London and Eastbourne Skaters News and Events for December 2007
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December News Letter
In this months
Newsletter:
- Skater Sue becomes a Gran!
- Stuck for a special Christmas present?
- Last open skate of 2007
- Theory course 2007
- Skate off the Turkey skates!
- Winter and Spring courses News
- Skating in the wet!
- Special news from
the shops (and Loco owner Jake in "Waiting 4" Video)
Congratulations to Skater Sue!
Or more accurately congratulations to her daughter and grandson. We expect to see the roller push chair on the seafront shortly. Sue is well known on the seafront, often spending the whole day "doing the length" back and forth! (often 4+ times in a single session). She's also well known as a key player in the summer breakfast skate, producing DVD film evidence of the bi weekly trips!
Last open skate of the year!
Sunday December 9th 12noon at Shinewater sports centre is the last open skate of the year. £3 a person, there's kids club for the little ones and plenty of uncluttered space for the big ones. Ideal place to practice or just unwind. If you want to learn something useful, stick around because on that day there's also the theory class - starting at 2pm.
Theory class
This is the ideal course to attend if you are going into a skate shop anytime soon! It tells you everything you need to know in a clear and unbiased way, so you can make better buying decisions. Often you'll know more than the shop assistants! Don't miss it! £10 for an illustrated Skate Theory talk December 9th 2pm-4pm Shinewater sports centre. Cover all the following and a whole lot more:
- How to choose, fit and buy skates
- Which one is right for you/your child?
- Maintenance of wheels and bearings
- What not to buy and why
- Training regimes, diet and fitness
- Why there are so many different types
- What you can do and where you can do it
- Lots more besides!
Skate off the Turkey!
There will be a few opportunities to skate off the turkey. Firstly an outdoor opportunity – Boxing day is often a popular date with skaters to "do the prom" you get the entertainment of watching the mad people going swimming just off the bandstand and of course there's music and dancing there too. Its a bit crowded, but still ideal for skaters to boogie too. (or at least we've not been stopped yet). Bear in mind - on skates - it's useless if its wet (but see the skating in the wet article later in the newsletter!).
If its too cold and energetic for you, there's another option – Sunday January 13th 10-12 at Shinewater there will be an open skate £3 a person for 2 hours and you'll get kids club and 30 minutes shared instructor time to ask anything you like for free! All the Sk8school instructors will be there – don't miss this opportunity for a little free coaching! Its the first skate date of 2008 :)
Winter Courses news
The new winter course structure seems to have worked well - with all our courses selling out! We are now planning the Spring courses and I've had people booking before we even managed to confirm the dates! So it looks like this is the right formula. If you are thinking of doing any of these – please book NOW – before the "Christmas Present" skaters get all the places. There will be only 20 people in the hall on each session.
Mark also likes the formula, so much so that he's booking the same dates in our sports hall to take his lessons in the Afternoons.
The exact courses for the mornings and afternoons depend on bookings but we'll assume the following for now.
January 20th
9-12 Beginners introduction course and Mastering backwards
12-1 Open skate, Kids Club, Practice session
1-4 Beginners introduction course and Marks Expert Lesson
February 17th
9-12 Beginners introduction course and 10 ways to stop
12-1 Open skate, Kids Club, Practice session
1-4 Beginners introduction course and Marks Expert Lesson
March 16th
9-12 Beginners introduction course and Mastering the Turns
12-1 Open skate, Kids Club, Practice session
1-4 Flow Grace and Tricks (with Tim) and Marks Expert Lesson
Skate Theory class - date tbc (afternoon 2pm-4pm)
All courses this spring are at Shinewater sports centre.
Here's what the courses cover:
Beginners introduction
From how to stand up for the very first time to confident skater in one day! Gets you going, 2 stops, 2 turns and drills to improve and build confidence and skill, which will enable you to handle further courses. If you've never skated - start here - we'll throw in skate hire for the course for free! (first come first served).
10 ways to stop
From the humble heal brake to the mighty double edged hockey stop in one day! (some of these moves involve backwards movement so think about that course also!)
- Heal brake 1 2 and 3
- Snow plough, herringbone
- Spin stop (and backwards), t stop
- Lunge stop, forwards and backwards power-slide
- Hockey stop, jump stop, stamp stop and plant stop.
All the Big turns
Focusing on the quest for the edge! Master your edges in one day. (some of these moves involve backwards movement so think about that course also!)
- A frame
- Parallel
- Lunge turn
- Toe and heal roll turns
- Slalom turns
- One foot turns
- Forwards crossover
- All the above backwards! (if time allows)
Mastering Backwards
Just accomplishing this move gets you expert status with most people. A real building block move that lays the foundations to much advanced skating.
- Gets you going backwards for the first time
- Introduction to transitions
- Gets you going fast backwards
- Stopping in a variety of backwards formats
- Various backward turns
- Backwards crossover, anti crossover and mix (get this one and look like an expert!)
Flow, grace and tricks
The experts only course, for the difficult to scare! You must be able to skate very well, before you bother with this one! You will be problem solving and testing yourself and your courage with this course - In one day you'll attempt:
- Linking maneuvers
- Knowing when to stop a move
- Various steps (dancing not streetwise)
- Pirouettes, spins, jumps, flash linked turns, spin to sit
- Barrel roll, grapevine, various toe tricks, slalom tricks, dance moves and even a little sideways!
Survivors will be impressive!
Sk8 Theory
The ideal course for before Christmas present buying! Do this and know more than the shop assistant! You may save money by doing this course! You will certainly make more educated buying decisions! Get the best impartial knowledge on all forms of skating. We cover:
- Types of skate and skating
- Wheel type, profile, material, durometer ,size and rebound
- Bearing abec, race, materials and lube
- Frame technology, maintenance, choosing, buying, fitting
- Diet, fitness, where to skate and so much more.
The indoor courses will generally use half a hall (each) and there will be two courses running in parallel at any one time.
Eg. Beginners and backwards.
Skating in the Wet
For those experienced skaters and anyone who's done the Theory lesson you'll know how bad an idea this is! Basically the problem with the wet is that your polyurethane wheels loose all traction, so you can't go, stop or turn. Worse the traction can seem like it's there, and very suddenly not be! This is about as bad as it gets – and for the outdoor skater it seriously dampens your fun. Additionally it makes using skates as a serious transport option significantly less viable, because if you have a risk of rain you'll need plan B.
However it all looked rosier than that a few years back, when K2 and Continental tyres got together and made an all weather skate wheel, that was just like a car tyre. (Including the smell!). Check out the video if you want to see how well they grip in the wet!
You'll note some serious downhill carving and no loss of grip on the obviously wet road.
However before you rush out to buy some – don't bother! They are no longer available – although they were a great idea, the original mould used the wrong core material plastic and they shattered after a few uses! Luckily I've managed to rebuild mine using Polymorph plastic which means they'll be back on the seafront of Eastbourne once again. Probably the only surviving examples of wet riding wheels (with water proof bearings) in existence!
Hopefully it'll remain dry on boxing day – or I'll be the only skater out there!
If you are ever caught in the wet on your wheels there are a few tips and techniques you can employ to get you home and stay upright and they are covered in the theory lesson on December 9th see you there!
Shop news
Loco are offering 10% off anything for all Sk8School newsletter subscribers throughout December. Just in are the NEW Roces junior extendable skates that are currently being advertised on TV. They are a steal at £59.99. Also we have new K2 kids skates coming for Xmas which is the first high quality kids skate with an aluminum frame on it! On a non-rollerblading level our Heelys are cheaper than everywhere else, we have just had electric scooters in that are selling at just £129.99 and them swivvley skateboard things...'Waveboards' are a total winner for Xmas. Come check it out. Oh by the way our state of the art new website should drop around January the 1st. Keep your eyes peeled.
DON'T MISS
LOCO OWNER JAKE in this video "Waiting 4"
Re-Al are also offering 10% of anything with a print of the Sk8school newsletter in December. Continuing to provide all the spares for all their stock of Heelys, Seba and K2 skates, as well as other less known brands. Don't forget the huge clothing and shoe range as well!
Both shops are giving away vouchers for the January open skate on Sunday 13th which will probably mean our Jan/Feb and March courses will have a lot of beginners in the classes – book now to avoid disappointment if you wanted one of the 20 places! Or if you want that special present for someone – get them a Sk8school Gift Experience voucher.