12/21/2023 0 Comments Skateboard poserI was usually the only girl at the skatepark, except for sometimes the moms of little kids. My uncombed long hair and oddly deep voice had me either looking like a girl who lived in a dumpster or the boy child of homeless surfers. I wore uncool protective gear while most kids left their helmets at the side until someone yelled “five-oh!” And then they’d rush to put on helmets before the police could give out tickets. My red race car deck stuck out like a sore thumb. I had fat longboarding wheels, while all the people who did tricks had hard wheels that sounded like cracking whips on concrete. I held my board in a “mall grab” by the trucks. The one thing I learned very quickly was that I was a poser. The following days I didn’t learn any new tricks at the park. I spent that first day learning the flow, and how to not get run over. Equipped with my helmet, pads, and brand new skateboard, my mom took me to the legendary Volcom skatepark. I picked a deck with red grip tape like a race car, and some soft urethane wheels. I was euphoric when I saw the wall, which was stacked with skateboards to the ceiling. When I was 12, a co-worker of my mom heard I liked skating and took me to Joker’s skate shop in Huntington Beach. I was amazed by the game, but I genuinely believed it was a kind of made up version of skateboarding, like the impossible tricks in my beloved Goofy Movie. Despite growing up in Costa Mesa, I didn’t know about any pros was until I was 11, when someone snuck a copy of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 on to the classroom’s communal iMac. I was a weird girl who couldn’t make friends, dishonorably transferred from a Catholic school. I had no frame of reference for the culture of skateboarding. (Trigger warning: this essay contains transphobic, homophobic, and misogynist slurs) I didn’t care too much though, I got to skate. When I was about ten I started bombing it - a helmet, pads, and sometimes even a mouth guard were required by my mom. Our house was on a hill and our driveway was an angle of almost 45 degrees, and 20 feet long. My Walmart Tigger skateboard was my favorite thing, and I’d ride it in circles on our back patio for hours, just turning, wheelie-ing, and spinning. He only knew how to “wheelie” and “tick tack” but it was enough to get me started. I saw the iconic and influential Extremely Goofy Movie and I was hooked. I have been skating since I was 7 years old. Comment is free, discussion is encouraged – but let love prevail. These stories represent the experiences and opinions of the authors, not the magazine, although we are proud to fill our pages with as broad an array of perspectives as possible. This is an opportunity for diverse voices to give us their unique viewpoints and experiences within and without skateboarding. When I ride past the parking lot I hear them say:īut he has tears in his eyes when he sleeps.‘Skate Stories’ is our ongoing collection of personal essays about skateboarding. Listening to music I already have in my head He was wild but the kids today laugh when they seeīehind the wheel of his hatchback he cries Will soon be replaced by two soles made of air Practice adjacent to some grassy area until you get confident enough. I have been hurt more than anybody I know so persistence is also key.įor practical ollies you will need some speed to get up curbs without stalling or slowing down. I've seen a lot of older guys (haha) in their late 20s get back into it only to get hurt and then rethink their intentions. The older you get, the harder it is to recover from injury so staying healthy is key. If you start to sketch out in a trick (sooner or later you'll realize you're gonna need a lot of speed to pull off a lot tricks), have a bail out planned. Rolling is key, your fleshy parts (shoulder and ass) are your body's best cushions. Learn how to fall without extending your arms out or back so that your radii, ulnas or wrist bones don't snap. If you're serious about more complicated tricks you're going to need a lot of patience and realize that you will get hurt and not to be scared of that. Work on your balance because ultimately that's going to assist in having the most fun, whether pulling off a trick or avoiding falling on your face when your front wheels lock in a crack (keep your weight on your rear foot, or learn how to mongo). I think it would be hard to get better worrying about how you look. If you are doing this for the love of skateboarding then forget how you look/your appearance and just have fun. #1 Listen to "The Shredder" by Little Wings (written for guys like you)
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