Most skates are making 3 big mistakes without even realising it. Read this article to find out what they are.
If you're standing still and one of you feet starts moving backwards, is it because you decided it needed moving? No!, it's because you're trying to push yourself forward but your skate won't let you. It should maintain it's position, for example, using a ratchet mechanism to prevent backwards motion while allowing forwards motion.
But how else am I going to do the splits, you ask. Answer: not while on skates! If you're doing splits on skates you're probably not having fun! Skates should keep the wheels on both feet rolling at matching speeds. This one's a little tricky to get right, so have a look at the picture.
You're rolling along at a steady speed and suddenly your skates start moving much faster. It's because you magically got a speed boost right? Wrong! It's because your feet are slipping out from under you, while your skates do nothing about it! Skates should resist sudden changes of speed, and only accelerate slowly under a sustained force. A good way to do this is using a flywheel.
So what would it take to fix all those mistakes? We've got an artist's impression below: