner. And this is where that feeling of going forwards and going backwards will still happen. But hopefully when you get that feeling of going forwards, those skills start to come together and skating actually starts to feel fun and you're getting joy from it. So a lot of skaters give up in that first week or two because they're not giving themselves the time to go through this rough patch of starting down here. No one likes starting from the bottom. But when you start to build those skills, you get more confidence slowly. That's when skating is so rewarding. You just need to persevere and keep going and push past that rough patch to be able to get there. So learning to skate is not something to be scared of. But like anything, you do need to give yourself the time to build the skills. And if you're watching this and thinking, I want to learn how to skate, but I have no idea where to start. I run a free beginner online workshop where I teach you the three-step framework that I teach my students to have success and progress as fast as possible. So I'll link that down in the description box below. So if you're new with skating, take your time with it. Don't rush it and just keep showing up. And if you're at this stage of skating, I'm actually really excited for you because I know what's possible with a bit of guidance and determination. If this video was helpful, feel free to like and subscribe and I'll see you in the next video.