Author Topic: On skating alone  (Read 4579 times)

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SaySo

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EdLawndale

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #31 on: July 02, 2022, 12:09:05 AM »
A lot of good advice here. If it's an awkwardness thing, I think you probably grow out of that with age and confidence. There were a lot of activities I used to feel self-conscious about doing solo growing up; nowadays, I just do what I feel and can appreciate the solitude sometimes. It also makes sessions with other ppl that much more special/different when they happen.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet: just be careful if you are doing a gnarly trick alone at a distant, secluded spot, or at night, when/where no one might find you for a prolonged period if you have an accident. Could be dangerous.
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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #32 on: July 04, 2022, 08:32:00 AM »
Stretch and warm up. Cruise around. Focus on something you wanna do/try that session. Ignore all the bullshit in this world. It's just you, your board and the environment.
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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #33 on: July 04, 2022, 08:50:11 AM »
When I’m feeling low about being alone I skate over to a normie and strike up a conversation. It’s how I got blessed with so much friends outside of skateboarding.

Plz stop killing each other
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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #34 on: July 04, 2022, 09:02:24 AM »
Expand Quote
As for skateparks, a lot of people show up to those alone and just skate. If I make eye contact with someone at the park I'll nod or say hi, and maybe have small talk between tricks, but that's it. There's all levels of people skating at the park and nobody cares as long as you heed the usual park etiquette.Skating alone will feel less and less weird the more you do it.
[close]
Just started going to the park consistently myself and can say the more you do it the less weird it is. It has become a part of my morning routine now and is a good reason to get up early and get going even if i'm not stoked on the rest of my day.
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manysnakes

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #35 on: July 06, 2022, 05:05:22 PM »
Expand Quote
Expand Quote
As for skateparks, a lot of people show up to those alone and just skate. If I make eye contact with someone at the park I'll nod or say hi, and maybe have small talk between tricks, but that's it. There's all levels of people skating at the park and nobody cares as long as you heed the usual park etiquette.Skating alone will feel less and less weird the more you do it.
[close]
Just started going to the park consistently myself and can say the more you do it the less weird it is. It has become a part of my morning routine now and is a good reason to get up early and get going even if i'm not stoked on the rest of my day.
[close]

This morning, for the first time since I started my new job two months ago, I went to the park before work and had a (thoroughly mediocre) session and it was definitely the best part of my day by far.
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Knee Pain

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #36 on: July 07, 2022, 02:37:55 PM »
I skate on my own, most of the time. I tend to go to parks early in the morning to avoid too many people, which reduces any awkwardness.

I find skating street on my own, much more anxiety-inducing. But once you do it a few times, it becomes much easier, like anything else.

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #37 on: July 07, 2022, 06:49:53 PM »
Let’s be honest too…..skating can be torturous at the best of times….not landing tricks, not know what to do…. Having friends around is helpful and fun so when they aren’t, it can be a bummer and if there are a bunch of people you don’t know around, it can get weird…..


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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #38 on: July 07, 2022, 08:34:47 PM »
find a parking lot or something to get your basics back and then go to the skate park and you'll have more confidence

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #39 on: August 14, 2022, 12:53:57 PM »
At the curbs, I skate solo 100% of the time. Music blasting, morning breeze. It’s all good.
Been hiting a new local park early and there is a healthy crowd, even at 6am. Im in my 40s and the guys showing at that time are too, and they bring their kids. I just join the lineup, cheer people on, make small talk, and BAMMO, no awkwardness.
It’s only weird skating alone if you let it be weird.

JANUS

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #40 on: August 14, 2022, 04:45:52 PM »
Oh yeah, don’t go skating at an unfamiliar park with a new set of trucks first thing in the morning during a heatwave after staying up all night on mushrooms. You might not act weird, but you’ll certainly feel like you did.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2022, 06:07:44 PM by JANUS »
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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #41 on: August 14, 2022, 06:13:33 PM »
Long, rambling story incoming but maybe a good payoff for someone feeling weird about skating alone...

When I first got back into skating after a loooooong layoff, I only skated alone out of pure ego and insecurity.
When I was a younger fella, I was pretty fucking good for my time and place.
I didn't have sponsors banging down my door or anything, but I was pretty well respected in my area.
Enough that local kids who I'd never met would know who I was on occasion. "Hey! You're ____, right?"
When I got back into it at age 39, I was decidedly not the local hero I once was. I was struggling to kickflip on flat ground but still had the mentality of a 19 year old kid who could kickflip a 10 stair. It was a hard pill to swallow and I was embarrassed in my own skin. It was so ridiculous in retrospect. Did I think I'd pick up where I left off 20 years ago??

So I skated alone, only going to the park at 7am or so for the first year because I was an arrogant dipshit in a midlife crisis and I couldn't handle not being the best skater at the park. After I got a few tricks under my belt again (and after getting sick of waking up at 6am on Saturday) I started hitting the park in the 9-10am time slot. That's when I started running into other early-AM skaters. They were always very polite, humble and fun to skate with, so after a few sessions of seeing these two dudes every Saturday morning, we exchanged numbers and decided to skate together.

We started meeting more solo AM skaters, and if we ever ran into the same AM skater a few times and they were chill and fun to skate with, we'd invite them into the group. Literally everyone we invited accepted enthusiastically.

We have a 10 person skate crew now, completely made up of random people who were skating alone on Weekend mornings.
We're all a little bit older, and we range in talent from flip-in/flip-out to just learning to 50-50, from pure street to mostly transition, but we're all kind and pleasant to each other and always have a great time.

So..TLDR...if you wanna make some fun, chill, accepting skate friends, hit your local park around 10am.
Skating alone can be fun, but it will never be as fun as skating with a crew, getting hyped up by and for one another.
And don't let your skill level deter you. A couple of us can flip into/out of grinds and slides, but when one of our homies landed his first 50-50 we all freaked the fuck out like he just won the super bowl.

Steely Daniel

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #42 on: August 16, 2022, 04:18:44 AM »
Long, rambling story incoming but maybe a good payoff for someone feeling weird about skating alone...

When I first got back into skating after a loooooong layoff, I only skated alone out of pure ego and insecurity.
When I was a younger fella, I was pretty fucking good for my time and place.

PS, How do I the quote I quoted in the expand quote thing so it's not so much for people to scroll through?
I didn't have sponsors banging down my door or anything, but I was pretty well respected in my area.
Enough that local kids who I'd never met would know who I was on occasion. "Hey! You're ____, right?"
When I got back into it at age 39, I was decidedly not the local hero I once was. I was struggling to kickflip on flat ground but still had the mentality of a 19 year old kid who could kickflip a 10 stair. It was a hard pill to swallow and I was embarrassed in my own skin. It was so ridiculous in retrospect. Did I think I'd pick up where I left off 20 years ago??

So I skated alone, only going to the park at 7am or so for the first year because I was an arrogant dipshit in a midlife crisis and I couldn't handle not being the best skater at the park. After I got a few tricks under my belt again (and after getting sick of waking up at 6am on Saturday) I started hitting the park in the 9-10am time slot. That's when I started running into other early-AM skaters. They were always very polite, humble and fun to skate with, so after a few sessions of seeing these two dudes every Saturday morning, we exchanged numbers and decided to skate together.

We started meeting more solo AM skaters, and if we ever ran into the same AM skater a few times and they were chill and fun to skate with, we'd invite them into the group. Literally everyone we invited accepted enthusiastically.

We have a 10 person skate crew now, completely made up of random people who were skating alone on Weekend mornings.
We're all a little bit older, and we range in talent from flip-in/flip-out to just learning to 50-50, from pure street to mostly transition, but we're all kind and pleasant to each other and always have a great time.

So..TLDR...if you wanna make some fun, chill, accepting skate friends, hit your local park around 10am.
Skating alone can be fun, but it will never be as fun as skating with a crew, getting hyped up by and for one another.
And don't let your skill level deter you. A couple of us can flip into/out of grinds and slides, but when one of our homies landed his first 50-50 we all freaked the fuck out like he just won the super bowl.

That's an awesome story!

No one 30+ here really skates anymore but I feel very much in a similar situation right now despite the fact I was never that good in my prime. I'm emabrassed to practice flatground ollies, kickflips, pop shoves, 180s and basics at the skatepark but also feel too old to go hunker down on some parking lot in the middle of the night away from onlookers. So I just kind of awkwardly charge at the old tricks I had (keyword had) on lock, and I'm guessing if anyone even notices me they think, "hey this guy could probably sort of skate at one time but he is very inconsistent"

Essentially I just need to get over myself and realize they're probably not even watching me because I suck and am old. After a few drinks sometimes though I'll shoot the shit with the 20 something year old kids and teenagers. It's fun sometimes but feels awkward and I'm probably annoying them. Still though, I sometimes want to go early AM or light up my favourite little part after dark just to enjoy the peace and quiet and skate the small quarterpipe and flatground/ledge get my confidence back.
 

Jebediah

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #43 on: August 16, 2022, 10:24:29 AM »
nobody likes me im gonna go eat some worms at the skatepark alone

real though I love skating alone, no breaks to talk to people about bs and slow the flow

the snake

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #44 on: August 16, 2022, 10:57:34 AM »
Just focus, shit you're driving me crazy too, fuck ! lol

yghartsyrt

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #45 on: August 16, 2022, 11:15:28 AM »
Long, rambling story incoming but maybe a good payoff for someone feeling weird about skating alone...

When I first got back into skating after a loooooong layoff, I only skated alone out of pure ego and insecurity.
When I was a younger fella, I was pretty fucking good for my time and place.
I didn't have sponsors banging down my door or anything, but I was pretty well respected in my area.
Enough that local kids who I'd never met would know who I was on occasion. "Hey! You're ____, right?"
When I got back into it at age 39, I was decidedly not the local hero I once was. I was struggling to kickflip on flat ground but still had the mentality of a 19 year old kid who could kickflip a 10 stair. It was a hard pill to swallow and I was embarrassed in my own skin. It was so ridiculous in retrospect. Did I think I'd pick up where I left off 20 years ago??

So I skated alone, only going to the park at 7am or so for the first year because I was an arrogant dipshit in a midlife crisis and I couldn't handle not being the best skater at the park. After I got a few tricks under my belt again (and after getting sick of waking up at 6am on Saturday) I started hitting the park in the 9-10am time slot. That's when I started running into other early-AM skaters. They were always very polite, humble and fun to skate with, so after a few sessions of seeing these two dudes every Saturday morning, we exchanged numbers and decided to skate together.

We started meeting more solo AM skaters, and if we ever ran into the same AM skater a few times and they were chill and fun to skate with, we'd invite them into the group. Literally everyone we invited accepted enthusiastically.

We have a 10 person skate crew now, completely made up of random people who were skating alone on Weekend mornings.
We're all a little bit older, and we range in talent from flip-in/flip-out to just learning to 50-50, from pure street to mostly transition, but we're all kind and pleasant to each other and always have a great time.

So..TLDR...if you wanna make some fun, chill, accepting skate friends, hit your local park around 10am.
Skating alone can be fun, but it will never be as fun as skating with a crew, getting hyped up by and for one another.
And don't let your skill level deter you. A couple of us can flip into/out of grinds and slides, but when one of our homies landed his first 50-50 we all freaked the fuck out like he just won the super bowl.

this....except i always sucked at skating

Jebediah

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #46 on: August 16, 2022, 11:20:30 AM »
Just focus, shit you're driving me crazy too, fuck ! lol

time to toughen up baby boy

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #47 on: August 17, 2022, 07:00:55 AM »
as im older im so much more aware of the noise. Was trying to have an evening sesh since they just repaved a street by me and damn was it echoing when I missed a trick

I get it. I need to get back to a better ratio of landing stuff so im not that guy just catching half flipped kickflips and slamming them on the pavement
no, i live in an efficiency by myself and work in middle management like you, loser

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #48 on: August 17, 2022, 07:37:16 PM »
Agree with the morning thing, that’s what I do when I can.

Just gotta say fuck it and keep doing it, and it won’t feel weird anymore. I’m super awkward and not good by any means but I can’t not skate, so I go to a park and do my shitty little tricks and just not get in anyones way, and no one seems to care. They’re focused on their own shit anyway, and if they judge someone for skating alone then fuck them

rocklobster

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #49 on: August 17, 2022, 07:55:22 PM »
Long, rambling story incoming but maybe a good payoff for someone feeling weird about skating alone...

When I first got back into skating after a loooooong layoff, I only skated alone out of pure ego and insecurity.
When I was a younger fella, I was pretty fucking good for my time and place.
I didn't have sponsors banging down my door or anything, but I was pretty well respected in my area.
Enough that local kids who I'd never met would know who I was on occasion. "Hey! You're ____, right?"
When I got back into it at age 39, I was decidedly not the local hero I once was. I was struggling to kickflip on flat ground but still had the mentality of a 19 year old kid who could kickflip a 10 stair. It was a hard pill to swallow and I was embarrassed in my own skin. It was so ridiculous in retrospect. Did I think I'd pick up where I left off 20 years ago??

So I skated alone, only going to the park at 7am or so for the first year because I was an arrogant dipshit in a midlife crisis and I couldn't handle not being the best skater at the park. After I got a few tricks under my belt again (and after getting sick of waking up at 6am on Saturday) I started hitting the park in the 9-10am time slot. That's when I started running into other early-AM skaters. They were always very polite, humble and fun to skate with, so after a few sessions of seeing these two dudes every Saturday morning, we exchanged numbers and decided to skate together.

We started meeting more solo AM skaters, and if we ever ran into the same AM skater a few times and they were chill and fun to skate with, we'd invite them into the group. Literally everyone we invited accepted enthusiastically.

We have a 10 person skate crew now, completely made up of random people who were skating alone on Weekend mornings.
We're all a little bit older, and we range in talent from flip-in/flip-out to just learning to 50-50, from pure street to mostly transition, but we're all kind and pleasant to each other and always have a great time.

So..TLDR...if you wanna make some fun, chill, accepting skate friends, hit your local park around 10am.
Skating alone can be fun, but it will never be as fun as skating with a crew, getting hyped up by and for one another.
And don't let your skill level deter you. A couple of us can flip into/out of grinds and slides, but when one of our homies landed his first 50-50 we all freaked the fuck out like he just won the super bowl.

Same situation, except I was never that good to begin with.

One of the most rewarding parts of coming back after a 10 year layoff is the new friend group I made and similar to you it's a rag tag group of skaters from diverse backgrounds. The youngest is 18, the oldest 48, all skill levels and intensity during the session.

Yeah the park we frequent is tiny and the obstacles aren't great, but the vibe is welcoming, no local hotshot doing his next Tik Tok edit or kids doing flyouts from the bowl.
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FrankRizzo

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #50 on: October 17, 2022, 04:33:23 AM »
Confucius say: When you have board you're not alone.

All I had growing up is the crust winter left behind, heaved sidewalks from tree roots/frozen ground and snow plow damage.
I had no idea what was happening in skateboarding.
Alone I would battle obstacles only inches tall coming at me every 4 feet or less and I would do this for miles.

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #51 on: October 17, 2022, 07:17:56 AM »
Confucius say: When you have board you're not alone.

All I had growing up is the crust winter left behind, heaved sidewalks from tree roots/frozen ground and snow plow damage.
I had no idea what was happening in skateboarding.
Alone I would battle obstacles only inches tall coming at me every 4 feet or less and I would do this for miles.
back in my day we skated on dirt roads with bicycles

m path

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #52 on: October 17, 2022, 03:54:40 PM »
"Fellow to many is a friend to none"  I dunno.  You gotta count your blessings.  Enjoy this time now.  You'll prolly be inundated at some point if you keep going to the park (which can be good too, chats are nice).  Have fun.
"You used to speak the truth but now you're clever"

Uncle Flea

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #53 on: October 18, 2022, 10:10:39 AM »
Think about Carlos Ribeiro's handstyle.

It's my favorite today.

I'm going to walk right up to the next sour puss shooting daggers at me with our with out a skateboard and be like

My name is hov and start dancing around like im CR doing a beautiful ledge trick.
Plz stop killing each other
(A)pl(E)




The.Skate.Father

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #54 on: October 18, 2022, 01:29:27 PM »
If all else fails 1 to 2 tall boys and Suicidal Tendencies - You can't bring me down, at about vol 11... Always helped me not give a f#@k.
Just call me Daddy.

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #55 on: October 23, 2022, 01:53:05 PM »
24, want to get back to skating.
What's partially holding me back is how I'm going to feel when I'm there.

When I went to a skatepark a couple years back, I went on my own and yeah it felt kind a weird.
Get out of your head and stop worrying about what others think about you. You could start meditating. It's very beneficial for getting in tough with your inner most self.
Christ airs, airwalks and darkslides

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #56 on: October 23, 2022, 05:51:43 PM »
35, strictly skate alone. i do make it a point to talk to people and crack jokes at the park tho. drives me insane when theres 20 people at a park and no ones talking and shootin the shit, makes the vibe so much worse. now i got people i can chat it up with when i see em

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #57 on: October 23, 2022, 10:15:06 PM »
the worst parts about skating alone are
1. hard to get hyped to try high risk tricks without friends there hyping you up
2. you have to actively think about pacing yourself rather than just taking consecutive runs and tiring out after 20 mins

kook1234

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #58 on: October 24, 2022, 06:30:11 AM »
What is the best ice breaker for when there are 20 young bulls ripping the park but no one is cracking jokes?

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Re: How to not feel weird skating alone?
« Reply #59 on: October 24, 2022, 07:00:11 AM »
What is the best ice breaker for when there are 20 young bulls ripping the park but no one is cracking jokes?

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