My name is Justin Lauria, and today I'm going to tell you 5 ways that you can speed up your
progress in skateboarding without increasing your risk for injury.
Alright so my first piece of advice for you is to forge your own path forward.
There is a lot of information out there about the order that you should be learning tricks
but the reality is that there is no 'one size fits all' progression.
What works for one person might not work for someone else.
Rather than letting someone else dictate what you should learn next, you'll really be doing
yourself a big favor if you instead focus on tricks that you're really excited about
learning.
Not only is it fun to have tricks in your bag that aren't very common, it's also much
easier to dedicate your time and energy to achieving a goal that you personally feel
passionate about achieving.
Not only that, but the tricks that you enjoy doing will also be more in line with your
natural abilities so focusing on those will inevitably allow you to see faster results
than if you were following someone else's program.
Remember, skateboarding is about having fun, so don't try to turn it into a job, and don't
waste your time learning tricks that you don't really care about.
You don't have to learn every variation of every trick, in a particular order, before
you move on to another one.
Remember, you can always come back later and fill in any gaps in your game if you need
to.
OK, so tip number 2 is: you should make it a habit to skate with people who are better
than you.
When you skate with the same group of friends on a regular basis, there is a tendency for
everyone to share their techniques and secrets with one another, and over time, each person's
skill level will gravitate towards the group average.
That means if you skate with a group of friends where most of them are better than you, they'll
push you outside of your comfort zone more often, and you'll learn tricks at an accelerated
pace as you get closer to the average skill level.
The opposite is also true, to a degree.
If you habitually skate with a group of friends who are a lot newer to the sport, it'll be
a lot of fun to show off all of your advanced tricks, and you'll probably win every game
of S.K.A.T.E.
that you play, but the drive to get better and prove yourself to the rest of the group
won't be quite as strong, and as a result, your forward progress might not be quite as
fast as it could be.
So if you want to continually be improving yourself, get used to the fact there are always
going to be skaters out there who can do tricks that you aren't able to do yet, make friends
with those people, and work together to learn something new.
Alright so now for tip number 3, and this one has been absolutely instrumental in helping
me learn new tricks, you can use tricks as stepping stones.
When you first decide that you want to learn a particular maneuver, it might seem miles
away from your current ability level, but you can close that gap if you find the right
tricks that will slowly teach you how to do the more advanced one.
Most tricks are comprised of multiple parts, sometimes involving doing something very new
and very specific with multiple parts of your body at once, and trying to learn them all
at the same time can be overwhelming.
So, instead of just going for the trick and failing at it over and over again until you
just happen to get lucky and land it, break the trick down into its components and learn
them one at a time, and then slowly start to combine them and build your way back up
into the full maneuver.
So, for instance, if you're trying to learn how to do a pop shuvit, you don't have to
just start going for the full thing right away.
First you can practice how to use your back foot to make the board rotate exactly 180
degrees on a consistent basis, while leaving your front foot on the ground.
Next, you can practice doing the same thing, but this time just add in landing on the board
with both feet.
After that, you can practice how to spin the board in the same way, but starting with both
feet on the board, and ignoring trying to land on the board with both feet.
At that point, not only will you have a much better understanding of what the trick entails,
but you will have individually trained every muscle to perform the maneuver properly, and
when you go to put it all together, you'll know exactly how each part is supposed to
feel and you'll be able to learn the entire trick in a very short amount of time.
Now, the fourth recommendation I have for you if you're having trouble learning tricks
is to upgrade your gear.
All too often I'll see somebody struggling, trying to learn something and all I have to
do is take one look at their board and it's obvious that its not that person's ability
that's holding them back, but rather, it's the equipment that they're using.
So when you're picking out components for your board, make sure that the deck you choose
is an appropriate width for how big of a skater you are.
Skinnier boards, like ones that are 7.5 or 7.75 inches wide, are usually a great choice
for kids and younger teenagers, but as you get older and as your feet get a little bit bigger,
you might want to consider the fact that trying to maintain your balance and ride comfortably
on a board that's too thin for you might actually be holding you back a little bit.
So, just to give you a point of reference, I'm about 6 foot 3, and I wear a size 13 shoe,
and I exclusively ride boards that are 8.75 inches across.
Now, likewise, you should also choose trucks that are approximately the same width as your
board, wheels that are suited for your style of skating, and bushings that are appropriate
for your weight.
I'll leave some information in the description section below to help you get a feel for how
to choose the right components.
OK, so now, we're on to the fifth and final tip, which is to set goals and then set deadlines.
It's no secret that setting goals for yourself can play a huge role in your ability to make
forward progress, in skateboarding and in almost any other skill.
Simply knowing what you're trying to accomplish helps to add structure to the time you spend
practicing and it also helps you avoid wasting time on tricks that aren't directly in line
with what you're trying to do.
As you come across goals that you want to work toward, make sure you physically write
them down on a piece of paper somewhere.
The act of writing your goal down will help you keep yourself accountable for it because
not only will it serve as a reminder to you every time you see it, but it will also prevent
you from cancelling your goal if things start to get too difficult along the way.
However, since skateboarding has a fear component, it's easy to put off certain goals over and
over again until they start to appear like they're never going to happen.
That's where the idea of setting a deadline comes in.
When you start working towards one of your bigger goals, try to come up with an estimate
of how long it should take for you to be able to achieve it.
Having a timeline in mind for your goals will help you put additional pressure on yourself
to start practicing, and sometimes, you'll surprise yourself and realize that learning
the trick didn't take nearly as long as you thought it would, and all you really needed
was something to get you to start trying.
If you guys enjoyed these tips, make sure to share the video with a friend, and just
like last time, leave your own tip in the comments section below.
I hope you guys are having a great summer, and as usual, never stop improving.