Rollerblading is a name that has been applied to the inline skating sport as a result of the large role that the “Rollerblade Company” played in creating popularity out of the inline skating sport. Rollerblade, Inc. was not responsible for inventing, manufacturing or designing the very first inline skates. However, the Rollerblade Company or Rollerblade, Inc. was so successful in their endeavor to market inline skates and inline skating equipment, that it led to the term “rollerblading” becoming extremely popular when referring to sports involving inline skates. Not only was this popular at the time, but the term rollerblading is still being used today to refer to the sport, even though the official name for the sport of using inline skates is simply “inline skating”.
Regardless of which inline skate manufacturing company is responsible for building a specific pair of inline skates, most inline skates are simply known as rollerblades in this day and age. The name Rollerblade has become the symbol of inline skating for most people, unfortunately overshadowing a large number of inline skate manufacturers as well as leaving out a lot of information pertaining to the history of inline skating and rollerblading. Many people, despite having skated for years, are unaware of the true history of inline skating, attributing the design and invention of inline skates to Rollerblade, Inc. when they are not actually responsible for the design of the sport.
The official name for all rollerblading or for “blading” sporting is actually inline roller skating or inline skating. The correct name for any rollerblades that are manufactured by a company other than Rollerblade, Inc. is inline skates or simply skates, rather than rollerblades or blades. If you are actually using Rollerblade, Inc. brand skates, then you really are rollerblading. If you are using any other type of skates, then the proper description for the sport is skating or inline skating. The difference between typical skating and inline skating is, of course, the arrangement of the wheels on your skates. This is because inline skates are skates where four wheels are arranged in a straight line from front to back. Roller skates or quad skates also possess four wheels, but they are arranged in the four corners of the skate instead.
Learning more about the history of inline skating is a good way to generate an appreciation for the sport. You might be surprised at what you learn about how inline skating sports came to be and how the Rollerblade, Inc company managed to successfully market them to the point where “rollerblading” became the common name for the inline skating sport and the true inventors behind the inline skate fell to the wayside.
