Epiphanies that helped your skateboarding

[I-am-12]

You don't come out of the bowl / go above your board and coping for a rock and roll.

If you pump up, sit backseat, and focus on getting your rear trucks as close to the coping as possible, you'll end up doing a MASSIVE, super stylish rock and roll.

[type]

Dont fight the switch, go with it

[JM]

I cant tell you how much… actually yes i can…

skating sub 8” boards, you’re naturally always going to be on your toes if you line up with the edge of the board for ollies.

On more than 8.25” and up, there’s more chance of being more “flat footed” if your toes are aligned with the edge of the board.

So just scooting your toes back from the edge, you will be on your toes again to pop fat ollies again.

Watch out Tiago, I’m coming for yah.

[rocklobster]

Less (power) is more (control)

Been spending more time on my warm up just focusing on popping proper ollies, can't bone them out yet but just lofty and leveled. It's taken me a long time to in internalize that a solid ollie is more about timing, drag and lifting the back foot than popping harder - overcoming 20 years of poor form takes time!

2 things that are gradually  helped correct my ollie
- a friend pointing out that I was dragging very slowly while popping disproportionally hard, resulting in a height but rocket
- I started observing where the the grip was wearing on a fresh coat of Shoe Goo. In the past it used to be near the tip, around the 2nd or 3rd toe, now its more side on around the little toe area to get a solid drag parallel to my forward momentum

[JM]

Less (power) is more (control)

Been spending more time on my warm up just focusing on popping proper ollies, can't bone them out yet but just lofty and leveled. It's taken me a long time to in internalize that a solid ollie is more about timing, drag and lifting the back foot than popping harder - overcoming 20 years of poor form takes time!

2 things that are gradually  helped correct my ollie
- a friend pointing out that I was dragging very slowly while popping disproportionally hard, resulting in a height but rocket
- I started observing where the the grip was wearing on a fresh coat of Shoe Goo. In the past it used to be near the tip, around the 2nd or 3rd toe, now its more side on around the little toe area to get a solid drag parallel to my forward momentum

A good, level, knees-sucked ollie is a fine craft indeed

[IUTSM]

 Its about breathing

Breathe in approaching the trick or obstacle, exhale on the pop. Ive got awful focus and blink a lot. bringing mindfulness into the trick has gone a very long ways. As soon as i remember to do that while skating, i start landing most things im trying. Its been huge

[signtime]

Here's a different one that changed everything for me.
Skateboarding is a million times easier when you're not super depressed. Your mental health can take all your skate skills away faster than you could ever imagine.
So care about yourself first instead of getting super frustrated when skating doesn't work either. Take a break.

Mmhmm mmhmm. My greatest skate epiphany was that the feeling we experience when we skate is us manifesting LOVE into the world. Made me feel a sense of purpose again in my life and skating. Joy and fun and friendships made me a better skater than practice alone ever could.

[MetalAnkleMan]

"Missing one day is better than missing 3 months" - MetalAnkleMan

I have a habit of forcing myself to skate, I often skate with a headache or something obviously wrong with my body. Over time I've learned if you're not on point that day to skate...you open up the door to injury.

Listen to your body

I have rolled my ankle 3 times in the past year. 2 times I had food poisoning and 1 time I had a headache.

3 months is my average turnaround time for recovery.

Missing one day of skating will always be better than being out for 3 months.

[Chickenparmesan]

Expand Quote

Two epiphanies over the past 3 years...

There is more than one type of 'pop'.  There's the ankle-flick ollie 'pop', and there is the foot, tail and ground all make solid contact with each other at the same time 'pop'.  I discovered the latter when learning properly caught front shoves that rotate underneath you.  I never did understand @silhouette's tip for front shoves (pop straight down) until I started popping them like this.  Watch Tom Asta's front shove, his is text book 'foot, tail and ground making solid contact at the same time' pop.  This pop type opens up v heels, hard flips, impossibles and probably a fuck ton more rotational flip tricks.

The other seems patently obvious, but I have just properly internalised the fact that if your board lands behind you, you are leaning too far forward when you pop.  If it lands ahead of you, you are leaning too far back when you pop.  Etc etc... Basically, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, it's so simple it's stupid.

[close]

damn i'm trying to learn how to keep front shoves under me more, can you expand on this or point me towards a clip that explains?

all the clips i see of front shoves is the pop foot and ankle flicking it towards the nose diagonally, not directly down like you are saying

My FS pop shuvs are all in the popping foot. Get the front foot outta the way, start between an Ollie/kickflip position, and just get it up away from the board as you pop. Pop hard and slightly scoop with that back foot right smack in the middle of your tail. Suck up your legs and wait to catch. Hope this helps

I can’t remember who but someone gave a trick tip on the nine club once and it worked 1000%. I don’t even watch the show just needed background noise. Good luck