vendredi 5 août 2011


Skating, a super awesome sport that can be learned, enjoyed and mastered by anyone. When I say anyone I mean really anyone! A girl, a boy, you can skate at 3 years or at 40 the sooner the better. I’m sure some of you guys and girls out there have tried skating and didn’t liked it or found it to hard. I my self quitted for a bit after I started. But now my loving it!.


 Just before I start I will admit skating is not a 100% safe sport. Dose who skated for a bit now what I’m talking about. So make sure you are wearing protective gear.
If you ever watched a good skater in action I’m sure you had to be amazed by what he could do. Skating is something that some people learn faster then others, the reason is they have skate camps ,a coach or he skates all day. So if you see someone that is better then you, don’t get down.
The first step is learning to roll. Find a plain parking spot with the almost no cars, make sure to ask permission is you can skate in that area. Once you start to get the hang off it try rolling in places with a bit off obstacles to try and turn. Rolling is the most important part so make sure to get it right. Now that you know how to roll make sure you know how to turn go in a place with a bit of obstacles. When you fell you are ready get in to your nearest Skate park and try to roll down some pyramids or drop some small quarter pipes. Know is time to learn your first trick which is called a Ollie, is basically lifting you skateboard off the ground but no hands. I cant really teach you how to do that will you reading so I will show you :D (If you want to get your skateboard online try west49.com)

if your Ollie really is not improving try to put you foot closer to the screws and always hit the tail of the skate hard. If you got your Ollies right try and doing it will rolling .If you fell confident you can try to Ollie over a small rail or obstacle. Getting a trick right all the time is not easy even professionals don’t get their tricks right sometimes. When you try to do something and don’t succeed it might be frustrating, and you will want to break your skate. Try to hold it down because I know people that paid way over 1,000$ over broken skateboards. With that money you can buy more useful stuff like wax, to put on the rails that don’t slide. Also better bearings might be nice, (I suggest ABEC 7) new wheels, cause after a while they start to shrink and grip less…etc.


It is good for you to know what parts of the skateboard can be loosened or changed. The trucks of the skateboard is one of the most important part of the skate, the more you tighten the trucks the less they will turn but it will give more stability and balance on the skateboard. It Is good to tighten the trucks if you want to roll down a hill. The more you loosen them the more it will turn, you should loosen your tucks a bit if you going in a skate park.
 Wheels, there are different types of wheels. Hard wheels and soft wheels. Hard wheels will grip less but will last more, those wheels are better for street skating. Soft wheels will ride smother but wont last as long as the hard ones, they are better for indoor skate parks. If you usually go to a outdoor skate park, any wheels will work but I suggest the hard ones. Experience with all sort of combinations to see which one suits you the best.

Ok! Lets say that you got your skateboard parts and you know how to Ollie know is time for you to learn your first flip trick. A flip trick is basically flipping your board. One of the most popular and cool trick is the kickflip.

Kickflip is not a easy trick to learn but once you got it, it will be worth it. A good thing to remember is that you have to snap the tail hard, and bring your feats up so they wont touch the deck. If you want to practice it will standing still go on the grass. Just make sure is not wet because that will ruin your bearings and your wheels wont roll so good. If you manage to get sand in your bearings get some oil and a toothpick and try to get the sand out. If it doesn’t work get your wheels and your bearings off and give them a good clean.


A fun trick that I love doing sometimes is a hippy jump. To do a hippy jump you need a small object that your skate can easily go under and you jump over (A rail is frequently used). Once you have found that, you roll towards the objet/rail and jump over it a the same time let your skate go under, and land back on it. Be sure to jump high enough so you feet don’t hit the objet/rail.
This trick can be learned very quickly the only thing that will hold you back is the fear of not jumping high enough and hit the rail with your feet. Most of the time if you wanna try something new and you doubt about it, you will think about all the things that can go wrong. How you can to overcome your fears is by practicing movements that are required in that trick.