tips to improve skating

j0e

i'm 23 picked up a skateboard recently its pretty decent a friend swapped me for some beer

right I skate a bit but finding it hard to keep speed

I can kind of tic tac

tighted the trucks to the max for more speed

my pushing ankle aches a most of the time

I really wanna learn to powerslide so i can start bombing hills but when I try it, it doesn't really skid or move smoothly more kinda abrupt and just turns the board in that directions rather than scurbs off the speed

I just want some suggestions on the best routes to improve set-up wise or maybe techniques anything

CianRyan

Loosen the trucks, better control over the boards, tight trucks can also damage bushings, the rubber part of the truck.
Buy new/quicker bearings for speed.

As for power slidding, try leaning back slightly as you do it. Getting less pressure on he front wheels and more on the back, slides better that way.

Power sliding is a bit touch 'n' go, doesn't always work out.

On top of everything, just keep at it, skating takes a lot of time and patience, once you get the hang of it...


Best thing in the world. :rolleyes:

j0e

cheers man

at the min i just skating back and forth from college, its about 1km or so on flat ground i can never seem to get enough speed to be able to justify a powerslide.

is this merely a setup issue or should i be doing something different? remember this ground is flat

if its bearing is there anything I can do to make them faster like regrease them or clean them. cause atm all but one are going pretty well like spin for a good 15-25s after you give them a spin with you hand

the other one i thing has the backface damaged cause the front one looks in tact

but if theres better bearrings to be had for a decent price I would be interested

I was looking into swiss reds

CianRyan

You can clean them out and get some speed cream(a special type of oil, get it in most skate shops) and stick it on afterwards.

There's loads of vids on you tube on how to clean bearings.
I just use warm water and washing up liqued, mix it up in a bowl and leave the bearings there for 5 mins, mix them around in the water a bit, rinse them with clean water DRY THEM OUT!!! and wack on the speed cream.
To get the fronts off the bearings you'll need a knife and a stead hand, make sure you don't bend them 'cause they'll need to go back on.

It should sort it out if they're only dirty, if this doesnt work, i'd buy some minilogos, they're €20 and better than the €70 black panters i picked up a while back, so much better infact that i switched back to the minilogos.

the flat ground is a god send for starting out, BUT, if the grounds bumpy/rough/not smooth, you won't be able to kep your speed very well. Its not you, its just physics, no one can.

Try get out on your board after collage too, either on your own, or hit up some park and meet other people that skate, there's plenty of parks around these days.

Just wanna say that about the trucks again. Tight trucks are evil. :rolleyes:

raah!

Your set up shouldn't have too much an influence on your ability to learn tricks. It can definatly make it easier, but it will never be impossible for you to learn anything because of your set up (unless it's really ridiculous like having no front truck.. in which case you could not nose manual :P)

I like your attitude though, everyone who skates should be able to powerslide, and if there were more of your type, and less of those "look at my trey flip-krooks, I only skate where people can see me" types, then skateboarding as a whole would be much better off.

I'm going to buy some new bearings also. Then I'll clean them in warm water

CianRyan

Ahh i'm with you there.
I love the basics of skating, just flying around feeling the shape of the ground and pumping every little bump to pick up some speed and swirving in and out of people.
Its a great feeling.
Power slides and reverts are always fun to do messing about too.

I prefer skating somewhere, where no one can see you, just you and your mates having a laugh and throwing down some tricks. Good game of skate is always fun.

BUUUUT
I do love the crazy teck side of skating, a few of my mates are unreally good, one of them sponcered and two of them well on the way to the same. I love watching them do crazy trick and throwing themselves down massive sets and hitting long rails.
Its great to watch and its nice to be able to get them to teach you a few tricks.
They never get snobby or arrogant about it, as long as it stays that way i think its all cool.

raah!

Ah yes of course, I agree with all this, the tech-gnar side is just as much a part of skating as the other part, that were simply a criticism of those who skate for attention, and not for skating.

j0e

yeah man skating for skating is whats its about been doing it like a couple of weeks and its just the feeling is reason enough to do it, personally where I can respect the tech side but I prefer people who just tear stuff apart carving it up, i just like when i see someone tear it up whenever

CianRyan

Sounds like you you'd like a bowl.
Definitely check out bushy park, greystones and gorey.

I love carving, such a great feeling.

streetskater

You could try some harder wheels for powersliding
And the bigger the wheels the more speed you get
also check out my site www.street-skaters.webs.com it's only new. But I hope to get Irelands skaters more known around the world

CianRyan

streetskater wrote: »

the bigger the wheels the more speed you get

On street with bumpy ground maybe, but in an nice smooth park skinny wheels tend to work nicer.