How to Jam Skate

A dancer or a gymnast may well be a good jam skater; one who is neither has a longer way to go. Jam skating is not speed skating or aggressive skating but a blend of dance, gymnastics and skating, all accomplished on roller skates. Disco skating that started in the 1970s evolved into what became known as "jam skating" in the 1990s when hip hop, break dancing and other shuffles and gymnastic moves got incorporated into it.

Instructions

    • 1

      Read books or watch videos and observe live skaters perform. Find your best and nearest venue, such as a roller-skating rink, and secure your skates and gear. Slowly, then gaining speed as you repeat, skate forward then backward, practice stopping and turning. Learn how to fall properly and safely.

    • 2

      On your skates, begin to practice some easy dance movements you know or those you have seen that you think you can easily perform. Practice and progress into the more difficult moves and dances as you go along, avoiding the more physically strenuous and dangerous. Simple toe, hip and arm movements are considered easy, such as the "Toe Jam" or the "Kick Turn."

    • 3

      As you master easier movements and gain confidence in your control of the skates and balance of your body, progress into the more difficult movements like jumping and falling on your hands and/or knees, as in the "Scissors" or the "Baby Freeze."

    • 4

      Proceed to try the more difficult gymnastic moves, such as splitting and somersaulting, if, and only if, you have done them before without skates. These maneuvers are sometimes called "Weed Whacker" or the "Straight Leg Kip."