As skateboard season comes to a snowy close, I’m thinking back on the past few months of my return to the sport/hobby/lifestyle/whatever of skateboarding.
At this point, I have no great philosophical truths to expound upon, nor are there any mind-blowing tips & tricks to share, just a comment or two about the process of (re)learning to skate. I’m starting at process because how we approach learning one thing can remain, at its foundation, the same for any activity, method, or basic principle we want to master.
For me, this summer started with the most basic of basics. Even with a foundation of skating in my younger days, I found it necessary to start simple: I worked to gain confidence in my balance while riding, I made sure I could maintain my position all the way through kick turns (though I’m still learning front-side), and I resolved to fully pump even the mellowest of inclines.
At times, it felt a little silly to put so much effort into pumping down a 1 foot tall and 4 feet long plane, but I’m not the haphazard teen I was, so I quickly realized how doing those simple, sometimes silly looking moves was building up my strength, balance, and confidence.
Following that idea to build from the basics, I’ve done the same maneuvers on the same obstacles day in and day out to make sure I know where my body is and what it’s doing while riding that treacherous little piece of wood. If I’m off, I have enough awareness of the move to know what’s going wrong, and with that experience, I can anticipate problems found in future tricks.
In my first weeks of skating, I decided that if I can’t land a move twice in a row, even three times, then I don’t have the right to say it is in my repertoire of tricks. Needless to say, there are only a few counted at this point, but watching for the most minor improvements makes me a more well-rounded, confident skater. Not that it shows. Hahaha
Still, some of my favorite moments skateboarding these last few months have come by taking part in the weather, the sunrises, and the lungfuls of air after snaking through the park. For me, the connection to nature is essential to enjoying any given skate session—and this year, I found myself wholeheartedly enjoying the mere fact of getting myself outside. Even if I had only an hour or 45 minutes, I felt exponentially better about life with every morning spent shredding under gold, red, and orange skies. AHH! I can’t wait for this solstice to pass and the days to get longer!
Today, snow is general all over my city*, and while I look forward to taking deep breaths of January air whenever the concrete is dry and willing, my board and I will rest for the day. We’ll rest, that is, until I can’t stand it anymore and start learning no-complies and kickflips in the basement.
Thanks for reading.
*James Joyce’s “Dubliners,” anyone?
Average Skater 