Tips · 2 tips
Rockering: what it is and why rockered skates turn better
Rockered skates vs a flat setup: what changes depending on where you put your weight and why every wizard setup has it.
What is rockering? It's a way of mounting the wheels in which the front and back wheels sit slightly — a millimeter — higher than the center ones. On a rockered skate not all the wheels touch down at the same time: depending on where you put your weight, different ones make contact.
Put your weight on the heel and the front wheels lift; put it on the toe and the back ones lift. On a flat setup, by contrast, all the wheels always touch the ground, wherever you put your weight: full contact and, therefore, more friction when you want to turn. That small lift is what lets you turn your foot and rotate much faster and with more freedom.
That's why every setup I use, four wheels or five, has rockering; in wizard style it's a millimeter, much less pronounced than in slalom. In the first short I explain it; in the second you can see in action how shifting your weight changes the way you do the movements.
Tip 1 · Intermediate
Rockering: why your turns flow better
Key points
- With rockering, the front and back wheels sit a millimeter higher than the center ones.
- Depending on where you put your weight, different wheels touch the ground: on the heel the front ones lift; on the toe, the back ones.
- On a flat setup you always have full contact wherever you put your weight, and that's why there's more friction.
- All my setups, four wheels or five, have rockering; in wizard style it's a millimeter, much less pronounced than in slalom.
Common mistake
That little bit of lift is what lets you turn your foot and rotate much faster and more efficiently, with more freedom in your turns.
Tip 2 · Intermediate
Rockering in action: watch how it changes with your weight
Key points
- Notice how, when you shift your weight to the heel or the toe, the wheels touching the ground change.
- Watch how that weight shift changes the way you do each movement.
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More ways to supportFrequently asked questions
- What are rockered skates?
- Skates where the front and back wheels sit a millimeter higher than the center ones, so not all of them touch the ground at once. Depending on where you put your weight, the skate rests on different wheels.
- What's the difference between a rockered and a flat setup?
- On a flat setup all the wheels always touch the ground: more contact, more friction when turning. On a rockered one, weight on the heel lifts the front wheels and weight on the toe lifts the back ones; that small lift lets you rotate your foot much faster.
- Is wizard rocker the same as slalom rocker?
- No. In wizard style the rocker is a millimeter; in slalom it's much more pronounced.
- Does it work the same on four-wheel and five-wheel skates?
- Yes. Every setup I use, whether four wheels or five, has rockering.
- Do I need rockered skates to get started?
- No. You can start perfectly well with freeskate skates. When you've mastered the fundamentals and feel the need to take the next step, a rockered frame will give you more room in your turns.