Leg length, does it matter?

[AwkwardTurtle]

Okay back to another thread! .. Concerning leg length.

Does it affect your performance during slalom? Is it easier or harder with long or shorter legs? What do you think? Post down if you think you have short, medium, or long legs with your comments about this topic! Thanks a lot

Story: A buddy of mine has been absorbed by a slalom video on my ipod lol, since I'm looking for buddies who can enjoy learning the same sport as myself! 2 is better than 1! He just needs to purchase affordable skates. He has roughly $130 right now he says, and I've found some options for him right now. Since I live in Hawaii, US, we have different retailers as in stores like Sports Authority. After reading some threads and reviews on a couple skates, he may get skates earlier (he waveboards). So, I've thought about RB Fusion X5 and RB Twister 243 for him. The X5 looks like it can be store bought from Sports Authority. I haven't confirmed it yet though, since I haven't called in. Plus it's a lot cheaper than a pair of Sebas (from hearing how he gets money, it would take ages to get a pair, maybe a year or two). From some threads, they say changing the RB frames with _________ (insert frame, and where it can be found) and the wheels (they're 80A, seems kinda.. soft).

I got carried away but, he has shorter legs. I don't think it'll really affect him though, but what do you think?

Edit: Okay, after thinking a little bit more about this topic I find it useless.. well the topic is more about what I should do about his skates lol. Oh yah, he doesn't know how to inline skate too XD ah what will I do with him lol.

[GregT]

Leg length - Doesn't matter. What you do with your legs/feet does.

Skates - Of the ones you mentioned, I would recommend the RB Twister 243s. They are actually very good skates for the money, and very appropriate for slalom and freeskate.

My biggest complaint about Twisters is that their shell design poses serious problems for skaters with big ankle bones. But if your friend doesn't have this problem, the Twisters will probably work well for him. The Twister frame is not all that great (not too stiff), but its better than a rec skate frame, and its 243mm length is good for slalom.

I just strongly suggest he give them a try at the store before buying. Tie/buckle them up real tight, as that's how you would want to slalom in them. Skate around a bit and make sure he does not have severe pain at the ankle bone.

Another option is the Seba FRx. The FRx is like a much lower-end FR1 (cheaper parts/frame, different design, but still hard shell boot). Though SkateCrazy.net does not have the FRx on their website, I was thinking they do sell it. Price should be similar to that of the Twister. Your friend could email SkateCrazy.net to confirm they sell it if he is interested.

[GregT]

Oh. Reading over your post again. Some more comments.

1) Your friend is just starting freestyle. I think the Twister frame will work fine for him at the start as its reasonably stiff and short enough for slalom. So he shouldn't really factor in frame replacement in the cost of the skate. Later on, when he gets better, he could decide to replace the frame if he thinks the twister frame is holding him back.

2) Wheels - Yeah, 80A is kinda soft. But the rollerblade wheels are crap anyway. They will serve fine until he wears them down and he can buy decent wheels (with harder durometer) then. I like Hyper Pro 250 hockey wheels (the orange ones - 84A).

Regarding wheels - The biggest issue starting off I think is that the wheels will be a flat setup (all wheels the same size). I very much recommend skating slalom with a rockered setup (outer wheels smaller than inner wheels). For a 243mm frame, that means inner wheels = 80mm, outer wheels = 76mm.

Your friend could always buy a set of 8 76mm wheels to end up w/ 2 full rockered wheel setups. If he doesn't have money for that, he could perhaps bum some old worn, 80mm wheels to be the outer "rockered" wheels. Or he can just slalom with a flat setup for now.

[AwkwardTurtle]

@ GregT

You'ree baaack welcome back!

He's made a ton of improvement! Just today he has learned the correct form for moving forward, plus turning left and right. All he needs is more practice to get used to the RB that I just gave to him. I have no idea what type of RB it was but it looked like a basic RB skate. The top buckle of both skates have broken off so I've used strong string for support but that has been getting lose, so I have to find something else that is good for it. When I first let him use my skates, he found them difficult, but it seems like RB is even more harder to handle (we have yet to take off the brakes that were on them, but I believe those are the baby steps he needs for breaking before moving onto stops without them). I think he isn't very used to the liner for RB and the quality overall can't beat a $375 skate (I'm using).. So sometimes every now and then he wants to use my skates instead of the RB but I deny it! I can't go back to RB.. cannot! o.o;; yehhhh... He often loses motivation when he falls down though..

Today was a pretty fun day though. Another friend of mine came, and we all went to the nearby park (courts). I also brought along my basketball (to attempt roller basketball! ). Okay, I'll label my friends.. A and B. Friend A is learning how to skate, B was tagging along today (and will tomorrow).

So, me, A, B were just fooling around for a bit before I started giving lessons to A (I consider myself to be a bad teacher because.. I don't remember exactly how I learned how to skate myself. I'm just using what I know, observing A's mistakes and trying to correct him by demonstrating. B is the motivation guy haha, chill guy if you ask me). Friend A seems to lose a lot of his motivation when he takes a spill to the ground. He gets lazy as time passes and he's still on the ground even when I keep reminding him to get up and try it again. Maybe I'm pushing too hard.. but he still accomplished things today! So even if I did push him a bit.. he got something out of the day's work all good right..? (I gave him dark chocolate when he did something right, lol).

And so in the end, he learned how to move forward, turn left and right with good posture and technique. Friend B also bought A some soda! Since friend A kept on saying he'd do things for soda.. haha what can I say? Just takes a bit motivation to make him move. (sigh)

[GregT]

Yep, I'm back. Looking for wheels for upcoming Athens-to-Atlanta street skating event.

Glad to hear you've found some skaters to join you. Unfortunately, the one guy that regularly skated with me has just moved (and about to get married). I need to start recruiting again too.

[AwkwardTurtle]

Originally Posted by GregT

Yep, I'm back. Looking for wheels for upcoming Athens-to-Atlanta street skating event.

Glad to hear you've found some skaters to join you. Unfortunately, the one guy that regularly skated with me has just moved (and about to get married). I need to start recruiting again too.

Aw you need a team! haha

[GregT]

Originally Posted by AwkwardTurtle

Aw you need a team! haha

Not really a team. More like a posse. A crew.