The Skating Glossary

General chat about skating in general. Have a question - ask away!
User avatar
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2017 8:31 pm
Location: St Martin im Innkreis, Upper Austria

The Skating Glossary

Postby Acidedge » Wed Jan 11, 2017 5:55 pm

Please post words, definitions, links and corrections below.

Allen Key = Tool used to tighten or untighten axle bolts and frame bolts.

Axles = The metal screws that hold your wheels onto your frame. Can be one- or two-piece, 6mm or 8mm.

Battle = The most popular format for freestyle slalom competitions. Skaters are placed in groups of 2-4 according to their World ranking and perform 2-3 runs of 30 seconds, with the two skaters judged best from each group progressing to the next round.

Bearings = Are what makes your wheels spin round.

BladeSoc = Popular abbreviation of The University of Nottingham Inline Skating (Rollerblading) and Roller Skating Society.

(Club) Blue Room = Club Blue Room former skate shop in London.

Boot = The part of the skate that your foot goes in. Is made up of the shell, the liner and probably one or more footbeds or heel risers.

Classic = Another format for freestyle slalom competitions. Skaters perform individial 90-second runs to music of their choice and are scored by the judges.

Crisps = Walkers. Pedestrians. Muggles: non-skater folk.

FNS = Abbreviation for Friday Night Skate. An organised marshalled skate held on a Friday night. There is a London Friday Night Skate, abbreviated to LFNS (not the FNS). There is also an FNS in Paris, organised by The Pari-Roller and called The Friday Night Fever.

Frame = The metal or plastic part of the skate that bolts onto the bottom of the boot and holds the wheels.

Freeride/Freeskate = A combination of freestyle street skating and aggressive street skating. Essentially Parkour (Freerunning) on skates. This is a good video.

Freestyle = The beautification of skating (according to Naomi). Is used as an umbrella term for a number of "freestyle" disciplines: (free)style slalom, speed slalom, jumps, slides, stair-riding, freeride and skate-cross.

Freestyle Slalom = Freestyle skating discipline where skaters perform tricks around cones.

Gumbie = A skater who displays the classic signs of bad skating: pronating, straight legs, knees wide apart, permanently unsteady, fully padded up with pads over clothing and at least one set of pads worn upside down. Many new skaters will start this way before it is educated out of them, but some experienced skaters still display these signs.

Heel brake = A plastic attachment that goes on the heel of one skate and houses a large rubber block. This is then used in heel braking in order to slow down or stop. It is a beginner stop: advanced skaters learn alternative stopping and braking methods in order to be able to remove their heel brake (and throw it in the river Trent).

Heal break = A misspelling of heel brake.

KAAAHHH! = A French expression. An abbreviation for: "Merde! C'est une voiture! Obtenez à gauche! Obtenez à GAUCHE!!! Roughly translated, this means: "Car: keep left."

Powerblading = The current buzz word for Freeride skating. Coined by aggressive skaters who have finally realised that skating faster and further is more fun, whilst still skating aggressive. The term freeride comes from freestyle street skaters incorporating aggressive tricks into their street skating.

Proline = Proline Skates A skate shop in Cardiff.

Rocker = When a 243mm frame simply isn't maneuverable enough, we put wheels that are 4mm smaller on either end of the frame, creating a 76-80-80-76 full "banana" rocker. Half (banana) rocker is 76-80-80-80. This is opposed to a "flat" setup of 80-80-80-80.

Rollerderby = A game where players skate around a track in an attempt to lap each other to score points. Players must be female and wear quad skates. There are two teams in Nottingham: The Nottingham Roller Girls and The Nottingham Hellfire Harlots.

RollerWorld in Derby = Our nearest indoor skate rink. Nothing to do with Rollerderby.

5hit! Hockey = The style of street/pick-up hockey played in London. Is known as BladeSoc Hockey by the NottinghamSkaters. Additional rules to normal street hockey include: no keeping score; no tackling behind the goals; no showing off; he who hit the ball down the hill/lost it in a bush must find it.

Skate-Cross = Four skaters race along an aggressive street course. Same as Moto-Cross, BMX-Cross, Boarder-Cross, Ski-Cross, etc. See this video of Skate-Cross at SkateLondon 2011.

Skitching = Grabbing ahold of, and being pulled along by, a moving vehicle whilst on skates. It's illegal: don't do it.

Slalom = Weaving in and out of evenly-spaced small plastic cups or cones.

Slides = Freestyle discipline where skaters perform tricks sliding on their wheels. The freestyle equivalent of grinding in aggressive skating.

Spacers = One spacer must go between the two bearings in each wheel. Do not forget these!

Speed Slalom = Freestyle skating discipline where skaters aim to skate through a line of cones as quickly as possible. The competition format is 20 cones spaced at 80cm, with a 12m run-up. Talk to Jim if you're interested in learning how to do this! If you wish to compete at international level, you need to consistantly be achieving times under 5 seconds... :o

Street Hockey = Also known as pick-up hockey. A version of inline hockey that is simplified and made safer so it can be played by any level of skater, with minimum equipment. The maximum amount of protective gear will be gloves, elbow and knee pads and a helmet. Therefore, no slap shots or body checking is allowed. Is often played outdoors on car parks.

Street Skating = Distance skating on city streets. Examples include the LondonSkate, LFNS, Sunday Stroll and Nottingham TNS.

(Aggresssive) Street skating = Performing rail slides, jumps, grinds and star-rides in a city environment, as opposed to in a skate park. Not to be confused with street skating.

Stroll Skate = A slow, relaxed street skate, avoiding awkward terrain and steep hills. SeeThe London Sunday Stroll.

Suicide Skate = A term for an un-marshalled, high speed street skate. (Still nothing to do with aggressive street skating). Each skater is responsible for determining their own path, with the people at the front setting the general route or aiming for an agreed destination. Each skater is also responsible for their own safety. Etiquette states that you still look out for each other, shout out potential hazards and (legally) respect other road users. Footpaths should be avoided so as not to scare the muggles.

Tarting = A term coined on Serpentine Road. In a skating sense, tarting is standing around in a circle, with skates on, talking and not skating. Debate is open as to whether or not you can be tarting when sitting down.

WNS = Abbreviation for Wednesday Night Skate. An organised marshalled skate held on a Wednesday night. The London WNS is called LondonSkate (and not the London Wendesday Night Skate).
Old school street skating monkey.

Return to “General”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest