[Ed: The following appeared in the September/October 1996 issue of "Georgia Athlete" magazine. We liked it so much we asked David if we could reprint it. It is presented as-is including the original editor's note at the end of the article.]

Transforming a beginning skater into a top-ranked inline racer is a long, time-consuming process which requires several steps:

• Having equipment to fill present needs and level of skill
• A positive attitude and technique
• A good team
• A good coach
• Availability and desire to train
• Desire to win!

Your first step towards becoming an inline racer is to insure that you have the equipment necessary to train. You don't need the best, most expensive skates; however, you must have skates that fit properly and which will allow you to skate at the best of your present abiity. Many skating clubs have used skates available for the beginner and younger skater which you can later replace with newer and better skates. Inline racing skates are expensive--sometimes in excess of $1000!

Inline skating technique is the most important thing to learn, for without excellent technique, a skater will never progress to the elite levels. Proper technique encompasses the entire skater, from head to toe. Body position is just as important as learning how to skate on the "edges." Once a skater learns proper technique, I progress to skating drills which utilize all of the newly-learned skills, such as the circle drill, in which skaters practice stride-pushes, cross-pushes and upper body positioning. The goal is to learn to power the stroke off the rear of the skate. If you have five-wheeled skates, the push should come from the third, fourth and fifth wheel; if you have four-wheeled skates, the push should come off the third and fourth wheels. Most beginning and recreational skaters push off the toes, and there's nothing there to give you power.

Technique drills are repeated hundreds of times until the new techniques become automatic. Only then is the skater ready to progress to the next level--training!

Serious inline racing training is extremely strenuous. Most elite skaters train four to six hours a day, six days a week.

A training routine begins with a variety of exercises that envelop all aspects of a racer's life. Exercises to develop speed, endurance and control are all critical. At this point, it is extremely important to have both a good coach and a good team to train with. Very few people, if any, possess the inner drive to push themselves to the degree necessary to advance much beyond the intermediate level. Training is hard work that is both painful and tiring. Everyone needs someone else to push them--to instill in them that sense of purpose needed to succeed.

For my skaters, endurance work typically consists of something like a 15-20 mile skate (hills included) at a constant pace of about 70 to 80 percent effort. For speed work, we do intervals of about two minutes at 60 to 70 percent effort, followed by a "l00 percent blast" for 30 seconds. In a 7.5-mile workout, we may do four intervals, and those intervals may come on hills, so that the skaters do 100-percent effort on the hills.

In addition to skating, many inline racers use additional equipment, such as bicycles, weights, and slide boards, to help them reach their peak level of performance.

Perhaps the most difficult task a coach faces is teaching a new racer the fundanmentals of proper nutrition. In this day and age of fast food, breaking poor nutritional habits is very difficult, but so very important in making the difference between winning and losing. I try to keep my skaters off of carbonation--it takes the oxygen out of your blood cells--and high-grease, high-fat foods. I emphasize lots of chicken, fish, pasta and water.

At the higher levels, equipment, frame placement, wheel selection, etc., are critical to your success (or lack thereof!). Different racing surfaces require different wheels (size, composition, etc.) and frame placement.

For example, for indoor skating, you may choose between soft, medium and hard wheels, depending on the floor. If the floor is slippery, you'd go with softer wheels, and vice versa. The harder the wheel, the slipperier it is. For outdoors, wheels range in hardness from 78 (soft) to 84 (hard). While you sacrifice speed with softer wheels, they are sometimes necessary, such as on rough asphalt, for shock absorption or control. One solution for both indoors and outdoors is to mix wheels so that you can get a combination of benefits. For example, if a skater is going to be skating on a smooth surface, but feels a little unsure about his footing, we'd use harder wheels for speed and maybe put a softer wheel on the toe, because it's the last off the ground.

Where frames are concerned, l say put them a little bit left of center and you should be okay for whatever you want to do. For outdoors, we often put them closer inside, while they're staggered for indoors because you only make left-hand turns.

Once you and your coach feel ready (this may take several months of intense training), nothing teaches you to race better than racing! Start with the small local meets, then advance to the more competitive regional meets and finally to the national level and ultimately to the international meets. Don't expect to win your first race...or second or even your third. Do try to learn about the other skaters you are competing against--what they do that is good, what they do that is not so good. Learn to recognize their strengths and weaknesses and learn to capitalize on their mistakes. Successful racing is a combination of skill, speed, endurance and tactics.

Whatever you do, whether it is training or racing, always give 100 percent of your ability. If you do this with each race and training session, you will see your ability improve until you are standing on the winner's platform!

Editor's Note: David Downing is the owner of Cumming Skate Center in Cumming, GA, and the coach of team GT Speed, one of the top teams in the southern region, in National Indoors and one of the top outdoor club teams. Former pro skaters, Downing and his wife have 19 national titles. Downing has been coaching since 1982 and was honored as USA/RS coach of the year in 1995 and 1996. His son Derek was the USA/RS skater of the year in 1996.