Roller skating activity

Either as sport or recreation, roller skating has become a worldwide phenomenon. Roller skating culture stretches from roller skating races such as the slalom, to roller discos with all kinds of free style skating in between.

There are two types of skate available to the contemporary roller skater. The traditional four wheeled "quad" skate, which has been around since the 16th century, and the more contemporary inline skate that has two, three, four or five wheels aligned along a centre line, similar to an ice skate. Inline skating or roller-blading is faster and requires more skill to master than the quad form of skating.

Roller skates have been mass-produced since the 1880s, and nowadays there are many types of skate on the market, so it's worth checking out what's on offer to find the best skate available. Some people like to push their equipment with an aggressive style of skating; performing extreme tricks such as using vert ramps or "grinding" along rails in parks or streets. Extreme skaters frequently compete against one another through performing a series of daring and technically accomplished tricks.

Others prefer more recreational forms of skating but for the more competitive soul there are many types of roller races, including sprints, long distances and slalom which involves racing around a series of road cones for the fastest possible time.