Getting into skateboarding at 45

If your buying wheels try and get some decent bearings aswell. Bones red or good and not silly money. Its not just the grease / oil fill but they support and older gents weight better and dont bind. I found Bones roll much better than good off the shelf bearings ( skf I think) although I didn’t want to believe the hype.

I think that post is implying some sort of child/peado take.
Joke in bad taste I assume.
Could be wrong.

a bit odd on a forum for adults who ride bikes, something else that is childish activity.

I got two sets with this board. I’m running the 69mm 78A roundhouse concaves at the moment which are super grippy but quite slow. I’ve got another set of 65mm 81A’s that I’ll try next time before I buy anything else.

I’ve gone for softer wheels now easy on the ears and nicer in the skate park.

@thebrick yup I did make that connection too.

Bit off topic but I thought I’d ask here . My son has just got a skateboard to take to the skatepark with him , normally on a bmx but he saved up his pocket money and got himself a board . Anyway , his board seems to roll a lot slower than everyone else’s and it’s a bit stiff to turn using his heels and toes . Is this just because it’s new ? Does it just need bedding in or should I try and free it up somehow.

I seem to remember spraying wd40 into my skateboard wheels when I was a kid but I was never really in to it so have no idea 🤷

probably worth checking that the wheel nuts aren’t over tightened, in terms of turning the truck bolts might need loosening to make turning easier. If he’s still slower he might just need to learn to pump, works the same as it does on a bike.

wheels should spin freely but not rattle. trucks are a personal thing. loosen them up until it feels too loose and then come back a bit from that.

As above. Undo the kigpin nut on the trucks 1 turn that will make its turning much easier. Are they branded trucks? A lot of the cheaper ones have hard rubber a bit like cheap bike tyres.

Thanks all . It’s an Enuff board with their trucks and wheels , will try backing the nuts off half a turn and see how he goes .

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChB_Q7jr_iV/

another early doors session at the park this morning. 65mm, 81A’s definitely rolled better but could still do with more speed…

even dropped into the snake run twice without dying.

Well went for 5.5 trucks @andykirk and definitely feels more stable

My olies are almost there!

a bit odd on a forum for adults who ride bikes, something else that is childish activity.

He was a bit of a covid-denying troll too iirc, some people just need attention

Good man Kimbers! From the video it looks like you are doing great! Maybe try the same run in the opposite direction?

I havent posted a video, im still too shit!

i guess thats mine andy is referring. I went every way possible round the run this morning. i’m finding videoing is actually really helpful to watch back to see what I’m doing right/wrong.

some carver park wheels ordered. only place with stock was extremeINN so who knows if/when they will turn up.

working on the snake run this morning. next is the deeper bowl with a steeper roll in but I wasn’t feeling brave this morning.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChHAntLF6W_/

Looking good @jam-bo
Managed a boardslide on a rail on Monday evening then had a good go at spannering myself trying to learn slappy 50-50s
Hope everyone else is keeping the dream alive. I’ll try to post some videos next time.

Sorry Jam Bo yes it was your vid!

Almost makes me want to get my board down from the attic…. I miss skating, Halcyon days.

I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed it. Never going to set the park on fire but just carving some turns is really satisfying.

And it makes up a little bit for how little I’ve surfed this year.

Looks like a great park you’ve got Jam-bo. Not been out for a few weeks due to spannering ribs on mtb. Park is also packed with scooter kids at all hours as the weathers great. Schools go back next week so hoping to pick up again then.

That’s in Plymouth, the one in my local town is a shitty metal thing but there are plans to improve it. I go at 6am on my way to work and so far it’s been mostly me.

Still can’t olie

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChKDABFPcjR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
(also cant embed from instagram!)

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChKDABFPcjR/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

@kimbers if you’re accepting tips on your ollies, I think your problem is your pop, It’s more of a flick/kick with your back foot as you’ve already started jumping most of the motion at the pop comes from the ankle rather than the full leg too. not that I’m an expert but I’ve just been going through the process again so it’s fresh.

I would love some critiquing of my Olies, cheers!

@kimbers, I’d also not bother having your front foot so far back, I’ve been having mine maybe an inch behind the front truck bolts, gives you a bit more room to spring from the drag part is THAT important until you’re getting off the ground and even then it’s more about perfecting them I think.

I’m 51

Me and mrs have been skating for about 5 months now. Having adult skate lessons twice a week at Graystone Adventure Sports in Salford.

https://instagram.com/stories/stickylate2skate/

Cannot wait for kids to get back to school. empty parks and NO litter.

Kimbers front foot is too far back over needs to be over the bolts.
It’s a 1,2,3 action
Pop rear
Lift rear foot.
Drag front foot forward not up.
Good luck

@Kimbers hope you don’t mind the pile on, it’s all constructive feedback. looking at your video you’re trying to launch forward but that’s only required when moving and even then not as much as you’re going for. Try and concentrate on popping upwards and as per Joe-Ms comment use the flick of your ankle to create the pop rather than the jump itself (Kind like jumping on one leg and using more ankle than knee if that makes sense)

I’d put up a vid of me doing them if i knew how. i’ve been practising for a year now and have ollies at around a foot high when static or 6-8 inches when moving as they’re such different beasts.

Keep up the good work though as you’re not far off

Did someone mention slappies?

Currently obsessed, how they work somehow doesnt make sense but they’re so fun.

Learnt slappy feebles this week but no video so here are a couple of 50-50 variants from

A month or two ago….

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CZfB3WSpGYl/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUqAh5YlAIR/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/CToZxZjlj0a/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

See @kimbers no Ollie’s required!!! 🙂

Seriously though here’s my ( in a friendly tip nature ) two cents….

People often focus on dragging the front foot but in reality it’s the smacking the tail (pop) but that is at least as important.

The idea is to jam the tail down as hard as possible into the floor ( using your thigh muscle ) then unweight it by jumping using your ankle at the very split second it hits. That is what gets you in the air. At this point all the front foot is doing really is moving up out of the way. The drag of the front foot happens after you have jumped and levels the board.

If you stand behind your board on the ground and bang the tail to make the board spring into your hand it’s the same idea ( hopefully I’ve described that well!)

You should be able to pop off the ground and land without using your front foot at all – kind of like a hop.

Watch the first bit of this, I made it a few years ago to try and explain it to
My friend!

Demo

Ahhhh the one footed Ollie, good days im surprised how much no-complys are back in fashion too.

^^^^
many reasons above why I shall never ollie and am quite happy on a surfskate…

@creepers it was me who mentioned slappies, but only cos I tried to spanner myself learning fs 50-50s need to go back and give it another go hopeing to find a nice waxed curb to try them on. Was also thinking of backing it off a notch and trying to learn slappy nose slides as I’ve already been playing with curb nose stalls.

tips welcome.

Slappy nose slides are a good starting point. Slappy crooks are fairly easy, easier than they look anyway.

Took me ages for FS slappies to click to be honest. There’s lots of vids on YouTube but this is one of the better ones…

A well waxed curb helps, rub bricking it before waxing really helps ( see google !)

The secret is unweighting the front foot at the exact right moment to let the board ride onto the curb. The back truck almost pivots up from the front truck. It’s suoer hard to explain but it’s easy once it clicks.

This is also good for some basic slappy variations…

(Boardslides obvs difficult on our uk non- double sided curbs!)

Oooh thanks for the vids i can just about manage the boardslides on rails just about, quite like the idea of a lipslide have to try that on a rail.

@jam-bo Have you been to Prime much?
My son and I had a lesson there, they were a great bunch and my son progressed really well, me, I fell over alot. It’s been 30 years and I was no good in the first place.

No. Is it what used to be called flat spot? Near the cinema?

I’ve only been the Central Park one three times, planning on trying ashburton soon, and the new one at sherbeton is supposed to be good.

Thanks for the tips @creepers i landed bs slappy 50-50s for the first time tonight, much easier that fs. Admittedly it was on the smallest curb ever but you have to start somewhere! Should have filmed it but there were other people there and I was trying not to look any lamer than I already am, I’ll try to get a clip next time.
I also managed to drop in to most of ramps without dying which was good!

Excellent work!!!!