Wrist Guards

Most skaters (even the ones that think pads aren't "cool"!) will wear wrist guards. Most people will stop themselves falling by putting their hands down and the wrist isn't designed for such impacts. If you break your wrist normal activities like driving, writing, typing and even eating become difficult tasks and for the sake of wearing guards you can save yourself a lot of trouble.

There are a number of different types of wrist guards. The most common have a metal/hard plastic strip running from the palm to the start of the forearm and another one on the back. These are best for beginners. Other types include ones that just have a hard plastic covering for the heel of your hand and special aggressive gloves resemble fingerless gloves with support up the forearm.

I've noticed that some chains of sport shops are selling wrist pads that you can actually bend with very little effort and hence provide no impact support. It's worth spending a few extra quid to save your wrists!

Knee Pads

Arguably the second most important piece of protection. Your knees are generally the second bit to hit the ground and hence absorb a lot of impact. The good thing about these is that if you're worried about how you look all padded up you can wear them beneath baggy trousers or 3/4 shorts - just don't be upset when you fall and put a hole in the knee of your pants!

Helmet

We all now how important it is to protect your head when on building sites, cycling etc. The same is true for inline skating. You can get away with wearing a bike helmet but there are specially designed helmets for skaters. They resemble the old "open face" motorbike helmets and have protection down the back of the head to the neck rather then just the top of the head like bike helmets.

Elbow Pads

Some instructors don't insist on the wearing of elbow pads. I tend to go with the attitude that if you're wearing a helmet and wrist/knee pads, why not get fully protected with elbows too? They hurt just the same as anywhere else if you land on them and will full protection you tend to feel a little more confident.

Bum Pads

You'll probably remember falling on your bum as a kid and it really hurting when you land on the little bone at the base of the spine. It still hurts when you're older it's just people tend to have a lot more padding in that area! Some people wear these bottom protectors to guard in case they fall over backwards. If you're in the correct skating position there should be very little danger of falling over backwards anyway!