How to skateboard and not kill yourself!
October 3, 2007
When I skateboard I try to lose contact with the world just clear my mind and let the board do its thing. If I try too hard then I won’t have complete control over my board. I will always remember what Rodney Mullen once said, “If you don’t trust your board then how can you expect it to trust and cooperate with you.” This I know from experience. Believe it or not I was in the amateur x games in Denver, Colorado last summer. I didn’t place but it was a great experience. I tried too hard and didn’t complete many tricks but my second run I listened to Rodney’s advice and I nailed it! Some of the tricks I tried while I was there include, the Ollie, another the kickflip, the 180, and my favorite the hard flip.
The Ollie is the most basic trick and the simplest. An Ollie is when you jump your board into the air without using your hands. The Ollie is the foundation of skateboarding. All you need to do is hit your tail and slide your foot up toward the nose. A more challenging move is the kickflip; the kickflip is very easy and simple yet takes practice. The kickflip is flipping the board in the air without your hands. It is done by sliding your front foot off the nose at an angle while slamming your tail to the concrete with your back foot. The 180 is another trick that can be a little more complex, but with some practice it’s easy. The trick is when you jump in the air and turn a half spin with your skateboard and ride away the opposite direction. It can be done by once again slamming your tail to the ground and then twisting your hips and shoulders a half turn. My favorite is the hard flip. The name basically gives it away. It is my favorite because it takes a lot of time to learn but when mastered it’s the coolest trick ever. The hard flip is when your board does a 180 spin behind you while flipping under you. This is a very valuable trick to learn mainly because hard flips are amazing and very cool looking. Just always remember that if you trust your board it will always be smoother.
So I might not have placed, but the experience is once in a lifetime. The thrill of this level of competition is unbelievable. These tricks might not have gotten me gold but they are steps to be a better skater.
