Slowing down

[Xen]

41 here. Curbs.. Actually love the curb revival. Low impact and fun as fuck. That said I'd give my left nut to be 20 again.

Truth. The lower impact shit is still fun but man I miss hucking myself and not being wiped for a week after a few hard slams. 17-23 were the best years.

Getting old sucks. But like Indy said, "It's not that the years, honey. It's the mileage." Mentally we're all there, it's just getting the body to get be as quick and flexible these days.

[ChasingCars]

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41 here. Curbs.. Actually love the curb revival. Low impact and fun as fuck. That said I'd give my left nut to be 20 again.

[close]

Curbs are the way to go. I always sucked but I somewhat blame the equipment but mostly the lack of places to skate when I was young (the eighties). Constantly in fear of getting arrested doesn’t leave much opportunity to learn tricks in any spot other than your driveway. I stopped skating in college other than in-line (yeah I know it’s lame). Hurt my back badly at 25 and spent ten years trying to rehab before I had surgery to fix it. Started skating again around 39 and broke my shoulder not bailing correctly. Healed up now and starting once again. I can ollie higher than most of the kids but that is about it. Exercise and diet improve your life and help keep you skating but after the surgery and broken shoulder my confidence keeps me from doing anything I am not totally comfortable with. At 42 my goal is to learn all the basic flip tricks and shuvits and just have fun. That way I can build confidence and keep skating for a long time. To answer the OP’s question, I felt a real slow down this past year. Your mind may be trick you into thinking you are 15 sometimes but your body reminds you are not.

[HugeBodBoyle]

Just turned 44 last month. Learned front blunts on a quarter and krooks on a knee high ledge before I got to 44.

The only thing that really slows me down right now is the oppressive heat in the south. It's fucking brutal right now. Other than that, I just watch Suciu videos and get hyped to skate because I missed it so much.

Next up for me is 50/50'ing the hubba at the park.

[Sundaynuggets]

39 here. I stopped skating from 21-35 or something so I missed slowing down in skating during that time but experienced it in a competitive sport during that same time frame.

The noticeable slowing down happened between 28-33ish. Mostly I noticed a decrease in the amount of intense physical activity I could sustain each week. I also noticed I needed an increasing amount of recovery time between sessions and I’ve been requiring more sleep and a cleaner diet than I used to. During that time I was starting to get injured more often, but the diet/recovery combined with lifting a couple times a week put a stop to that.

I still do my sport full time for a living, though not competitively any more, skate 4-5 times a week and lift twice a week. I really have to be on top of my sleep, diet and lifting to keep all that going but as long as I do that I still progress in skating and my sport without burn out and injury.

[Bobbybanana]

 First summer in 15 years I’ve been over the board. Just been shooting hoops or skimboarding lol

[John Florence]

34 here. Skating most days and better than ever, but I also need to go to the gym and stretch now, which is not very fun. I also need to watch what I drink and eat more than I use to. I feel grateful everytime I step on my board and  my body feels good, I had a lot of injuries in my life and I always think it could be the last time so I try to make the most of the session.
My advice:
  1/ short sessions, skating really hard for an hour instead of skating all afternoon and being sore the next days.
  2/ speed doesn't make you fall harder, if anything you slam behind the obstacle which is safer.
  3/ forget about pop, skateboarding managed without pop for decades and it was fine.
  4/ drink loads of water all the time, gym stretch etc...become that guy you would have hated few years ago.

[rawr1922]

Right around 19/20 I was having fun and skating decent, but that’s when I got into the gnarly, gnarly drugs so that little burst faded fast. Spent the next 15 years too drunk and high to do anything resembling good skating. Got my shit together in my mid-30’s

Damn this exactly what happened to me. Lost many years due to partying. My life's not as fun anymore however it's better

[KoRnholio8]

Almost 33 here and I believe we can still progress physically at this point. Lets assume you have a limited number of hours per week for all physical activities (less than 7 hours per week maybe?) and that you need to train your endurance as well as power/strength and of course your skateboarding skills.

1. Dynamic stretching for warmup.
2. You probably have a smaller bag of trick but make it consistent. If you do, combos will provide you with enough variety for skateboarding to feel fun for many more years.
3. For me, trying to skate like Tiago is my goal. Proper speed, a bit tech but no circusy, equal amount of switch, and trying to pop as high as I can. It just feels good to have explosive power when you get older. No jumping down shit and progress like PROD - little steps, no unnecessary risks. Tranny skating is reserved for 40+.
4. Avoid injury at all costs - rebounding after a proper injury will take a lot of time and rehab will be even longer.
5. After your body starts to feel drained at the end of the session, stop with hard tricks or skateboarding all together. To grow muscle etc. continue with jump rope or sprints, box jumps etc. until you can't even (training until failure). Eat some protein after.
6. Static stretching after? Haven't come this far yet, but probably should.

Skateboarding can also be a crazy cardio workout - find a big flatground lot and do as many (simple) tricks in quick succession, either over (smallish) obstacles or just on flat. Then do sets of those and you will improve your endurance and your skateboarding skills. You will feel the burn for sure and HR will spike.

[SonictheHedgehog]

I feel like I jinxed myself because I progressed until about my 29th birthday. I figured I was golden past 25, but the past couple of years have been frustrating on the board. I have, however, been filming a lot more.

[Willie]

I needed more downtime when I got near 30 and it seemed like gaps and big ollies were harder but that might have been mostly due to neglect and skating a lot of transition.

A few months into 40 everything was still going swell and I was skating really well. Then I tweaked my back and knee and nothing has been the same since.

[El Nugjar]

18-24 was prime, then life started to catch up at 25 with work and shit. Turning 30 I feel better on my board now then I did at 25, but the body doesn’t. Been doing yoga for the past few months which has help tremendously with my back and legs. Have started to learn new tricks again. Always figured I’d just stop skating street and start skating more tranny as I got older like a lot of people do but it wrecks my body, so I’ve come to the conclusion that techy type shit on manual pads and ledges is less impact and surprisingly more fun for me now than ever before. Dirty 30.

[radcunt]

The late 20s / early 30s slump aint no joke.  I used to be terrified of not wanting to try on my board, now i'm just stoked to be getting anything, and it's as enjoyable as it was when I was a teenager.  Weird, but that's life babyyyy

[Coco Santiagos Kitten]

37. Used to be decent. Got old and fat. Fell off. Drank too much. Started eating better, stretching, and drinking less. Now I'm skating better than I have in years. Jumping down big shit is over for me and good riddance.

[arrbee]

Turn 33 in a month and a half. Skating feels better now than ever. I think it has something to do with appreciating the time I get to do it now. Before wife and kids I would get off work, meet up with the crew, bounce from spot to spot, try to film something, probably not get it, hit the bar.

Now I get like 2-4 hours a week. It's pretty regimented, Tuesday's and Thursday's for an hour or two after work. occasionally I'll get a weekend session. I leave it all out at the park/spot. I am non stop the whole time I am there. No crew, no time to waste bouncing spot to spot. I'm more productive in my time now. My consistency has gone through the roof, I think this is because I don't land a trick and then sit down for 10 minutes. Feel much more confident skating a handrail now than I did in my "prime" oddly. I still can't jump down shit but maybe that'll come next.

Also have a better attitude now, through my 20's I would let dumb shit take me out like I'd break a lace or some dumb shit and if I didn't have a back up lace I would call it a day. Looking back at all the time I wasted I could have done something with is mind blowing.

[Billy Bitchcakes]

i'm 30 and my confidence has gone down the absolute toilet. i work in a skatepark so still skate most days and am still learning but whenever i want to try something remotely scary my brain just does all it can to try and stop me. i guess it's from losing the motivation to chase that feeling as i've gotten older. i stare down a handrail and even though i want to do it the voice in my head just says "you could try it and you might not get hurt, or you could not bother and you definitely won't get hurt." annoyingly that voice wins the argument a lot of the time. anyone had this problem and got through it? any advice?

[50mm]

30 here. About a month ago I ordered a deck cause I hadn't really skated in about a year. I was waiting for my board to get delivered that week, so I rode for like 5 minutes and focus the old one because it's done and I gotta get the trucks off anyways. Break the middle, then the tail, go for the nose and roll my ankle harder than I ever had in 20 years. Now I've been pushing and just doing kickflips and 50s on a curb but taking it easier because even an ollie off the curb like a week ago was sharp pain. I've never had to recover for more than like 3 weeks from a rolled ankle, even when I rolled mine like just 2-3 years ago. Now it's a month and taking a really long time. Sucks because I have been watching so much footage and kickflips and everything are feeling good. Probably have the best shaped board ever and I can't really mess around until this thing is healed. Probably another 3 weeks. Ughhhhh.

[ciaran]

42 now.  Slow down for me first happened with a harsh wrist break at 33 and then a kid at 36.  First couple of years were tough to get the time to skate, so no street skating as no parent has 4 or 5 hours to just wander about town, wait for friends to "just have to go do something real quick" and what not.  Time and effort definitely gets focussed into a couple of 2 hour sessions each week and when your crew are in the same boat, it's about making your time count - quality over quanity.  I usually skate parks where I've got to push more - never been into bowls or minis, but with the slow march of time, I'll have to start skating them more.

Was doing fine until I had a bad knee injury from running over the winter which meant no skating for 3-4 months.  Still have the power and pop as I cycle 30km daily, along with with yoga, dynamic stretching, calisthenics, swimming -  just co-ordination and general reflexes are a good deal sloppier than before.  Probably just out of practise though.   

[Noble Experiment]

I'm pretty much in my 30s and I've had many "slow down" moments over the years where when I skate I don't feel confident at all and I just feel so shaky and uncomfortable on my board; these are usually from long periods of time not skating at all or only skating like a couple times a month. Then I'll come to my senses or get a fire lit under my ass again out of nowhere and start skating three times a week or more again and then after a bit of frustrating sessions relearning stuff the rust disappears and I feel good and confident on my board again. This cycle has repeated itself numerous times.

If you disregard body degradation from years of injuries and skate abuse and general aging, I really don't think there is such a thing as "slowing down", or "permanent slowing down" I should say, as long as you keep skating frequently; it only happens from long periods of not skating. If you were to just start skating all the time again and throw caution to the wind a bit then you'll be right back to where you left off; its not permanent, it's only permanent if you continue to only skate once or twice a month and only play it safe every time you skate those couple times a month.

[Mdiddy]

I just turned 30 and it bums me out but then i temelber that andrew reynolds filled stay gold when he was old as shit after like a decade of true abuse, a drug addiction and a marriage with kids plus running a huge company while also molding a new generation who winded up becoming top pros all in the span of his still ongoing legit career. So yeah i feel like well be ok with skating a ledge or manny pad for a little while longer.

And dont start with that Jerry Hsu quote in Epicly Laterd where he talks about Andrew Reynolds being into fitness and how his house looked like a gym because it “had bananas and shit”. Not surprised that Jerrys never seen the inside of a gym before since he said that line in his douchiest voice ever. I feel like Andrew was just stretching a little and icing himself not on a full blown neen routine.

[Bony cawk]

almost 30. life tends to get in the way of skateboarding. i skate to work and back. but other than the Friday evening old man session at the local park, i dont get to skate as much as i want to.

[hip bruise]

Not saying eating well doesn’t help, but I eat like shit and skate better as a 38 year old than I did 10-15 years ago.

Take care of yourself, but stubborn and dumb can go a long way.

[AitchBeeGayBuh]

33/34 is when I peaked before havin a kid.

Rarely get time to myself nowadays, there's always somethin I have to do before I could actually skate. Living in the same zone for over a decade, less spots and more security than ever, drinking a lot more the past few years, having other interests, riding a road bide to get around, etc. There are many other reasons my skating has slowed down as well.

Kinda don't care though because although I love skating and continue to do it the thought of some die hard 37 year old guy makin no money off it with no industry ties and killing himself over it mentally and physically is kinda silly to me and I don't wanna be that guy I guess.

My last session pulled my 2nd nosebluntslide in the middle of a ledge ever. Poppin in n outta the middle of the ledge and rolling away, went home stoked.

With that said my mother in law just called to say my sons getting picked up by his mom now instead of me watchin him, 2-3 hours just opened up for me and I'm gonna go skate. This is my life...

[camel filters]

Tranny skating is reserved for 40+.

I like your tips but I don't get how tranny is talked about as this easy going thing that is reserved for older folks. Transition fucks me up. If you want to have a good foundation for it, I recommend giving it time and learning a good amount of ramp tricks so youre not starting from scratch come "dinosaur" age.

[JamesFardy]

31 and I just started skating stairs less. It’s like All I was okay at so I started skating benches and a bit or transition. My knees thanked me for it, they they are not potatoes (mashed).

[Getty]

46 here & there have been sooo many points where I thought "ok, this is it, I'm gonna just have accept that there's certain shit I can't do anymore..." blah blah but I keep being wrong. The body will continue to surprise you with what it's capable of if you take care of it.

By mid 40s there's a HUGE difference between people who are still drinking/smoking heavily & eating shitty food, not stretching/hydrating, etc. & people who have developed healthy habits. There's a reason all the skaters still killing it daily in their 40s are health nuts.

[KoRnholio8]

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Tranny skating is reserved for 40+.

[close]

I like your tips but I don't get how tranny is talked about as this easy going thing that is reserved for older folks. Transition fucks me up. If you want to have a good foundation for it, I recommend giving it time and learning a good amount of ramp tricks so youre not starting from scratch come "dinosaur" age.

Most winters are miniramp only, so there's that. Not that I can do anything worthwhile on transition, but I can do some stuff. I see many older skaters stick to tranny only and then really struggle on flat. I don't want that happen to me.

I know a very active guy that is around 50 years old that started skating again at 45 or so. He basically has access to fresh gear (middle class, made it in life) and the best skateparks (and skates them every week) and can't pop an ollie over 3 inches. He basically posts his every ollie online too. Don't want to be like that either. Can't neglect street and pop, no matter how hard it gets with age.

[botefdunn]

Turned 40 today, had a decent skate,probably as good as ever. Tricks have come and gone, the only thing that truly gets harder with age is not complaining or talking about your health. I try my best to suck it up but still catch myself too often saying things like "muscle group" and "sports medicine". Remember that everybody hurts and every day you can skate is a good one.

[givecigstosurfgroms]

Im 43 and i havent 'slowed down'.  I wouldnt trade my current skill set for one i used to have.  Got all my board feel on the go. If ur slippin its cause you dont skate enuf.

[slippy]

only 28 but felt last year a significant decline in my ability to skate long/feel good on the board.  Started swimming which sucked at first but its an activity you can't get hurt on really and now when I'm keeping up on that it's a 100% game changer.  only takes me 30 minutes to swim a mile now so with a close pool its an hour round trip activity and skating feels great afterwards!  Again, it was a hard four months of feeling totally gassed but upping my physical activity makes my body feel like it's running well oiled.  plus you get to eat a ton and still be in shape

[ScudMantels]

I'm 36 and dont skate that often anymore but if you gave me a couple of weeks I can possibly push myself hard enough to film a park montage like I would in my early 20s.

I'll say though around my late 20s was the first sign of something missing and skateboarding hasn't felt the same since. You see that happen visually with lots of pros also who get around that age

It's crazy to think the Shane O'Neill and Luan generation is now becoming on their way out.