Deeper knee bend, chest upright, try glancing back over your shoulder, alternating. Push your weight into your heels, sit back into them. You're pressing into your toes mostly for pushing into your edges and directional control, but your weight should not be held in your toes. Hope that helps!

@Albert Schepis that's great, if you're up to recording one of your sessions while using it, would love to see how it's helping with your technique

@Albert Schepis you look like you're doing great!! I'm glad the stick is helping you to be more aware of your form. As for looking seventy-oneish, i think we al look stiff starting out and it can take months, YEARS to look effortless. Looking effortless takes some serious muscle control and flexibility we need to work on off skates as well.. And recording helps. I don't like recording myself either, but when I do end up doing it it's super helpful. Cringe but so helpful... Like hey, i thought i added some nice upper body flow and felt so smooth with a move... But when i review the recording, all that flow was just with my right arm 😂 i was still holding my left arm stiff... Unlocked something else to work on. You have a great big space out there, and you're utilizing it. Have you tried working in a smaller space while you're out there? Smaller footprint and moving slower helps build control and stronger edge awareness, weight shifts need to be quicker. Some of those small space moves are serious cardio work. Figure 8 drills are great! take up a smaller footprint - and would likely prevent any mishaps with kids on the court, as they would see you in one area that they could steer clear of. Which direction are you looking to take your skating? What moves are you practicing or are interested in?

@Jay West gotcha! I wanted to make sure we were talking about the same thing with what you tightened. You're right, research shows your current weight should not cause those issues, so it does sound like something may be off. That stinks.... I feel like I'm constantly saying it, this is why we need more local skate shops to try things on... I've half a mind to try opening one myself 😅Interested to hear how you feel about the new set up when it arrives.

@Angela McNeil lol.. It's a nerdy topic.. For me it started out when I realized that for my own safety I needed to learn how to maintain my skates. It's not like my car where I can drop it off at the mechanic... I had to learn to be my own skate mechanic. I learned the parts of my skates and then just fell down the rabbit hole of all things skate parts.. Boots, plates and wheels, oh my... 😂

I want my wheels to spin as long as possible. The nut too tight may prevent the wheel from spinning freely. Too loose and the wheel wobbles too much on the axle. So it's finding that sweet spot of it spinning freely without being too loose on the axle.

You can change out the wheels for something harder if going from outdoors to indoor rink skating.. Something in the mid 80s to mid 90s should be fine. I don't think slow walking or slow backwards skating need a particular wheel. You just might not want something too hard and slippey as your first set of wheels to use on wood.