Inline Skating Slalom with Choose-Your-Spacing Cones

Slalom on inline skates, with a helmet and full pads, in three lanes with different cone spacing. Each skater picks a lane to match their level, moves up once they master it and finishes with a timed run with penalties.

How to play

1. Students set up three slalom lanes with cones 3 m, 2 m and 1.5 m apart (3 min).
2. Parallel-foot slalom in the 3-meter lane: glide and turn using hips and knees without crossing the feet (6 min).
3. Each skater picks a lane and moves to the next one after three clean runs (6 min).
4. Timed run: one pass plus a 1-second penalty per cone touched; two attempts recorded on the sheet (6 min).
5. Pair analysis: how rhythm and weight shift change as spacing gets tighter (4 min).

Rules

• Helmet and full pads required.
• One skater at a time, and nobody enters the lane until the skater ahead is past halfway.
• Return to the start outside the lanes, skating slowly.
• Anyone who can't stop safely sits out the timed run.

Variations

Adaptations

• Higher body weight or low fitness: takes breaks freely and may skip the timed run.
• Low vision: their lane uses large, high-contrast cones.
• Limited mobility: runs the stopwatch, records data and calculates each skater's improvement.

Learning goals

• Improve edge control and hip rotation in the slalom.
• Choose a suitable challenge level and progress independently.
• Record and compare personal performance data.

Equipment for a class of 25

• inline skates: 15
• helmets: 15
• knee pads: 15
• elbow pads: 15
• wrist guards: 15
• cones: 30
• stopwatch: 3
• worksheets: 15

Teacher tip

If the school has no skates or pads, borrow them from a local skating club, the city recreation department or another school, or let students bring their own with a signed parent permission form. Lanes need at least 13 feet of clear space on each side and a 30-foot stopping zone at the end.

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