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Skateboarding => Skate Questions => Topic started by: Dancing Horses on February 20, 2026, 03:22:49 PM
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When I have a new pair of shoes I can’t get a nice grippy flick with kickflips. My board flips, but not enough to come up to my feet and I land ahead of it. This is particularly true with new cupsoles. The sole only flicks nice in the middle to end of the shoe life.
Any tips for adjustments I can make to my technique to avoid this? I don’t remember having this issue when I was younger, did I get to used to flicking with grippy vulc shoes?
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When I have a new pair of shoes I can’t get a nice grippy flick with kickflips. My board flips, but not enough to come up to my feet and I land ahead of it. This is particularly true with new cupsoles. The sole only flicks nice in the middle to end of the shoe life.
Any tips for adjustments I can make to my technique to avoid this? I don’t remember having this issue when I was younger, did I get to used to flicking with grippy vulc shoes?
depending on the shoe, certain ones can feel kind of slippery when they're new. I've experienced it before for sure. I think I just got over it and didn't worry about it. I could see like, certain shoes, brand-new, in colder weather, with shitty griptape like some mob or Jessup that's already been skated for weeks, yeah I wouldn't be psyched.
Could get one of those foam sandpaper bricks and rub the sole down, and put some rubbing alcohol on it afterward. I've put hand sanitizer on the soles of my rock climbing shoes mid-climb before 😆
I think it's like with downhill skateboard race wheels, they can have like, a skin on them
Some shoes the soles are just shinier and you gotta break em in
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When I have a new pair of shoes I can’t get a nice grippy flick with kickflips. My board flips, but not enough to come up to my feet and I land ahead of it. This is particularly true with new cupsoles. The sole only flicks nice in the middle to end of the shoe life.
Any tips for adjustments I can make to my technique to avoid this? I don’t remember having this issue when I was younger, did I get to used to flicking with grippy vulc shoes?
It sounds like the tread ridges of the new shoe are not giving you the friction of a worn smooth sole. Some roofer's shoes have smooth soles because of this. Same idea as drag slicks gripping dry asphalt better than street treads.
They'll wear down with time. If you're in a real hurry, put them on a belt sander.
Or if your grip tape is shot, replace it.
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Im kinda noticing it with my 480s. I think it’s because of the stiffness of new cupsoles. Once they got more flexy they grab the board instead of holding their shape at various angles.