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• Always wear your protective gear helmet, wrist protection, elbow pads, knee pads
• Master the basic striding, stopping, and turning
• Keep your equipment in proper working order

• Obey all traffic regulations. When on skates, you should consider yourself to be subject to the same obligations as a bicyclist or a driver of an automobile

• Skate under control at all times
• Watch out for road hazards
• Avoid water, oil, and sand
• Avoid traffic

• Skate on the left, pass on the right
• Announce your intentions by saying, "passing on your right"
• Always yield to pedestrians
  

• Stay on the left side of the left
• If someone calls "car up", a car is approaching ahead of us.
• If someone calls "car back", a car is approaching from behind, stay in single file on the left side of the road.
• Don't lead if you don't know the way.

• Always use common sense when skating.
• Be the ambassador, polite, courteous skaters get more respect.
• Develop skating skill on level surface, not hills.
• Always wear a helmet and wrist protectiopn. Set the example for the little guys to look up to.
• Other recommended protection includes knee and elbow pads.
• Skating hazards ; sand, sticks, leaves, gravel, oil, soft tar, wet spots and wheel-eating grates.
• If hazard is unavoiable "get low", and coast straight throgh with weight on heels, or try to step over it.
• Skating with people of a higher ability rapidly improves your own skills.
• Don't be afraid to take a lesson, you'll be surprised what you can learn at any level.
• Don't skate in the rain - it ruins your bearings.
• Don't give up.

• Be aware of your surroundings. Plan your route before you go.
• Skate with the direction of traffic. Don't weave in and out of traffic.
• Always check your gear/skates for problems. Lose axles can cause accidents.
• Curbs ; come to a complete stop. Then side-step up or down.
• CAUTION ! Cars, taxis and biks are unpredictable. Allow plenty of space. Look at the driver, not just the car, to predic its path. Anticipate opening car doors.
• Wear reflective gear and lights in low light.
• Be aware of traffic in front and behind, and other skaters who cross your path, where possible, Accidents and misunderstanding are less likely.
• Music is great, but headphones tune-out the emergencies and Don't use cell phones while skating.
• Skate at walking speed when using sidewalks elsewhere in the city.
• Skate with a buddy and always carry water.

• 80% of the people we see skating down the local path do not have good form. The truth is inline skating is not a natural sport. Even a good athlete will not know how to use the heel brake or stroke properly. Getting a lesson can be the difference between hanging up your skates after bruising your tailbone and enjoying a lifetime sport.

• Did you know that inline skating has been shown to have a lower injury rate than common sports such as baseball, soccer, basketball, bicycling, swimming, and even volleyball? Don't become one of the statistics! Wearing a helmet and wrist guards should be standard for all skaters. For beginners, we also recommend kneepads and elbow pads.

• The single most effective way to brake is to use your heel brake. If you can't brake, you really don't have much business being out with other skaters, cyclists, or cars. Three steps to a perfect heel brake.
• First : Get in the "scissor" position in which your braking skate is ahead of your non-braking skate as you glide along. You should have space between the rear wheel of your braking (front) skate and the front wheel of your non-braking skate. Weight should be 80% on your non-braking (rear) leg at this point.
• Second : Lift the toe of your braking skate, letting the heel brake lightly rub on the pavement. Don't try to stop yet.
• Third : Shift your weight from your non-braking (rear) leg to your braking leg, concentrating your weight in the heel brake itself. Remember that braking does not use muscle strength. It is the weight shift that stops you. As you shift your weight, keep your back straight and your rear down so you don't fall forwards.

• At first, you will likely have trouble braking and will think every stone or stick is out to topple you. Don't give up! You will get better. Start by picking a safe location: a parking lot with no cars, a smooth trail with no hills, or even your driveway. Practice until you can stop at will before moving out to the real world.

• An extremely common error in beginning skaters is to remain balanced on both legs at all times. Your center of gravity stays between your legs, like a two-legged tripod (a bipod). This is easy to detect because your knees will always have six inches or more of space between them as you skate. Instead, practice bringing your skate all the way back to the middle after each stroke, so your knees actually touch and you balance on first one leg and then the other.

• Without instruction, most skaters push mostly with their front (toe) wheels and backwards. However, you get much more power by pushing with your heel wheels to the side. You can actually feel your wheels under your feet. As you push, you should be able to feel it as you emphasize pushing with the rear wheels of your skate. Additionally, rather than pushing backwards with each stroke (at about five and seven on the clock), try pushing sideways to three and nine. The combination of these two steps will result in what we call a "heel carve" rather than a "toe flick".

• Even advanced skaters often make the mistake of not bringing their knees together after each stroke. Technically, you are actually brining the stroking skate all the way back towards the middle so that it touches the gliding skate. The effect is you end up balancing on first one leg and then the other, rather than on both legs together. Bringing your knees together has the advantages of giving you a longer stroke (because you brought your leg farther towards the middle) and allowing you to glide linger (because you can't glide/balance long if you are balanced on both legs).

• Many good skaters have a very fast "cadence", which is the number of strokes in a certain time period. A skating stroke can be divided into three parts: push, recovery (bringing the leg back to the middle), and glide. If you are stroking very rapidly, you are not gliding very long with each stroke. Instead, with your more powerful stroke (Tip One) you should be able to slow down your rate of stroking and glide longer with each stroke. Note that we are not asking you to pause your movement but to slow down the entire process.

• Your legs should be creating all the motion. Any movement of your upper body - either side to side or down and up - is wasted movement that is not reducing your skating efficiency. One trick to helping keep a stable upper body is to keep your hands clasped behind your back. If that is uncomfortable, try clasping them in front of your chest almost as if you are preying. Most advanced skaters only use an arm swing when they are accelerating, sprinting, or going up hills. When you do swing your arms, they should swing forward and back - not across your body.

• Your best bet for improving your skating is to skate with others who are better than you. Join a local skate club or, if you are ready, a speed skating team. Or simply follow any good skater you see on your favorite local path, imitating his or her movements. Remember that good skaters will look smooth rather than hard working!