After five years of not touching a board I started up again and... I lasted 10 months of skating every day with a week off here and there. I'm 29 years old. Recently I rolled my ankle pretty bad (couldn't walk without limping for a couple of months and pain consistently) and then I ate it so very hard after landing primo and slipping out (I wasn't expecting to fall so when I did it was brutal), so I'm quitting again. You could say, "pussy!" but I feel like I single-handedly knocked out all of my coordination with one fall. It would be stupid to try and keep skating cause I know I just don't have that focus and coordination left. I would def. fall again and maybe it would be worse. I can't afford a hospital bill. Confidence went straight out the window as well. I basically juiced myself out of the game in one session.
Not saying I'm never coming back but I feel like it's not as fun when you're by yourself. I don't like skateparks either, just not a fan. I wasn't good as a kid but I figured out heelflips during my return, there's a special secret to landing them I can easily explain to anyone now. It's this one thing you have to do to land it.
Some random thoughts on my brief comeback:
Being the age I am, I don't like the new trend of wider decks like 8+ only. I'm 6'2 tall and old and yet I still skated a 7.75 and a 7.6. If I upped to an 8 it's like what's the point? I feel like skating a big deck and doing tricks on one is purely for a trend hopper who wants to show off for his instagram feed. But hey, I'm the old dude. ...Not to mention it's easy as sh*t to land flip tricks on an 8. I know I'm not alone in the thought that those trends of big decks and big wheels ought to have stayed in the past. At what point are you just skating a longboard? If that becomes cool I'm fully tuned out.
Something I didn't pay as much attention to before and I did recently was how "flatground" is many things. Skating a tennis court, is one thing. Then there's the street which could be curved, abrasive, etc. so that's it. Paying attention to all the tiny little details of everything was something I didn't do back in the day, but I learned. Also I noticed how the old pros will all preach "gotta skate, bro." But of course they're saying that, it's their career, if kids stop skating they're out of money. Don't have to look far to find some older pros that are over it too. Some of them even own companies. I'm glad I skated again overall but I'm taking the "signs" and dipping out. I'll post again during BATB