What Tom Penny did in the span of a year or so, was so amazing that it brithed a few generations of skaters trying to be like Tom Penny. The skaters that they looked up to tried to be like Tom Penny. Even today, there are skaters that are so inspired that they just want to get a taste of what it must feel like to have done a trick like Tom Penny back in 96. A lot of kids these days won't get it. Even I didn't understand what was special about him when I was young. Oh, he just does fs flips and switch fs flips.. Well, pay attention to how he's doing his tricks, and what he's doing them on. Put yourself in his shoes. Imagine how amazing it would feel to have done any of his tricks, while being so comfortable in your skill set that you land with your arms at your side. The best skaters in the world back then were absolutely intimidated by him and it wasn't because of his attitude. It was because he was the purest form of a skater there could ever be. Skaters like Penny and Gonz skate for the love of it and they will always be respected for it.
I've always wonder how it is to skate without any restrictions, Tom skates everything and anything. Growing up I was too hung up on doing certain tricks and being "street" that I feel like I limited myself to just skate. This is gold
@@candleankle1805 haha I get you. I didn't have any ramps around me growing up, just lots of concrete and streets. For some reason I always thought that in order to do a bs flip, I have to first bs 180, then kickflip, once I get those two, I can try the bs flip. No way I could just try something without first being able to the breakdown of the trick. Something I did growing up, nowadays I just skate.
That was what was so refreshing about watching Gonz in Video Days in 91. He wasn't "trendy", in fact most of us at the time thought he was already from the previous generation. He borrowed from every era and just made stuff up.
If you ever saw him trying to fs air over the big underground gap as a kid, you would have heard him say "it seems impossible".. goes on to land it. point is that I don't think he was that different from anyone else. he just overcame mental blocks, obstables of the mind, and gained a lot more wisdom than most people would ever find. I think he conquered his own mind in a lot of ways and it really showed as he matured. not to say he wasn't an absolute beast when he was a kid either though. your passion for doing something will eventually outweigh the fears. most pros have to overcome mental blocks when they do tricks on dangerous rails and gaps. it's all about how strong you are at overcoming the fear, to not kick your board away, to really focus on what you are trying to do. Tom Penny is all about being in the moment in my opinion. he is what every skater wants to be because of it too.
He.could easily had been the top dude at vertical. He does a PROPER switch bs flip at the coping in this. He goes over the coping doing front side and bs kfs. No other vert guy can do those tricks without it being all mob af or grabbing their board.
@@euminkong neither of those dude's do straight up f side kfs over the coping. Lots of other stuff I'll grant you. For tech McKay's legit but Bob was pretty sketch imo . Who am I tho?
I love the evolution of his famous, innovative flick for kick flips. They were rocket at first but gradually he starts to flick it and hone his own style more as well.
Out of every favourite clip in this video, the best thing about it has to be that he filmed the sw fs flip 360 twice on that quarterpipe and it's almost impossible to tell without that first scream in the background.
Must be something in the water in Oxford. Sean Goff, Alex Moul and Tom Penny all came from there.Penny was next level though, I'd say that in the mid 90s nobody was as good or made it look better
Even tho oski is one of my favorite skaters he is way overrated. After I watched elementality and saw Brent atchleys part I feel like oski totally jacked his steez.
@@screwyouguysimgoinhome1043 maybe oski resembles the style of atchley but his skating is technically superior to atchleys. I loved to watch atchleys part in elementality.
Yes I know what you mean! He was 90s baggy clothes way before it was even a thing. He invented 90s skate style. I love the Gonz but Penny is a better skater
Thank you for posting this! Tom Penny has always been my favorite skateboarder and Menikmati my favorite skate video, always cool to see unseen footage. I could watch Tom Penny's smooth style all day
Then skateboarding would’ve had to sit down and STFU. But as usual… it’s a genius talented drunk Englishman reminding you to do better. SO GO DO BETTER ❤️
Crazy to think I was BMX racing at this time before skateboarding. I remember hearing about Tom Penny in 1996 when I started skating. Still love skateboarding and the memories. Dude lands everything lol 🤣
1:32 I could listen to that frontside noseblunt for hours. Honestly, the sound in this entire part is oddly crisp and satisfying given how old it is. When I was 13 this DVD came out and became such a motivating watch for myself and my friends before we'd go skate.
Tom penny footage is just so different that a lot of the footage of that time. It's almost like watching Rodney Mullen for the first time and just being so blown away.
That clip of Tom doing the 360 boneless on the two ramps is in North Kansas City. The place was called Fuzzy's. It was just slab, an unfinished bowling alley foundation. There were no skateparks anywhere in '95. Not in the Midwest at least. That place was so much fun though.
I hate just how detrimental mental illness can be in someone's life, I can't imagine how far he could have gone if there was actually proper ways to help, I have mental health issues myself and it has taken me so far away from my skateboard that just the amount of conditioning I would have to put myself through to be able to even skate at 10% at what I used to be able to is so daunting that I haven't stepped on a board and over 2 years, you can tell that something probably happened like that to Tom because after his hiatus nothing ever went the same for him it seemed, he was still amazing don't get me wrong but it's like whatever medicine he might be on has slowed down his motor function which some psych meds tend to do,
No ones stating the elephant in the room. He peaked at 15 as a god on a board, then just went downhill thanks to drugs and alcohol. The final clip was the perfect ender to show that point
I’m sure there are plenty of people I haven’t seen, but IMHO, Huf and Penny are the only two people I’ve seen look effortless in their skateboarding. Like they were born on a deck.
Even just that first little line was sick at the beginning after he snatched the $ from the old lady. I mean he could do blunt slides on that board and he looks like hes 13 and the boards huge.
Anyone wanna help add to a list of skaters who were natural mongo pushers? Tom Penny Jason Dill Paul Rodriguez Bill Danforth. Any additions would be most welcome. It makes me feel better about starting off shit pushing.
@@souluti0n It was almost 30 years ago. Lets not try and cancel Grom Tom and remember him as full on goofy boy Tom as seen at the 3:00 mark of this video
