Hi! I am a beginner and got my first pair of skates second hand. one of them is constantly pulling inwards, which I have to work against constantly. I am pretty sure it is not a posture problem, as it keeps happening if I just roll it on a flat surface without wearing it. Any ideas what I could do?

What’s up Skate Fam! Welcome to the community. Thrilled to have you here. Take a sec to introduce yourself, doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated. Just be yourself. …ill go first. 👋🏽My name is Knejie Allen. I’ve been skating for 10 years. Currently rolling in custom Riedell 3200s w and arius plate and probably some slick wheels (95A+). Im in Kansas City and own a Skate school, SK8SHOT Studios.

So I went to my lesson today. It’s nothing really structured. Mainly kids, but I can go off and get some one on one from one of the instructors. Well today they were short on “helpers” and I got recruited to help during the lesson. Teacher said that I am good enough to help out. Felt kinda good that she felt that I have progressed enough to help during lessons!

I’m noticing that as I attempt to learn to backwards skate, that no matter how much I try to lean back, my body seems to lean forward (whether I’m using the bubbles method or lifting my feet straight up). As a result I’ve almost always fallen forward. Any suggestions on what I can do to correct this? It’s more prevalent when I’m using the bubbles because as KJ’s instructions say, when skating backwards to use the windshield wiper method pressing from the toes (opposite of going forward and using the heels). I feel like I’ve gotten the hang of going forward using the bubbles. Backwards is a whole other issue. 🫣😩😩😩😩 And I’ve been putting in practice for the past 3 days straight (no days off)!

I am not giving up! Little is better than none and even that is fun. Maybe I don't see or feel it, but the only me I can see is my shadow on a sunny day. No one skates with me, so I'm not hearing observations from other skaters. Only two things I can say: the pains I've had are slowly subsiding, and I can skate longer and without feeling as tired as I used to. I can only hope that by sticking with it, working on things I know I'm lousy at, incremental improvements are happening. They just have to be... at the moment I'm not feeling it and it's disappointing. Maybe this is that thing where when you learn something new you reach a plateau... then it picks up again after a while. Yeah... I'm going with that! Anyone else go through this? (This is where you say yes.)