|
hello thread. I am TERRIFIED of skateboards. i had a bad experience once as a kid and that, combined with the cool kids skateboarding and laughing at me at school for not being a cool kid, made skateboarding somewhat exclusive so I never bothered. however, covid has hosed me. I love snowboarding and I cant loving do it because my stupid rear end government dragged their heels on this latest outbreak and now my whole snow season is gone. so I just bought my first skateboard at 35. this is it. its a Globe Blazer w/ 62mm wheels and thats all i remember. Im aussie, so Aussie board company made sense. I also like mushrooms.  I have a polished concrete carpark under my building to run laps in and the drainage ditches provide some little undulations to carry speed through/bank turns. I have committed to skate for minimum 90min every night after work. 2 days done so far and I can push and turn well enough to run laps/figure 8s but stop occasionally to correct stance/preventing a big fall. I came to ask questions about protection, so wrist guards will be purchased based on the last page of posts. I know how to take a fall thanks to snowboarding so Im gonna skip knee pads for now, although my knees are huge pieces of poo poo as is. I'll grab a helmet when Im at higher speeds, probably. Wrists though...you cant 'land on your fists' like you would on a snowboard fall, so i guess i better strap up. Things I am struggling with: pushing. once i warm up my muscles I can get a few gentle pushes going. Coming from snowboarding, pushing is different, and im not great at pushing on my snowboard either. snowboarding, your front foot is strapped down and you cant pivot, and the most efficient way to push is at a 45 degree angle away from the board. getting my foot close to and parallel to the skateboard is tricky, and i sometimes catch it on the board. stance. my snowboard stance is wide AF. i probably should have bought a longboard but the one i really wanted wasnt in stock so i went with the next best thing - a graphic that spoke to me. skateboard stance, particularly getting my back foot back on the board in the right spot and pivoting/moving my front foot are all proving to be a problem. what I like: the feeling of carving which I cant really do on a snowboard (yet). how subtle little shifts in weight between front foot/centred drastically changes the way the board is turning. front weight = turny, centre weight = carvy. the ease of movement. I see this being my last mile mode of transport a lot. What I want to know: exercise drills - mostly i need advice on good balance and flexibility exercises to build strength in my joints because apparently none of the muscles I use for snowboarding get used for skateboarding. I see that some videos suggest standing one footed in a 'pushing stance' for balance prac. anything else? lunges I guess? core stuff? actual suggestions would be good as im pretty bad at 'exercise'. thank you for reading and i will post injury photos as they come.
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2021 12:34
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 18, 2024 09:42 |
|
|
gently caress man, where were the skaters like Andy Anderson when i was a kid? hes so positive and welcoming and friendly, and talented as gently caress. gently caress the old way of skateboarding. its dumb. the exclusionary hardcore rear end in a top hat no fucks given poo poo is why I didnt get involved as a kid. why cant it just be about having fun? everyone, skater or not, should be like Andy. e: on thread advice I have wrist/knee guards and helmet on the way from Protec. Im still sticking to my skating every day til they arrive but yeah 1 video about a guy who hit his head and now cant walk was enough. Laserface fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Jul 29, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Jul 29, 2021 03:35
|
|
|
Maybe it's because snow sports everyone is on holiday and there for a good time that it's always felt more inclusive and friendly to enter. Maybe that's why there's a ton of guys like who got into snowboarding instead of skating? I think any sport where someone has the ability to command a board/bike/skates well is worthy of respect regardless. Even scooters guys are pulling tricks that look insane. Might be a few years before that's in the olympics though.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 29, 2021 14:56
|
|
|
I decided to skip skating last night and ended up putting my board down on the carpet in the living room and just balancing as if i was mid push and seeing how long i could hold it for. the answer is not very long! the arch of my foot got heaps painful. I tried switching to some shoes with arch support instead of squishy insoled nike SBs and it didnt improve much. anyway, I put some music on about half way through and just started doing one legged boppin' on the spot to get a feel for moving my weight around on one leg and it definitely had an impact because my leg this morning is a bit sore. I also think I might be regular. Ive been riding snowboards goofy my whole life. Im left handed but my right leg is the one I use to kick things/put forward, but my balance is far better standing on my left leg than my right. maybe its from years of riding on my back foot on my snowboard making it stronger? its definitely highlighted a few things. but riding a snowboard with my left shoulder forward is vastly more stressful than my right.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 30, 2021 01:35
|
|
|
big black turnout posted:I'm trying to find a cruiser and looking online everything I find and like are all brands I've never heard of like Welcome, Darkroom, Transportation Unit, and I have no idea if that's because they're poo poo or because I don't pay enough attention or what I bought a Globe cruiser and its pretty swee but im an aussie in aussieland, no idea if they have big distribution in the states (they should because they are a loving huge brand)
|
|
#
¿
Aug 10, 2021 06:58
|
|
|
I've been wearing my Pro-tec wrist guards and they've saved my hands from getting scraped up at least. Knowing how to fall is a lot of it. Haven't really had any major falls as I've been just pushing around basketball courts, but i wanna go to a park with some hills this weekend. It's currently not a great time to go to hospital so I'm being as careful as I can while still pushing myself outside my comfort zone to improve.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 8, 2021 11:58
|
|
|
Well I didnt wear my kneepads or elbow pads and guess what happened? Wore wrist guards so my hands are fine. everything is is cut up from going too fast, wobbles and ending up hitting a fence. my pride is more scarred than anything else but I'll be back at it in a week or two. might Tighten up the trucks a bit.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 11, 2021 03:39
|
|
|
adjusting trucks - Tighter seems to be recommended for beginners and ive been getting wobbles at just faster than running speed. is there a method to it? front/rear should be equal, how many 'turns' of the nut do you adjust at a time?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 17, 2021 00:12
|
|
|
thanks, Im mostly asking so I dont adjust in big swinging increments cos I like the way it rides now and I think in time when im more confident at speed and not tensing up as much the wobbles will fade away. was more curious if there was like a minimum amount that I'd start to see different results. any benefit to tightening one truck more than the other? I think I might be normal, and Ive ben riding goofy my whole life. my back foot really likes to come out front when i bail off the board. but riding the other way feels very unnatural.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 17, 2021 01:08
|
|
|
Surf skates are pretty fun. Tried one out tonight. Didn't feel weird being on a taller board either.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2021 12:48
|
|
|
I've just been practicing my pushing technique and working on my carving. 3 months of boarding every other day after basically never doing it prior and I'm feeling pretty decent now. Learning how to brake definitely has helped with confidence. Going to this big empty carpark at the Rec centre has too. It's full of other 30+ roller skaters/boarders just practicing fundamentals, and it's pretty great taking a few beers and a speaker and just hanging out with other people in that moment. I thought skateboarding could be last mile transport but it's simply too difficult and too dangerous at my skill level to consider it so I'm keeping it as just a fun way to move my body and later, use it as an activity (eg. go skate along the beach/around the park) I can feel that carving on a skateboard is going to improve my snowboard carving which is really what I wanted out of it so that's good too. I'm not really into tricks but I might learn to Ollie since it definitely removes a lot of barriers. Probably slides too when I get comfortable at speed although I don't think my cruiser is really long enough and the wheels too soft. All in good time.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2021 05:29
|
|
|
Why does my front foot hurt when I stand on it so much while pushing? Do I really need arch support? Skate shoes do not offer arch support (I'm wearing supportive but not archy shoes) I feel like I need my toes hanging over the board on my front foot to get good turning power on front side/toe side turns. Maybe this is because my cruiser board is wider up front than the rear? I can brake OK hanging my rear toes off the deck but I can't do the other method of braking with my foot parallel to the board. I feel like it's just that I need to put my heel down first rather than my toes. Any tips?
|
|
#
¿
Oct 27, 2021 12:21
|
|
|
My skate buddy broke 5 bones in her foot and snapped a tendon riding a surf skate on a pump track. 10wks recovery after surgery. Didn't even come off the board, just bad angles on the berm. Be careful.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2021 21:36
|
|
|
this is a surf skate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSnTGx_8O9M she was not strapped in. I greatly prefer the strapped in nature of snowboarding (to the point I forget I can jump off a skateboard most of the time Im in a sticky situation) she may have done something similar to this, except she broke the long bones on the top of her foot: https://www.mammothortho.com/lateral-process-fracture-of-the-talus-aka-snowboarder-fracture.html My brother did this exact thing snowboarding - took a carve way too sharp, the boot compressed forward over his foot and the compression crushed his foot. Laserface fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Nov 11, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2021 23:06
|
|
|
I got a lesson from a skate instructor that mostly just helped me with technique/form and explained what i was doing wrong that was making braking and tic-tacing hard for me and within 1hr I had improved both significantly. I dont want to say he was unprofessional however he was definitely a fast and loose type operator doing it for cash on the side but it was helpful info all the same. probably all stuff i would have naturally learned or figured out if i was a more active person in my younger years but big boost to confidence knowing how to control my speed a lot better. also gave me some advice on board setup that I had kind of overlooked.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 18, 2021 01:44
|
|
|
I'm the type of person that really needs to understand how something works to understand why it works, so yeah having someone explain it that way helped a ton. Some really obvious stuff too like rolling down inclines. "You wanna match your forward lean to the angle of the incline" really made it obvious why I got speed wobbles and crashed a few weeks back. Also that my trucks are too loose, despite being tightened. I can turn a really sharp carve no issue at low speed but as he pointed out, how is that actually practical say on a sidewalk at a faster pace? Sidewalk you're weaving through people and around debris, you're not carving a 2m diameter circle like I do when I'm on the court practicing. And tic tac-ing too - "don't push the kick tail down. Lean onto your back leg and lift your front foot up" was the thing that made that click instantly. I was already doing it but now I'm doing it better. That way your foot is still on the front of the board and ready to stomp down if you need. Funnily enough heelside tic-tac is harder than toe side, but toeside turns are what I struggle with. By the time my friend is back on a board I should be pretty comfortable skating in the back streets.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 18, 2021 13:52
|
|
|
Well I think I've damaged my rotator cuff swinging my arm to maintain balance last week. Hooray.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 19, 2021 02:49
|
|
|
Artelier posted:I have just bought my first skateboard, and have zero skateboarding experience. Gonna be looking up beginner skateboard tutorials tonight in preparation. Anything I should know that might not be immediately obvious? OP doesn't seem to list anything in particular. Leaning forward is alway preferable to leaning backward. Doubly so for falling. The idea is your centr of gravity is high and you're always moving forward, so to achieve balance front to back you need your weight further forward than your centre to compensate. I'm bad at explaining it. Learn to brake and practice braking regularly Video yourself to identify where you can improve your form Wear safety gear.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 21, 2022 13:33
|
|
|
I'm 6 months in and still on flat ground  But I'm just in it for the carving so it works for me
|
|
#
¿
Feb 17, 2022 12:36
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 18, 2024 09:42 |
|
|
MetaJew posted:Finally strapped on my pads and protective gear and tooled around in my cul de sac for a few minutes on my comet Cruiser. The trucks are super flexy so at low speed or a stop it feels unstable, but once rolling it turns very easy for me, a beginner. Tighten up the trucks. while low speed turns are fine for learning, loose trucks generally mean you will be more unstable at speed in a straight line. tightening the trucks will mean your turning radius is larger but you'll be more stable.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 19, 2022 04:00
|
|