What is Inline Skating – Inline Skating in Brief
Inline skating is a varied sport that is easy on the joints and involves moving around on wheels that are mounted in a straight line under special shoes. These shoes are called inline skates.
Inline skating is practiced as a recreational activity, as fitness training and also as a competitive sport.
The large number of different disciplines and the associated facets of inline skating make this sport extremely versatile.
topics and content
To help you find your way around:
- What is Inline Skating? – The full splendor
- What do we need for inline skating?
- How can we learn inline skating?
- Inline skating includes these disciplines!
- We should know these inline skating terms!
- What are the rules for inline skating?
- A Trip into the History of Inline Skating
1. What is Inline Skating? – The full splendor
Inline skating is a very healthy endurance sport. Inline skating strengthens and promotes intermuscular coordination, i.e. the interaction of different muscles and muscle groups.
This increases muscle efficiency, as well as strength endurance and general stamina and is therefore optimal cardio training.
Inline skating is a general term for a wide variety of disciplines , each of which offers its own challenges. These include recreational skating, fitness inline skating, freestyle slalom skating, aggressive inline skating, off-road inline skating and many more.
You can find an overview of the individual disciplines further down in this blog.
All beginnings are difficult, especially starting a new sport. That's what many people who want to learn the basics of inline skating think.
But don't worry, with the help of our extensive and detailed video tutorials we make getting started not only very easy, but guaranteed to be even easier than you can imagine. Do you want to bet? No, we don't need to bet, that's a promise. And no, all of our text and video tutorials are free and available to everyone at any time, even without registration!
Why are we so convinced that we will not only make it easy for you to get started, but also everything related to inline skating? In short, from a lot of experience.
But let's start from the beginning. What equipment do you need, where and how do you start inline skating and how do you behave? Is inline skating dangerous? These are the questions that many people ask themselves. We know this from our own experience and from our personal skating courses.
First of all, inline skating is by no means dangerous. As with any sport, the right equipment is a must. Knee, elbow and wrist protectors are particularly important here. As with cycling, you should also wear a helmet. This has already answered the question about the necessary equipment, which I will go into in more detail later in this blog.
I don't want to deny that it might not be easy for you to stand on inline skates at first. You will probably feel a little unsure and therefore adopt a slightly rigid posture. But you don't need to be ashamed of that. It's completely normal and every sport has to be learned first.
But this is exactly where we start. Together we learn how to fall and tumble safely and deliberately. Then we focus intensively on the correct posture and foot position and only then do we learn the first driving and braking techniques. After that we will of course learn much, much more.
2. What do we need for inline skating?
The very first and most important thing we need for inline skating is, of course, a pair of inline skates and suitable protective equipment.
As soon as you take a closer look at inline skating or at the latest when you want to buy yourself a pair of inline skates, you are confronted with the existing variety of inline skates and thus with the agony of choice.
But why are there so many different inline skates?
With the establishment of inline skating, more and more disciplines and subcategories have gradually developed. For all of these disciplines, there are different inline skates that have been specially developed for each application and therefore offer special advantages.
There are also skates for all price categories here. If you have already looked around our shop, you will notice that we do not offer inline skates at bargain or discount prices. But why?
Especially if you don't know whether you will enjoy inline skating, it makes sense to buy a cheap pair of inline skates first, doesn't it?
No! Of course you shouldn't or don't have to buy a high-priced inline skate to start with, but one thing is for sure, with a discount skate you will generally deny yourself the fun of inline skating right from the start.
The reasons for this are usually poor rolling properties, uncomfortable shoes, painful pressure points, numb feet, yielding skates, poor support for your ankles and feet and therefore poor grip in the shoe.
We love inline skating and therefore only offer skates that meet our minimum standards and requirements. A new and good sports shoe usually costs more than 100 euros and does not have rails, wheels or ball bearings.
High-priced inline skates are characterized by individual adjustment options, comfortable and thermally moldable inner shoes and shells, as well as generally higher quality materials, high-quality workmanship, hardware and durability.
However, as a beginner or newcomer to inline skating, you usually don't know which direction you want to go in and what you ultimately want or will specialize in.
Therefore, we give you a small overview of the most common types of inline skates:
- fitness inline skates
Fitness inline skates are usually characterized by their light and comfortable soft boot. The professional models are usually a bit harder, but often fit perfectly around your foot and offer better support as well as higher quality hardware.
- Urban Inline Skates
Urban inline skates offer better support for feet and ankles thanks to their hard boot, thereby improving stability and your own grip in the inline skates. The entry-level models usually come as hard-shell skates with a removable inner shoe (liner). In addition, there are also urban skates in the high-price segment where the hard shell and the lining are connected to each other. These are usually also thermally moldable, offer a more direct ride, maximum power transmission and better grip.
- Freestyle Slalom Inline Skates
Slalom inline skates are characterized by a very direct power transmission and a narrow shoe and design. The most important thing about slalom inline skates, however, is the so-called wheel base. This defines the distance between the front and rear contact point of the wheels with the ground. Two of the golden freestyle slalom skating setups are 4x 80mm wheels with a wheel base of 243mm and 3x 90mm wheels with a wheel base of 235mm.
- Aggressive inline skates
Aggressive inline skates are characterized by a stable and robust shoe. The special features, however, are the so-called Soul Plate and the groove, or H-block of the frame, which enable safe and comfortable grinding.
- Speed Inline Skates
Speed inline skates are among the most expensive inline skates on the market. They stand out due to their low (sneaker) cut. They are also usually made of carbon or other thermally moldable materials and are particularly lightweight. Due to the low cut of speed inline skates, speed inline skating requires well-trained and stable foot and joint muscles.
- off-road inline skates
Off-road inline skates are characterized by their SUV pneumatic tires, which allow you to skate through mud and dirt. You should always make sure that there is enough pressure in the tires.
- downhill inline skates
Downhill inline skates are characterized by a long rail with 4 or 5 wheels. No other skate comes with such a large wheel base as a downhill inline skate. The wheel base is the distance from the rearmost to the frontmost point where the wheels touch the ground.
Finally, we should think about the right protectors. These include the following protectors:
- stunt skate helmet or fitness skate helmet,
- wrist guards
- knee pads
- elbow pads
In addition to the protectors mentioned, there are also other protectors, such as protective pants or shin guards. The most important protectors are definitely a helmet, wrist and knee pads.
The most important thing here is that the protectors fit well and are at least not uncomfortable. If the protectors are too big, for example, they will slip inadvertently in the event of a fall and either do not protect properly or not at all. For this reason, it is normal for protectors to cut in a little.
If you would like to learn more about protectors and their differences, please watch my following video on the topic of "The right protective equipment".
After we have found the right equipment for inline skating, it's time to get serious and take our first steps on the wheels.
3. How can we learn inline skating?
We wouldn't be SkaMiDan if we didn't help you learn inline skating as easily as possible. With the help of our detailed video tutorials, you can learn inline skating step by step and become a pro. You don't need any previous knowledge.
In addition to our free learning videos and tutorials for inline skating, we also offer you the following additional options for learning inline skating:
- Book an inline skating course of your choice with us or register with us for personal training, a couples course or a closed group course.
- Take a look at our inline skating trick list and find out what tricks there are and what level of difficulty they are classified into.
- In the introduction to our skate blogs about a particular trick, you will always find a short video or trick clip. Using our trick clips, you will learn to associate the name with a trick and vice versa. With the help of these short videos, you can also learn the respective trick autodidactically.
- Finally, for many of our tutorials we also have detailed text-based instructions, including photos and important tips and tricks to learn and perfect the respective trick or technique.
4. These disciplines include inline skating
Most of us are familiar with both regular and fitness inline skating. But did you know that inline skating consists of almost endless disciplines and creative variations?
Either way, below I will explain the most important areas and disciplines of inline skating:
- recreational inline skating
Recreational inline skating describes inline skating as a leisure activity, without specific goals, such as performance goals. We simply go out on the rollers to have fun, get some exercise or explore the surroundings. - Fitness Inline Skating
The discipline of fitness inline skating describes inline skating as physical exercise. With fitness inline skating, we keep fit by skating either alone or together with other people.
The advantage of fitness inline skating over other sports is that it is very gentle on the joints. Not only does it strengthen our cardiovascular system and the associated endurance, but it also improves our muscle coordination and fitness. - Speed Inline Skating
In speed inline skating we concentrate on achieving high speeds. In contrast to fitness inline skating, where the focus is on improving general fitness and endurance, speed inline skating focuses on speed.
We practice this discipline of inline skating to optimize our speed on the skates and to compete with others. For this we use specially designed race tracks and tracks to evaluate and perfect our speeds, with the aim of achieving the highest possible speed. - Marathon Inline Skating
In marathon inline skating, the focus is on covering as long distances as possible.
At the internationally renowned Berlin Marathon we cover a distance of around 42km. Marathon inline skating therefore requires an optimized interaction between muscle strength and endurance. We therefore need to be very fit and train for an optimal balance between strength endurance and fitness. - Urban Inline Skating
By urban inline skating we mean agile skating in and through urban terrain. In urban inline skating we skate through the city, ride stairs, jump walls or skate as quickly as possible from A to B, e.g. from home to the nearest train station.
We use a variety of obstacles to help us master cool and casual tricks. We urban inline skaters like to jump over construction pits, slide across large squares and narrow alleys, skate and jump down stairs and transform any imaginable obstacle into a skateable object. - Big Wheel Blading
Big Wheel Blading is a form of urban inline skating. By this we do not necessarily mean inline skating on larger wheels than in urban skating, but rather an expanded and more creative form of urban skating with stalls and grinds.
When doing Big Wheel Blading, we use special inline skates or skate setups that provide us with so-called soul plates and grooves for stalling and grinding. - Wizard and Mushroom Inline Skating
Inline Wizard Skating is also a type of urban inline skating. Wizard Skating is a very creative skating style with long frames.
Here we make use of all the spots and spaces to fill them with the most creative tricks possible. The disciplines of urban, mushroom and wizard blur into one another, which is why we cannot make a clear distinction here. - Aggressive Inline Skating
Aggressive inline skating is also colloquially known as stunt skating or, within the scene, as blading. Aggressive inline skating refers to trick skating in the skate park.
Here we do tricks with our aggressive inline skates such as grinds, airs, flips, lips, spins and more. However, aggressive inline skating does not necessarily have to be done in a skate park.
Grinding on handrails, walls, steps, etc. is also part of aggressive inline skating. We often refer to rail grinding in particular as the supreme discipline. - Inline Freestyle Skating
By the term freestyle inline skating we mean a collection of the following sub-disciplines: - Inline freestyle slalom skating
Inline freestyle slalom skating means skillful skating through and around cones. It's not just about skating through a series of cones as quickly as possible, but more about scoring points with sophisticated choreography and trick combinations.
While doing tricks or performing a choreography, you can and will switch back and forth between the cones and rows of cones. - Inline Speed Slalom Skating
In contrast to inline freestyle slalom skating, speed slalom skating is about skating through a fixed row of cones as quickly as possible.
To do this, we take a run-up and then skate in a serpentine pattern as fast as we can on one leg through the row of cones. - Inline Freestyle Slide
In the Inline Freestyle Slide we do not use cones. Instead of cones we can use a special slide mat, which creates the same conditions for everyone.
Freestyle slide is all about performing a variety of slides. The word slide refers to sliding across the floor with the wheels. - Inline Freestyle Jump
In the inline freestyle jump we jump over a pole with our skates. The pole is attached to two posts, just like in the high jump, or placed on a holder between them. - Inline Pump Skating
The term inline pump skating is rarely used in everyday life or among us skaters. However, it describes inline skating on a pump track.
Here we try to reach the highest possible speeds. We also perform a variety of tricks while skating on the pump track, such as jumps, grabs and spins. - off-road inline skating
In comparison to all other disciplines of inline skating, we use special rollers or wheels in off-road inline skating. The rollers or wheels in off-road inline skates consist of a casing, a tube and a rim.
When off-road skating, we skate across fields, on gravel paths, dirt tracks, down bike trails or even in the snow. - inline hockey
By inline hockey we mean playing hockey with inline skates. In contrast to street hockey, we play inline hockey on special hockey fields (rinks) with smooth surfaces, similar to ice hockey fields. It can take place in both indoor and outdoor rinks . - Inline Street Hockey
In contrast to inline hockey, we practice inline street hockey on different surfaces such as asphalt, concrete or other solid surfaces, typically on streets, parking lots or in backyards. - Nordic Inline Skating, Downhill Inline Skating and many more .
In addition to the specializations in inline skating mentioned above, there are a few other variations and creative styles. However, the disciplines of inline skating mentioned above are the most important basic areas, which I would like to stick to for now.
5. We should know these inline skating terms!
As in every field and sport, inline skating also has special terms for the different inline skates, components, techniques, tricks and the like.
That's why I've summarized the most important basic and technical terms and briefly described them below. You can find a detailed list and explanation in our blogs for each discipline or sub-discipline of skating.
5.1 Inline skates – components and technical terms
One of the first things you have to deal with if you want to start inline skating is choosing your first pair of inline skates. Therefore, we would like to give you a brief overview of the most important components of an inline skate and name them:
- soft boot
By a soft boot inline skate we mean an inline skate with a shoe made of soft materials such as textiles, mesh, neoprene or similar.
Softboot inline skates offer us a very high level of comfort and good flexibility. Softboot inline skates are also usually lighter than hardboots and have a more flexible fit.
- hard boot
By hardboot inline skates we mean an inline skate with a hard and stiff casing, i.e. a hard shell.
Hardboot inline skates are usually made of plastic, fiberglass, carbon or other solid materials. The advantage of hardshell inline skates is the significantly higher support, which gives us a much firmer and safer stance. A hardboot inline skate is a must-have, especially when it comes to tricks of any kind.
Hardboot inline skates usually come with a soft and removable inner shoe or a thermally deformable shell.
- skeleton
The term skeleton describes the hard skeleton, or body of the inline skate, which holds the rest of the shoe together.
Especially with soft boot inline skates, the skeleton is usually easy to recognize, as it is the only part of the shoe that is not made of a soft and flexible material.
- shaft / cuff
By shaft, or cuff, we mean the part of the skate that sits above or around our ankles and thus gives us a stable hold.
The shaft of inline skates is usually attached with an extra screw (on the left and right of the foot) and thus offers a flexible area to bend the legs forward, for example.
- buckles
Every inline skate needs a fastening system. Most often, a combination of a hard buckle with a grooved strap (usually made of plastic) and a Velcro fastener or ratchet buckle for the midfoot is used.
- strap
By strap we mean the strap of a buckle. It doesn't matter whether it is the strap of a classic buckle, a ratchet buckle or a Velcro fastener.
- receptor
The receptor describes the receiver that receives the strap of the buckle. The receptor is therefore the part of the buckle into which we push the strap or the band of the buckle.
- laces
In addition to the classic buckles, many inline skates also have the option of lacing, just like normal shoes.
A good closure system is a combination of buckles and laces. Hardboot inline skates often also offer the option of lacing the inner shoe.
- frame / rail / frame
The frame is the base of inline skates to which the wheels are attached. The frame, or the frame as we usually call it, is one of the most important components of an inline skate.
The frame determines which setup of wheels we can attach to an inline skate. The frame length also determines the agility and associated maneuverability of us skaters.
The frame of many inline skates can be replaced, which gives us as inline skaters the opportunity to skate our favorite setup or adapt the skate to our requirements. However, the frame of some inline skates is riveted, which makes it impossible to change easily.
- mounting system / mounting
The mounting system describes the interface or mounting standard of the shoe to which the frame is mounted.
The most common interfaces or assembly standards are the following:
- UFS (universal frame system)
- 165mm Dual Point Mounting
- 195mm Dual Point Mounting
- Trinity Mounting
- riveted
- unibody
If the shoe has the same mounting standard as the frame, then we can install any frame with the same mounting standard on this inline skate. This does not apply to riveted frames or unibody skates (shoe and frame made from one piece).
- Roll
The rollers are the wheels of an inline skate on which we ride, skate or roll.
Most wheels are made of PU (polyurethane), a rubber mixture. However, there are also special wheels for off-road and SUV inline skates.
The wheels of an SUV inline skate consist of a rim, a tube (which is filled with air) and a tire, basically the same as a bicycle.
The wheels of inline skates are standardized and have a defined width of 24mm. There are only a few exceptions that deviate from this width, such as off-road wheels. The wheels, however, differ in the wheel size (diameter), the wheel profile, as well as the material mix and hardness.
Which wheel size can be mounted on an inline skate is determined by the frame installed there.
- roller profile
As inline skaters, we understand the wheel profile to be the form or shape of the wheel. Each wheel profile has its own advantages. The most common wheel profiles are the following: - Flat profile
The flat profile describes a flat roller profile with a large contact surface.
This gives you particularly good control when riding in half pipes, for example. - Round profile (full radius)
A round profile is ideal for creative tricks such as freestyle slalom skating or aggressive inline skating.
With a round profile you still have a good grip even if you tilt the skates very sharply. - Bullet profile
The Bullet profile corresponds to the happy medium between a full radius and a race or speed profile.
The roller tapers more sharply with the Bullet profile, resulting in a smaller contact surface.
By tilting the skates too much, you lose friction and the associated grip more quickly, but you can achieve higher speeds with the Bullet profile. - Race Profile
The race profile or speed profile is the profile with the smallest contact surface. This profile has the smallest contact surface and tapers very sharply, which means that the profile enables extremely high skating speeds.
The race profile is particularly popular for speed inline skating.
- roll size
The roller size indicates the diameter of the rollers. The smaller the rollers, the better our control and the less effort we have to put in to stand stable.
The bigger the wheels, the faster we can skate and the easier it is to get over small obstacles such as sticks and pebbles.
- roller hardness
The hardness of skate wheels is indicated with the letter "A". The letter "A" stands for the name of the inventor of the hardness: Albert Ferdinand Shore.
The lower the A value, the softer the wheel and the higher the A value, the harder the wheel. The softer the wheel, the higher the rolling resistance and the slower we are.
However, the softer the wheels are, the better they absorb the vibrations while driving and the more comfortable the driving experience.
The harder the wheels, the lower the rolling resistance and the faster we can skate. However, harder wheels cause significantly more vibrations when skating and thus reduce skating comfort. Since we have higher rolling resistance with soft wheels, we prefer to use them in halls or other smooth surfaces.
Wheels with a medium hardness are ideal for extensive fitness skating or leisurely skating from A to B. Harder wheels are much more durable, which is why we prefer them especially when we want to use the wheels to brake, slide, do tricks or simply skate very quickly.
- ball bearings
In order to attach our wheels to our inline skates and for them to rotate in the frame, we need ball bearings. The ball bearings are pressed into the wheel core, which then allows the wheel to be mounted on the frame using the corresponding axle.
Two ball bearings are always required per wheel. The ball bearings in our inline skates are generally subject to the Type 608 standard. This standard specifies, among other things, the inner and outer diameter of the ball bearing.
The ball bearings that we use in inline skates, roller skates, scooters and skateboards all comply with the Type 608 standard and have an inner diameter of 8mm.
- ball bearing rating
The rating of ball bearings is often given as ABEC, which stands for " Annular Bearing Engineering Committee" .
The ABEC scale ranges from ABEC 1 to ABEC 9, with higher ABEC values indicating greater precision and lower tolerances in the manufacturing of the ball bearings. The higher the value, the lower the manufacturing tolerance, and the smoother and faster the ball bearing runs.
At this point we would like to mention that the ABEC value is just one of many factors that can be used to identify a good ball bearing. The type of ball bearing shields, the material used and the lubrication play an important role in choosing good ball bearings.
For example: The better the shield seals, the less dirt and foreign objects get into the interior of the ball bearing.
- spacer
To ensure that our wheels do not jam after mounting on the frame, so-called spacers are required.
On the one hand, there are the ball bearing spacers, which are inserted between the two ball bearings in the roller core, and on the other hand, there are the frame spacers, which are installed between the frame and the roller.
The latter is usually mounted in the frame or is cast in one piece with the frame. The spacers ensure the correct distance or width between the roller/ball bearing and the frame, thus preventing jamming.
- brake
Brakes are particularly suitable for beginners in inline skating and for anyone who wants to protect their wheels.
The most well-known brake on inline skates is the heel brake, which in German is also often called a heel brake or stopper brake. But there are also other brakes such as shaft brakes or brake slides.
- brake pad
We call the replacement rubber for the heel brake the brake rubber.
5.2 Basic concepts
- Mondopoint / Mondo size
Mondopoint is a size unit, or rather the most important size unit there is for us skaters.
While the EU, US and UK sizes are variable to a certain extent, the Mondo size always indicates the actual space for our feet. When choosing an inline skate, we ideally always use the following rule of thumb: - We measure the length of our feet (barefoot and under full weight). The best way to do this is to stand with your heels against a door frame.
- We choose the size that best matches our foot length.
We recommend adding 5-9mm tolerance to the measured foot length, depending on whether we prefer to use thin or thick socks and how comfortable we want it to be - We compare the result with the information in the size chart.
The specified Mondo size (cm) should not be smaller than our foot length + added tolerance.
- Warm Up
The term warm up describes the warm-up phase of us skaters before we start with our actual tricks or practicing new techniques and tricks.
A warm-up can consist of simple laps on the inline skates to extensive stretching exercises and basic tricks.
- Straight
The term straight is only used in very rare cases, because it only describes driving forward and is considered a prefix for any trick that is performed without turning while driving forward.
- fakie
The term fakie describes riding backwards and is used as a prefix for any trick that is performed while riding backwards.
- Spin
The term spin describes a rotation of degree x. A 180° spin is, for example, a rotation of 180 degrees, i.e. half a rotation. A 360° spin is a full rotation, a 540° spin is a one-and-a-half rotation, etc. In practice, the addition “spin” is usually omitted and the number of degrees of rotation is given in English. A “one eighty” is, for example, a rotation of 180 degrees, a “three sixty” is a rotation of 360°, and so on.
- Zero Spin
The term zero spin can be used as an addition to any trick that is performed without a spin. In practice, this term is usually only used as an addition to jumps without a spin.
- Switch
Every skater has a stronger leg, a preferred direction of rotation, a preferred direction of looking over the shoulder, a preferred foot for braking, and a side on which a trick, such as a grind, is preferred. The term switch refers to the execution of any technique and any trick on and with the unfamiliar side, or the weaker leg.
- switchups
The term switchup refers to changing the position of your feet during a trick such as a stall, slide or grind. For example, if you are doing a grind and then change to another grind during that grind, this is called a switchup.
- Trick Line, or Trick Run
The term trick line or trick run describes a sequence of several tricks that are performed without interruption. A line or a run can theoretically include an infinite number of different streets, objects, ramps, obstacles, etc. The trick line ends as soon as the skater falls, falls over or stops. A trick run, on the other hand, ends as soon as the previously set time has elapsed, e.g. a duration of 120 seconds.
In practice, people usually just use the term “run” or “line” without the addition of “trick”.
5.3 Trick categories
- Airs
The term Air describes jumping with inline skates.
- grave
The term grab describes the gripping of one or more skates with the hand or hands during a trick, such as an air, slide or grind.
- manuals
The term manual describes skating on only two or fewer wheels.
- flips
The term flip describes a rotation over the head. A backflip, or backward somersault, for example, belongs to the category of flips.
- slides
The term slide describes sliding across the ground or another surface on the wheels of inline skates.
- grinds
The term grind describes sliding over a handrail, a wall edge or other edges and copings with the soul plate and/or the H-block, or grooves of aggressive inline skates.
- stables
The term stall describes standing with inline skates on an edge, wall, pipe or similar.
- Lips, or Lip Tricks
The term lip trick, like the term stall, refers to standing on the edge of a wall, pipe, etc. Unlike a stall, a lip trick can also be performed with the hand. A typical lip trick is a handstand or handplant.
- Wallride s
The term wallride refers to skating on a wall.
- Wallstalls
The term wallstall refers to standing against a wall. The wallstall is, so to speak, the slimmed down version of a wallride.
- slalom
The term slalom usually describes skating through and between slalom cones.
Of course, there are many other terms. We will gradually introduce these at the appropriate points in our tutorials, where we will also explain them. You can find further basic terms for the different disciplines in our respective “Useful Information Blogs”.
6. What are the rules for inline skating?
When it comes to inline skating, there is only one important rule in the law: we inline skaters are considered pedestrians under the law (in Germany). Therefore, we should follow the same rules that apply to pedestrians.
In addition to the official rules, we also recommend a few other points for safe inline skating:
- Wear adequate protective equipment, which you can also buy in our shop. However, if you still don't want to wear any protectors, we recommend that you at least wear a helmet. A fatal head injury can change your entire life, usually for the worse.
- In addition to wearing protective gear, we recommend showing mutual consideration, whether it is other skaters, pedestrians, road users or animals.
- If you go skating in the dark, we recommend that you use appropriate lighting to draw attention to yourself. For this purpose, there is clothing with appropriate reflectors or special LED clips and wheels, which you can also find in our shop.
7. A trip into the history of inline skating
The idea for the very first prototype of an inline skate comes from ice skating.
This was constructed in 1760 by the Belgian Jean-Joseph Merlin, who is generally considered the inventor of the first roller skate. The prototype was basically an ice skate of the time, to which Jean-Joseph Merlin attached two metal wheels.
The very first patent for an inline skate was not granted until April 22, 1823 to Robert John Tyers from London. He also redesigned ice skates by equipping them with several steel wheels arranged one behind the other.
Thus, the first inline skate was born. 
Unfortunately, the conditions of the soil, streets, paths and squares were still very bumpy at that time and were nowhere near as good as they are today.
This was also the reason why the first inline skates did not really catch on and were quickly replaced by the development of the first roller skates.
The first roller skates were developed in 1863 by the American James Leonard Plimpton. As we know the roller skates, also called roller skates, today, they already had two wheels attached next to each other.
The arrangement of the wheels brought and still brings the advantage of a safer and easier stand and greater maneuverability than with inline skates. 
Inline skates or roller skates from 1863 – Source: Wikimedia Commons
The real breakthrough of inline skates came over a century later, in 1979 to be precise. That year, ice hockey player Scott Olson founded the company Rollerblade.
This was the true birth of inline skates, which have since been equipped with ball bearings and good rolling properties. The company Rollerblade also made it a trend for inline skates to be referred to as “rollerblades”, which has remained a recognized synonym for inline skates to this day.
This is similar to the brand name “Tempo”, which is often used today as a synonym for a “paper tissue”.
In 1995, the first skate instructors were trained in Germany by the “International Inline Skating Association” from the USA. And so there were no longer any limits to inline skating.
A wide variety of subcategories and disciplines in inline skating quickly emerged, which in turn gave rise to a multitude of different inline skates and roller skates.