Skateboarding: anyone tried it

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 Flinticus 09 Jun 2021

I bought one a few years ago and its sat on a hook in my gear cupboard since.

However I took it out yesterday evening and managed to mostly stay on for very short lengths. A couple of falls but, hey, that's familiar from bouldering anyway (though its onto tarmac rather than a mat). The hardest part was finding a location free from mocking big kids

I will persist as its something that, like climbing before I tired that, has always been a thing I have wanted to try. 

A question, do I need skate trainers?? I've a worn down pair of Salomons that I'm using. Do skate trainers offer any on board advantage??

 Gazmataz 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

Good for you. Skateboarding is definitely one of the harder sports to pick up but lots of fun when you get it. 

You don't need skate trainers but they do offer an advantage in that they have a flat sole which makes it easier when moving your feet around the board and getting a good grip on the grip tape. Skate trainers are often reinforced in parts too because once you start wanting to olly you will basically be taking a strip of sand paper and repeatedly scraping it down the outside of your shoe. It'll wear out a shoes pretty quickly. If you don't care about your Salomons then I'd wear them for skateboarding until they're done and by then you'll have a good idea of what you want from a shoe. 

 Ian_Cognito 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

Used to, when I was a lad, but haven't for years.

Been toying with the idea of getting one for when the kids are scootering, but haven't yet bought one - mainly as the pavements around here are generally on the crap side.

 deacondeacon 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

Ive been skating for over 30 years 🙂

Get some skate shoes. You'll get some for £40 and it's  definitely easier to skate in them, not to mention you're less likely to roll your ankle and they won't get battered.

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 Enty 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

Fantastic. I started up again at age 50 too. I got a longboard though as definitely too old for shredding the skatepark.

There's a converted railway line near us, pan flat with super smooth tarmac, great for cruising. Or I drop the nipper off at Prado Skatepark and nip over to the Cathédrale La Major in Marseille where the longboarders strut their stuff.

Totally inspired by this video.

youtube.com/watch?v=2LHlEL8fCZQ&

E

 jdh90 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

Is it a longboard/cruiser or street board?

I too fancied myself as a skater as a teen but turned out to not be very good at it. Also where I grew up didnt have other kids I knew into it or very smooth tarmac.

Girlfriend bought me a longboard for Christmas but it has spent a lot of time on the gear shelf. Good fun when I have had a cruise on it.

If you're on a street board trying to learn ollies and other tricks, the flatter, thicker uppers might offer better friction against the grip tape for aerial control and wear out slower.  The flat sole also means there's nothing to hook erratically and spreads your weight out more evenly, prossibly helps the grip last longer. The low ground clearance and width might be better for saving ankles in a fall or step-off at speed. Probably all marginal gains though.

If you're just learning to push around then special trainers might not be worth it, other than to improve street cred with the kids.

Left foot just behind the front truck bolts, push with right foot just off right side. God forbid you'd been riding goofy or mongo, that would get them laughing.

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In reply to Gazmataz:

> Good for you. Skateboarding is definitely one of the harder sports to pick up but lots of fun when you get it. 

> You don't need skate trainers but they do offer an advantage in that they have a flat sole which makes it easier when moving your feet around the board and getting a good grip on the grip tape. Skate trainers are often reinforced in parts too because once you start wanting to olly you will basically be taking a strip of sand paper and repeatedly scraping it down the outside of your shoe. It'll wear out a shoes pretty quickly. If you don't care about your Salomons then I'd wear them for skateboarding until they're done and by then you'll have a good idea of what you want from a shoe. 

We used to make Olly flaps for our converse all stars.

Skater from the late 80's.  

I can still kick flip on a good day.

AP

 ALF_BELF 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

Definitely get proper skate shoes, it's the most important part after the board.

Think i've been at it 20 years now on and off, mostly off recently but I still love it. Might not work for you but I like to have the trucks super loose, feels like there's a bigger margin for error and it's easier to stay on once you're used to it.

 gravy 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

All you need to know if the youth bounce more easily that the middle aged. Take it slowly!

 plyometrics 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Archmagos_Dominus:

Ha! Me too. Always good to impress an unsuspecting grommet with a kick flip.

Don’t really have any regrets, but quitting skating all those years ago is certainly one of them. 

Such a cool culture, and (IMHO) shares many social characteristics with climbing, bouldering in particular. 

Happy days. 

OP Flinticus 09 Jun 2021
In reply to gravy:

I know this!

My balance is alright as I've been using a balance board at home for ages. 

In reply to plyometrics:

> Ha! Me too. Always good to impress an unsuspecting grommet with a kick flip.

> Don’t really have any regrets, but quitting skating all those years ago is certainly one of them. 

> Such a cool culture, and (IMHO) shares many social characteristics with climbing, bouldering in particular. 

The youth of today don't know how easy they have it regarding skating.

There's skate facilities in many of the parks in Derby centre now  .

We used to get chased off car parks , waste grounds (where we would build some crappy quarter pipe ramp) shopping centres , you name it .

I've got very chipped shins as a result of this pass time. 

In reply to Flinticus:

Yep... Most weeks.

Good shoes definitely help, get some pro models tho (Vans Berle Pros are my weapon of choice), they wear better, have better board feel and rubber in all the right places. Good skate shoes are like good climbing shoes, when you know you know!

Can still bust impossibles, bigspins, heelflips, kickflips, ollie stairs, grind rails etc. and shred the miniramp... Much to the dismay of my 14 YO son!

Biggest issue is the ground! It hurts real bad!! 

Was uber psyched the last couple of years but 2 fractured wrists (same wrist on 2 occasions) 2 broken ribs, the biggest haemotoma I've ever seen and a pnumothorax have meant the psyche has waned a little recently....

You do get some wierd looks in A&E when they ask your age (47) and how you hurt yourself tho!

No wonder I pretty much only sport climb these days.....  

 deacondeacon 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Duncan Disorderly:

You're in Sheffield aren't you?

Give me a shout, and we'll go for a skate.

Deacon

In reply to deacondeacon:

Cool man... Might go down The House in the next couple of weeks as not been since it reopened... Kinda psyched to sport climb right now tho and although I love to skate I'm mostly just skating to school with the kids atm as broken wrists and ribs aint gonna get me up F7c again this year  

 deacondeacon 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Duncan Disorderly:

Lol, no worries. I'm going down The House about once a fortnight at the minute . Just let me know if you're heading down there. 🙂

OP Flinticus 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Duncan Disorderly:

Fuc! That sounds more like a climbing related accident than skating. What the hell were you up to?

I've got some wrist guards with toughened plastic (which I have already been grateful for) bought when I tried my hand (feet?) at inline skating just before the first lockdown. That lockdown effectively stopped me practicing etc (remember, Save the NHS??).

Since things have hopefully receded from that and the last C19 wave, I've been looking to get back on wheels of some kind and boarding looks to have a lower skill entry level than inline skating from my persepctive. Balancing on the board is not the barrier it could be given the surface is far more grippy than my polished balance board and sways a lot less too. Being able to step or jump off the board is such an arse saver compared to blades which are strapped to you (and then go in different directions , or start rolling downhill

My issue (one of several) is moving my feet on the board as that sandpaper surface resists twisting my feet the way I can on my balance board

Post edited at 15:05
OP Flinticus 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Archmagos_Dominus:

There a nominal skate facility near me too though it's not maintained and it's covered in broken glass and rubbish. Its main use is providing bums with some place to get drunk.

I suppose it allows allows the council to tick some box down a list of provided facilities for the community.

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 Acrux 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

I've skated for a few years on and off, great fun but very difficult. Requires a lot of commitment to make progress. A good pair of shoes would definitely help you. Good luck!

OP Flinticus 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Acrux:

Thanks!

Tricks don't interest me. I just want to use it to get around, like I do with my bike (no wheelies or 360s etc., just good ol'fashioned cycling). I like the flow that skaters appear to have.

 Derry 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

Longboarding. That's what I got into at a later age. Mainly because I went back to Uni and my younger, cooler friends were into it, so I bought one and now love cruising around. Although my other (older) friends now call me Bart Simpson, which really does show their (my) age. 

 Ciro 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

> Tricks don't interest me. I just want to use it to get around, like I do with my bike (no wheelies or 360s etc., just good ol'fashioned cycling). I like the flow that skaters appear to have.

I bought a surfskate recently - the front trucks pivot which is supposed to make it more like surfing (which I'm trying to learn, so looking for land practice). One of the features of the setup is you can "pump" the board to ride along the flat or uphill with your feet still on the board, which is pretty neat for getting around.

 Siward 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

I bought a skateboard using my winnings from backing Red Rum in the Grand National in, what, 77,78? (Dad placed the bet for me). 

 DH3631 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

Shoes do make a difference, flattish soles and not too spongy will feel a bit less clumsy. Back in the day (late 80s / early 90s) most skaters I knew wore converse chuck taylors, with vans being for the posh minority. Converse were good to skate in, though unfortunately not very durable, and the ball of the feet, heels, and the canvas on the outside of the leading foot all wore quite fast. Think the shortest time I wore a pair out was about 2 months!

 65 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

Skateboarding is ace.

The first sport that I really got absorbed in, 1978. A bunch had our own little pretend 'Dogtown' scene in a friend's garden where we built a proper bowl out of overlapping sheets of hardboard and broom handles nailed to the top edge to simulate the rim of a pool. We didn't realise it at the time but we were doing things which few people were doing then, like one-hand aerials. One of us even got on Nationwide. 

I had an Alva deck with Tracker full tracks and 65mm green Kryptonics. That took a lot of paper rounds to pay for. I still have my Alpine Sports skate wrench, you were no-one if you didn't have one of them.

I still fancy a longboard with big soft compound wheels to ride down Alpine passes.

 Tom Last 09 Jun 2021
In reply to Flinticus:

Nice one, skateboarding is superb. Yeah get some cheap skate shoes. The lower profile ones might be better than the ridiculously bulbous ones, but that's just my preference. Once you get a bit of balance, start learning to ollie and shove it, most other tricks progress from these, especially the ollie. Ollies in particular are very hard to learn, I think it took me about a year but don't be put off, they will come, but start ASAP. Skating is difficult, but very rewarding and really very beautiful when it all goes well. Have fun! 


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