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Skateboarding => USELESS WOODEN TOY BANTER => Topic started by: Zimmer on July 14, 2016, 05:52:49 PM
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At 15 y/o: Skating was the cool thing to do, I didn't put in any effort and was basically a poser. I lived and breathed skating, but only because that's what all my friends were into.
At 22 y/o: I thought skating was in the past, I gave it up after partying and getting high became more important.
Now at 26: No one I know skates anymore, but I try to get out to cruise and mess around every day. I enjoy it more than I ever have before, I don't care about getting "good", I don't care about a "crew" or the "hang". I'll probably never stop again, since there's no childhood bullshit attached to it anymore. Its just a fun way to spend time.
Does anyone else think skating gets better as you grow? There's also stuff like: Buying shoes, decks, etc.. isn't a big deal since you have money, and wandering around a city all day is more comfortable as an adult.
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Yah but you have to actually skate and not go backwards and start to suck. Once that happens I hate to say it but your not as fun to skate with. People who suck cause there old will get mad if you want to skate flatground. It would have been smarter for me to quit skateboarding and just surf tho probably. My knees are fucked.
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Yah but you have to actually skate and not go backwards and start to suck. Once that happens I hate to say it but your not as fun to skate with. People who suck cause there old will get mad if you want to skate flatground. It would have been smarter for me or someone to quit skateboarding and just surf tho probably. My knees are fucked.
I see your point.. That's why I still put some time in trying flips, going for things here and there, not just stagnating.
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Yah I was speaking generally. I'm imagining its alot of fun Zimmer, I like the story so far.
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im 19 now and trying new tricks and shit more often than i ever have. not sure what got into me as of recent, but i guess i just wanted to improve. first 9-10 years of skating i never really learned too much, but hey i still had fun. now though i guess i am just really challenging myself to learn something new each week, at least over the summer. but to answer your question, for me yes it has become a hell of a lot more fun.
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Definitely... I used to put so much pressure on myself to land stuff at 14/15. Now it's all fun and games. I could carcass toss some big sets tonight if I wanted to, just not really much fun ???
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I was never good, but regressing feels terrible. Guess I should just be stoked to land anything/be physically able to skate, but I'm way less motivated to go out
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This thread is reminding me of that magic that skating is at random times in a big space or a small little curb or flatground. -getting a personal success. Here's to getting a groove on. But no basically to answer the og question, I do think it stays fun but starts to hurt in unsettleling ways.
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I feel as though it is just as fun even though I am much more reserved in regards to trying shit that could likely end up in injury and not being able to do my job. When you are young those thoughts aren't applicable. I definitely appreciate more diverse skating than I did 15 years ago but I also think that's general consensus these days anyway.
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I'm in my late 20s, so I'm still young but I'm slowly getting up there in age. For a good couple of years I was only skating once every couple of weeks at most, and lost so many tricks. Everytime I'd get on a board I'd feel uncomfortable and have jello legs and it'd take me forever to warm up. It was really starting to get more frustrating than fun for me because of this. Recently though I've been trying to skate every day or every 1 to 3 days. These past few weeks or so I've been skating a lot and I got a huge chunk of my tricks back and am just feeling more comfortable on my board again in general. I haven't had this much fun skating in a while. It just feels so good.
I'd say skating does get more fun as you get older, because when you're older you just stop giving as much of a shit about all the things in skating that shouldn't even matter in the first place; like having to be on top of the latest trends or being better than your friends and treating it like it's a competition, etc.
Only thing that can make it frustrating or unfun is losing tricks and degressing with time, so my advice is just to do it as much as you can when you can. Youd be surprised how much you get back when you start skating on a frequent basis again. It's all still there, you just need time to get comfortable to it again.
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I'm 42 and still skate 5-6 days a week.
I learned to manage my time and plan my days so I can squeeze in an hour before work most every day.
I focus on fun stuff and personal progression on what I can do, and don;t stress about peer pressure of skating bigger stuff out of my range.
Street and parks, feeling healthy, eating right and mostly boring, but having way more fun now skating than I did in my 20's.
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Yeah I get you fam
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I am sure as we get older we just find new ways to entertain ourselves...I spent the last 2 years avoiding ollies and am just bombing hills , carvings pools/transitions, and cruising around the streets.
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Ima say it gets less fun, but more satisfying...?
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Ima say it gets less fun, but more satisfying...?
I suppose that would make sense, when I was younger you weren't skating unless you were throwing tre flips and hucking stairs. Nowdays I get excited about bombing hills, and sliding curbs/parking blocks.
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It will always be fun, and only be about fun for me, but I definitely pussed out on skateboarding and don't try gnarly stuff like I used to. I also weigh a lot more than I used to, so when I fall...I fall hard and it hurts twice as much. I've had quite a few fractures, dislocated my knee cap, permanent swellbow, and if I were to get seriously injured again and be out of work I'd become broke. Then I'd want to skate and forget about it all but I wouldn't be able to because I'd be partially handicapped. Being an adult sucks. As a kid you didn't have to worry about shit.
The plus side is being able to skate whenever and wherever you want, be more in tune with your board, yourself and what you're all about. Not having the trendy mindset of a kid, disconnecting and just skating pure and simple.
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Nothing gets better as you get older. Nothing.
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I'm having just as much fun as I ever have and I'm 38, with two kids, a mortgage and a pretty serious job.
I Still skate 3-4 times a week, although My skating has definitely changed over the years,
I don't jump down shit any more, but my tranny skills are better than ever.
Im still learning new tricks all the time and I don't really see myself slowing down.
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Nothing gets better as you get older. Nothing.
20 years old do :D
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Expand Quote
Nothing gets better as you get older. Nothing.
All right all right all right...
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I'm 25 and I feel like my adult brain is better at learning tricks than when I was a teenager. Like I can break them down step by step in my head better. I've prolly just been regular the whole time.
Really though, I think it's easier to devote time to things you wanna learn as you get older. I got a steady job, live with my girldfriend--still get out to skate 5-6 times a week and often it's the only exciting thing I do all day.
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Some of you young cats sound so old haha. I feel like I was still in my prime at 26. I didn't slow down until I started having kids. Out came the cruiser and with it went most of my tech shit. That's the worst thing about getting old (if you are decent) Is losing tricks.
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the bag of tricks shrinks but the appreciation grows.
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I am 14/15.
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the bag of tricks shrinks but the appreciation grows.
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You can learn so many tricks per year if your an og it's great, when I was young skating was all about doing it perfect and it took out half the skating. Now I land my classic tricks but can push the envelope so much farther with the methodology appreciation. I'll outskate anyone if I feel like it, in a way skateboarding is much like golf or chess
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when you are young, everything rules
when you get older you gotta deal with the shittiness of life, but skating still rules. so like, i dont know if I have more fun skating now than when I was young, but I still have a lot of fun and it beats work... so skating is more fun in relation to everything else, when you are older
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I don't know if it gets better, necessarily. I definitely started to appreciate it more once my life started to chill out and I got more settled into my adult life. I've been in a sling for a month due to a bum shoulder but I cannot wait to get a new board and get back out (the new deck is a motivation/stoke thing). I've also noticed that as you age a bit you start getting into other things that give you the same feelings as skateboarding, I got into cycling, and really into painting again. They give you more ways to feel that freedom and purpose that skating gives you, and with those things just like skateboarding you have to move with intention. Anyway, I love skating <3
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the bag of tricks shrinks but the appreciation grows.
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It absolutely does. I'm 24 and have been skating for 12 years. I learned switch frontside heelflips last month and that's pretty damn exciting.
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For me, yes. I'm about to turn 31, and am just starting to skate after two years off (I quit to "grow up," which is total bullshit. Skating is in me like I'm sure it is most of you. I could never really get it off my mind, and because it molded the person I am, I was incomplete.) Coming back, I've had just as much fun, if not more than ever. I don't care about trends, going pro, etc. It's all for me. Sure, things hurt a bit more, I'm balding, and I may have lost a little stamina, but I've definitely got some "grown man strength" these days. My style, trick selection and mental capabilities are also more developed. I've been pushing myself to progress, little by little. I'm lucky enough to still have my best bud to skate with, and just yesterday we were saying it feels like we're 16 again. I'll never stop again.
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I'm 37, and this year been skating more than ever in my life. Also been learning more new stuff than ever. I've consciously made some life choices that have enabled me to skate this much.
It's definitely more fun now than when I was a teen or even in my 20's. Mostly because I don't care anymore about the high school hierarchy that exists among skaters. When I was younger I didn't understand that treating people differently according to how cool they are is a sign of insecurity and weakness. I've never been that skillful at skating, so when I was younger I often took it to heart when I got the cool guy treatment.
Also, I've made friends who truly love and value skating as much as I do. As you get older the only people that are left are those that love skating for the right reasons. No more "Fuck skating, I finally got a girlfriend".
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The amount of fun I've gotten from the pure act of skateboarding has never really changed, I just experience the obvious differences between good days and bad days.
However skating in your 30s in the UK can definitely be a bummer. People definitely view it as strange and you have to deal with so much bullshit unrelated to actual skating at the parks. I have noticed it is way more fun when I take trips away other places. Japan in particular is a good place to be an older skater.
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personal success.
personal progression
new ways to entertain ourselves
I definitely started to appreciate it
these all kind of nailed it (so did others but i was lazy and didn't want to keep quoting people) .
i appreciate skating way more now than when i tried it when i was younger because i now skate for myself. I am not doing it to impress other people. i don't even like skating in front of other people. I work tricks for me and no one else. . as you get older opportunities to surprise yourself gets lower and lower, so landing something that seemed impossible to you less than six months ago is a great feeling. I've already conceded that i will never be great at skateboarding, so i don't get hung up when something does not come as easy to me as it does for other people. its also gotten a lot easier for me to be happy for other people without being jealous which can really bum out a skate day so that helps me enjoy it way more as well.
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When you're a young teen you're constantly stressing over trying to get good enough to get sponsored, but then later on in life you stress over real life worries, like bills to pay and supporting a family etc, so you eventually learn to appreciate the time you do have to go out and skate and the tricks that you are still capable of doing.
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way more fun for me at 31 years old. I skate occasionally, don't care what tricks I got, can cruise around a park, if i get a few tricks i'm beyond stoked. My bag of tricks is down to like a 50-50, Varial Flip, Nose slide, and Ollie.
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I'm 26 and writing this while laid up with my first major injury (fractured ankle...yes, while skating) and skating is even more important to me the older I get. It's been the one thing I can always depend on to get my head right and put a smile on my face for more than half of my life. It's the only thing I can say that about, really. Progression feels even more gratifying when it's on your own terms and I find that, aside from if you're lucky enough to have a few solid friends for 10+ years to still get out in the streets with, the people you meet/befriend who are closer to this age tend to be rad dudes skating for the right reasons as time seems to weed out any kookery.
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At 15 y/o: Skating was the cool thing to do, I didn't put in any effort and was basically a poser. I lived and breathed skating, but only because that's what all my friends were into.
At 22 y/o: I thought skating was in the past, I gave it up after partying and getting high became more important.
Now at 26: No one I know skates anymore, but I try to get out to cruise and mess around every day. I enjoy it more than I ever have before, I don't care about getting "good", I don't care about a "crew" or the "hang". I'll probably never stop again, since there's no childhood bullshit attached to it anymore. Its just a fun way to spend time.
Does anyone else think skating gets better as you grow? There's also stuff like: Buying shoes, decks, etc.. isn't a big deal since you have money, and wandering around a city all day is more comfortable as an adult.
Completely similar story on my end. From 13 til I was about 18 skating was my life. Gradually my friends either got into drugs or other interests, or were way too competitive. I decided at 19 that it stopped being fun, and focused on other things. About a year ago I picked up my old board and just tried to see if I could roll, ollie, shuvit, and Like that the spark came back.
I'm 28 now, I have no friends that skate or even friends that used to skate. I work maybe 60 hrs a week, and am in grad school full time. I can still allocate maybe 20 min to one hour of skating every other day and that's good enough for me. I'm relearning things, and there's no pressure, no politics, no anxiety. I'm finally understanding the concept of skating cause it's fun. That's something I hope to never lose.
The downside is I have noone to skate with. All my old friends are either in jail, smacked out, or too busy with life to session. (So if anyone wants to skate in the Houston clear lake area, let me know!).
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32. Skateboarding is still amazing. I've been skating for 21 years, just learned crooked grinds. I've done them before, but never really learned them, if that makes sense. It took a week or so but I'm starting to get them on lock. No one should be impressed by that, but I'm stoked!
I think part of why skateboarding is even better now is that as I get older learning tricks themselves seem less intimidating, and probably because of all the reasons listed already. There's no pressure, I'm not going to get sponsored, there are no windows closing.
Well...there is more pain as you get older. I'm not jumping down much. That's mostly my fault though, if I could tell young bloods anything it'd be to take care of your fucking injuries! Let yourself heal now so that shit doesn't still hurt in 15 years.
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The older I got, the more I became associated with dudes "in" the local scene and dudes trying to get sponsors. Shit got really cool guy'd and about being good and stacking clips. While I had some of the best times of my life during this period, a lot of that shit takes the fun out of even just going to the park on a week day evening.
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Was never really good when I was in my teens. Started when I was 12 and learnt 50-50s when I was 18 lol. Then I broke my leg and once I could skate again I just took off. Now I'm 21 and better than most of the kids I grew up skating with. I guess it's just what you make of it as time goes on.
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Physically it gets tougher and requires more body maintenance. But mentally it gets better because there's less pressure on you from both others and yourself, and you appreciate more being able to do it at all. Also, your concentration gets a little better when you're older so you can really focus on landing a trick. I love the feeling of just skating fast and doing little ollies, 180s and powerslides. I've always had difficulty with anything backside but I'm finally getting comfortable doing backside 180s and I'm almost 37 years old, which is kind of surprising. When you're older you can really appreciate small victories like that.
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im 19 now and trying new tricks and shit more often than i ever have. not sure what got into me as of recent, but i guess i just wanted to improve. first 9-10 years of skating i never really learned too much, but hey i still had fun. now though i guess i am just really challenging myself to learn something new each week, at least over the summer. but to answer your question, for me yes it has become a hell of a lot more fun.
I can relate to this being 21, for the first 6 years of skateboarding i just practiced basic flat ground and kick flips and a couple tricks down a 5 stair, i partied to hard for a year and a half and forgot about my skateboard, now I've been back for 2 years or so and have been learning a couple new tricks a week as well as now i have a whole group of friends to skate with that i've met through the local shops, definitely more fun now but my body doesn't require to much maintenance at this age
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No it does not. Nothing beats when you have some homies to skate with and you're hitting spots skating well into the night. Those are my best memories. As we get older most skaters quit.
I'm 45 now, and more than likely done. I mean I love skating with my kids and that is the most fun that I have, but the "vibe" of skating is not there when I have so many other things to worry about. The injuries pile up, the will to go out and skate slows down, you're alone in the pursuit most likely. I mean Instagram and stuff is nice cause there's some other old fucks out there hitting in hard.
But yeah man, it gets harder, you lose tricks, you get scared, you get injured (and recovery is WAY longer when you age). Hopefully you develop other things that you are into but there's not many that give you the same satisfaction.
I'm jealous of the guys who are still out there killing it. I'm pretty much done, but I still pay attention. Just can't do it anymore and was never really all that good to begin with. Same with basketball unfortunately.
I've had a great life so far, my memories from long ago are cherished and I'm a better person for having experienced skateboarding when I was young and had homies.
Keep the wheels down fellas, keep fighting the fight.
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Learning how to manage your time like someone mentioned earlier is real important. Havin a job and skating is easy, havin a wife and skating aint that bad, havin a newborn kid n the mix though is kinda tough but I make do n skate 3-5 times a week.
Havin the most fun I've ever had right now as a 33yr old grown ass man personally. There were a few years I was a tech dog, some years skatin gnarly gaps n rails, there was 2 years where I skated nothing but bowls and miniramps, another year where I skated nothing but bombing mountain hills, and the past 10 years have been riding a road bike around and hitting up all sorts of good and crappy spots in and out of my bubble.
Basically now, I'm well rounded an comfortable skating many things nowadays. Like someone else said get a cruiser too, get all fucked up n go bomb hills, how can that not be fun?
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no...not at all.
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In my experience it's just always been the best thing ever, getting old and all. The shittiest part is when your body just starts failing on you because of age. I'm 40 now, right around 38 I injured my adductor pretty bad (the motion of sucking up your back leg on a kickflip felt like searing burning metal every time) and so I just surfed around and worked on manual tricks while it healed. It was actually one of the best things that happened because it forced me into skating shit out of my comfort zone. Since then I have a friend who's also a personal trainer come over once a week to work on staying strong and flexible, and she can actually see how fucked my legs are. I'm pre switch kids so I got a giant left calf and a giant, twisted right thigh. Keeping up with that shit and the fact that my homie put me on a skate every day insta challenge for this year has made it pretty easy to have some fun.
Over the years it's been fucking amazing but a lot of that has to do with your mental state, program yourself to have fun, understand that you're gonna have some bad days in order to have good ones, and be thankful that your body will let you do such a rad thing.
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Gonna disagree. I think my favorite age was the teenage skaterat era. I was just getting good enough to really try some difficult and gnarly stuff, and it was all still new and fresh. There were no distractions like jobs, booze, or girl problems (at least not as a teenage skateboarder in the midwest back in the 90's), it was all about the next new first and skating whenever possible with my friends who felt the same. I skated my first handrail, dropped in on vert for the first time, and had so many other firsts during that time. We'd kick the shit out of ourselves and wake up the next morning without even the slightest hint of soreness, and nobody had some nagging injury that would just randomly start acting up. Now pretty much everybody I know has a bad knee, ankle, or hip that does that.
For the record, I still think skateboarding is still far better than whatever is distantly second to it, but I see a group of teen skaterats cruising down the street, and I'm jealous as hell.
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Seems like opinions are pretty much split down the middle.. Maybe it depends a lot on what your youth was like/how good you were.
More boring teenage years, or not being good = Happy old man skating
Tons of youthful fun and gnarly skating = Sad old man skating
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Older isn't early 30s. (that's a good thing, remember)
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I'm gonna be an Eeyore as well. The beginning was the most fun to me: loosening the trucks for the first time one month in, eating shit while trying to ollie up curbs. Learning to skate bowls a few years later, starting with barely being able to drop in, was another highlight.
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i'm 30 now. it hurts much more, recovering from a hard session can take up to two days depending on if these days are off days or workdays. skating is still fun and i feel there is still some progress happening. keeping up pop is hard for me and my feet are busted, so sometimes the only way to skate is doing slappies or skating transition.
when i was twentyfive i just had kneepain and ankleproblems. by now my feet are often mad sore after long sessions, both knees are chronically busted, my back has started to ache and i actually lost weight and musclemass. as i said skating is still fun, but i have to admit i feel like i'm kind of fading out...
like the physical act is still very enjoyable, if not very painful, but my biggest problem is probably that i have started to hate hanging around with other skaters. it's probably because i'm burnt out by skateboard culture after 20 years. i'm not even bitter or thinking everything was better way back when, but i feel like for myself i lost the curiosity and general stoke level. there are some things that will probably never change in skating, for better or worse.
so i wouldn't say it's better or worse, it went from something that was once easier on the body and more social to more noticeably harmful, pnishing and solitary. like alcoholism or something. like an alcoholic, i still need to skate. i don't necessarily enjoy it all the time, but i would feel worse if i wouldn't be able to.
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we chose a hobby where being over 29 makes you "old"...
what the fuck is wrong with us?
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Probably depends on the person. If your focus is just on tricks and not on the movement skating allows, you may get frustrated the older you get. I was never a great skateboarder and never really had a good amount of tricks, and would find myself getting down on myself when I'd skate the park and I was the 40 year old guy doing slash grinds and shitty ollies on a 4 ft qp. I just remembered that I'm a 43 year old, overweight dude just trying to have some fun in between real life. Pretty much what 144p said, focus on having fun at whatever your abilities allow (and push it further when you want) and stay happy and healthy.
Bob Lake has it figured out.
Bob Lake Pacifica Dec 1st (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpw90VBK-x0#)
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Less fun as I've gotten older. I've lost all my tricks other then pressure flips and it hurts way more then it used to as a younger man. Strangely I've gotten better at surfing as I've gotten older. I'm also better looking now and much more fit.
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when I grow up I wanna skate like bob lake
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short answer; no
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Anyone have more info on that Bob Lake dude's history in skateboarding? I stumbled upon his instagram awhile back and was blown away at his style in the pool. Quite possibly the best I've ever seen and that beard helps too.
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Nothing gets better as you get older. Nothing.
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I've noticed that the older I get
the less I care
the more I skate
the more fun I have.
Long live skateboarding!
Lost a lot of friends, but skating is always there..
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The actual act of riding a skateboard? It never gets worse and it never gets better because it's always been the best and it always will be.
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It's still fun when I actually do it unless it's spot chasing. I don't sit around and try a trick for an hour straight anymore nor do I have the time to. My body feeling old sucks though the next day. There is just fewer people to session with. I've been skating with the same person occasionally for 20+ years. It's obviously more fun back in the day when you can string together a bunch of tricks in a row but I don't miss getting broke off trying shit. To not skate for over a month and be able to ollie up a curb and still do super long manuals will never get old. That's pretty much all I don't want to lose when I'm like 50.
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I always thought I'd surf (my second love) more by this age but its been the reverse. Now I'm 41 I love skateboarding more than ever. I never stopped but had some dark periods in my 20s as I was still in the mode of putting pressure on myself. I had a kid when I was 30 and just decided to chill the fuck out and do what I want with skateboarding, since then its been gravy. Injuries are challenging for sure but I feel like I'm still progressing. I just skate differently. I'm not going to waste hours trying to land one flip trick or take risks on gaps and rails. I mostly skate parks, weird tight transitions and low impact street stuff but I feel like I spent my youth doing the more high risk shit so now its time to refine my style and 'perfect' some of the classics. Did a 360 flip into a hill bomb the other day. Fucking stoked.
My golden rule is, if a spot or trick isn't happening that particular day, I just move on to the next thing. Fuck pressuring myself. Too much of that in real life.
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People who suck cause there old will get mad if you want to skate flatground.
this is the greatest quote
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Back when I was younger the "lifestyle" aspect of skateboarding was a lot more fun. I would skate downtown all night with my homie and we would just see and get into crazy shit. Back then we didn't have a skatepark and I wasn't very good at the "sport" of skateboarding, but it really gave me some great life experiences.
Now that I'm older (I'm only about to be 28) my friend I used to skate downtown with all night has kids, legal and financial problems so he doesn't skate much anymore. There are other dudes who are all about skating street but they take skateboarding more seriously than I do and there's not really anyone else that's on that vibe of just aimlessly wandering around the city without an agenda.
On the positive side the actual act of just riding a skateboard probably has never felt better. We have a skatepark now and I go there a lot, as a result I've never felt more "connected" to my board and am now actually decent at doing tricks. I'm pretty unhappy with how my "adult" life has so far turned out so skating now has so much more impact to me as a therapeutic device.
Lately though, I've been wrestling with smoking weed and skateboarding. I've been trying to smoke less weed in order to be less apathetic about completing responsibilities which could lead to some sort of financial success. However, it's just way harder now to enjoy skateboarding without being high. I have knee pain which I can't really ignore when sober, and also when sober and skating I have worries about responsibilities in the back of my head like "shouldn't be skating, should be doing this work shit I don't really want to do."
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I put all the skating stuff on hold for around ten years in my 30s while I did had some attempts at being a grown up.
Now myself and a bunch of old mates, some who skated the whole time, have reunited and are having more fun than ever.
You just have to be realistic, thats all. And be totally conscious of the fact that stepping out of your safety zone usually ends up in tragedy.
I am a 41 year old skate rat and this is my story.
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I don't know if it gets "better", but you certainly gain a larger appreciation for intricacies of the act. It's a cliche, but there is definitely a profound genuine joy in the "little things".
It most definitely as fun as it always was, as skating is bar none the greatest physical art form in existence.
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im 21 and feel like even i get judged by a lot of people for being "too old" for it...
id rather have a hobby like skating in my life than be one of the millions of boring ass dudes who have no hobby besides drinking. hopefully i can keep getting better as i get older (grew up surfing picked up skating at like 11 or 12 but never took it seriously, was just a summer thing when the oceans flat and crowded). my hats off to all you 35+ guys still going strong.
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im 21 and feel like even i get judged by a lot of people for being "too old" for it...
id rather have a hobby like skating in my life than be one of the millions of boring ass dudes who have no hobby besides drinking. hopefully i can keep getting better as i get older (grew up surfing picked up skating at like 11 or 12 but never took it seriously, was just a summer thing when the oceans flat and crowded). my hats off to all you 35+ guys still going strong.
I've never in my life given a second thought to other people's perceptions of anything I do.. however, I definitely feel this way lately too.
The thing is if you carry yourself in a respectable manner, and speak eloquently, or even halfway intelligent you've already conquered a large portion of the ignorant mindset of those who may judge you based off of activities you choose to partake in.
There is a innate freedom in the act of skating. The majority of people living the average life allow themselves to become mired in a monotonous societal norm. There is nothing worse than become what, or being what anyone else thinks you should be. The fact that by skating you shed yourself of at least some of the burden of normalcy should instill a sense of empowerment.
Plus skate fashion is considered rather quite trendy at the moment. So at the very least you may get some girl's looking in your direction. Something that wasn't exactly always the case.
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For me skateboarding is better than ever. There are more spots and parks than ever. I'm financially stable and can afford proper gear whenever I need it. Obviously friends whom I started skating with have focused on other life commitments, some rather spend cash on drinking, so I don't have a steady crew to skate with, but in the city there are spots where someone is usually skating, so I just tag along with whoever is there and have made some new acquaintances.
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I'm 27 and I'm in a period where it's not so fun. Previous injuries and wear and tear are finally starting to catch up with me and I'm realizing there's a lot of stuff I'll just never be able to do again which sucks. I also had to move back home and there's no spots or people to skate with so that's a bummer. I know it'll come back around again eventually so I'm not worried but I know it'll never be the same so I guess I'm in sort of a mourning period for the young skater in me that died and now I have to start over in a way. Started skating tranny a few years ago so trying to get better at that is keeping me stoked.
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It's hard for me to go skate by myself anymore. Tricks seem to come easier when a couple of friends are around.
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^ I can relate.
I avoid skating solo, because then I can get obsessed with one trick, and then it's a buzzkiller.
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A lot of the time I'm bummed that I can't do X or Y anymore but if I land something that I haven't been able to do for a while then I'm ecstatic and extremely grateful, more so than when I had stuff on lock.
I don't think it gets any better after 30 but you still have some high notes here and there if you're lucky.
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To not skate for over a month and be able to ollie up a curb and still do super long manuals will never get old. That's pretty much all I don't want to lose when I'm like 50.
One of my favorite things to do on a skateboard; finding some weird pad,(whether its super long or it's curved and you gotta do a u-turn back around or its zigzagged or it's downhill or uphill) and just seeing if you can manual the whole thing and make it til the end.
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Comparing fun now to memories of having fun then isn't the same as comparing fun now to having fun then
So making the first comparison won't tell you the truth of the second.
But kid me thought his fun was so great that memories of his fun would sustain me through the costs of his fun - whatever grades, grumbly knees, usual garbage
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My skating was better when I was 15. Also better feelings - but this is just me..
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I'm in my late 20s, so I'm still young but I'm slowly getting up there in age. For a good couple of years I was only skating once every couple of weeks at most, and lost so many tricks. Everytime I'd get on a board I'd feel uncomfortable and have jello legs and it'd take me forever to warm up. It was really starting to get more frustrating than fun for me because of this. Recently though I've been trying to skate every day or every 1 to 3 days. These past few weeks or so I've been skating a lot and I got a huge chunk of my tricks back and am just feeling more comfortable on my board again in general. I haven't had this much fun skating in a while. It just feels so good.
I'd say skating does get more fun as you get older, because when you're older you just stop giving as much of a shit about all the things in skating that shouldn't even matter in the first place; like having to be on top of the latest trends or being better than your friends and treating it like it's a competition, etc.
Only thing that can make it frustrating or unfun is losing tricks and degressing with time, so my advice is just to do it as much as you can when you can. Youd be surprised how much you get back when you start skating on a frequent basis again. It's all still there, you just need time to get comfortable to it again.
this is what i say to my old skater friends who are looking to get back in the game. its not going to be much fun until you commit to skate frequently. then it will be more fun than it was when we were kids.
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I'm close to 41. Skating now is almost exclusively on transition. In my formative years I really liked the technical aspect of skateboarding. I rarely flip my board these days(I broke my ankle several years ago)...I just don't have the same reaction time any more. I used to be bummed that I could no longer do tricks that I once had on lock. I eventually came to terms with those limitations...and soon discovered that there was a shit ton of tricks that I had never done on transition(that didn't involve having to flip my board)...allowing me access to my dopamine-fix. TBH, I often find tricks really easy to learn...I'm not sure if it's muscle memory or just "knowing" the science of skateboarding...?
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No, because it was never fun to start with.
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I go out skating and it's very hard for me to just relax with my current level of skill, which is just a notch above terrible. As soon as I step on my board, I start stressing about the tricks I'm no longer able to do, or the fact that my ollie is so gimped, and the joy is immediately sucked out of the experience. I wish I could just be OK with cruising around, hopping up and down curbs, but it seems like I'm unable to separate the urge I had as a youth to excel and "get tricks" with the reality of being nearly 42 years old, overweight, and simply not able to do what I used to do.
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I go out skating and it's very hard for me to just relax with my current level of skill, which is just a notch above terrible. As soon as I step on my board, I start stressing about the tricks I'm no longer able to do, or the fact that my ollie is so gimped, and the joy is immediately sucked out of the experience. I wish I could just be OK with cruising around, hopping up and down curbs, but it seems like I'm unable to separate the urge I had as a youth to excel and "get tricks" with the reality of being nearly 42 years old, overweight, and simply not able to do what I used to do.
Ride more tranny!
No seriously! A friend built the best ramp. Sessions are like the band getting back together...
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I never post on here but as a 42 year old who is just okay at best I would say the answer is yes.
Of course it can be frustrating sometimes knowing how much you have lost and are no longer able to do but after a certain age you also stop caring about "how good you are" compared to others around you. Your little victories feel just as good. Hell, just the fact that you can still skate feels like a victory.
I like hanging out with guys that are a little bit younger than me and slightly better than me, because that pushes me into trying stuff, but nothing too crazy.
As a lot of others have said, the secret is transition. Carve the big stuff and work on lip tricks on the little stuff.
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I'm almost 30 and this year I was trying to make it a point to skate every weekend. So far I've probably skated 20 times. It's so crazy how quickly life passes by. A small obligation on a Friday night can mean I'm too lazy to skate Saturday, or a rainy day off means I don't skate for 2 weeks. I could go find an empty parking lot and skate alone during the week but by 7pm when I get home I am worn out from work and ready to unwind. I think if we had a nice park nearby I'd go at least 3 times a week, right now I'm limited to the local DIY spot on weekend mornings before it gets super crowded.
On the other side of the coin, I have been skating better this year than the last few. The more I skate, the more comfortable I feel. It's actually shocking what a difference it makes to skate once a week vs once a month. I know I'll be sore until Wednesday but it's a good sore. I liked these threads, I'll definitely be skating this weekend.
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Gay I think that tricks hang around as long as they want to and when they go it's only to make room for some other little trick. Also a 'trick' can be anything. If you feel uninspired smoke some weed and try again. New approaches are the biggest catalysts. And for me personally i used to skate bowls on the side but have quit that compleatly. That shit is way too gnar.
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To whoever said you either had a lame young era and a cool older era or vice versa, again I disagree. Skating then was the best, skating now is the second best, everything else sucks and can go to hell.
Also, ive totally skated with that guy Bob. He's a shredder for sure and I'm pretty sure has been at it since the 70's. He lives in SF and has a sick VW bus.
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NO IT DOESN'T! After 27 years just as fun as always. Me on the other hand, I am less fun. I'm only interesting because I used to be interesting, I'm only good at skating because I used to be good. See you out there tomorrow.
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as I got older it actually had more fun skating by myself...on some zen mullen type shit
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I had more fun when I was younger, but appreciate it more now.....you can't beat that time when you first get hooked....
Tricks and stuff.....if you stick around long enough and stay in shape...you can go from a bad skater to a mediocre old skater....
i dont try too hard because I don't want to get bummed or hurt....I do try to skate a bunch though because I know it doesn't last forever and I never want to feel like I didn't skate enough....
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I'm 32, been skating for 16 years. My body is older now, i'm heavier, i get sore faster, my knees are getting rusty, i need 30 minutes of warming up before i can properly pop an ollie.
But then, landing a trick feels exactly as it did when i was 16. In that sense, skating is like an open door to my younger years, and it really feels awesome.
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skating for 14 years now..
I skate alone most 90% of the time
I like my skating now more than ever. I don't get upset when I can't do a trick, I just move on to something else. There's no pressure to do anything other than what I put on myself. I definitely wear out faster and have to take more care of myself before and after sessions with stretching, yoga, ice, whatever, but I think it's totally worth it.
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Not sure if it's because I'm older or just been subjected to an interest in skating for a while but the clear difference that's happened to me is being more interested in seeing it as an art form ie what are cool/uncool tricks, if I showed my 12 year old self kevin rodrigues footage I prob wouldn't really understand it and now I worship the guy
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So to answer your question more interest = more fun
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38. Losing my ability gradually through not being able to skate so much as I have young kids under 3 to look after and a job to do. But I still love it as much as ever when I actually get out there - even just skating to the shops and such. Very rare that I get to a park now!
I do miss the times I was young and skating with all of my mates though, they were fucking great ;D
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I'm 28 and started up skating again, its like riding a bike. My new 'old man' rules: flat-ground only, flip tricks sparingly. I landed this the other day... https://www.instagram.com/p/BIDz6GPjBy5/ (https://www.instagram.com/p/BIDz6GPjBy5/)
It's still fun to skate and I had a memorable skate times like 4-5 years ago with some friends (to add to the classic times when I was like 13-14). When I was a kid I only had the 411vm VHS tape "the first step" video to go on for learning skate tricks so... kinda different now with the unlimited videos online.
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Lake is an 80s pro(?) I remember "lake" skateboards I think. Nightmare model was his? I dunno.
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Lake is an 80s pro(?) I remember "lake" skateboards I think. Nightmare model was his? I dunno.
Sounds about right, I keep picturing him padded up in bright colors.
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Im 40 years old. I've been skateboarding since 1987. I've broken both ankles. My right ankle 3 times, my left ankle twice. I've rolled them both too many times to even remember. I've broken my right fibula (leg) once. I've broken two ribs, a finger, and a toe. I've had 3 knee surgeries. My left knee once, my right knee twice. Both were arthroscopic and lateral releases on both knee caps. My knees hurt constantly. Still. It's hard to sit long, stand long, run, smash doggy style, skip, unicycle, windmill, moonwalk, and jump rope. Every day is a reminder of the fucking physical abuse I've put my body thru in the nearly 30 years I've skated. And I still skate, regardless of the pain.
I wouldn't change ANYTHING.
Yes, for me, it keeps getting better.
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I'm 35 now and I've been at it for 20 years.
One thing that has changed for me is that I don't feel the pressure to get better anymore. I used to beat myself up endlessly over not being able to do a trick. Nowadays I just do what I can do and enjoy it. So in that sense yes, it is more fun than it used to be because the pressure is gone.
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The battle between your conscious and subconscious minds becomes increasingly more difficult. Instincts start to kick in and your legs just won't let yourself huck your body down things as easy.
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Fun as in I Ollie up on a ledge now and my 'roid pops out and rides shotgun on my ass until I pop it back in. I want preparation H to sponsor
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Slamming hurts more.
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I've shifted to low impact ledges, flat rails, and manuals as I've aged. I used to skate gaps and rails mostly because that's the era I'm from, but I've found that my style is a lot better now and I am learning new things at a faster pace than I used to. I think that's a mindset thing though. As far as fun, I stopped having fun when I was like 28.