Roller Rink Safety Tips

 

Roller rinks are one of the coolest social spaces available. You get to be physically active and enjoy great music while socializing with your friends and the skating community. However, free-skate doesn’t necessarily mean a free-for-all. Let's look at some roller rink safety tips.

Roller Rink Safety Tips

Roller rinks have rules that are directly tied to necessary safety, which helps to make the rink a safe place for a wide variety of people who skate at different levels. Based on decades of experience, here are our top tips for staying safe and following the rules at your local roller rink. 

Inspect Your Skates First

Roller rinks are more than happy to allow individuals to bring their own skates as long as they do not damage the rink or present a safety hazard. If you just bought online roller skates, and you’ve never used them outside you won’t have to worry about it. 

The primary concern is skates that have been used outside. Pebbles and other debris can easily become lodged in your wheels, which will scratch the rink and could trip up someone else if they become dislodged. To prevent this from happening, you should also inspect your skates before going to the rink. If you’re planning to regularly skate outside and at your local rink, consider purchasing a second set of wheels online just for rink use. 

Wear Safety Gear

Roller rinks are typically very well maintained, and the risk of serious injury is minimal. However, that doesn’t mean you should skip safety gear. A helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards may not be what you envisioned when you first decided to buy roller skates online, but they are important for your safety. With your gear to protect you, you can freely challenge yourself to try more complicated moves without wondering how close the nearest hospital might be. 

Respect the Flow of Traffic

Roller rinks work very similarly to a freeway. The outer edge is for people entering and exiting the rink. The innermost edge is for skilled skaters who are really moving, and the center is devoted to skaters trying new moves. 

Your presence in the main flow of traffic will be accepted as long as you can keep up with the people around you. However, you may want to ask some of your fellow skaters before just taking a spot in the center. That little communication shows respect for their space and helps you to collectively determine how to work safely around each other. 

Keep a Lookout

You’re doing yourself a great service by looking up rules and safety ahead of time, but many people will not. Whether you’re skating backwards, forwards, or dance skating to the music in the center there will be new skaters that are going to come directly into your path. Always pay attention to your surroundings, and give new skaters a wide berth. Many new skaters will reach out for ANYTHING to catch their fall, and you don’t want that thing to be you. 

Learn to Fall Safely

People fall while skating. It happens to literally everyone, so knowing how to fall safely is important whether you’re at the rink or in your driveway. By learning to fall, you’ll prevent serious injury to yourself as well as skaters around you. There are two primary ways that people fall safely. 

One is colloquially called a “rockstar” fall, and it is reserved for when you are wearing knee pads. To do a rockstar fall, you need to do everything you can to bend your knees when you feel like you’re going to fall. Then you will bring both knee pads down to break your fall. Do not break your fall with your wrists. Alternatively, if you are not wearing safety gear for some reason, you should attempt to fall along the side of your body. Once again, try to bend your knees first to help stabilize your balance and reduce total impact if you do fall. Both methods prevent you from impacting your wrists, tailbone, or skull, which can all easily lead to serious injury. 

Skate Safely and Smile

Ultimately, use common sense and try to be respectful of other skaters. The goal is to get in a little exercise and have fun while doing it, so enjoy.