Skateboarding After 50

[rikki]

Yeah, it's partly my crumbled technique and balance and partly commitment issues.

Good call on the frontside-ish approach. Been doing that a bit here and there, should probably experiment with it more.

For what it's worth, for me "frontside-ish" in this case actually means approaching the end of the curb/ledge that I'm trying to ollie up onto at a bit of backside angle so the actual ollie is a very slight version of a frontside ollie, if you catch my drift. This somehow makes me feel safer as opposed to approaching the obstacle dead straight. In some way this makes the physics of my ollie resemble those of an ollie to fs grind, which, once again, is where I "shine" in my ollies.

Anyway, yes, I should just bloody well practice and repeat regardless.

[DNTRODDEN]

In some way this makes the physics of my ollie resemble those of an ollie to fs grind, which, once again, is where I "shine" in my ollies.

Anyway, yes, I should just bloody well practice and repeat regardless.

over-commit to this!!!!

[OldieButFrenchie]

Ok guys, this is kind of embarrassing but still. Maybe this is a good place for this kind of question because a) this thread is basically a benevolent peer group and b) my problem kinda seems age-related.

As a precursor: I'm old, yes. But I can still ollie to e.g. fs 50-50 grinds on pretty tall (for me) ledges. Knee-high isn't always a first try, but it's manageable without a huge battle.

BUT.

Recently I've been struggling with ollieing straight up onto stuff. Like, for example, a deck (width) high manny pad scares the shit out of me these days. Even lower manny pads/curbs can present a challenge -- I feel like I have to warm up for 30+ minutes to get to the physical and mental state to ollie up stuff.

I can jump high. It's gotta be the technique. Something has gone haywire in my ollie coordination or something. I mean, approaching a ledge frontside from the side feels far more comfortable than ollieing up from the end of the ledge.

Any tips on getting my straight ollies up curbs/manny pads / etc. better?

My solution is basic: I don't skate shit higher than a curb....   
Except for transitions.
Also recently, while filming myself ollie this banked hip, I realized my back foot did not go up enough when ollieing. now I concentrate on sucking up my back foot and it's made my ollies much better. Probably one of the only times when filming myself made me realize where the trouble was!
I also have the "30 minute warm-up" problem but that's probably a good thing. Slamming early in the sesh pretty much kills it now. Whereas when I was younger I could just brush it off

edit: Huffer/Frank and fred is gone again!

[Mbrimson88]

edit: Huffer/Frank and fred is gone again!

I just had maybe the most random thought after doing a little "research" and finding our friend on his Instagram account again, as well as reading a bit of his blog, of which I had seen but never actually read much of before.

How much of a tiny window into each others lives do we really get to see?  One of those things, being older than some, or maybe most, who still ride a skateboard, but who almost all would have life commitments too, partner or spouse, family, kids, work or jobs, responsibilities or whatever else we do, some more and some less, but I would think no one sits on the computer or internet or whatever we are on all day and all night.  Just a quick log on here, check in and see what is going on, get on with everything else, check in again later or tomorrow or after everything else is done for the day.

Almost feels like I could see more than I should, but any which way, our friend seems to come for a while, then leave, then come back again for a while, then leave and so on.  Can't have too much of a good thing though.

Hoping to see some more Huffer posts again at some point, as with anyone else contributing to these forums.


* Was almost going to delete this, but thought I would leave it for now.  It is already well past 2 am and I am about to head off to bed, but this is the usual wind down from a late night at the shop / indoor skatepark, so I don't have any early plans tomorrow.

It was a rainy day and night, but at least I got to have a roll in the indoor section of the skatepark, then help some people with skate stuff in the shop, all up a good night, so I am thankful for skateboarding once again.  The little things that make it all worthwhile.

[DNTRODDEN]

Expand Quote

edit: Huffer/Frank and fred is gone again!

[close]

I just had maybe the most random thought after doing a little "research" and finding our friend on his Instagram account again, as well as reading a bit of his blog, of which I had seen but never actually read much of before.

How much of a tiny window into each others lives do we really get to see?  One of those things, being older than some, or maybe most, who still ride a skateboard, but who almost all would have life commitments too, partner or spouse, family, kids, work or jobs, responsibilities or whatever else we do, some more and some less, but I would think no one sits on the computer or internet or whatever we are on all day and all night.  Just a quick log on here, check in and see what is going on, get on with everything else, check in again later or tomorrow or after everything else is done for the day.

Almost feels like I could see more than I should, but any which way, our friend seems to come for a while, then leave, then come back again for a while, then leave and so on.  Can't have too much of a good thing though.

Hoping to see some more Huffer posts again at some point, as with anyone else contributing to these forums.


* Was almost going to delete this, but thought I would leave it for now.  It is already well past 2 am and I am about to head off to bed, but this is the usual wind down from a late night at the shop / indoor skatepark, so I don't have any early plans tomorrow.

It was a rainy day and night, but at least I got to have a roll in the indoor section of the skatepark, then help some people with skate stuff in the shop, all up a good night, so I am thankful for skateboarding once again.  The little things that make it all worthwhile.

I think sometimes we take for granted just how mush of others we get a glimpse into. For good or bad, we all have or things and moments, sharing and being shared with is a key part of being a human, relish it while you can.

I managed to talk my self into riding at speed straight into a parking block, it was a minor accomplishment most of you call a Slappy, lol, didn't land it, but i pushed past my fear of riding at speed into a concrete block.

OTB Knee sleave arrived yesterday, hope to skate in it soon

[Eddy Mitchel]

Never been a great skater. Now I'm 54, I can at least consider myself being "good" for my age...

[AnimalChinaski79]

Ok guys, this is kind of embarrassing but still. Maybe this is a good place for this kind of question because a) this thread is basically a benevolent peer group and b) my problem kinda seems age-related.

As a precursor: I'm old, yes. But I can still ollie to e.g. fs 50-50 grinds on pretty tall (for me) ledges. Knee-high isn't always a first try, but it's manageable without a huge battle.

BUT.

Recently I've been struggling with ollieing straight up onto stuff. Like, for example, a deck (width) high manny pad scares the shit out of me these days. Even lower manny pads/curbs can present a challenge -- I feel like I have to warm up for 30+ minutes to get to the physical and mental state to ollie up stuff.

I can jump high. It's gotta be the technique. Something has gone haywire in my ollie coordination or something. I mean, approaching a ledge frontside from the side feels far more comfortable than ollieing up from the end of the ledge.

Any tips on getting my straight ollies up curbs/manny pads / etc. better?

I'm right there with ya.  I have a few theories but one of them is as we've gotten older our reaction times aren't as fast as they used to be, so popping and sucking your legs up might not be as quick and snappy as you'd like.  It's like that for me.  I also have a bad habit of hunching over my board which doesn't help getting the power to pop quickly.  If you can get up a knee high ledge I'd say most of what you're describing is just a mental block with the other stuff.  I'd be fucking stoked as hell to get up on a knee high ledge!

[rikki]

Expand Quote

Ok guys, this is kind of embarrassing but still. Maybe this is a good place for this kind of question because a) this thread is basically a benevolent peer group and b) my problem kinda seems age-related.

As a precursor: I'm old, yes. But I can still ollie to e.g. fs 50-50 grinds on pretty tall (for me) ledges. Knee-high isn't always a first try, but it's manageable without a huge battle.

BUT.

Recently I've been struggling with ollieing straight up onto stuff. Like, for example, a deck (width) high manny pad scares the shit out of me these days. Even lower manny pads/curbs can present a challenge -- I feel like I have to warm up for 30+ minutes to get to the physical and mental state to ollie up stuff.

I can jump high. It's gotta be the technique. Something has gone haywire in my ollie coordination or something. I mean, approaching a ledge frontside from the side feels far more comfortable than ollieing up from the end of the ledge.

Any tips on getting my straight ollies up curbs/manny pads / etc. better?

[close]

I'm right there with ya.  I have a few theories but one of them is as we've gotten older our reaction times aren't as fast as they used to be, so popping and sucking your legs up might not be as quick and snappy as you'd like.  It's like that for me.  I also have a bad habit of hunching over my board which doesn't help getting the power to pop quickly.  If you can get up a knee high ledge I'd say most of what you're describing is just a mental block with the other stuff.  I'd be fucking stoked as hell to get up on a knee high ledge!

Thanks pal. Fs 50-50s have been my go to ledge trick (I don't have a big bag of tricks) forever, it's basically the easiest ledge trick in the universe so maybe that's why it's kinda effortless to me. Not that I do them knee high every day.

But yeah, my straight ollie gone to shit has been a painful reminder of the basics: popping, extending the front leg forward, sucking up the legs. I've realized I've started to drag my back foot and not lift it up high enough and quick enough. Gotta pay attention to that.

Also, my weight distribution is sometimes all over the place. It's kinda there with the aforementioned 50-50s but once again, ollieng straight up onto something screws with my balance.

Back to work guys.

Had a nice flatground sesh with the homies today. Popped my fakie ollies and shuvs pretty nicely. All is not lost yet.

[GnarAlarm]

Has anyone else tried Creatine?
I've been taking a teaspoon a day for a month or so, just mixed into a cup of water, and I feel like it's made a noticeable difference. I used to start getting pretty fatigued an hour or so into sessions and lately I have no problem doing 2 hour sessions. I wouldn't say it improved my pop significantly but what it has done is reduce the fatigue from trying to pop extra high, so I get more attempts in a session. I also feel more focused and less brain fog.
All in all I'd say it's been a net positive for sure.