Thread: any skaters in here?

there's heaps of skaters at www.theoffspring.com/forums/index.php

Originally posted by jdinger


Yep.

Here's a website that explains the exact science behind the ollie.

DA, check out this page for a ton of trick tips including slow-mo videos and text explanations.


My son and I went skating this afternoon (a little father's day session ) and bear in mind he's just learning how to ollie off of a curb...anyway, my friend and I are trying nollie-heel's over 3 steps and out of nowhere my son comes along and tries to ollie the 3!

He slammed SO hard. Man, I'm glad I dropped $30 on that helmet for him. He didn't really get hurt, besides the normal scrapes and bruises and afterwards we all laughed about it (including him). He's got a lot more confidence than I did at his age.

We're building a 3'x5'x6" grind box tomorrow with aluminum angle-iron for coping. Something low enough for him to ollie on and grind, while being wide enough for manuals, etc. (I love being on vacation!)

Nollie heels eh? You sound like you're pretty good! I've been skating for about 7 years or so now. Anyways, your location says Bayou. To me that means the south. I was born in NW Florida and still have family there. If you live close to there whenever I go back to visit we should hit up some skate spots and shoot the programming breeze.

Originally posted by doubleanti
Btw, when I kickflip, I can turn the board, but is my foot supposed to be at a 45 degree angle with my heel closer off the heelside towards the middle? When I pop and get air, and I kick down to the left [I'm regular], how do I get myself back on the board? Is my front foot supposed to go that far off? Thank you!

For me the trick to hitting a good kickflip is making sure I pop the ollie good. Because you get enough height for the board to finish the complete rotation and get your feet back on over the bolts. I also kind of flick my back foot off to make it flip more even.

Originally posted by doubleanti
thanks man, i'm gonna just practice my kickflip all day when we go out in a few hours.

I do this really geeky thing every time I skate. Just my little warm up technique. All on flat: I hit 3 ollies, 3 nollies, 3 fs ollies, 3 bs ollies, 3 bs nollies, 3 fs nollies, 3 kickflips, 3 heelflips, 3 nollie heelflips, 3 popshuvits, 3 nollie popshuvits (I love those!), 3 360 flips, 3 no-complies.

No matter where I'm skating or what kind of terrain, I go through this routine on flat to warm-up before every session. I don't have a big hitlist of tricks but I like to keep consistent with what I do have.

That's what I'm trying to teach my son. I don't care what tricks he does, etc., I just want him to concentrate on style and consistency, and not end up like the kids you see trying switch fs flip k-grinds (or whatever) when they can't even ollie 1 board high.

***Oh by the way*** We built our box yesterday and I hit my first k-grind on it! Angle-iron grinds SO good. :D

Originally posted by doubleanti
for my [failed] attempts at a kickflip, i find it first hard to keep balance setting up for the trick.

If this is the case then I would suggest getting better acquainted with your board. Spend some time just riding around as fast as you are comfortable with doing simple things like powerslides, etc. (progressively speeding up as your balance improves). Good balance is key the to everything. With it your tricks will come together so much easier. With out it, well, get used to how concrete feels against your shoulder/elbow.

I tried learning kickflips before I had my ollies clean and I was forever cursed with the old rocket-flip. To this day I've got to concentrate before I pop one to "force" my feet to kick the right way. Heelflip tricks come to me so much easier because I didn't start learning them until my ollie was consistent and clean, so I learned them with proper form.

i guess you could say i'm avoiding shove-its, varials, and other rotation along that axis.

Understandable! I love varial tricks but I hate the snakebites that go along with them. The best investment I ever made was a $5 set of soccer shin guards from Wal-Mart. I wear them every time I skate.

should i practice my ollie more [at higher speeds] and get it higher and more consistent still?

Definitely. Remember the ollie is the basis for 99% of the other tricks you want to learn. Without a solid, consistent ollie you'll just frustrate yourself trying to learn new tricks (see my rocket-flip example above).

anyway about my kickflip, i usually place my front foot a bit behind the center of the board,

If you mean that your front foot is closer to your tail than your nose then I can see why you're losing your balance. Your front foot should be just a little behind the front bolts. I'm regular-footed so my left foot (toes) is about 3 inches or so behind the front bolts for kickflips.

angled just a tad, and i pop [not much tho since i concentrate too much on my front foot's action], and might kick in a downward motion to flip the board [which is what i figure makes sense], i do the kick very early, is that correct?

I don't know about kicking down. I kick back (to the left) and slightly forward (which makes the board level out, same as with a regular ollie). The trick to solid kickflips (ie: when it flips up to your feet and you catch is clean on the bolts) is having both feet nail their parts just right. You've got to snap a solid ollie to give the board a chance to make a full rotation and allow yourself time to catch it clean.