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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.
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
you're still gonna do a little bit of the flick that it sounds like you're doing (i'm assuming that you CAN do front shuvs already but are trying to hone them) but the emphasis is on that straight down pop. Like think 90% straight down pop 10% flick/scoop/push/whatever you want to call the little nudge of the back foot. that's why it's such a snappy looking trick (when done well).
I'm tempted to say it's pop and rebound vs. pop and absorb, has all to do with which part of your tail smacks the ground first and for how long you insist. For high ollies and ollie based tricks like kickflips you want rebound that's as quick as possible, applying of the force should be instant/sudden and by the time your wheels have gotten off the ground you've already sucked both legs/knees up, that way you can use the elasticity of the momentum and verticality of the board to sort of kick and nudge that nose and level those back wheels earlier and thus higher. It's explosive pop that is based around the center of the tail and probably takes a certain way to look at a skateboard (the actual object and its shape) to completely figure out but should be relatable to most people who've ever tried high ollies (for them) and clipped their back wheels on the obstacle regardless of whether clearing it, that is not supposed to ever happen with the optimal form using that technique ideally.
Other type of pop is heavier and instead of getting the quickest pop and snap possible, you insist on driving downward force through your back leg for a little longer and consider more of the width of the tail, that's the type you want for pressure based tricks like ollie impossibles or backside 360 ollies, most people's pop shoves (both ways) are some kind of hybrid mix of both techniques because I guess only a few break skateboarding down like this, but understanding something doesn't make it less magical, I'm tempted to say to the contrary. Also explains why some people who're used to the swift quick pop sometimes struggle with 360 flips, whoever makes them work rebound style usually looks snappy and sick but most mortals really should consider insisting on the scoop/swipe for a little longer when first trying them. Find your sweet spot, lock it in then throw your whole leg into it, compensate with a slight kick through the front, ankle flicks and then holy shit (it never gets old).
tl;dr it's basically one-inch punch vs. full swing or uppercut. The pebble still terraces you anyway.
That people have been mentioning getting literal 'epiphanies' from my posts is so mindblowing it's almost embarrassing but I'm very very glad. My personal epiphany was to understand that you dictate whatever happens when you're skateboarding. Any given time. Whether you'll bail or make a trick, get or not get your clip, miss your flatground trick in the middle of your line, whatever is purely mental (once basic technique is dialed) which means you can control it. When failing to meet your supposed goal usually means you're just neglecting part of yourself, could be physical state (current levels of fatigue), could be mental state (there must be ways of desiring tricks, clips, whatever for toxic reasons), you know it's bad when/if you ever start wondering why you really do this anymore. Means the heart is not there and then if so why either force things against your own will or develop any identity complex over it, that just sounds like a mess and so no wonder why your sessions will suck if you don't even want to be skating whenever you do it. Even if footage happens, regardless of what you did any other human on the planet probably will be able to instantly read in it that your mindset that day was shit. Most of the battle really is subconscious and at the end of the day the one big reveal is that's been the entire challenge all along. That the straight 8's always were just a tool and coping mechanism because as a naive individual you once needed naive goals to grasp your potential and figure out who you are/aren't.
Then there's all the things it takes a bit of clarity and courage to realize we constantly deny to ourselves because they're considered shameful or wacky, e.g.. sometimes trying/bailing a trick is more fun than making it and we do not (always) battle it because we're insecure about it but because it's the process that we're after, looking/feeling like we're grinding against something when in reality, approached differently, more sincerely and casually the same maneuver very might as well happen first if not most every try but then would feel like it would kind of suck, because would demystify everything about it. I'm all for that though, I don't mind romanticizing skateboarding but might as well keep focus on the reality of it, if anything just to be thankful for the right things.
Topic: Epiphanies that helped your skateboarding (Read 42551 times)