When I started skating again after 11 years off I never ever wore pads before. I always hated pads.
First trip to a slippery indoor park and I wheel slipped out in a dusty bowl and broke my knee.
My back, knees and legs were already pretty tweaked, but that did me in.
All I wanted to do was skate, no matter what. So I saved up and bought 187's and fought through it and came back a month later.
It honestly took a few months to get used to wearing pads as like I said I fought it forever.
Once you learn to kneeslide out of tranny tricks though and you get them stretched out and all that you notice them less and less being on your body. I actually forced myself a few weeks to really practice kneeslides. They don't come natural though. You do actually have to practice how, where and when to go to your knees. Then it becomes a reflex. I'd start down low on the tranny and go to my knees, and then I'd run all the way up the transition no matter how high and then go to my knees. Eventually I was jumping into the bowls to my knees doing kneeslides. You'll find the perfect balance of how to fall INTO them and not ON them (your knees). That'll just blow out yer back. Doing these regular routine for a little bit helped in ways that you'd think would be a waste of time, but I promise you they were not. They are needed things you gotta do to get used to finally wearing pads after never wearing pads.
Sometimes doing a kneeslide out of something is just as much a trick as the trick you were trying.
You might need some Shoe Goo at the toes of your shoes too as kneeslides burn shoe fronts and laces pretty easily. Like a little toe cap. You'll notice all the bowl & vert masters have destroyed shoes and gobs of Shoe Goo or tape up front for these reasons alone. They've been kneesliding for decades so they know what's up. You just sit back on your heels and slide! Get stitch and seemless 1 piece toe shoes for these reasons alone! (Cab gobs the crap outta all his Half Cabs because of this!)
When I skate street through the week I don't wear pads, but if I'm going to go skate a bowl or a ramp I always wear them. It's become a must. Ya just gotta do whatcha gotta do. Finishing a 4 hour bowl and ramp sesh and walking out smiling and skating to your car is alot better than hobbling out and having to cut yer sesh short so you can go home and crawl in the door.
My knees are still horrible, and that one knee never fully recovered, but fuck man I do whatever I have to do to be able to have my indoor park sesh every week. From the food I eat or don't eat all week to the wearing of kneepads while I skate.
I do stupid things and try things maybe I shouldn't w/ my age and my body's ailments, so I really do use my kneepads alot these days when I'm skating tranny. Some weeks I never bail and my pads never even got dropped to, but they were there. And then some weeks I do alot, and some weeks I slam and pads wouldn't have mattered anyways.
This week I hung up transferring over a spine and fell straight to the bottom onto my ribs and shoulder, in really bad shape right now. I think I cracked a few ribs. It sucks, but in all reality kneepads didn't matter because I never got a chance to go to my knees anyways. The worse part is all I want to do is skate. I was having a fun sesh and I just wanna go back and do it all over again. I'm fucked! So remember, kneepads, helmets, elbow pads, ass protectors and wrist guards and all that extra stuff will help keep you going, but sometimes you are just bound to get hurt regardless.
So yeah anyways, do yourself a favor and prolong your skating while you can. Get some 187's dude!
The way I look at it is, do whatever you have to do to be able to come back and skate next week, whatever it is!
Topic: Pads? (Read 3036 times)