Skate insights/secrets

[ChuckRamone]

Share some of your skating insights and secrets. The classic one is to stay centered over your board and commit to the trick. Easier said than done, of course.

Recently I realized that slappies and wallies are similar in a way. You relax your leg muscles before you hit the obstacle and at the right moment, as you're getting onto or over it, you have to flex/stiffen up a bit so your board stays with you as your grind the curb or clear the wall.

A lot of skating insights are muscular in nature and no amount of explaining can replace practice, but it's still interesting to hear about what others have discovered.

[Cinco]

when I was a boy there was 9 planets, but now there are 90 planets.

[DaSk8D00D]

Good thread idea I always like hearing other people's methods. Couple tips from me:


Your shoulders and upper body posture are as important as foot placement when it comes to setting up for certain tricks. A lot of times for myself (especially with grinds) I'll be trying a trick for a while and as soon as I focus on straightening my back or lining up/winding my shoulders properly, I get the trick.


If you wanna pop your ollies and tres higher, learn to do a really solid squat &  explode from the hips and thighs to send that energy all the way through the leg down to the tip of your toes. You gotta really learn to use the strength of your entire lower body,you do this with tres and make an effort to scrape the tip of your toe off the ground when you pop, they spin fast and pop high as shit. Just make sure you suck up your knees to make room for the board

For inward heels and back 180 heelflips, flick off the board just below the bolts, instead of the corner of the the board like with normal heelflips

[straight]

shhh...

[Monkey_Mcpott]

Stretch!!!

It still surprises me how much older skaters complain about pain but refuse to give stretching a try. It does wonders. Foam roller is also key. I typically stretch around 30 min before a session usually with some coffee, i feel it helps warm up my body along with the stretches.

I recently relearned kickflips from hearing Jeremy Wray's explanation of it. Criss crossing the pressure from feet to feet before you pop to creates a strong centered pop. If that makes any sense.  

The more you hang your back toe on a 360 flip the easier it will pop.

You CANT be light footed on a hardflip, its a one of the tricks i feel i create the most pressure before popping out of any flip trick i can do. The more you create a centered pressure towards the back of your board the faster and easier it will flip. The flick is minimal.

When i do a nice leveled FS pop i feel I keep my upper body slightly back, for some reason i feel that helps me stay leveled on that trick  than staying completely centered or leaning forward.

[GinosGroceries]

Tap your tail 3 times, tap the wall 3 times

[Buck Russell]

i have a much easier time w/ almost all 180 variations (aside from reg backside and half cab) to think about popping an ollie/nollie/fakie ollie then doing the turn.

i think it was iizard king but someone kinda opened my eyes about kickflips like 2 decades after I learned them about doing a good ollie then kinda kicking off the front as an afterthought.

also 3 flips are almost entirely in the back foot scoop. half the time I do them without touching my tail (which is not something I'm proud of but it works).

and lots of people say to do good backside flips you just watch your back foot but that one never worked for me.

These are fun.

[sharkin]

speed

[Dr. Octagon]

go fast and keep your shoulders centered

[Chavo]

Speaking of slappies, don't lift the front truck. Just ram right into it.

Also, most people (unconsciously) tend to hold their breath when doing a trick. Your breathing should follow a natural rhythm throughout. it may be necessary to force it a few times before it becomes second nature to breath normally.

[Vert Reynolds]

MJ say's Rodney kicked him some Mad Knowledge about a few Tricks. Mullen prolly whispered a trick tip to Antwuoine, That one time.

[sluggers]

I have a feeling Rodney Mullen could write an entire book on this.

No one would be able to understand it, but it would be one helluva read.

[yapple dapple]

I have a feeling Rodney Mullen could write an entire book on this.

No one would be able to understand it, but it would be one helluva read.

I just want to know what Rodney told Twaun about 360flips.

[20matar]

Expand Quote

I have a feeling Rodney Mullen could write an entire book on this.

No one would be able to understand it, but it would be one helluva read.

[close]

I just want to know what Rodney told Twaun about 360flips.

It's like the ending to Lost in Translation, guess we'll never know.

[Dr-Feelgood]

Great thread, i love reading other peoples suggestions, makes me wanna go try some of these techniques

[YALLNEEDJESUS]

SKATEBOARDING IS MORE FUN WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO OLLIE. TOO MUCH FUCKIN EFFORT BRUH. MINIRAMP TRANNY SLAPPY FLATBAR

[johnes]

If you clench your butt cheeks while skating you can really take the pressure off your knees

[dirty ol man]

lifting/pulling the board up instead of just popping/jumping. the split second of harnessing power after crouching and pulling the board up with your ankles while extending your legs after popping. one of those "ah" moments after getting tricks back, especially being tall and avoiding flail.

[CRAILFISH TO REVERT]

keep a small amount of toilet paper with you at all times

[Francis Xavier]

3 flips are all in the back foot

Some nollie tricks are easier to learn if you point your heels towards each other and lean a little back when you pop so that shit boosts

Feebles are easy if you have pressure on your back truck and leave your front foot straight but limp(if that makes sense)

Hang your toes off your board to scoop a 180 while turning your shoulders into a nosegrind(switch 5-0) to grind and pop out perfectly

[Francis Xavier]

Front crooks are just like front noseslides only you lean back to pop out

[Monkey_Mcpott]

For nollie heels, for me, i cant pop straight down with this trick. I slightly nudge it forward before i pop the board if that makes sense. Its like I'm pushing a nose manual in front of me for a split second, then pop and then heelflip. When i started doing this the nollie heels got higher and leveled. Whenever I pop straight down I always rocket it. Same thing goes for fakie heels. This doesn't work for nollie flips though, that one you do pop straight down.

[Andrew]

when bombing a hill, i like to envision what frank gerwer once said, which is to try your hardest to pretend like you're trying to stay rooted on the ground while someone is picking you up. pressure on the feet/board/ground

[MOE SYZLAK]

Speaking of slappies, don't lift the front truck. Just ram right into it.

Also, most people (unconsciously) tend to hold their breath when doing a trick. Your breathing should follow a natural rhythm throughout. it may be necessary to force it a few times before it becomes second nature to breath normally.

I do this while filming or shooting photos  all the time, I find my self worn out after a few tries. I try to stop myself and breath deeply before and after each try but cant figure out how to fix it during.

[Lasernaut]

Try to slow down time with your mind, that always helped me. The 'lizard king kickflip' benefits greatly from this.
Also, if you acquire a little taste for shit, eating it won't be that bad.

[Molte]

Answering only the thread title: Zigram 23 is a human..

And this, is true pearls of wisdom

Try to slow down time with your mind, that always helped me. The 'lizard king kickflip' benefits greatly from this.
Also, if you acquire a little taste for shit, eating it won't be that bad.

[Paul Cicero]

When trying a manny trick, imagine yourself halfway through the trick right before you pop.
When doing a backside 180, don't take your eyes off your back foot.
When learning any manny (fakie, nose, whatever) always practice with a goal to reach.

[itspizzapie]

riding a bike and doing squats helps a lot
also, think of checking if your bolts are firmly screwed from time to time, mine tend to get loose quite fast and that fucks up your pop

[Grind King Rims]

Nollie backside / switch frontside scoop feels really good.

For backside 180 tricks, don't hunchback/lean over too much. Open your shoulders to where they should be when you land, before you pop.

[Grind King Rims]

The motion of a wallie is much the same as trying to ghost ride your board into a manual. Don't pop into it, just lift the nose a bit and push it forward in front if you.

Nollie heel's, don't look over your toes too much, straighten your back and sit down a bit.

When you lock into a back crooked grind, put the pressure on your heels, both feet.