Power sliding is an advanced stopping technique. It takes a little practice but when mastered can be done at any speed, bringing you to a halt fairly quickly. It looks pretty nifty, too.

This is a shot of what you will look like when you are power-sliding. I am not actually moving in this picture. But if I was, I would be travelling in the direction I am looking in. My right foot is stretched out in front of me, perpendicular to the direction I am travelling. It is doing the stopping. My left foot is pointed in the direction I am moving in.

It is important that you understand how you will look when you are actually power sliding. The power slide can be divided into two parts: the transition from skating into the power sliding form, & the slide itself.

Before working on your transition, you should become proficient at the power sliding part. When you first try it, you might have problems sliding on the pavement or street. They are a little rough & your wheels will probably just stick to them.

I would recommend trying to find a nice smooth surface. A tennis or basketball court would do nicely. Any indoor surface should probably be smooth enough, too. I must warn you though that your wheels will leave marks on the surface you are sliding on. So make sure it is okay before you start leaving streaks on some guy's tennis court.

Try skating backwards at a moderate speed. Then pick up the foot you feel most comfortable power-sliding with & place it behind you, perpendicular to your other foot. Get it at a nice low angle with the ground & do not put too much pressure on it or else it will stick instead of sliding. When you are sliding your form should look a lot like mine in the image above.

Practice that a number of times & when you feel confident, you are ready to try to make a transition while riding forward into the power slide. 

In short, you are going to want to spin until your power sliding foot is in front of you. Spinning is done by picking up one of your feet & placing it down, forming an angle of about 120 degrees between your two skates. If you want to spin clockwise, you will place your right foot. If you want to spin counter clockwise, you will be placing your left foot. You should spin in whichever direction feels best for you. In my case, I am more comfortable spinning in a counter clockwise direction.

In addition to which direction you are spinning in, there is also the matter of which foot you feel most comfortable power-sliding with. I slide with my right foot outstretched.

This leaves four different ways to make a transition into a power slide: spinning clockwise & sliding with your left foot, spinning clockwise & sliding with your right foot, spinning counter clockwise & sliding with your left foot, & spinning counter clockwise & sliding with your right foot.

When you determine which direction you will be spinning in & which foot you will be power sliding with, try to picture what the entire sequence will look like. Picture yourself spinning until your power sliding foot is in front of you. If you feel best turning clockwise & sliding with your right foot, you will turn about 270 degrees before you are in full power-sliding form. But in my case where I turn counter clockwise & slide with my right foot, I will only have to spin about 90 degrees.

You will begin the slide before you are fully done spinning. The moment you are in your full power slide form is also the moment when you stop spinning. .

As I said before, you might have problems, at first, with power sliding on rougher surfaces like a pavement or street. You may have to practice a lot on something smooth before you are able to move up to rougher terrain. When you are just starting out, you will probably put too much weight on your sliding foot which will make power sliding impossible to execute on rough surfaces but as you become better, you will be able to keep most of your weight on your back foot.

Harder wheels will slide longer than softer wheels. Harder wheels will also last a hell of a lot longer than softer wheels. Power sliding can really be a killer on the wheels on your sliding foot. When you rotate, make sure to flip them back & forth between skates so every wheel gets a chance to be a power sliding wheel. This way, you will even out the wear.

Be careful when power sliding at high speeds. If you do not have a lot of control, the transition may prove difficult. You may find yourself tumbling on the ground. It may take some practice before you are executing power-slides at fast speeds.

Have a ball, & PLEASE, always wear protection.