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Home --> How to Skate --> How to Stop --> How to T-Stop on Inline Skates

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How to T-Stop on Inline Skates

How to stop on skates by dragging one skate behind you. The t-stop is a stopping technique used by inline skaters, ice skaters and quad roller skaters.

What is a T-Stop? (Definition)
A skater performs a T-Stop by dragging one skate behind them until that skate causes enough friction to slow the skater down or make them come to a complete stop.

How to Do a T-Stop (Tutorial)
  1. Before you attempt to drag your back skate:

    1. Put all of your weight on your front foot


    2. Make sure both knees are deeply bent


    3. Make sure your front skate is facing straight ahead


    4. Make sure your back skate is exactly perpendicular to the front skate (this will prevent you from spinning when your back foot touches the ground).

  2. Start practicing the T-Stop by tapping your back foot on the ground v-e-r-y lightly. Exert only enough gentle pressure to get comfortable with the feeling of touching your back foot to the ground, but not enough pressure to cause any spinning or stopping.


  3. Slowly and gradually, as you gain confidence, start exerting more pressure on your back foot, until you find you are able to confidently slow yourself down, or even make a complete stop, by dragging your back foot.


  4. Keep practicing your T-Stop at every opportunity, until you no longer find yourself thinking about how much pressure to apply to your back foot, because it all comes naturally.


How I Learned to T-Stop
This technique for learning the T-Stop was taught to me by Janet Miller Sheehan, owner of the California Skate School in Southern California. Janet was selected by the International Inline Skating Association (IISA) as their 1996 "Instructor of the Year", and she is an IISA examiner for certifying new inline skating instructors. In a 1-hour lesson, she taught me everything there is to know about doing a T-Stop (Thank you Janet!).

What's Good About a T-Stop?
The T-Stop a good technique to have in your arsenal of stopping and slowing-down methods. Every skater should learn the technique, even if they prefer to use their friction heel brake for stopping. Learning how to do a T-Stop is a good exercise in skating with more control, because you need to have good balancing skills to perform it successfully.

What's Bad About a T-Stop?
  • THE BIGGEST DRAWBACK: There is one T-Stopping drawback that everyone will agree with: The technique is very hard on your wheels. If you use this stopping technique on a regular basis you will find yourself rotating and replacing your wheels more often than the average non-t-stopping skater.
  • ANOTHER DRAWBACK: For me personally, the T-Stop is more of a slowing down technique than a stopping technique, because I can stop more quickly and reliably using my friction heel brake. If you frequent many inline skating message boards and news groups, you know this topic (t-stop vs. heel brake) is a topic that can always be counted on to generate a hot debate among skaters with differing opinions.

    T-Stopping While Skating Backwards
    Tony Chen on the Backwards T-Stop (SkateFAQ.com)


    From the Internet
    Scott Weintraub T-Stop Tutorial (SkateFAQ.com)
    Liz Miller T-Stop Tutorial (GetRolling.com)
    Tony Chen on the T-Stop (SkateFAQ.com)


    • Visit Our 12 Skating Forums
    Forums for discussing aggressive, artistic, beginning, hockey, fitness, recreational, roller basketball, roller derby, roller dancing, rollersoccer, quad skating, slalom skating, and speed skating.


    Related Links:
    How To Skate and How To Stop
    Inline Skating for Beginners
    Speed Skating for Beginners
    Skating Lessons




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