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Skateboarding => Skate Questions => Topic started by: Skatebeard on September 16, 2021, 07:53:50 AM
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Hitting a real dry spell these days, haven't had any brand new learns since June.
I skate probably 4 days in 7 and have gotten super consistent with my existing trick bag, but i just can't push any new learns over the line lately, despite spending a good chunk of time on various tricks. Was learning 1-2 new tricks a month from Jan til June this year then that momentum just seemed to disappear overnight.
Feel like i've hit a bit of a plateau.
Anyone else go through a bit of a progression drought? How long did it last? What pushed you through it?
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I haven’t learned any new ones since June 2005, stop complaining.
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A change of scenery helps me. It's easy for skating to feel like Groundhog's Day to me cuz my favorite park is a mile from my house and it feels good to do comfort tricks every session.
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Just try something new lol.
But you also gotta realise that getting super consistent with your existing bag IS progression, maybe even more so than learning new tricks.
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Just try something new lol.
But you also gotta realise that getting super consistent with your existing bag IS progression, maybe even more so than learning new tricks.
agree with this. Even learning something weird can lead to progression. Maybe watch some skaters you haven't before to get inspired
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For me, if I’m at the park or a spot, sometimes I tell myself I must do one new thing, no matter how kooky it is. It could be endless 5050-shove it out variations, a flip into manual, anything.
If you’re speaking strictly flat ground, then yeah it’s tougher, but still possible.
Also agree on progression. Feels so good to realize you got something down better than a few months ago. Skateboarding allows for mindless repetition to be fun.
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I like to try new stuff completely on my own - it’s always fun having something new (no matter how basic) in the bag to whip out next session with a friend.
As an example - something as simple as fakie manny across the top of the pyramid. Practiced on my own and something so simple blew my mates mind when I could pop into the bank switch haha.
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Watch old videos.
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I always think of trick ideas when I'm sat at work or home before going out skating then forget as soon as I get to the spot/park. I might start making a list on my phone or something
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New spots and/or different set ups tend to inspire and bring out new tricks for me.
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Skateboarding collectively had this in the mid to late 80s, which is why the whole switch thing and double kick boards became such a big thing, which turned it into what it is today.
The questions I often asked people I skated with (of all ages) who would ask something similar is this, not so much with a specific trick, but with any tricks in general:
Can you do it forwards, then can you do it fakie?
Can you do it normally, then can you do it switch?
Can you do it frontside and or backside?
If we are talking flat ground, it is still not limited to simple tricks, but then trying any and all of the above, spins, big spins, bigger spins, flips, big flips, reverts, etc.
Ledges or pads, switch or nollie into things, half cab into things, combo tricks, eg fifty to boardslide, or nose slide to shovit out.
Transition (my happy place) there are so many combo tricks, variations, things you can learn on curbs, banks or mellow things that you can take to bigger or steeper edges, even on raw street things, flip in or out, shove in or out, if you are more technically minded or youthful enough, or if like me and old and more wary, just getting reverts, tricks to decker, to tail, to smith, and playing mix and match is often fun on really mellow edges.
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Get a list going on your phone, you'll probably come with up with way more tricks on the wish list than ones you actually try, but it's a start. Simple stuff like 180 in / out, shuv in / out, even some basic switch / Nollie tricks. Even small bit of progress is encouraging and you'll actually discover trick that seem easy or kooky are way harder than you envisioned.
Grom tricks like Fakie 50-50s or a popped Fakie / Nollie Big Spin - easy on paper but difficult to get them popped, consistent and proper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwWLX5xvDMk
In a similar way I break my session down into 3 parts, but I'd rather work on new tricks in the middle of the session after I'm warmed up and have already gone through my staples. That way my legs are still fresh and I'm not too beat up to put in a solid effort on new tricks. Then I end my session again with my staples because landing stuff feels the good I like to end on a high note.
But some days you just never get out of the warm up and spend the 80% of the session struggling with the basics. I tell myself not to beat myself up over it - I'm in my mid-30s, work full time and only have the weekend to skate. I'll take what I get and don't get upset. That's the difficult part, being OK with your lackluster sessions.
Also, play SKATE or the ledge variation SLIDES / GRINDS, alternating between the 2 (2 attempts each, last letter gets 3 tries). I fall into the trap of not working on specific tricks (5-0s, Smiths), but playing SLIDES / GRINDS forces me out of my comfort zone and you'll realize you're not too far off from XYZ trick if you put in a little more attention to it.
Edit: https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=110096.0 - I like this thread, just reading about what pals are working on can inspire you to try new stuff. Regular Joes giving me trick tips is 100x more helpful than a YouTube video packed with filler to make the 10 minute video to appease the algorithm gods.
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Lots of food for thought here, cheers all.
I switched things up a bit on the weekend, went to a new spot and had a pretty fun low-key but productive session on no comply and caveman variations...tricks i never really do so learnt a bunch of random silly tricks and had a good laugh doing it.
I skate purely flatground for various reasons, so when I don't make it to a park my skating can get a bit formulaic/by the numbers, almost like you're just trying to cross things off a list.
Inspiration came from something unlikely too - mate of mine broke his ankle on a nollie BS bigspin on the weekend, a trick that has always scared me a bit and felt really unnatural compared to doing them FS, that sparked me into trying them on Sunday and finally landing a few.
This now opens up the possibility of nollie BS 360s, and nollie bs 360 shuvs, two tricks i hadn't really previously entertained.
My take home from this is that I need to break out of my skate routine more, habit forming has helped my consitency but probably hampered progression a little.
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Take what you know and try every possible combination. If you can kickflip and 180 try a 180 flip etc
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i have not learned new tricks for a year and the ones i had are just getting worse
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I'd try Scientology. Worked for Berra and Aaron Kyro.
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I would say try switch or fakie.
But this is coming from someone who doesn’t skate switch or fakie.
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I have a trick list on my phone, but I barely ever do anything I write on there lol. My trick list is more like a continuous exercise of figuring out what my taste of tricks are. Whenever I learn something new it's usually a spur of the moment type thing where something pops in my head in the middle of a session that I think could actually work.
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I tend to get something new if I'm with the homie and they're trying something new too.
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Wound up learning Nollie bs3s a couple days ago after getting nollie bs bigspins last week... nollie bs3 shuvs next hopefully.
Unlocking one trick has definately opened up a few more that have been easier to learn off the back of the previous trick, so I would absolutely give that advice to my past self.
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Wound up learning Nollie bs3s a couple days ago after getting nollie bs bigspins last week... nollie bs3 shuvs next hopefully.
Unlocking one trick has definately opened up a few more that have been easier to learn off the back of the previous trick, so I would absolutely give that advice to my past self.
Learned nollie 360s too. I was inspired by that Gonz line in video days where he nosegrinds a bench, 5050 to front boards two benches, nollie 360s, fs 180 sw manuals a little ledge and then fakie ollies up, kickturns around and grabs a pole. That nollie 360 is so fluid it seems like he had no plans to do that at the beginning of the clip but did so because it felt like the right decision at the time. I only can do them on pyramids right now but I learned them both ways. They're easier than cabs imo. Can't wait to get those on flatground going hella fast
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I'd say I found nollie bs3s a bit easier than cab 3s to learn... was pretty much landing them with a little pivot after about 10 tries.
360 tricks on a skateboard are a bit of a no-go for me due to having two very dodgy shoulders, but it's nice to know I am capable of doing them.
Off the back of this recent nollie mission I'm really enjoying nollie BS1s and thats not a trick I've ever really done before.
Something else mentioned in this thread is deffo a thing I should address, I skate alone 99% of the time and I'm sure thats holding me back and imposing a bit of a limit on what I'm actually capable of learning. It's kinda hard to find skate friends in your 30s when you don't skate parks much, but I need to put some effort into changing that.
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I tend to get something new if I'm with the homie and they're trying something new too.
Nothing better than 2 homies battling out a trick together.
GRINDS / SLIDES is such a good way to learn new ledge tricks or practice the variations in / out of your staples (180, shuvs).
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Hitting a real dry spell these days, haven't had any brand new learns since June.
I skate probably 4 days in 7 and have gotten super consistent with my existing trick bag, but i just can't push any new learns over the line lately, despite spending a good chunk of time on various tricks. Was learning 1-2 new tricks a month from Jan til June this year then that momentum just seemed to disappear overnight.
Feel like i've hit a bit of a plateau.
Anyone else go through a bit of a progression drought? How long did it last? What pushed you through it?
Take a step back. Already mentioned, but being consistent with your current bag is progression in itself. I've been trying to practice mindfulness and self love, so don't beat yourself up. You can always try further refining what you can do now. Go faster and bigger. Put together a sick line. Learn your tricks in different stances. Have fun with it bro.
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Expand Quote
Hitting a real dry spell these days, haven't had any brand new learns since June.
I skate probably 4 days in 7 and have gotten super consistent with my existing trick bag, but i just can't push any new learns over the line lately, despite spending a good chunk of time on various tricks. Was learning 1-2 new tricks a month from Jan til June this year then that momentum just seemed to disappear overnight.
Feel like i've hit a bit of a plateau.
Anyone else go through a bit of a progression drought? How long did it last? What pushed you through it?
Take a step back. Already mentioned, but being consistent with your current bag is progression in itself. I've been trying to practice mindfulness and self love, so don't beat yourself up. You can always try further refining what you can do now. Go faster and bigger. Put together a sick line. Learn your tricks in different stances. Have fun with it bro.
+1 for this.
Do your Nosegrinds and 5-0s balanced, pop out in the middle if you want to get that Wenning vibes.
Doing simple lines is helpful too, gotta have proper landings on you previous trick so you can chain the next one together.
And even learning the basic slide and grind tricks switch is a blast. You never realize how shit your switch game is until you start trying pushing non-mongo and struggle with a 50-50.
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Reverts!!! Try and revert out of your tricks both ways, this really opened lots of new doors to me as a 42 year old.
I always skate the same (DIY) spot but I’ve been using that to my advantage and trying to skate it differently and/ or discover new tricks where possible.
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Happy to find the advice here….searched for “plateau” because I’ve been stuck trying to learn a simple rock-and-roll but there is no doubt my small bag of tricks is getting much better; more controlled, increased ability to roll back in when I land a little funky, better able to make small changes in foot position, etc.
I’ve had a couple days (spaced far apart) where I got the rock-and-roll on repeat with a nice little stall on the rock and then a little wheel bark when I roll back in, and that’s exactly what I’m going for, but next day it is like it never happened. Super frustrating.
Anyway, some nice reminders here that there’s plenty of progress without a new trick. Maybe I should break out of being stuck in my own ramp and hit the local park again; another possible issue with being in a rut is maybe skating the same ramp all the time.
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Happy to find the advice here….searched for “plateau” because I’ve been stuck trying to learn a simple rock-and-roll but there is no doubt my small bag of tricks is getting much better; more controlled, increased ability to roll back in when I land a little funky, better able to make small changes in foot position, etc.
I’ve had a couple days (spaced far apart) where I got the rock-and-roll on repeat with a nice little stall on the rock and then a little wheel bark when I roll back in, and that’s exactly what I’m going for, but next day it is like it never happened. Super frustrating.
Anyway, some nice reminders here that there’s plenty of progress without a new trick. Maybe I should break out of being stuck in my own ramp and hit the local park again; another possible issue with being in a rut is maybe skating the same ramp all the time.
Yeah I think that's big, I always was deeply convinced that one progresses every day they skate even if it may not look like it, take the form of a new trick or even feel the complete opposite (that actually stops being true as soon as one's practice becomes so intense it's detrimental to their body). Just from the experience of being on your board, per se you're figuring out stuff you would still have had to figure out sometime later hadn't you skated that day, time which you can now spend on figuring out different stuff, arguably more advanced. It doesn't really matter if on some days the trial and error process is mostly if not only error, that's just probabilities.
Redundancy in spot choice (emphasis on choice) is very commonly synonymous with stale progress and fun in general. The same things all the time no matter how fun in the first place can get old. But that's all on how the skater chooses to approach skateboarding, how they perceive it in the first place and how that dictates how they think it should ideally be done which really just narrows down personal perspectives at the end of the day. Past few months or so I've been getting kicks from solo skating what most people would consider non-spots and having the time of my life, doing new things every day. Would recommend before it's too late.
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If anyone experiences trick droughts, my recommendation is to keep skating. Warm up each session and do your usual to build your comfort/special meter. Keep skating and do what you're good at. You try new things when you feel good about yourself and your performance (in and out of skating)
It's organic. Don't approach it as a chore/task to learn new tricks. Feel it out trick by trick, movement by movement. Maybe today is not the 'new trick day' but two days from now is. Small things to practice to work into learning new tricks:
- Grinding a little bit longer
- Manual a little bit longer
- Practice popping tricks higher
- Practice improving your posture while doing tricks
- Revisit tricks you rarely do
• This can lead you to trying a new trick/new technique for a different trick adjacent to the one you're revisiting.
- Skate somewhere new/fresh
• New environment provides a new headspace for trying new things
Most of all, have fun doing what you love!! That's why we all started skating in the first place!
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I'm in a a bit of a trick drought right now and @DarkPools advice is really right on. Also, starting to work on lines instead. I usually don't focus on lines much so it has been fun trying to get as much as I can done in a row without bailing, and linking things together at a spot.
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I have this problem from time to time also, most of my actual friends no longer skate seriously or at all really haha I like to watch Local or homie vids on YouTube to get ideas or I’ll just start trying to put my trucks together in a line like a lot of other people said. I feel like when I start trying to link all my trucks together I get into a bit of a flow and that’s usually when I get an idea for something that would work. Mini ramps are always good for new tricks too.
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I’m just concerned with the problem that I get to skate so irregularly that I’ve lost my legs entirely between sessions and basically have to relearn the dead basics for a week
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I hit a progression drought for a while and what’s helped me move past it has been a) skating by myself more b) going into a solo skate session with a specific trick at a specific spot in mind c) filming said trick in an attempt to motivate myself and produce something to create a sense of accomplishment.
I know I’m not going to psychotically throw myself at the same obstacle trying to learn something new for 45 mins straight in a skatepark full of strangers (or waste my friends’ time trying to film something new like that) so I really appreciate the no pressure, calm atmosphere of working on new tricks solo.
Doing an existing trick on a new spot or obstacle is kind of a different story though.
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Games of skate
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I hit a progression drought for a while and what’s helped me move past it has been a) skating by myself more b) going into a solo skate session with a specific trick at a specific spot in mind c) filming said trick in an attempt to motivate myself and produce something to create a sense of accomplishment.
I know I’m not going to psychotically throw myself at the same obstacle trying to learn something new for 45 mins straight in a skatepark full of strangers (or waste my friends’ time trying to film something new like that) so I really appreciate the no pressure, calm atmosphere of working on new tricks solo.
Exactly what I've been doing and why I've been doing it, minus my planning aspect is different, for from experience I've observed skateboarding and planning (tricks in particular) never quite works out exactly as intended and then at the end of the day you've just limited the scope of the session to yourself. I do have set ideas for set tricks (who doesn't always) but what I do pick for my days is just a general area of the city to skate, so for instance I'll psych myself on going to skate this or that particular neighborhood (with a general idea of what exactly is there, but specifically kept only so vague in the moment) and then I basically just see what happens. I've learned that there are days for, and not for, certain specific spots and tricks and there's little point in forcing that. Usually - as expected - the day never goes as planned, I end up going with the flow, usually getting a clip or two of the kind that just couldn't be premeditated (e.g.. when you run into an ephemeral spot), and sometimes one of the tricks I had been thinking about for a long time but naturally and as a bonus. It's pretty great too because then you sort of surprise yourself every day instead of making it either a win or a loss for no real reason or stakes.
I'm specifically with you on the meditative, introspective aspect. Can't stand the skatepark these days and been finding the exact solace my sessions there had crucially been missing in the solo skates.
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for progressing tricks i already have its nice to try to do stuff like grind the whole ledge, learn to pop out early on command, learn to do tricks up things, down things etc.
Basically try to increase my control of the trick. I am a pretty bad skater though so it doesn't always go so well hah
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Come out of all of your ledge tricks both ways, revert stuff more, write down tricks if/ when they come to you, work on super basic stuff too (can you do all poweslide combinations? What about every type of shove it?)
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try something really stupid and stumble into something else. I learned front boards on ledges trying to front blunt on a lark
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I’ve come to terms with the fact that a random fliptrick aside, re-learning tricks is as good as it’s going to get for me.
Lately I’ve had fun doing trying to learn properly the tricks I can do, but poorly.
Like ss fs ollies and ss tailslides.
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You're probably not gonna like this solution, but I just got a huge boost in progress by wearing protection.
My girlfriend wanted to try a few tricks with a helmet on but was kinda embarrassed by it, so I offered to do the same.
Went to my local park in full protection for the first time, felt pretty much invincible (and also weird as hell so I felt the need to prove myself in some way) and managed to try and roll away from tricks I could only dream about for years because I'd be way too scared of hurting myself.
And after getting over the fear once, you can do it without protection just as well.
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Learn everything you know up a curb.