As an old grumpy looking guy who mostly skates the bowl I would add that I am perfectly fine with people jumping in and starting from the bottom, as long as they don't wind up taking a 20 minute long run afterwords. Take turns like everybody else and everything is fine.
Early morning sessions are literally how I learned to skate. It’s not 1,000 degrees outside yet and you might just have the park to yourself. It doesn’t get much better than that
I didn't skate transition until I had already been skating for 22 years. When I finally took the plunge, it was only because I had just gotten sober and was living next to where a brand new set of bowls had recently been built, and needed to get outside and exercise to help with my recovery. I would go and just carve around for hours.Not all at once obviously, I'd take breaks. That was 6 years ago, and now I skate transition almost as much as I skate street/street-parks. I really wish I had started skating transition when my province got it's first transition park(even though it was a 45 minute drive, or 2hrs on the bus) DON'T DISCRIMINATE ON WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO SKATE, GET IT NOW KIDDIES, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. Great video Ben.
Yeah mate, I just got clean and back into skating after 15 years and love it! At 43, slamming just seems to hurt a lot more and I never realised how tiring skating was 😂🤙🙏
Morning skating is the best! I must be getting old LOL. The trick tip is get good rest and go to bed early get up early full of energy.... meditate and drink a bunch of coffee and go skate in the morning. You'll find that environment is the best for enjoying yourself and practicing.
ive always gone to skatepark early in the morning because i was too shy and intimidated by boys skating there. all in all i’m glad cause now i feel more comfortable on a skateboard than ever and i go to skateparks anytime i want :)
33, skated street from age 12-20 put it down for 13 years and I'm back learning transition for the first time. It really is the most fun, wish I learned it as a fearless featherweight kid, rather a fearful ball of mass made of glass.. Still, super fun
I recently tried this, and thanks to your tutorial, It actually started to happen. Your comment about treating these transitions like "ramps" sideways was spot on, and was KEY to making it happen. Thank you Ben.
Just started skating again after almost 20 years. Really helpful videos especially this one as it's what I'm trying to learn. Keep up the good work man
Exactly where I am now. For a 50's guy who's just at this level, youtube is all I got, so thanks. I've watched Omar Hassans videos, but hey he's Omar and makes everything look super easy! Keep them up man!
Thanks a lot man!! I've looked around for a lot of tutorials about this but I like your wording and what you said the best. Now I actually get out and skate.
never skated transition the 20 yrs of skating but have been really trying to learn, bought some pads and i can close to the coping but not quite able to slash grind yet. my switch game is getting more control and better everyday! you are an inspiration to all of us that grew up in the 90s and trying to get better everyday now in our 30s and 40s
Love your story at the beginning, it resonated with me so much. I’m 28 and just really catching the transition bug myself after skating on and off for many years. I can do a few coping tricks but keeping speed eludes me on the half pipe and in bowls. I can’t wait to practice next time I get the chance!
Great vid. I'm an oldster and need to get into bowls. Great visualization technique of just seeing the walls as halfpipes on their side! Thanks for that.
Thanks for this video, i was looking for something like this for a long time, because most of the other videos doen't really show or explain HOW you actually create a line by finding the right spots for pumping. Most of them just tell you to pump. That works with half pipes, but they don't explain how corners work. Thanks for that!
A great tutorial! I don’t do much bowl skating but I think loosening my trucks will help with my mini ramp skating definitely. Thanks for another awesome video!👍
Appreciate I'm extremely late to seeing this video! Just got back into skating again and was looking for some tips on bowl riding to get me back into it. Was surprised when I saw Ben's video pop up, only a few weeks ago I was watching his tutorial on dry lining! 😂 Who knew the Vancouver carpenter could shred a bowl too! 🤙
I really enjoyed this and the way you examined it made sense, and I can't wait to try and employ this practice to get better, so thank you!!!.... ...at the same time, you called a nut a bolt.
I'm 31 and picked my board back up. Never ever skated bowls and seeing the kids ripping it is always intimidating, but what the hell. Thanks for the tutorial, looks like fun and got me hyped!
Great video and I'm glad that he mentioned at 4:25 about first checking the bowl for debris before skating it. I do that out of habit if I arrive at a skatepark and am the only person there. You never know what you might find in a bowl that might catch on your wheels and cause a nasty slam.
since two weeks me and a friend (30 and 31 years) are going every day to practice in the bowl. I hope in two weeks more we can drop in the bowl and gain more speed in the transisions. Thanks for your video, i see it every day and is working for us. Sory the bad english we are from Argentina. Sk8 and family!
Thx for this nice and very helpful video. Turning 46 this year and recently restarted skating after 20 years! And the bowls that are in so many skateparks nowadays are one of the main reasons I wanna get back on the board :-) concrete surfing yeah! First attempts on the board where not as bad as I expected. Muscle memory survives 20 years apparently. Probably it also helps that I kept up snowboarding every winter in the alps ;-)
Great tips and great carving :) Gonna definitely try to learn bowl carving. Got a new set of pads for confidence, which is needed when you try to learn stuff at 30...
I know I’m a year late but Thanks for the advice on the tick tacks man! I’ve just now started skating actual parks coming from a town with gravel roads and barely anywhere to skate. I love skating the bowl but I always had the issue of not keeping speed and now I know what I’m doing wrong! I was treating the bowl more like a half pipe, I would kick turn high by the coping and go straight down but I would always loose momentum going back up the other side of the bowl
Thank you for this tutorial! I’m a beginner roller skater at the skate park and carving is my current nemesis skill. I can pump pretty well, and now I’m going to visualize the bowl as a ramp on its side. Brilliant!
"Early in the morning" That's the only way for someone 30+ to use the parks without those kids. Got that idea a few days ago, now i can't stop thinking about getting a skateboard again! :)
I'm one of those old farts that goes to the skate park at the butt crack of sunrise. I love carving bowls and trying to go as fast as I can. It's amazing how much cardio you can get from doing such a fun carve line and it's really fun if you get it rite. Thanks Ben
Great video Ben! Would love to see a lil more in depth but this is good too. Just started skating this year and I just got my frontside carves on lock. Now is matter of bonking that coping.
Interesting! I am guilty of putting off skating transitions for so long. I'm going to have to find a bowl and get used to zipping around now. Looks like so much fun!
Ben, thanks for this video man! I just joined the Abbotsford OG Skate group (old guys) lol, and we mostly do bowl because were not kids anymore ha. but Bowl has been the one thing I never did when I was younger. I found it funny that you were at Railside at the end of the video, I just relearned how to drop in again at the Mowat bowl in abby last weekend, and then last night went to Railside as a break from painting and setup my work lights and started trying to carve the bowl. Im from abby, but that bowl is worth the drive. Im amazed at how much speed you get bro, thats going to be my 3 month goal I think. thanks man, hopefully I can run into you at a park sometime. Cheers man, also if you want a group of older (30ish-50's ) skate dudes to carve and have fun with. Check out the Abbotsford old guys skateboard group on fb.
Back in the early to mid90s bowls and skatepark were very rare even in ny. At the time I learned how to skate in the street and that was really it .. I only skate a half pipe only a few times without ever really dropping in. It's only now since I started to skate again in my late 30s that I have started to explore these bowls and skatepark vert spots.. its completely new to me.
You must have watched my videos and identied my problem. I have been trying to work the bowl for the the last 3 months. Speed has been an issue at times. But I love it and I feel it is the secret to skating into my 50s.
Yesterday I learnt the hardware to clear the ground of pebbles before riding... I have been practicing frontside kickturns in a large bowl at my skatepark and I snagged a rock 3 times within the first 15 minutes.. flying head first. Fortunately I am well padded, but it taught me to clear the ground going forward...... very smart tip lol.
Hey Ben😎 I love your product tests/detailed descriptions/trick tips🤗.can you please do a tensor all geometry trucks review? Id like to know how well they turn and the difference from the mids.
thanks for this tutorial! i can carve my local bowl pretty well. so i guess its time to hit the coping! i dont quite understand how to go high in corners tho. maybe u could do a video on how to (carve) grind corners & slash grinds? keep up the good work :)
ignore this guy, the way you should skate a bowl is : - put loud music on. - crack open a beer and smoke some. - get in the bowl and put your toughts to 0. - pump a lot to keep speed and try tricks. always works out
@George Davis fuck this guy, the video has actual advice. this guy is basically saying "drink beer, smoke weed, do tricks". thats not advice. this sounds like the sort of dickhead that would be laughing at you in the park for trying. take the advice in the video
Thanks for this! 24 & have been avoiding vert my whole life. I have a fairly mellow flatground game (v-heels, fakie big flips ect) but getting bored did you start out with kneepads or any other pads?
