[HN Gopher] Tony Hawk on his skateboarding legacy
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Tony Hawk on his skateboarding legacy
Author : pseudolus
Score : 152 points
Date : 2021-05-24 13:46 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theguardian.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theguardian.com)
| listenallyall wrote:
| Speaking of "old" athletes... Phil Mickelson anyone?
| blastro wrote:
| awesome he pulled it off! so impressive.
| yboris wrote:
| Semi-related: Werner Herzog's thoughts on skating
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQLInlnfWUc
| yakshaving_jgt wrote:
| I know this is confirmation bias, but I broke my wrist yesterday
| after falling off my skateboard and now I'm convinced every media
| outlet is mocking me for it.
| godfreyantonell wrote:
| Sorry about your wrist. Thanks for brightening my Monday. Fast
| recovery to you.
| megameter wrote:
| Exactly why I am not skating! The skill barriers and risk are
| pretty undeniable - it takes a certain kind of person to keep
| doing it when it's so tough on the body.
|
| While I sometimes think I'm missing out, I quickly settled for
| kick scooters when I was younger; I just wanted something
| simpler and smaller than a bike to ride around and a folding
| adult scooter is exactly that - apart from an occasional curb
| hop, no tricks or aggressive riding, but I can push hard and
| easily maintain a pace between a fast run and a sprint on flat
| ground. I actually took mine out again yesterday after a break
| of a few years. I get to carve a little bit, I have front and
| rear brakes, and I always get complements.
| conductr wrote:
| Try longboarding. I street skated in teens/twenties took some
| time off then at 40 knew 1) I had lost some basic abilities
| 2) it was too risky to be jumping around and 3) I'm bigger =
| fall harder ... so I got a longboard. It's great a more
| mellow cruise type of activity.
| matwood wrote:
| > it takes a certain kind of person to keep doing it when
| it's so tough on the body.
|
| I gave up skating and eventually wake boarding (tore an ACL)
| for the same reasons. Surfing is something I feel like I can
| do forever. Snowboarding is also fine a few times/year. If I
| moved back to the mountains, I could see where doing it all
| season would end up also being pretty rough on the body
| though.
|
| Something I've been doing a lot the past few years which is
| surprisingly not that rough on the body is jiu-jitsu. I did
| get dinged and bruised when starting out, but nothing like I
| used to get skating or wake boarding.
| joejoesvk wrote:
| how do you get hurt while wakeboarding? I've tried it once
| or twice and besides drowning it seemed pretty safe . I'm
| really curious cause I want to get into it
| matwood wrote:
| At the speed you're going when you edge to the wake, the
| water is almost like concrete. When I tore my ACL I was
| coming out of a backroll[1] and cased upslope of the
| opposite wake so all my speed and rotation came down on
| my back leg, compressing my knee and snapping the ACL.
|
| When I went to my surgeon he said I was the 4th
| wakeboarder he had done that summer and asked me why it
| was so rough on our knees lol...
|
| [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC3TEqcyT24
|
| EDIT
|
| It is amazingly fun though. If you can ride behind a nice
| boat with big wake and speakers so you can jam out while
| riding, it's a great experience. Plus, wakeboarding is
| social and always takes a minimum 2 people. Learn to
| drive the boat properly and always give some gas money,
| and you'll be invited over and over.
| asdff wrote:
| To get to the point of being able to cruise around everywhere
| comfortably is a lot easier on a skateboard than learning how
| to bike imo. You don't have to keep up momentum, you just
| have to watch out for the occasional big crack in the
| sidewalk. You don't have to learn how to brake that well,
| either, if you aren't bombing hills. I kinda just start
| pushing slower with my foot and that brakes me fine enough,
| rather than do the shoe destroying sliding foot brake.
|
| Tricks are another animal, but just cruising around can be
| learned in an afternoon in a parking lot. I picked it up as
| an adult. I mean there are bulldogs who can skate if you need
| motivation.
| cabite wrote:
| I empathise. I began skateboarding 2 years ago and the more I
| fall, the more I tend to adopt the pancake strategy. First i
| learnt to not protude my knees and they my hands. Pancake.
|
| I think the importance of pain in skateboarding is underrated.
| A member of the braille skateboarding crew just quit because of
| the pain.
|
| There's a video where Tony Hawk go through a vertical spiral
| ramp. He's very anxious, couldn't sleep the night before.
| Because of the pain. But he manages to do it in a few tries but
| has turn his left flank into meat for that.
|
| They never perform new tricks the first time. They fall and
| fall again until they nail it and you only see that part.
| spike021 wrote:
| Heh, that happened to me 10 years ago. Broke my left wrist and
| sprained my right. Rather than media, it was basically everyone
| at my university who made it look so easy.
| yakshaving_jgt wrote:
| Frustratingly, I used to be not half bad at skateboarding. I
| managed to land a 360 flip just a few months ago while being
| really rather drunk[0].
|
| I wasn't even trying anything complicated yesterday; just a
| simple shuv-it on flat ground at a skatepark. Fell sideways
| onto my arm and felt a heart-sinking crack.
|
| [0]: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLOSozsAvkc/
| edgyquant wrote:
| I was really into it in my teens, tore my ankle up bad at 17
| where I couldn't do any flips. Waited a year and got back
| into, tore the ankle again within a year. Still every time I
| try a flip my ankle hurts bad. Kind of sucks, it was the only
| "sport" I ever enjoyed :/
| asenchi wrote:
| I shattered my ankle nearly 8 years ago dropping in at a local
| skate park. I understand this feeling quite well. Sadly, I
| never really got on a board after the injury, can't put my wife
| through that situation again. :)
| r_singh wrote:
| Aww damn, heal well...
| sgrinich wrote:
| Scaphoid fracture? Those are the worst
| exhilaration wrote:
| I saw this on Reddit:
|
| 52 year-old Tony Hawk doing a McTwist without spilling a glass of
| milk https://i.imgur.com/LkTpmZj.gifv
|
| In the most excellent Hold My Red Bull community:
| https://www.reddit.com/r/holdmyredbull/top/?sort=top&t=all
| axegon_ wrote:
| There's a lot more to Tony Hawk than skateboarding: he single
| single handedly turned skateboarding into a multi-billion
| industry. Skateboarding was a big part of my life in the second
| half of my teenage years and that was in the mid 2000's. What's
| astonishing about Tony Hawk is that he made a huge impact during
| a time when vert ramps and half-pipes were extremely unpopular to
| put it mildly. Late 90's it was all about street skating. The
| video series that still largely captures that period to me is
| Eastern Exposure. But also skateboarding as a whole was dropping
| in popularity relative to the early 90's. What the Tony Hawk
| series did was they captured the imagination of the next
| generation which took the 90's skateboarding to a scale which I
| don't think anyone even remotely considered possible. I remember
| in the earlier 2000's when seeing someone jump down 10 stairs
| seemed like something out of this world. By 2005-6 that was
| looked at largely as "k, cool". That+the fact that skateboarding
| was at the top of the game once again. I'm not sure what the
| situation is today but I feel like it's dying again when I walk
| around the city. There's no denying that skateboarding is
| difficult: it will take you months to get a hang of the basics
| whereas kids can pick up a scooter and start doing tricks as soon
| as they set foot on them. Kind of sad now that I think of it.
| Every now and then a gif will pop up on the internet and I'll
| instinctively want to start clapping. Shame.
| reducesuffering wrote:
| > I'm not sure what the situation is today but I feel like it's
| dying again when I walk around the city.
|
| Do not fear, the pandemic only supercharged people finding new
| outdoors hobbies. Skateparks are wildly more packed than ever,
| many new ones have been created in the past few years to keep
| up, and hard goods have been flying off shelves at shops.
| axegon_ wrote:
| Not afraid at all, I'm very much in a different world now so
| it doesn't bother me all that much. There are no skateparks
| close to my place so I'm not entirely sure what is going on
| but I'm getting the impression that skateboarding is dying.
| The thing is I have flat feet and as such, skate shoes are
| pretty much the only shoes I can wear so I still visit
| skateshops for that purpose. What I notice is that skateshops
| these days are 85% scooters and longboards which does not
| seem very promising for street skating. I could be wrong,
| that's just my observation.
| joewrong wrote:
| I've been seeing some amazing skating on tiktok
| ergot_vacation wrote:
| Some good points, glad someone posted this. I went down a
| rabbit hole of Tony Hawk videos and interviews a couple years
| ago, including some in-depth ones where he talks the history of
| the sport in general and his history with it, and it's
| fascinating. As a sport it's been much more unstable than
| something like football or baseball, always expanding and
| contracting as laws and cultural attitudes change. Lot more
| room for innovation too though. And man, after watching three
| or four interviews with the guy, you really get an appreciation
| for how chill he is.
| mistrial9 wrote:
| interesting to read this, as a skater from the xx's .. hint, I
| read the original Thrasher low-budget local zine. There was a
| rebel and/or punk side to urban skating - getting hurt,
| breaking rules, thrills. Tony Hawk seemed part of a Los Angeles
| scene which was big on color photos with good lighting, making
| skate heroes with sponsorship, and selling a LOT of skate gear
| and advertising space. Needless to say, the urban Thrashers
| were not impressed by that part of Tony Hawk, although yes, the
| guy can skate certainly.. and breaking new moves etc..
|
| I like to hear that things evolved, and this positive light on
| the publicity is soothing to the eternal grump side of being a
| rebel. Skating is great fun, bruises and all.. thanks for this
| post
| gscott wrote:
| I watched a documentary of early skating and it seems that
| Tony Hawk's success is making the most of the MTV X-games and
| not getting into drugs. I had a neighbor (jeromygreen) who
| knows Tony Hawk and it seems Tony Hawk just absolutely shows
| up everywhere, gets to know every skater, remembers every
| skaters name.
| lloeki wrote:
| I've always been fascinated by Rodney Mullen, and only learned
| years later he was nicknamed the Godfather of skateboarding.
|
| And with good reason! He rose in fame at a young age, pulling
| up insane freestyle tricks, yet started before street
| skateboarding was a thing, and was overnight rendered obsolete.
|
| But he went on to reinvent himself and created so many tricks,
| some he's still the only one able to do, or do with anything
| close to that level of mastery.
|
| He then suffered a medical issue where his hip joint fused...
| Wasn't supposed to skate ever again but came back from it,
| relearning everything with a different balance.
|
| He's over 50 now, and skating with such style[0], pulling off
| one-handstand flips which is insane at any age.
|
| I respect Tony Hawk, but Mullen is an alien alright, less
| popular but so much more fundamental for skateboarding.
|
| https://youtu.be/xjMGAQCXppc
| brandall10 wrote:
| I wouldn't say Mullen is less popular, at least amongst
| skaters.
|
| I skateboarded in the mid to late 80s and had a Powell
| Peralta Mullen board (in addition to a normal street/vert
| board), so my memories of Mullen really were of this geeky
| kid in helmet and pads doing the impossible and rarely
| messing up. More than anyone else, I would watch Bones
| Brigade VHS tapes on slow motion to figure out just how the
| heck he pulled this stuff off.
|
| I have a theory that freestyle never went anywhere because
| Mullen was just too good - no one watching him could ever
| think "yeah, I could do that".
|
| That's not to take anything away from Tony Hawk, but for
| instance, he had contemporaries like Hosoi to keep him in
| check. Mullen was an island. So happy to find out years later
| he transitioned to being the king of street skating.
| Obviously many of the street tricks he invented were on that
| tiny freestyle board, so he deserves the title regardless,
| but it's just so cool to see he had a second career and has
| maintained relevance into advanced age like Tony.
| thatcat wrote:
| He invented the ollie which enabled most other skating
| tricks.
| axegon_ wrote:
| I wouldn't say he's less popular. I like to think of both of
| them as the two sides of the same coin. Within the skating
| community there's probably not a single person not knowing
| both names and a great amount of detail about both of them.
| If anything I'd argue that if you adjust the publicity around
| both of them you'd see that they've dragged in similar
| proportions of people. But over time little to none stick
| with the ultimate goal to become their modern version. I
| suppose it has something to do with what is popular as a
| whole. What is interesting is that overall skateboarding is a
| subset of rebellion or at least it's viewed as such and back
| in the day that was considered a good thing within the
| community. I'm not sure what's the situation now. The point
| is that at least during the 2000's neither Hawk or Mullen
| were representing that rebellious spirit all that much which
| is why people were going in other directions. Now that I
| think of it, there's the Thrasher Skater of the year award[1]
| which accurately captures every era over the last 30 years.
| Public competitions, to street skate-rats, to the "we're in a
| videogame, let's throw ourselves down the biggest set of
| stairs we can find" to... Uugh.. As I said I have no idea
| what is happening now.
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrasher_(magazine)#Skater_
| of_...
| lloeki wrote:
| Maybe "popular" isn't the correct word, maybe "mainstream"
| is?
|
| To illustrate, people far removed from the skateboarding
| crowd see me with a skateboard and jokingly refer to me as
| either "Tony Hawk" or "Marty McFly", not because of any
| resemblance in skill mind you (I'm not even doing vert, and
| even then, I can barely heelflip) but because these are the
| people that conjure images of skateboarding to them,
| whereas they of course have no idea who Mullen is.
|
| In that sense Tony Hawk has entered pop culture like no
| other skateboarder has.
|
| > As I said I have no idea what is happening now.
|
| There's another revival in progress. The scene is getting
| incredibly more diverse. See Killian Martin's videos by
| Bret Novak, very dance like, awesome filming and
| storytelling. There are more women that ever, which is way
| overdue. There are old skaters still skating. There are
| both old and new skaters aiming for a healthy lifestyle.
| The "old, rebellious way" is still there, it's just not the
| only way to be a skateboarder anymore.
| LocalPCGuy wrote:
| I grew up watching Tony Hawk take the world by storm, but
| Mullen was the guy that could do all the tricks you dismiss
| as impossible to pull off when BSing with buddies about what-
| ifs. His control of a skateboard is legendary.
| switchstance wrote:
| This video (and their others) seems heavily inspired by
| Olivier Gondry's music video for Tiga.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-v-rBCFuAk
| mycologos wrote:
| I know relatively little about skateboarding, but there's a
| certain genius-from-restriction, literally tinkering-in-the-
| garage romance to Mullen's skateboarding journey that I
| really like. From Wikipedia [1]:
|
| > When his family moved to a farm in a remote part of
| Florida, Mullen began perfecting his flatground techniques in
| the family garage; he has said that the isolation and lack of
| terrain naturally guided him towards freestyle skateboarding.
| Mullen cites July 1979-August 1980 as his "most creative
| time," a time when he was predominantly a loner who counted
| the cows of the family farm as his best friends....[i]n 1980,
| the 14-year-old Mullen entered the Oasis Pro competition,
| defeating the world champion, Steve Rocco.
|
| Every now and then I think about trying skateboarding again,
| but I wince just thinking about all that force on early-30s
| knees.
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Mullen
| jasonkester wrote:
| _Every now and then I think about trying skateboarding
| again, but I wince just thinking about all that force on
| early-30s knees_
|
| Nah, go for it. I got my start last summer when my kids
| bought me a board for my 49th birthday.
|
| Their mistake, since now I'm the one dragging them to the
| skatepark on sunny mornings to beat the hordes of scooter
| kids.
| atoav wrote:
| I skated from 10 to 20 and staeted again with 30. I never
| had a single issue with my knees. Usually I can feel my
| ankles after a long session, but that isn't really
| something.
|
| If you are worried about your knees there are certainly low
| impact tricks (most of the freestyle stuff) that you could
| start with. This is also a great way to start, because you
| learn to control your board before actually trying stuff
| that might hurt your joints.
|
| The thing I love about skateboarding is that you can do it
| everywhere, and you can do it alone. It never gets old and
| it changes the way you look at places in a good way.
| theobr wrote:
| Lifetime skater here. You hit the nail on the head with the
| 'genius-from-restriction'. I call it "the Mullen effect"
|
| Every generation has a handful of those skaters that grew
| up in total isolation. Instagram and other social media has
| made it less likely that a skater stays fully separated,
| but those that do still stand out.
|
| The big one of the last generation was Chris Cole, who grew
| up skating in his driveway with a little ledge he built
| himself. Similar to Mullen mastering flatground, Cole
| mastered every single ledge trick. The term "NBD" (Never
| Been Done) was coined to describe the tricks that only he
| is known to have done
| jermaustin1 wrote:
| > Every now and then I think about trying skateboarding
| again, but I wince just thinking about all that force on
| early-30s knees.
|
| Yeah, I think skateboarding is probably what KILLED my
| knees, and I cannot imagine how I would pick up anything
| BUT mini ramps and verts now, and even then, probably very
| little air, and just grinds, slides, and carves.
|
| I was never a pretty skater, but my signature trick was a
| double kick indy on flat. It was ugly, it was way to fast,
| but it was something I could do that no one else around me
| could. Sure I couldn't nollie inward heel, or 360 flip, or
| tail slide, but I could double kick to indy. I'm still look
| back fondly on the sheer number of attempts before I could
| land it consistently forsaking learning all the other
| tricks everyone else was learning, just so I could do
| something stupid that no one else even wanted to.
| thatcat wrote:
| >just so I could do something stupid that no one else
| even wanted to
|
| this pretty much sums up the joys of skating
| marttt wrote:
| > Yeah, I think skateboarding is probably what KILLED my
| knees ...
|
| Are stunt scooters safer in this regard? Asking because I
| just bought one for our 7-year-old son. I've been
| involved in jump-and-run sports all my life, but I do
| feel somewhat uneasy. This is Kids with Only Two Knees,
| Wrists and Ankles and Only One Skull meeting Really Hard
| Surfaces, hm.
|
| Also, should I be worried that Bad Influences
| characteristic to the skateboard/scooter scene are going
| to turn my kid into a junkie?
|
| BTW, in Early 1990s Estonia, during the strange mixture
| of post-communist socialism and predatory capitalism,
| essentially only one kind of skateboard was available. So
| this was pretty much all you could see; these were
| everywhere, and sold with a ridiculously low price:
| https://bit.ly/2SihYmd
| atoav wrote:
| As mentioned above I skated for more than 10 years and
| have perfectly fine knees (and all other joints as far as
| I can tell). And I did crazy stuff, like jumping down
| stairs higher than myself etc. My younger brother fucked
| up his knees by playing handball indoors (rapid changes
| of direction are bad).
|
| So I think it really depends on the individual, and what
| they are doing. Some people destroy thwir knees by
| stepping out of bed the wrong way.
|
| Make sure the kid warms up and does stretches before
| going for anything crazy, that helps a lot.
| MrMember wrote:
| Rodney Mullen is an interesting guy. I highly recommend his
| autobiography if you haven't read it. When he was entering
| freestyle competitions early on it was never a question of
| who would win but rather who would come in second behind
| Rodney. Nobody could compete with him because he was
| inventing new tricks (many of which are still staples of
| street skating) at such a rapid pace. His commitment was
| otherworldly. When he was in his teens he would get home from
| school and skateboard until it was time to go to bed. Every
| day.
| tomhoward wrote:
| Those interested in 90s skateboarding should check out the 2014
| documentary All This Mayhem, about the Pappas brothers, Tas and
| Ben.
|
| It documents the rivalry between Tony Hawk and the Pappas boys in
| the 90s, and the conjecture over Hawk's and Tas Pappas' attempts
| to be the first to land a 900 spin. It draws a striking contrast
| between the clean-cut, media/corporate-friendly international
| superstar-in-the-making Hawk, vs the very raw, abrasive Pappas
| boys from a troubled home in one of the most downtrodden outer
| suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.
|
| Very different characters, but equal for skating talent, and the
| Pappas boys had several tournament wins over Hawk.
|
| Sadly the Pappas boys' lives spiraled into drug-fueled hell and
| wound up in very dark places, whilst Hawk rode the wave to the
| top and stayed there.
|
| It is co-produced by James Gay-Rees and others who worked on
| Senna, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Amy and Palio, so it's well-
| made.
|
| https://youtu.be/acX4w3lPiiU
| joncrane wrote:
| I don't use Instagram much but I do follow Tony on there. He is
| basically my dream life. He's anonymous enough to go about his
| daily life mostly unrecognized, yet a multi-millionaire (I think
| he's 8 figures), has a sunset/sea view house in the hills above
| San Diego, sponsored by people who make his travel easy (he's
| sponsored by some VIP travel companies that make flying out of
| LAX a breeze, some company sponsored a family cross country RV
| trip so the travel and expenses were free), he has his own
| private skatepark, and mentors younger skateboarders.
|
| He's also really down to earth and LOVES skateboarding.
| flobosg wrote:
| > He's anonymous enough to go about his daily life mostly
| unrecognized, yet a multi-millionaire
|
| There's a series of tweets from him where people don't
| recognize him or mistake him for other celebrities:
| https://www.businessinsider.com/tony-hawks-twitter-unrecogni...
| ezoe wrote:
| Forget the money, Not much people are fortunate enough to enjoy
| stakeboarding at age 53.
| aantix wrote:
| ".. whenever I see those skateboard kids, I think, those kids
| will be alright."
|
| Jerry Seinfeld on Skatboarding
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rub-lW-9MXw
| gabereiser wrote:
| Take this passion and dedication to a different industry.
| Software. We are always looking for "fresh" talent, but sometimes
| old talent with milage is just as good, if not better. He's old,
| but still doing what he loves. Some of us engineering folk are
| old too, and still doing what we love. Agism exists. Let's
| actively fight it by remembering The Hawk.
|
| That said, he was an inspiration to me in the 90s, still is
| today. I don't have the knees to skateboard anymore but I do ride
| a OneWheel.
| JamesSwift wrote:
| Its a good point, but also this is basically the John Carmack
| of skateboarding. Its a different tier of athlete/developer.
| lloeki wrote:
| Hmm, not too sure about that comparison, Tony Hawk is really
| good, but to me a Carmack of skateboarding would be some one
| more like Rodney Mullen or Daewon Song.
|
| See e.g how Mullen explains his fundamental approach to
| skateboarding in "Pop a ollie and innovate".
|
| https://youtu.be/3GVO-MfIl1Q
| jwilber wrote:
| For all ty skateboarding x tech nerds, check out 4plymag.com
| honkycat wrote:
| I like skateboarding a lot, watch a lot of videos on youtube. I
| admire Tony Hawk because you NEVER see him without his helmet.
|
| But I watch other skate videos, and people will forego their
| helmets. i watched one taking place in New York City where a dude
| was jumping down a flight of stairs, crashed, and slammed his
| noggin on the ground, out cold. And then he took a break, went
| back to it, and landed the trick.
|
| And everyone was cheering him on and acting like he was a hero
| for recovering. It was like watching a cult. I think he is a
| fucking idiot! If he was wearing a helmet there would not have
| BEEN an injury. Wear a helmet and you won't get a concussion!
|
| If you are a professional skater who chooses not to wear a helmet
| and encourages that culture, how many people have to get hurt
| before you consider it a worthy topic of discussion?
|
| The solution here: Thrasher, Berrics, etc. refuse to show videos
| of photos with people performing without a helmet. That would
| clean it up overnight.
| CarVac wrote:
| Reminds me of the "I Love Helmets" video which is a positive
| example.
|
| https://youtu.be/b9yL5usLFgY
| honkycat wrote:
| I got doored super hard commuting on my bike one day, I was
| on the pavement out cold for a few seconds. If I didn't have
| a helmet on, I would be dead. It is just common sense. You
| have to be such a fucking FOOL to go without one.
| stefan_ wrote:
| I think this comment sums up Americas obsession with
| helmets very well.
| stefan_ wrote:
| Helmets aren't tested to prevent concussions, and looking at
| football, certainly not _capable_ either.
| MrRadar wrote:
| While true, helmets do prevent other types of injuries such
| as skull fractures. They're still worth wearing.
| honkycat wrote:
| Football is similar to boxing, the helmets don't help because
| the concussion results from your brain rattling around in
| your skull, and which cannot be prevented in that sport.
|
| It is a different situation, though, the helmets in football
| have evolved into weapons people use to slam their head into
| their opponents as hard as possible. People have argued LESS
| protection would be better, because it would change the way
| the game is played.
|
| The same incentive does not exist in skateboarding, however.
| You want to land the trick, not hit someone with your helmet.
| Additionally, even if the helmet does not prevent a
| concussion, it will keep you from cracking your head open on
| the pavement.
| atoav wrote:
| Oh boy you are gonna love Andy Anderson. Check out his Powell
| video. He is incredibly creative in his skating and you will
| never see him without his helmet.
|
| Howevee as a skater myself I would rather wear a helmet on my
| bicycle than on my skateboard. I skate mostly flat and do
| things that I can more or less control. I didn't git my head in
| 12+ years of akating _once_ and I am not planning to start now.
|
| If I would try crazier things, skate bowls or vert ramps I'd
| definitely reconsider : )
| honkycat wrote:
| Yeah if you are not getting any kind of air you are probably
| fine without a helmet.
| theobr wrote:
| fwiw Andy has had some brutal head injuries. He wears the
| helmet because of his uniquely high risk
|
| Still love that he has put so much work into normalizing the
| helmet, even spinning up a new brand and helmet style that's
| much less hideous. Tbh I don't even notice the helmet when I
| watch him skate
| matwood wrote:
| When I used to skate years ago I wore a helmet and those wrist
| guards. I never manage to test the helmet, but those wrist
| guards got a heck of a workout. I'm sure they saved me from
| many of broken wrists until I learned to fall better (tuck and
| roll).
| TOSSAWAY_1 wrote:
| The solution is to bring in more school marms?
| honkycat wrote:
| So encouraging playing a sport in a safe way === school marm
| nannying?
|
| People get CTE from extreme sports, Dave Mirra being a famous
| example. I think playing the sport safely is something that
| should be encouraged.
| OJFord wrote:
| > 1. (US, slang) A woman who is a teacher, especially a
| teacher in a schoolhouse; may carry the connotation she is
| severe and/or a spinster.
|
| > 2. (by extension) A person, of any gender, who exhibits
| characteristics attributed to schoolteachers of the old
| times, such as strict enforcement of arbitrary rules.
|
| https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schoolmarm#English ('marm'
| being apparently a (US only?) variant of 'ma'am')
|
| [NB, delightfully, and presumably unrelatedly (though not
| _listed_ as a separate etymology):
|
| > 3. (forestry) A tree with two or more trunks; a forked
| tree.
|
| ]
| aeturnum wrote:
| Let's zoom out a bit: in general, do you think companies
| should be encouraged to promote using their products in a way
| that's more dangerous that necessary if it looks cooler?
|
| I wouldn't support a law requiring skateboard companies to
| use gear in their ads, but I do think that applying pressure
| to get them to show gear makes sense.
| TOSSAWAY_1 wrote:
| Eh i wouldnt support a hard rule.
|
| Likely I'd appeal to moms after I got the cool kids though,
| social media style.
| towb wrote:
| I'm still doing it too, playing Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2 that
| is, and I stink! Can't do combos :/
| avasylev wrote:
| I started skateboarding last year (mid 30s) and it's been a
| blast.
|
| Surprisingly (to me) its very diverse, very different
| board/styles that enable very different activities:
| skateboarding, longboarding, down hill, dancing, surfskating,
| long distance skateboarding, ...
|
| I eventually settled on long distance skateboarding (LDP). Which
| is jokingly refered as "old man's skateboarding". You just roll
| on a board on bike paths. It slightly more effort than bicycle,
| but going for 10-20 miles is not a problem (if you can do it on a
| bike you can do it on skateboard). The board makes a big
| difference, you need specialized board for distance. The
| "pumping" technique is what got me hooked, enables going for very
| long stretches without having to push with your leg.
|
| It's so much more convenient to carry skateboard to the bike path
| than a bicycle, no racks, you can fit more skateboards in a trunk
| than people in a car.
|
| LDP technique https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA0xS8J7jPY&t=109s
| The guy in video is very good at it, but average person can start
| slowly riding couple miles after first hours or so.
|
| Short movie on distance skateboarding
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm1_DTNMKqo
| agentultra wrote:
| I recently picked skating back up at 38 and been doing it for a
| year. I had skated when I was younger but I never got any good. I
| just wanted to encourage my kids to get on their bikes and show
| them that with a little practice you can learn anything.
|
| If all I can do is ride around, do a few ollies, space walks and
| some basic grinds I'll be happy.
|
| Skating doesn't have to be about the big tricks. Do it because
| you enjoy it and play within your limits.
| kop316 wrote:
| If I may ask, I thought it'd be fun to try skating, but to be
| honest, whenever I get on and try it I always worry that I will
| fall and really hurt myself (May I just need to buy pads).
|
| Do you have the same worry, or you just find that you fall,
| it's ok, and just get back up?
| mcmeowerson wrote:
| That's the same with anything. How many endeavors have you
| thought "I'd love to do that but what if I got hurt in the
| process?" Relationships, startups, new jobs, everything
| contains a risk.
|
| If it seems interesting, just do it. You'll thank yourself
| after you get over that fear. (Also buy a helmet and learn
| how to fall[1], you'll need it. Pads may be overkill but
| couldn't hurt.)
|
| [1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hundbrub8iQ
| blueline wrote:
| learning how to fall is huge. of course falling down onto
| asphalt/concrete always carries some risk but once you get
| comfortable falling safely, it's pretty unlikely you'll do
| any serious damage to yourself if you're not straying too far
| outside your limits as you learn.
| lloeki wrote:
| It's a learned skill to fall, and to accept falling.
|
| Try some ukemi (aikido falls) training.
|
| The psychology of falling is fascinating. There are some well
| done videos about the "unbendable arm" on YouTube but if you
| have a dojo nearby there's nothing like a couple sessions.
|
| Another thing is to bend your knees, like, always. A natural
| but incorrect safety reflex is to extend the legs and lock
| the knees, which makes you a stick ready to flip over. So, do
| held squats and get comfortable with the lower center of
| gravity, which makes you that much more stable and that much
| safer to fall on your butt.
| NortySpock wrote:
| The next step is to transition that fall into a roll, this
| reduces the jerk and shock to your bones and makes you less
| likely to break something.
| lloeki wrote:
| Exactly! See mae ukemi and ushiro ukemi
| agentultra wrote:
| I accept that I'm going to fall. I have fallen. It's not that
| bad. I learned a lot about how to fall while minimizing
| injury from martial arts and there are other skaters who've
| picked up on that intuitively and have videos about falling
| and how to do it to prevent injury.
|
| Wear protective gear. I wear a helmet. I know older skaters
| who wear pads. It's fine.
|
| And skating within your limits means enjoying what you're
| physically capable of and the risk you are comfortable with.
| Myself, I don't plan on jumping huge sets of stairs or
| grinding stair rails. But I like to skate at the park and
| want to grind ledges and have fun on the boxes.
|
| Hope that helps.
| kop316 wrote:
| That helps a lot! Thank you very much for the thoughtful
| response.
| asdff wrote:
| Unless you are bombing hills, from just cruising around the
| worst you will do is sprain your wrist catching yourself
| awkwardly falling, or skimming some skin off against the
| pavement. I've never had a head injury because the instinct
| is to catch yourself with your arms. Seems bad, but I think
| you get beat up a lot worse falling while learning to bike.
| robotvert wrote:
| I cannot recommend enough you give half pipe a try. Not
| talking about mega pipes, just the small ones with little to
| no vert. Lots of fun and fairly safe since when you fall you
| _usually_ end up sliding down the curve. No need to do jumps
| or crazy stuff, just do tricks on the coping and enjoy the
| ride.
| lloeki wrote:
| I started street skateboarding at 36, am now 40. Last session
| was this Saturday, it was awesome heelfliping on flat and
| ollieing stairs.
|
| Over these four years I've had 5 ankle sprains (balanced over
| each foot), every single time it was me not warming up (like,
| at all) and pushing it beyond the fatigue limit ("one more try"
| just one too much). I have a warmup routine, I now diligently
| follow, no excuses (it's 5min).
|
| Still, it's something I always wanted to do and never had the
| guts to try, for completely baseless fears of looking stupid or
| being incompetent, especially as I grew older. A fantastic,
| supportive local crew made a ton of difference erasing that
| mindset. Then I learned about Neal Unger[1], and just saw that
| IG post[2] from Gou Miyagi about that 80yo learning to skate
| the other day...
|
| I'm so glad I made the jump and will do anything to continue as
| long as I can. Eric Koston[0] has this said: "it's like my
| hand, I wouldn't get rid of my hand", and this is exactly how I
| feel about it.
|
| https://youtu.be/p8uUL5GdStE
|
| https://www.nealunger.com/
|
| https://www.instagram.com/p/CO3-1CkFE1J/
| agentultra wrote:
| Nice! Yeah, warmups are huge! I've been learning a lot about
| how to strengthen and maintain knee and ankle tendons and
| muscles.
|
| I find skating has definitely helped me rebuild those
| priopreceptive muscles and memory which helps me strengthen
| my core.
|
| I also find that if I'm like even a bit tired I'll scale back
| my session and won't try to push hard. Need to get good sleep
| too.
| guvgongdry wrote:
| Where do you typically skate? I skated as a teenager, and want
| to do it again, but just finding the right place is hard.
| Skateparks exist but everyone there is much younger than me.
| agentultra wrote:
| Park, around my neighbourhood, skate park.
|
| Don't worry about being too old. Everyone at the park is
| there to skate and not to judge. Do it because you enjoy it.
| conductr wrote:
| When I was young my friends and I always befriended some cool
| older dude(s). Time to flip the script. But definitely don't
| buy them beer. I think the 90s was the last decade that was
| semi-acceptable. Kids these days probably aren't even
| interested. Don't buy them vape either :)
| EB-Barrington wrote:
| Tony's twitter is great, a recommend follow.
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