ROLLER SKATING.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 684, 2 November 1876, Page 3

ROLLER SKATING.

Lookup at tho popularity of roll r «k«ting wui-uiiflt iutiits, »c flunk it will not bo OHt of 'place if we off r rt icy( prnctienl suggestions for their gui lance, which we extract fiom the "Queen." First, ladies must di-sinUs the idea t!i «t •nkles that appear we.ik wh.n attempting ice (mating will prevent their becoming proficient on the rollers. Jhe oiler sknte is so constructed that the strain on tl c anVlc is almost nil, and if the prepost. rously hi;,'' 1 bv<«la of Hie ; «go are dispensed with, there is norrn«on why any lsuiy, even the most delicate, chould nor beeo • c stronger by the exort ise, and an a'iept at the art. Ladies as a rule, >md especially those who hive not aknled on ice, commence with the idea that thrusting etiher foot alternately to the front ii a spasmodic m inner is the true secret of propulsion on the rollers, and it is the difficulty o<" • radicating t his n ide spread i-otion that is the came ol the slow progress they at firet make. In commencing roller skating there are two golden rul s to remerobe \ First, that tht foot t at falls to the rear at tho end of each glide u the propelling power for the ne^t glide. Secondly, that the nearer the feet are together, the easier it is to use this propelling powei. 'lhe rollers hare this advantage over the ice skates — any one can • and on hem without danger. To begin, tin learner shou'd turn out her toes to hilt a right angle and simply walk, taking care tliat the hosl of one fool touches at each step the toe of the other, and when a balance is obtained on either £>ot ? tue feet should be placed in the same position and the rollers ullowod to glide sune few inches. With most ladies, as toon as the rollers revol»e and the glide takes place, | all idea of plucmg the un mployed foot close to the employed at th> e*H of 'he glide is übundomd tor a spasm< diceff.rt to place it down and gel it as far in fio.it of the other as possible. At the end of a q ide, say on llit* ri^hl foot, the lef should be placed quietly down, and an in.pe'Ceptible pause male to obtain the balance on it, and the Bhove with thright, winch i<in r«r of the left, given The feet of lhe skater should appear to ewerge, as it were, from each o her, the lisbt nppearing to start from the ball of the left and the 1 ft from the right. From lb» michaniial c instruction of the skntcs, the wheel will set in a curve to lhe right or left, in accordance with tie pressure put on the right or left of the fuot stock. Although tin feet m»y be properly planed at tlio commcucenvnt of the q id-, no suouer is tho body bnUnced on one foot than th* skater leans inwardd ii volutunly, because iv the event of OTer-bahv-ce the unemployed r ooti» ready as a prop losayo a fall. Hence, with beginner*, the toes will I urn in. Perhaps the be t practice to overroma thi* difficulty is to walk with the feet crotsed tind (he toes turned inwards. If the ftet aro placed m this po>it'on ani a plide of «*en wo inche* t (footed, p-ovidod the boly be kept " full front," the skates in the g'iJr must be en the out3i le edge, that is, the must run in a curve away from the unemployed foot instead of tows ds it. And the learuer at once finds that §no is as sate when direo \n* the wine * i'» a strai^h' line or on ap outside cur re us on the iusiile, and that tho re<dy prop of the un<mploycd leg is, iv fact, quito in iiece*B iry. (To he concluded in our nextj