Fell off skating..want to get back into it

[Lloyd Braun]

So I think in the last two years I have skated maybe 10 times, none of those times were very fun sessions and felt forced if I'm honest. It's weird, I have felt my skater tendencies slipping as well, as in not looking at spots everywhere I go, the urge to travel to new places to skate cool shit etc. Guess I kinda just fell out of love with skating. I got into a new trade and basically got wrapped up in it, spending most of my free time reading, watching videos, learning as much as I can about the craft and practicing it. I am a carpenter by profession, but also like woodworking making odds and ends/home improvement projects etc as a hobby also. Needless to say the line can be a little blurry between work and hobby.

I miss skating for that reason,  but finding it hard to get back into it and over the mental hump of getting back on the board. It's more just finding that spark again for me than knocking the rust off so to speak. This is the first time in 16 or 17 years I've fell off skating, I've had down time due to injuries but always came right back when I healed.

Have any of you guys had a similar experience? Whether the thing that took you away from skating was a job, new hobbies, relationships, whatever. If so how was the process of getting back on the board for you? Any input, advice and/or words of encouragement would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[kook1234]

if you can, try to unlearn anything you have learned about skating so if you do decide to step back on the board you’ll do so with fresh eyes. don’t try to recreate magic from the “good ole days” but start writing your next chapter. this lowers expectations and you could end up discovering a new or different facet of skating you never knew before

[Yakusoku2]

What a good advice!^ I’ve stopped skating a couple times. In 2006 because of a girlfriend who wanted to be with me like 24h/day, later because I had a band where I played guitar and I avoided getting my arms or wrists hurt, all my friends quitted and of course, work. I felt like you, like I’m not interested in skateboarding anymore but in reality, I was finger skating my hashioki (I don’t know how to translate to English) while eating. I was thinking about skateboarding everyday. I didn’t watch skate videos since 2009 to 2021 but suddenly I started again and I couldn’t wait to ride a board again. Just, find motivation man. Your love for skateboarding is there.

[bartlaser]

Currently going through this.  I've been skating for over 30 years and fucking love it.  Big fan.  But in the last couple of years I've only been skating once or twice a week. Tops. Compared to almost every day in the past.  And it feels like a forced session these days.

I'm sure I'll find a spark and get back into it again, at a more request rate.  Losing tricks and control is quite the bummer, though, and demotivating to continue.

[macho taildrop]

I kind of lost interest in skating a few months ago (I'm 40 and have been skating since 12 minus a gap of a couple years following Fully Flared).

I think part of it was that I was super fixated on gear / having gear madness, and then also that I was changing the way I dressed and stuff because I was worried about looking kooky. Just generally feeling constantly self-conscious and miserable. I've skated a few times this year, and it's fun, but it is hard for me to be doing it without falling into old habits.

Lately I've just been trying to watch videos like Inhabitants that are super personal to me and trying to me as myopic as possible to just focus on what makes me happy in skateboarding. I guess what I am trying to say is that for me, it is often tuning out certain things that helps me find the spark.

[Easy Slider]

I fell of skating for more than 20 years between around 1998 - 2020. Then I got back during the pandemic and was super enthusiastic as success (relearning stuff) came quickly and was rewarding. It spiralled into an obsession with me skating every day, following strict routines/drill to the point where I over saturated a few weeks ago and now I have taken a step back, "only" skate four times a week and try not to do routinely stuff but stuff that I feel like.

Not sure how that will pan out tho.  I wish you the best and hope you can rekindle that flame.