Skateboarding

I came back from a holiday in NZ earlier in the year - skate parks everywhere!

So of course get back to London and try to get back into it.

The intervening years have been hard - my body no longer flexes the way it should, the fear of hurt is 10x stronger & my ankles are made of cheese!

I still go out occasionally but I'm a borderline danger around other people and am inconveniently located an awkward distance between skate parks.

Worth having a go though if you're into it - when something goes right it still gives off the joyous feelings!

I started again at 40 and have yet to regret it. Took a little while for my ankles to stop feeling sketchy and I’m still really crap, but I get a lot of joy out of it so who cares.

Not that the others aren't valid, but I was waiting for this comment.

30 is young. You’ll be fine.

Thanks for the responses all. I jumped around in my living room yesterday and my knees were fine with it so I think I'm gonna give it a smash.

Also decks are so wide now wtf.

Ha, yeah. The first board I got this time around was an 8” and it was wider than I’d have been used to as a teenager in the late 90s. I’ve now worked up to a 8.5” and I’m tempted by a 8.75” as I tried my mates recently and it felt pretty nice.

Did some skating. Didn't die. Had a fun time. Got a decent rolling ollie down, so now to hurl myself down some stairs next session. Thanks for encouragement from here.

https://youtu.be/_6X0Ndy0iB0

Yuto's ender is abomination against the laws of God and physics

https://youtu.be/cW9OABECQkU?si=mdN88xfQoOPIZi72

https://youtu.be/1zfR75WvyXs

https://youtube.com/shorts/z3W9hNL3b1w?si=hWWGYIjmnCXTXf0I

Ha, this is amazing 😅

YouTube suggested this part of his, which is also really fun to watch I think:

https://youtu.be/kTV6_9hY5cU?feature=shared

BiL wants to go to this with jnr, so we can show him all the skate things and get him back on his board.
https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/skateboard

I’m assuming everyone in this thread knows about it, if not, you do now. Those who still live in London might be a good chance to meet up in person..

The ramp is open for skateboard sessions only, no rollerblades, scooters or bikes.

Sweet to read...

Might have gone and done a thing….

… this one’s for the wall.

1 Attachment

https://www.skatewarehouse.co.uk/collections/sale-skateboard-completes?sort=price-ascending

Which of these cheap completes are gonna be decent. Are the 'rocket' ones just not worth bothering with?

I'd probably shell out a little more and get a Mini Logo complete. Components are decent quality. I rate Mini Logo trucks and the wheels will be about as good as you can get without spending Spitfire money.

Cheers! I suspected as much from various posts in the thread before now.

Just noticed there’s some new skate tales on YouTube.
I don’t keep up with skating much anymore, but I like watching this series.
They’re well produced, and always feature interesting people.

https://youtu.be/XBrulIHAoQs?si=r5aItmVg5xJikVdw

Quick kid skating question, jnr is almost 6 and enjoys going to school and various places on their skateboard, I pull them along and every so often give them a bit of a push so they ride along solo, balancing on the board by themselves, until they slow I catch up take their hand and pull them along again.
Their balance is pretty good whilst moving, my question is how do you incorporate pushing into this routine?
How did you start your kids off pushing? How long did it take ( I know it’s a bit of an open ended question) before they were confident/competent at pushing themselves?
There’s a skate school in peckham that I’m thinking of taking them to maybe during a half term early next year, if they’re still showing an interest which might be a good if they haven’t started pushing themselves by then, as I’m only just learning to skateboard myself, so don’t want to be teaching them bad habits.

my experience with my now 9yo, who started skateboarding at a similar age (late 5yo I think):

After a bit of rolling along as you described, I spent some time getting her to get used to just standing on and stepping off the board whilst stationary. At that age it’s actually a big step to go from rolling along, with both feet on the board, to having the confidence to take one foot off and do the slight crouch necessary to put the foot on the floor, wether to step off of to push along. The more confident they are with that motion the better.

If they get used to stepping on and off the board without feeling all wobbly, then they’ll have more confidence in how the board acts underneath them.

No offense, but you're overthinking this. Pushing on a skateboard is not rocket science, it's very much a learning by doing thing.

If it were my kid I'd probably do some playful balance exercises with them if I noticed that they're having difficulties with this in general (think tree pose / moving your arms around while standing on one leg etc.) - and do some falling-down-on-purpose (in a sandpit or something) so they loose the fear of falling a bit (it will happen), and learn how to fall safely.

Turn it into a game?

Who can balance on one foot the longest?

How many times can you step in a row?
(Crouch, place foot, stand up)

I’d do it like any other training. Whole part whole. Break the action into its parts, and focus on making each of those a game/exercise in itself.

See how long they can balance on a static board on one foot, then give them a nudge forward, eventually the pushing with the other foot comes.

Have you tried getting their feet to gradually point more forwards (or at least in a slight T position)?
That's a big part of pushing.

With the caveat it's obviously easier to lose balance, so might need some parent guarding.

Thanks for the advice, but I’ve never skated, am learning now so I can skate with my child if their interest picks up in it, as it seems to be doing, so what other skaters may take for granted in terms of the experience and the knowledge of how to do things I don’t have, which is why I’m asking here.
Sure pushing is a learning by doing thing, but I want to make sure that the learning doesn’t frustrate them so much that they don’t want to skate at all, or never get past just balancing on a board whilst I pull them..