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Inline skates usually have 3 (if using 100mm or 110mm), 4, or 5 (80mm) wheels, arranged in a single line. Most commonly, if they have a stop, it is a heel stop. Inline skating is often done on the road,sidewalk, skate park various street furnishings like fences and steps, and on special tracks and areas. Some inline skaters compete in artistic skating events, though quads are still more typical for that use. Inline skates for artistic use tend to be designed more as an analog of the ice skate or artistic quad skate design, with a toe stop and rockered wheels.

Aggressive skating

In addition to speed, fitness, artistic, or recreational skating, some skaters prefer aggressive skating. Aggressive skating is also often referred to by participants as rollerblading, blading or rolling and includes a variety of grinds, airs, slides and other advanced skating maneuvers. It also includes "vert", "park" and "street skating" which refer to tricks performed on almost any obstacle. Street skating specifically refers to tricks performed on non-allocated obstacles (i.e. not skate parks). There are three major types of aggressive inline skates: hard boots, soft boots, and skeletal skates (e.g. Xsjado, pronounced "shadow"). Hard boots are very rigid and often heavy compared to speed skates and recreational skates. Soft boots offer more flexibility than hard boots, but are normally just as heavy.

Aggressive inline skates could also be fitted with small hard rubber or plastic wheels, used in place of the two middle wheels. These small wheels or "anti-rockers" are used to help lock onto a ledge or rail when performing. Anti rockers enable the skater attempting the trick to stay on a rail for a longer time without the frames of the skates slipping off the ledge.

Aggressive inline saw a sharp decline in the late 1990s, but during 2000-2003 found a major resurgence for the sport when street skating became increasingly popular. At this time professional skaters including Brian Shima, Jeff Stockwell, Chris Haffey, Aaron Feinberg, and Alex Broskow among others were pushing unseen boundaries in performing seemingly impossible and dangerous stunts in mostly street settings. In addition, the IMYTA (I Match Your Trick Association) provided a venue for skaters to demonstrate these tricks. The IMYTA held contests at a street location and the skaters would have to match each trick in the first round of skating or be eliminated. The progression continued with the pool of skaters dwindling and more dangerous and difficult tricks would then be performed and a winner declared. Competitions such as the IMYTA encouraged skaters from many different countries to set up their own local real street competitions.

Some Aggressive inline brand names are as follows, Remz, Razor, USD, Nimh, Xsjado, Roces, Deshi and Rollerblade.

Tricks for aggressive inline

Free skating

A skating category that lies somewhere between aggressive and recreational skating, free skating, also known as urban skating or free riding, includes many tricks such as jumps, slides, and grinds. The emphasis of free skating is getting from A to B by the fastest possible route, by skating quickly through city streets and negotiating all obstacles. The boots on skates suitable for free skating tend to be more rigid for better leg support, like the aggressive skate, whilst the wheels tend to be rather big, like those found on recreational skates, and the frames short, like those found on hockey skates.

Slalom skating

There are two types of freestyle slalom skating, freestyle slalom and speed slalom, both of which involve navigating a series of cones placed on the ground.

Slide skating

This is a skating category where skaters do "slides". "Sliding" is often done on smooth flat surfaces. It involves placing one or both feet in perpendicular direction to which they are currently moving. E.g. skater is moving North, however, one or both of his feet may be facing East or West, taking reference from the direction from which the heel to the toes face for the feet direction. Consequently, the skater slows down. However, the rate at which he or she slows down largely depends on how much pressure is being applied to the foot/feet that are "sliding". It is a form of stylistic skating where attention is paid to the footwork. There are fewer slides than tricks in "sliding" compared to aggressive skating but they often share the same names as they are done similarly to grinds in aggressive skating.

 

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