What is one thing that you wish you learned sooner in your skate life?

[SSBS1080CBBSNP]

I wish I tried to film more after high school. Traveling, filming and making a video during those years were some of the best times in my life. Never stopped skating but definitely lost the motivation to progress in terms of trying bigger shit. Cruising around the right city or town and hitting spots for the hell of it can be just as fun though (honestly maybe more fun when I think about certain nights) I ended up doing that through my 20’s. Now I’m entering my 30’s, my knees fucking hurt and I’m just maintaining. I’m good with a chill box or ledge or best case scenario mini ramp.

[j....soy.....]

Being a skater may be the best thing you'll ever be.....

[cucktard]

I wish I was more open-minded about downhill.

I was a follower of the ‘long boarding is for kooks’ prejudice until I was doing a zine article about people in the skate community doing cool stuff.

Turns out, nobody in the ‘cool’ community was, but the skateshop pointed me to a crew of downhillers that hold weekly events and meet-ups.

I went to one, they made me wear a helmet (which I thought was stupid) until they saw I knew how to stand on a board.

The first time was mellow, but the main guy in the crew, a downhill board designer and racer showed me some downhill vids and I was blown away.

He hooked me up with a factory second and I got the rest of the gear second hand, and holy shit once you start sliding it’s fun. Nothing better than drifting a looooong coleman  around a corner while cooking.

Learning how to slide, corner, and drift on paved bike trails (and barging golf courses) was like putting a line together, figuring out how to navigate each curve and then putting it together in a single run, and then trying to do it at speed.

Plus it reminded me of the camaraderie skaters had in the 80’s, when we were hated. That spirit lives in the downhill scene, and there is a pretty punk feel to it, dodging cops, outlaw races, etc.

I know most of you will write this off and kook me for it, but I’m glad I gave it a chance. Plus, it’s not that bad for an aging body. 

Oh, and I finally understood why they have the helmet rule, locking up while in a slide can send you to your head really, really easily.

[gyros4heroes]

I wish i had focused more on having fun instead of becoming "better". I wasted so much time being frustrated over tricks which slowed my progress a ton, as soon as i've focused on enjoying my time with my friends everything comes easier to me

[ClownOfTheDay]

Honestly wished I didn't care so much for trends and skate how I want to. I remember when I first started skating I would get made fun of for not being able to ollie on my first week of skating, all those dudes claimed they learned how to ollie on their first day which I find bs. But i'm proud I stuck with it. It's my favorite toy.

[Spankthemonkey]

Dude go for fucking broke. Skate your heart out. Keep your head up. Don't tweak. Skate with people. Talk less and listen more. Don't be afraid to butt heads. Tell people off. If the dude you don't like is at the spot. Make it your spot. Shred the world. Buy the shoes you want. Buy the boards like. You don't gotta prove nothing to nobody. Eat good. Relax. Be a skater. It's embarrassing when the posers show you up. Every minute your not doing something for yourself. Somebody is doing something for themselves. Shine on

[Switch_fsflip_noseslide]

Keep skating. Keep hanging out. Keep in the streets. Keep creating.

Edit: can't pick one

[Sila]

Expand Quote

Eat right, go to the gym if it's raining, and learn how to recover properly. Unless you've had major injuries and havn't taken care of yourself you should still be able to skate well and still learn new stuff in your 30's .

[close]

I hate the gym and I can’t stand Most of the people who hang out there. Gym bro’s and betty’s Are seriously some of the worst people.

You're being incredibly judgemental about it though. All types of people go to the gym lol. No one is forcing you to talk to anybody there.

[Jollyoli]

Fierce localism works. Invaders must die. Don't let your spot become soft.

Make the family that sets up shop inside the skatepark uncomfortable and don't be polite in telling them to fuck off, with any luck little johnny and his scoot-scoot will not be allowed back.

[mclovin1336]

wallies

[fang]

To take advantage of all of that time. I have not enough time to skate as much as I would like now at all.
And with the wear and tear, it is harder too. Enjoy that time young man.

[donkey]

im still pretty young (21 now), and one of the biggest things ive struggled with is the whole social aspect of being a skateboarder. it took me a lot to be able to go to events and just simply talk to people and create connections and friendships and enjoy skateboarding culture with others.

one thing i can teach to someone younger than me is that no one cares. really, no one cares about anything, and it doesn't matter what your social media looks like or how many followers you have, and no one is going to care about you if you aren't just a good, genuine person.

[SatanicPanic]

Don’t jump down what you can’t jump up.
Surfing is fun as fuck.
Running out on tranny will destroy your knees.

Definitely should have taken up surfing earlier. Started a few years back and it’s one of the best choices I’ve ever made. I’m in so much better shape. Would have really helped back in the day

[SatanicPanic]

I’m glad I didn’t beat myself up too much for being a chicken because I don’t have any nagging injuries and can still skate

[Mundungus]

To not compare myself to others.

[rawbertson.]

actually wanted to start a thread similar to this. will hopefully have time to go back and read it all later.

-when you are working on flat land, have a tiny bit of speed, dont just stand completley still. 

-to learn grinds , just learn the stall first on a curb. then just slowly work your way up with more and more speed. its sick to do every trick at 20mph but check yourself realistically do you need to go that fast to clear the gap ypou are trying to skate? also are there situations where possibly more speed could help like on a grind? keep speed in mind always.

-dont waste your time on spots that are too shitty to skate and try and muscle your way through. it would be better to spend time either repairing the spot to make it good or just skating a different spot.

-are you running up to the spot the most ideal way? is there perhaps an easy way to approach the spot? i was skating a spot with a narrrow runway and finding it hard to throw my board down and get speed. my friend just put his board down, took a sprint and jumped on the board that was already chilling on the ledge and got way more speed. another example i remember seeing someone try to throw down from a wall then a pro came and instead took a longer approach but then carved in last second was able to get much better speed + setup and opened the door for others to get tricks down the set lol.

-if you want to be godlike, put in hard work trying to overcome tricks you dont understand / dont get. dont just ignore those tricks and write them off as "i cant do that shit".

-that being said it is good to focus on your strengths when you are making video parts and shit. no one really cares to see the shit you are struggling with but evnetuallky you might turn those tricks into something you are good at over time.

-dont just settle on doing a trick once, practice doing the difficult things regularly. i watched morgan smith skate a lot and i noticed he would just go back and forth doing the same flip trick, same grind, back and forth, like 10x each and go thourgh like hundreds of tricks. that was like every single time he skated. appreicate that your tricks might not look good at first but always try your best to continue to improve them and never settle on something you arent 100% happy with.

-travel as much as you can and meet people. skate with as many people as you can. dont give a shit about pepoles ability level rather their overall package as human beings. there are lots of people who are good at skateboarding but they dont last - ultimately the people with staying power have more to bring to the table than just being good skaters. surround yourself with those types of people. stay away from people who are trying to cock block or beef.

-film as much as you can. you can review your own skating and see where improvements need to be made early on and evolve. also good tool to show your progression. its also nice to have when you get old its good memories.

-work out, eat healthy. smoking weed and drinking doesnt make you better at skating.

-hard work is ultimately what gets you places. whether you become the top pro or not doesnt matter its whether you learned something along the way and had fun and enhanced your life experience thorugh skating. you will be able to take this skill and apply it to anything else in life that you set your focus on

-certain tricks are more conducive to certain obstacles. I.e. a salad or smith grind is more ideal on a rail. tailsldie usually more ideal on a ledge. sometimes it helps to find the right obstacle to get started learning a trick isntead of trying on something that is not a good fit for that trick.

-learn to ride siwtch a lot early on and a lot of transition. doesnt have to be tricks even. it just gives you a better understanding and better style overall and will help you roll away from more shit.


good luck, skate straight!

[rawbertson.]

dont let anyone tell you that being a try hard in something isnt cool. it is. the people who just sit around and pile out are typically depressed or fall off. be proud of what you have accomplished.

[layzieyez]

Pushing mongo. Almost everyone I know who can switch push without much thought started out as a mongo pusher. I never did, and although I can do it, my switch push is definitely forced.

[Boog]

I would have never quit skating. In quitting it led me down a really bad path. I started skating again a year ago after like 13 years of not skating and I regret ever stopping.

[moonordie]

- As a kid I should had worked harder on my Ollie. As soon I could go up a curb I stopped caring and that's why now my Ollie sucks.
- Don't get stuck for too long with a line or a trick. If is not working just try something else and try again later or another day.
- Drink s lot of water.
- Is ok to not skate sometimes, if one day you just feel it give yourself a break. Skating by inercia is the worst.

[VHS ERA]

that board wants to fly higher, just lift your legs up more and give it space before catching it

[AitchBeeGayBuh]

It's something I heard Matt Rodriguez say in his Chromeball intervew that he was front foot heavy because he started off pushing mongo. Reading that made me realize I'm the same way I just never had a name for it. I've had it my whole skate life looking back though  and it has made some tricks easier and some harder. Now that I'm a little older n know stuff after all these years I realize it was the reason I could never pop flips outta tailslides or big spins as easily(or ever) as others in the early 2000's.

Finally realized this after many years of skating and at 37 and a part of me asks, "Do I try to change it up? or just flow n keep doin how I've been doin"?

[Deputy Wendell]

Expand Quote

Eat right, go to the gym if it's raining, and learn how to recover properly. Unless you've had major injuries and havn't taken care of yourself you should still be able to skate well and still learn new stuff in your 30's .

[close]

I hate the gym and I can’t stand Most of the people who hang out there. Gym bro’s and betty’s Are seriously some of the worst people I’m not interested in being the best at exercising, I know when I’m solid, based on my ability to eat shit but pop back up. I’ve always understood the importance of staying loose and limber. Also, just don’t  overeating often.  For instance, I’m 39, but feel capable of achieving any physical goal I’ve done in my younger years

regarding your issues with the gym--headphones?

i'm almost 50, been skating since i was about 10 or 11 (including plenty of years jumping down shit), recovering from tearing my ACL and meniscus--and the subsequent surgery--not too long ago and if any of you younger heads want any kind of significant longevity, i don't know how you plan to do so without going to the gym on a regular basis once you get into your mid- to late-thirties...including plenty of stretching...

[flintstagram]

I would have never quit skating. In quitting it led me down a really bad path. I started skating again a year ago after like 13 years of not skating and I regret ever stopping.

This. I didn't go down a bad path, but I took about 16 years off, started back up about four years ago. At almost 36, I wish I would have kept skating, but when you're 16 and all of your friends stopped years before you, you can fall into doing the same pretty easily. I always had a board, and would goof off on it once in a great while, but skateboarding has become all consuming again, and I love it.

I enjoy skateboarding now more than ever, which is partially credited to that gap. I don't see myself stopping until my body fails me.

[rawbertson.]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Eat right, go to the gym if it's raining, and learn how to recover properly. Unless you've had major injuries and havn't taken care of yourself you should still be able to skate well and still learn new stuff in your 30's .

[close]

I hate the gym and I can’t stand Most of the people who hang out there. Gym bro’s and betty’s Are seriously some of the worst people I’m not interested in being the best at exercising, I know when I’m solid, based on my ability to eat shit but pop back up. I’ve always understood the importance of staying loose and limber. Also, just don’t  overeating often.  For instance, I’m 39, but feel capable of achieving any physical goal I’ve done in my younger years

[close]

regarding your issues with the gym--headphones?

i'm almost 50, been skating since i was about 10 or 11 (including plenty of years jumping down shit), recovering from tearing my ACL and meniscus--and the subsequent surgery--not too long ago and if any of you younger heads want any kind of significant longevity, i don't know how you plan to do so without going to the gym on a regular basis once you get into your mid- to late-thirties...including plenty of stretching...

i heard if you dont know how to stretch properly it can actually be worse for you. andy anderson says "go to a yoga professional and pay them to teach you" lol idk if i will do that but you got any recommendations for stretches? i have kinda just been doing ankles, back, neck, shoulders, groin - basically everywhere i have pulled muscles in hte past. i have enver stretched my knees but i also have never had knee issues. anything you do in particular to save your knees??

[Peepeeboy69]

I wish I was more open-minded about downhill.

I was a follower of the ‘long boarding is for kooks’ prejudice until I was doing a zine article about people in the skate community doing cool stuff.

Turns out, nobody in the ‘cool’ community was, but the skateshop pointed me to a crew of downhillers that hold weekly events and meet-ups.

I went to one, they made me wear a helmet (which I thought was stupid) until they saw I knew how to stand on a board.

The first time was mellow, but the main guy in the crew, a downhill board designer and racer showed me some downhill vids and I was blown away.

He hooked me up with a factory second and I got the rest of the gear second hand, and holy shit once you start sliding it’s fun. Nothing better than drifting a looooong coleman  around a corner while cooking.

Learning how to slide, corner, and drift on paved bike trails (and barging golf courses) was like putting a line together, figuring out how to navigate each curve and then putting it together in a single run, and then trying to do it at speed.

Plus it reminded me of the camaraderie skaters had in the 80’s, when we were hated. That spirit lives in the downhill scene, and there is a pretty punk feel to it, dodging cops, outlaw races, etc.

I know most of you will write this off and kook me for it, but I’m glad I gave it a chance. Plus, it’s not that bad for an aging body. 

Oh, and I finally understood why they have the helmet rule, locking up while in a slide can send you to your head really, really easily.

Lots of dh guys shred street as well. The helmets make sense too because youre not bailing at like 10mph you're essentially bailing a motorcycle crash at like 40+.

I think bc they're easier to push on and have been largely adapted by fags who don't ride them down hills, just push on campus and pose on IG, dh riders and campus posers get put in the same category and it makes me sad.

I've never skated dh but my friend does, and he shows me videos from time to time and it looks like so much fun tbh

[elbarto]

i wish i started skating earlier like at 4 or 5 instead of 13

My dad had me on a board before I could even walk and I still suck.

[elbarto]

I would have never quit skating. In quitting it led me down a really bad path. I started skating again a year ago after like 13 years of not skating and I regret ever stopping.

When you come back to it you pay double

[50mm]

That it is greatly beneficial to skate with people better than you.

That you actually can get pretty good if you put in the time and think about skating in different ways.

I wish I was more into tech when I was young, it didn't interest me even though I wished I could do all those tricks. All I learned how to do was ollie big shit.

[Casey Jones]

I always regretted not really learning all the flip tricks / having flat ground game. Later it made filming stuff so difficult.

I can’t remember who, but someone really respectable recently said something about a great skater has great flat ground. I think it’s kinda true, and it kinda made me depressed. I’m too old now to really figure out a proper nollie heelflip. Or how to do frontside flips on flat. For example.

When I was young it was just too frustrating and time consuming. I just wanted to go fast and do grinds.