s.k.a.t.e etiquette

[redcurb12]

do u guys follow any type of unwritten code with your homies? for example ill try not to set a trick i know my homie can't do unless it's for the win or i know it'll take me a few tries. i also stay away from body varials, one footers and other weird shit. on the other hand some ppl will go straight for the the throat or pull out their wackiest shit. what do yall think?

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

fuck berrics rules is the only etiquette you need

[butterballs for jerry]

Always out for blood every game. Everyone knows my weaknesses and vice versa at the local park. It's the most competitive environment I know in skating. Fuck etiquette, but it's always laughs

[pabloalvarado]

I play like four or fives Games of skate per year. Im so hyperactive at the park that I roll and roll and roll and basically dont stop for an hour. I skate this obstacle and then this other one and then I try do a new trick on other part of the park so basically Im on my own. Im polite and social and say hello to the people skating at the park but flatground only isnt my type of excercise.

Anyway I have a soft spot when someone REALLY wants to play a Game of skate with me and thats basically the four or five times per year. Some months ago I told a guy on his twenties how to do really basic stuff like a fakie big-spin and he told me hes starting and bla bla bla. A week ago the same guy was at the park trying his tricks and he asked me to play so I say hell yeah. Just basic stuff like shove-its and whatever, it was fun cause for sure the guy did his homework. I won but the other fellow had a big smile and he started to practice fakie flips so...thats how it works for me.

[Xen]

Dudes I play with, we all know our best and worst, we always start easy tho - if it's slow we throw out our bangers just to move it along.

If I go first I always throw out an impossible, rarely miss them just to fuck around (and they all know it's coming out first).

[reptar_bar]

just call yourself out if you know if it was sus, and not trying to finish somebody off with an easy trick.

[snowman600]

I dont accept that lazy "I'll take a letter!" bullshit. like they can't be bothered to even try the trick, fuckouttahere.
if it's a switch of fakie trick, I like to 180 in for set up. no, I'm not ricky oyola, but otherwise the tricks feel gross and lifeless.

[Tedd]

No weird shit allowed until all the basics you can do are exhausted. I only ever play skate with k00ks who ask me too and they always come at me with a fakie shuv body varial or some other no pop hideous shit. Wack

[Surf-goth]

I don't play. That's my etiquette but anything i know i will not hesitate to pass on to my fellow man. I want everyone to progress .

[AllBranFlakes69]

Isn't it standard operating procedure to just start with a kickflip?

[ChuckRamone]

probably the best rule is you don’t ask someone to play skate till you’ve skated with them a few times and it’s understood it’s just for fun. I fucking hate it when strangers ask me to play and you can tell they’re super competitive types. then again some people introduce themselves this way and you can tell it’s not super serious ‘cause they’re friendly and chill. I guess it’s a matter of are you fucking coming at me bro or let’s goof around and play skate.

[FrenchFriedClownFingers]

Isn't it standard operating procedure to just start with a kickflip?

i think so. I try to have fun with it. doing it solely for the win is lame

[IHOP]

Do you guys consider it rude to try a trick someone else fell on, say for example I try a heelflip and the next turn you land a heelflip.

Some people take offense, personally I think its fine because if the other person tried to set it they can obviously do it. Also good strategy if you arent very good at the trick and want to do it first.

[redcurb12]

Do you guys consider it rude to try a trick someone else fell on, say for example I try a heelflip and the next turn you land a heelflip.

Some people take offense, personally I think its fine because if the other person tried to set it they can obviously do it. Also good strategy if you arent very good at the trick and want to do it first.

i think it might erk some people but i do it sometimes. my buddy tried to set a heelflip yesterday and i stole it cause i planned on setting heelflip anyways. having said that it did feel kinda mean.

[CHONGO]

don't call a local a kook at the park if you are visiting from another state.

[botefdunn]

 if i don't land something i like to move on and try something else, i feel like the most fun games have an element of randomness

[Bumpovertrash]

If your older then 17 please dont ask me to play. This shit aint a game son

[Donald Rump]

I always start with a double varial flip when playing with strangers. Horrible trick but has the desired effect.

[SodaJerk]

fuck berrics rules is the only etiquette you need

[HangtenNoseblunt]

always start with treflip if they cant do it or have wack style i end them in 5 tricks

[silhouette]

I actually kind of like games of skate but that's because I enjoy fucking around on flatground in the first place. all the local kids know it and ask me to play all the time; that's almost always when I'm in the middle of something or tired and that's when I'll decline, but sometimes I actually am in the mood and I'll play; most often when the spot is empty, the session gets kind of repetitive and I can't get my lazy ass to pop tricks, so I'll take people up on the opportunity to actually have to try shit and flip my board. my etiquette:

- I'll adapt myself to the 'skill level' and tricks of whoever I'm playing. go through all the basics first because you want it to be some kind of fun casual practice, most everybody's got five tricks noone else usually bothers to learn so it's just stupid and sterile to 'go for the throat' (... as much as that expression might make sense talking flatground skateboarding). so I'll start off with mostly 180's, pop shove-its, both ways in all stances until it stops feeling reasonable (also depending on the person's skill level), the goal is to try new tricks, and get the other person to try new tricks. if I've seen them try learning a trick on flat earlier and get close, I'll set that trick sometime halfway through the game to encourage them to commit to it, and I'll give them tips if I observe they look unexperienced and they're making an obvious, constant mistake. on the other hand I won't deliberately set a trick I know the other person totally struggles with (unless it's something basic I think they really should learn sometime, like a nollie flip) because if it really is a nemesis of theirs then it won't be fun for anybody and then what's the point?

- I'm super lenient on re-do's if the person gets robbed on the trick to the point where I feel like they should get another try. on the other hand I'm super harsh on myself and won't count my own trick if it's not perfect, or even if it doesn't have the desired pop or form, otherwise I'd feel gross getting away with something sketchy. if the opponent insists on counting it because it was technically correct I'll most likely just try and re-do it (and lose my turn if I miss it).

- if it's obvious that you don't want to play a fair game and just want to dominate by doing nothing but super hard or weird tricks then that's cool because I have a bunch of those too, so I'll slaughter your ass for missing the point and trying to bring in competition.

- not etiquette per se but I like the idea of clean trick selection and order even in games of skate so I'll have patterns in the tricks I set (that I also adapt depending on what I know the other person can do). I like going through successions of tricks that respond to one another until I lose my turn (then I'll improvise another pattern on my next turn). ie. I'll try and go through all the kickflips in a row, or all the 360 flips, or just generally play around with mirroring tricks and stances, or tricks that feel right to me going together. if I sense a certain weakness the other person has, I'll maybe do one trick pertaining to it to encourage the person to try and beat it, but I won't insist on it just to 'take them out'. also there has to be a progression in trick difficulty. switch big heel isn't coming out after switch frontside pop shove-it then varial heelflip then switch varial heelflip has come out, and that's only if the person I'm playing lands all those tricks. otherwise new pattern.

- also I like games of skate where you cruise, not stay idle in the middle of the skatepark and fucking get in the way of everybody actually trying to skate (that should be the number one rule of etiquette, actually; don't fucking play skate in the middle of a crowd, I see too many kids do it in the middle of everybody's lines or in front of the fucking ledge and always have to call them out for how stupid that is). if you haven't given a good two or three pushes then your trick doesn't count, unless it's completely new to you and you don't know where to start. half-ass your push just to try a semi-stationary shitty casper flip and I'm off. make that shit look good even if it's just a game of skate. useless wooden toy meets personal dignity.

- also I don't care how you do it, but if I want to set a switch or fakie trick I'll most likely set a 180 regular or nollie trick just before, so I can actually claim trying tricks in that stance; then from there, if I want to set normal or nollie tricks again I'll have to set a 180 switch or fakie trick first. and if I ever miss a trick I'll most likely try it again on my next turn till I make it, or really face that I realistically can't make it and I'm over it. Oyola meets PJ Ladd. just way more gross

[roba]

Do you guys consider it rude to try a trick someone else fell on, say for example I try a heelflip and the next turn you land a heelflip.

Some people take offense, personally I think its fine because if the other person tried to set it they can obviously do it. Also good strategy if you arent very good at the trick and want to do it first.

i don't do it when i play with a stranger, but if i'm playing with a homie then i might, and they sometimes do the same thing so it's all good

[Mystical Leader]

I actually kind of like games of skate but that's because I enjoy fucking around on flatground in the first place. all the local kids know it and ask me to play all the time; that's almost always when I'm in the middle of something or tired and that's when I'll decline, but sometimes I actually am in the mood and I'll play; most often when the spot is empty, the session gets kind of repetitive and I can't get my lazy ass to pop tricks, so I'll take people up on the opportunity to actually have to try shit and flip my board. my etiquette:

- I'll adapt myself to the 'skill level' and tricks of whoever I'm playing. go through all the basics first because you want it to be some kind of fun casual practice, most everybody's got five tricks noone else usually bothers to learn so it's just stupid and sterile to 'go for the throat' (... as much as that expression might make sense talking flatground skateboarding). so I'll start off with mostly 180's, pop shove-its, both ways in all stances until it stops feeling reasonable (also depending on the person's skill level), the goal is to try new tricks, and get the other person to try new tricks. if I've seen them try learning a trick on flat earlier and get close, I'll set that trick sometime halfway through the game to encourage them to commit to it, and I'll give them tips if I observe they look unexperienced and they're making an obvious, constant mistake. on the other hand I won't deliberately set a trick I know the other person totally struggles with (unless it's something basic I think they really should learn sometime, like a nollie flip) because if it really is a nemesis of theirs then it won't be fun for anybody and then what's the point?

- I'm super lenient on re-do's if the person gets robbed on the trick to the point where I feel like they should get another try. on the other hand I'm super harsh on myself and won't count my own trick if it's not perfect, or even if it doesn't have the desired pop or form, otherwise I'd feel gross getting away with something sketchy. if the opponent insists on counting it because it was technically correct I'll most likely just try and re-do it (and lose my turn if I miss it).

- if it's obvious that you don't want to play a fair game and just want to dominate by doing nothing but super hard or weird tricks then that's cool because I have a bunch of those too, so I'll slaughter your ass for missing the point and trying to bring in competition.

- not etiquette per se but I like the idea of clean trick selection and order even in games of skate so I'll have patterns in the tricks I set (that I also adapt depending on what I know the other person can do). I like going through successions of tricks that respond to one another until I lose my turn (then I'll improvise another pattern on my next turn). ie. I'll try and go through all the kickflips in a row, or all the 360 flips, or just generally play around with mirroring tricks and stances, or tricks that feel right to me going together. if I sense a certain weakness the other person has, I'll maybe do one trick pertaining to it to encourage the person to try and beat it, but I won't insist on it just to 'take them out'. also there has to be a progression in trick difficulty. switch big heel isn't coming out after switch frontside pop shove-it then varial heelflip then switch varial heelflip has come out, and that's only if the person I'm playing lands all those tricks. otherwise new pattern.

- also I like games of skate where you cruise, not stay idle in the middle of the skatepark and fucking get in the way of everybody actually trying to skate (that should be the number one rule of etiquette, actually; don't fucking play skate in the middle of a crowd, I see too many kids do it in the middle of everybody's lines or in front of the fucking ledge and always have to call them out for how stupid that is). if you haven't given a good two or three pushes then your trick doesn't count, unless it's completely new to you and you don't know where to start. half-ass your push just to try a semi-stationary shitty casper flip and I'm off. make that shit look good even if it's just a game of skate. useless wooden toy meets personal dignity.

- also I don't care how you do it, but if I want to set a switch or fakie trick I'll most likely set a 180 regular or nollie trick just before, so I can actually claim trying tricks in that stance; then from there, if I want to set normal or nollie tricks again I'll have to set a 180 switch or fakie trick first. and if I ever miss a trick I'll most likely try it again on my next turn till I make it, or really face that I realistically can't make it and I'm over it. Oyola meets PJ Ladd. just way more gross

I agree on most of the points in here. It's nice just to circle around try mirroring tricks or lines.

Also would like to add to the etiquette when trying to end the game go with a banger or something that's challenging to yourself.

Flatground skating is the basis for a lot of different types of skateboarding. It gives you precision and control.

[Mr_Friend]

I think in Chris Cole's nine club he talked about how he doesn't like what BatB has done to games of s.k.a.t.e. because he views it as a "gentlemanly game" I.E progressively increasing in trick difficulty/weirdness as a means to get to the same level of warmed up as the person you're playing. I've always followed that kind of approach (front shove, back shove, kickflip, etc.) but now I see more and more people (mainly kids 22 and under) start a game with a inward heelflip or 360 flip, basically the go for the throat approach.

I can't remember who it was, but in the Woodward mini ramp game of s.k.a.t.e. some douche tried nothing but noseblunt/nose related tricks against Winkowski (his board has almost no nose) and it made me really hate him.

[Jollyoli]

All grabs must be outside the knee, any boneless must be launched (same with step hops), circus flukes will be called shenanigans, all bets must be locked in.

[Zurg]

I.E progressively increasing in trick difficulty/weirdness as a means to get to the same level of warmed up as the person you're playing.

i like playing like this most of the time, but it can be fun to get a little competitive sometimes. ive learned a lot of stuff via skate(not usually in game, but attempting something makes me realize it might be possible to learn afterward) also it helps with consistency(since lost) and its a good way to get your legs going.

i think attempting to steal someones set trick is some what poor etiquette, but it kinda adds to the fun. it is only SKATE after all. unless its for money, but you could argue that's when etiquette goes out the window. i think most of the complaints about playing skate in this thread are with the people youre playing against. stick to playing against your homies, who arent lame about it. mostly learned my lesson about playing randoms for reasons that have already been listed(people going for the throat, sticklers, people who cheat with the letters, only doing circus tricks). its rarely fun and not all that rewarding most of the time. id rather just warm up at my own pace.

its kinda fun playing with handicaps, such as when you play back to back games without repeating any tricks. playing only shoves, only heelflips or only switch is fun too. sometimes those have to be shortened to SKA since i only have so many tricks. or on the opposite end, extending the game to SKATERS(Z) if both people want to keep going. i used to play a lot in high school at lunch, mainly against my one homie, this thread is making me nostalgic for those times

All grabs must be outside the knee, any boneless must be launched (same with step hops), circus flukes will be called shenanigans, all bets must be locked in.

not sure what to say about this. assuming it is a joke?

[JB]

i dont play skate much anymore, but i like what silhouette said about adapting to the other persons skill level, especially if its a little kid who wants to challenge you. ive seen that most of the kids who do this just learned some trick that they want to show it off, and if thats the case ill let them feel good about it. i also liked throwing out easy tricks that i think they might be able to learn and if they come close ill give them a few more shots and encourage them to try to learn it. you see a kid get way more stoked learning something new than just winning the game doing his routine tricks.

i like the no repeats games too because it forces everyone to dig deep and try stuff thats not familiar. at least thats the case with me because my bag of tricks is so small.

also, dont play skate in the busiest section of the park. nobody else there gives a shit about your game.

[Jehoshaphat Augustus]

also, dont play skate in the busiest section of the park. nobody else there gives a shit about your game.

It's always so fun to vibe the fuck out of them or snake them right before popping after they don't take the hint:
"man too bad there's not an entire parking lot/sidewalk/sprawling city with miles of flatland that you guys couldn't do that at."
Then i usually slit their throats

[Pappy Jones]

I don't play very often but if my friends and I do, we usually realize halfway through the game that we haven't been keeping track of our letters/don't really care and we'll just go until we decide we're done playing and then skate something else. For me it's more so a great way to warm up and learn/share tricks with others.

[streetsoup]

After the first game, its fun to play "no same tricks" games, until your bag is exhausted.