Learn To Skate A Pool - Part 2 of 2 

@Patrick Harmon - Frontside is usually harder for everyone. Doesn't matter if you're goofy or regular, frontside is scarier because your back is to the ground. Falling backwards is obviously a lot scarier than falling forward. The trick to frontside carves is speed. Get going fast as hell. Once you're flying around at mach 10, there's no way you'll fall, because the centripetal force makes you stick to the wall.

It's a nice video, liked seeing how you progressed and achieved your goals.

Nice work. I haven't been on a board in almost 16 years and last week I just got the bug to buy one. Already landing some flip tricks but forgot the feeling when your board is overhanging the coping. Can't wait to drop in again. Just want to say thanks because guys like you inspire people like me to push the limit. Nice work with your documenting and great to see your dedication.

Setups are about personal preference. For pool boards, I like decks about 9" to 10" wide, a 15" to 16" wheelbase, Tracker 161 or Independent 169 trucks, 1/2" soft riser pads, wheels that are 60mm to 65mm and about 97a to 100a in durometer. Don't underestimate bearing quality either - fast bearings are vital. Any of the Bones Ceramics are good. For conventional bearings, Bones Super Swiss 6 are my favorites. I know this isn't a video, but I hope this reply helps! Have fun skating!

Thank you! I'm always stoked to get some positive feedback. Good idea to start your friend on the basics. My first drop-ins were on about a 3-foot bank and then a 4-foot mini-ramp. But I never dropped in on vert until I learned pools. Now I can't get enough! Thanks again for the reply. Keep skating! Keep having fun!

You progressed on a good schedule. You did great. I started riding in the mid 70's and it took me around 3 to 4 months of steady riding on a wooden 1/2 pipe (20 feet long by 12 wide) to hit vert. Naturally we started to go a foot or 2 above vert, then we extended the vert another 2 feet. I see other posts mentioning the old school board. I ended up riding a board reffered to as a "Pig" 13" wide by 31" long. Tracker trucks with logan park riders. Used to glue 80 grit discs to it for grip tape.

Thanks for making these videos. I've been getting back into skating bowls and these are really helpful.

your videos are awesome! i skated my whole life but stopped in my late 20's early 30's. i started again a few years ago and love just cruising and skating the bowl. your videos are super helpful and inspiring to me. glad to see other "older dudes" (haha) still skating the bowls too! thanks man!

Thanks! That was the whole point - to document my progression and start with just learning to drop in, all the way up to reaching tile. Hope you get the chance to skate pools someday! It's just as fun as it looks!

Great vid(s)! I just hit tile at the vans combi today. Learning how to pump and carve has been a challenge for me, but practice and taking my time has been paying off.

To launch out, obviously you need a lot of speed first. Once you can fly at the exiting transition really fast, approach it at a slight angle, as if you were getting ready to do a backside kickturn. You need to do it at a slight angle, so the board doesn't hit your butt. Ride straight up past the coping and plant your lead foot on the ground. At the same time, the board will shoot up beside you and you grab it. Don't worry - you'll often miss the grab when you're learning. Just keep practicing!

Not only have I ridden a McGill, but I've ridden Mike's. Skated with him on a movie set a couple days back in the early 90s. I love all the 80s pool decks. Remember that guys like McGill were still inventing a lot of modern pool and ramp tricks on those boards. So, yes, they work great.

Very cool man...... thanks for all your hard work!!!

good for you man, love the commitment!

Sweet vid. I'm just getting in to skating bowls, and I know what you mean: you just get obsessed with it. It's good to see the learning curve. You really just have to be happy with every little bit of progress, even if it's just carving a little higher or something seemingly insignificant like that.

Eric, thank's for sharing this! To save your hips - - You will love the "POC Hip VPD 2.0 Shorts". I have slammed my hips pretty bad a few times. Now I use them every time I skate ramps or pools. They are awesome.

Great video dude. Love the pics from Skateboarder Mag at the beginning. I owned all those mags back in the day. Skated my first pool at Thunderbowl in Va Beach back in 1979, then Apple Skatepark in Ohio and one of the best parks ever for pools Cherry Hill Skatepark. Going from wooden halfpipes to pools was very intimidating for me back in the day. Your vids wil help lots of kids. Nice work. My town now has a world class skatepark but my knees and feet are long worn out getting old sucks.

Thank you. I appreciate the compliments. As for finding a time when a pool isn't crowded, remember every skatepark is different. Most skateparks are going to have days and times when it is more crowded compared to others. Just go to your park as much as you can and find out when the crowds tend to be the smallest. Best wishes and have fun!

@RaymondHinton - Absolutely. I also wanted to show people that it takes long time. I was already a decent bowl/ramp skater and it still took months to learn to carve a pool properly. My hope was this would encourage people to not give up if they are progressing very slowly.

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it. The Cove is at Olympic and 14th in Santa Monica. Have fun!

@Xediion - I love every kind of skateboarding. Street. Pools. Skateparks. Downhill. Longboarding. I do all of it, but I mainly ride pools and transitions.

Nice skating. This video show a lot of good stuff. I just switch my wheels up to some 56mm spitfire and want to start skating pool, bowl stuff. Thanks for the upload on this video.

man i loved this video, im subscribing right now loved the explanations and for me the whole video was perfect thanks for putting that up

@NewComer299 - Personal preference. You can use whatever you want. Pool board. Popsicle stick. Longboard. Whatever you like best. I like pool/vert boards the most because they have a wider width and a longer wheelbase than popsicle sticks so they are a bit easier to control.

Very very insightful video. Thanks a lot.

You're inspiring and humble. Well done. Will be showing his to my six-year-old as an example of how to be a cool guy. Thanks.

Top 3 tips for frontside carves: 1. Lead with your shoulders. If you turn your legs first and your upper-body keeps facing the wrong direction, you'll end up in big trouble. Turn the upper body first. 2. Go fast. If you go too slow, you will fall. When you go fast, centripetal force (or is it "centrifugal" - I always confuse the two?) will keep you on the wall. 3. Bend your knees. If you keep your legs too stiff, you'll never make the turn. You gotta flow.

awesome video man

Thanks for this video man, im really hyped to learn pool now

hey dude thats sick and i love your Vision deck

That's so sick dude, keep shredding.

@aren840 - Thanks. Glad you like it. Yes, eventually I will make more. It may be a few months before I do it, but I have some ideas I'm playing with. In the meantime, I have other clips at SkateboardingCalifornia.

Thank you very much. Good luck on those ollies!

@cheese293 - That is all your preference too. Good rule-of-thumb is to make your trucks as loose as possible WITHOUT getting speed wobbles. So, start with them super-loose and just keep tightenng them a little more, and a little more, until your speed-wobbles go away. Be smart too - don't have your kingpin nut half falling off your kingpin either. If you can't get the trucks loose enough without keeping a safe amount of thread on the kingpin, buy softer bushings. Good luck and have fun!

@justin0599 - I built it myself. It's a Vision Aggressor II with silver Tracker SixTracks that I painted. The paint was actually fluorescent pink, but, yeah, they look more orange.

05:40 on, best pump and all the hard work pays off. awesome stuff. I bought a pool board and so i need to make some time!

thanks for the video man, helped me a lot

Thanks. I explain kneeslides in the Learn To Ride A Skateboard videos in the chapter on skateparks.

i like that one part where you drop in on rob zombie where it says "devil on your back, i will never die" then you drop in. so sick, i wish i was committed to skating a bowl but i love the street section of parks more.

@youlosez - The free DVD actually does have 2 sections on the proper "tuck and roll" for falling on flat ground and it explains how to do a kneeslide when skating ramps/bowls/pools. Don't be afraid of getting hurt though. Everyone falls. Everyone gets hurt. That's just part of skateboarding.

Duuude! This video is sick!

yeah don't have too many bowls to skate here in wisconsin. closest is an hour drive, but is currently filled with snow. good to hear some wheels on concrete as I wait for the thaw. will try out some of the tips

Your videos are cool! Thanks ; ) Johnny Cool, Montréal, Canada

very nformative, you are very good, to bad we dont have nice outside skateboard park here near montreal like yours

Man I loved this vid. Love your self-analysis and almost-scientific, determined approach to what you do... Keep up the good shit man.

Great video man, The pools are that what I want to start after 15years of skateboarding on the streets and about 5 years break of that. I can see on your video it isn't gonna be easy like I supposed. Thanks for advices and keep skating, cuz it's great thong. :)

right on man! Got me wanting to hit up the bigger pool tommrow.

@sk8librarian - Thanks! That's always flattering when someone with a lot of knowledge can learn something from what I'm sharing.

Nice! The Captions are working! I love it. I know they are not perfect, but I think I did a pretty good job. Thx for implementing.

@cristhian2188 - Thanks. Just keep at it. Like anything else in skating, it takes a lot of dedication to get good at it. But once you learn, it's SO much fun!

Hey your videos was really helpful. thanks! :)

Dude. Awesome.

@glencowcow - Correct. Front trucks stay on the whole time. If your front trucks ever leave the cement, then you are technically doing a "kickturn" and not a true "carve". When you truly carve, it's all flow.

Best video ever!!

@iamSplaz - I like pool boards a lot. The Vision deck is great. 16"+ wheelbases and 10" wide feels far more comfortable to me than the little 8.5" wide 15" wheelbase popsicle sticks. It's all a matter of preference though. Try different decks and ride whatever you are comfortable with.

For elbow and knee pads, I personally like ProTec DropIn pads. I have also heard very good things about Smith Scabs and ProDesigned. For wristguards, I use ProDesigned. When it comes to helmets, the Bell Faction or the POC Receptor+ are really good. Hope that helps!

great vids man im going thru the same progress and getting better and i see a 2 faces in tho pool

Absolutely amazing thank you for such an informative video. a quick question about your setup obviously you go pretty fast in pools and wobbles are bound to happen I have my back truck tighter than my front would that be an issue with a pool? how tight or loose are your trucks.

@mcxznbv - Thanks. I'm glad it helped. Like I say in the video, just stick with it. You'll get there. Sounds like you're doing really well on your kickturns. Just make your turns shorter (instead of doing a full 180 degrees turn, do 160 degrees so you come down at a slight angle, then do 140, then 100 and so on) and soon you'll be carving.

wow thanks im actually learning how to skate pools now and this helped!

Gooood ! The skatepark is good also.

@LearnToSkateboard thank you!!

I have lived my entire life in Santa Monica area and only been on a skateboard maybe 6 times....crazy, especially since I use to see the original Z-Boys in Santa Monica and I was the same age...this video gave me some great tips. Info Only...I was into MOTOCROSS

this is really awesome ! can you tell me what is your board, a vision aparently, what trucks and wheels etc ?.

thanks to you i learned to skate pool in 2 days, thanks man!

@mcloughnog - Soft or hard wheels is personal preference. I tend to ride about 97a in pools. That is my favorite. Most people like Bones SPF wheels, which are a lot harder - closer to 100a or 101a. Some folks go down to 95a and are happy with that. All depends on what works best for you.

Great videos man! Just curious as to why you went with that style board. Are they easier to skate vert on? it seems as though most of the old pros ( like Christian hosoi) still use fatter boards. I'm just getting back into skating @32 and have never done vert. Thankfully I have a local skate park here in Brea to practice on. Thanks for the tips!

@SuperMafia16 - You're welcome. And thanks for the compliments. Never try to drop-in before you are ready. That's how people get hurt. Just take your time and be patient with yourself. Start small and work your way up higher. You'll learn it. Just give yourself time.

Good point! You're right. I may need to create something like that. Thanks for pointing that out...

Nice frontside carves!!

Thanks for the tip. This video is 4 years old. I've had some hip protection for quite some time now.

Is it scary dropping in? Im going to try soon but I'm a little scared. Any tips?

@adam4965 - Jay Adams was one of the first pool skaters. He rode pools on his ZFlex. As for the weight of decks, that depends - they come in many different shapes and sizes and materials.

I love your videos, bro! Is it easy to find a time when the skate park pools aren't crowded? In costa mesa it seems like there's always a line for the pool, so I'm a little bit intimidated to learn...screw up and and it's back to the end of the line!

Hey dude... Thx for the vids..Im making great progress on my pool riding... Time to get some real pads for safety What kind of pads do you recomment vert riding?????

Wow this is an awesome vid. Do you have any vids on falling correctly? I'm afraid of getting hurt badly.

@sasukelgty There was (and still is) a 70's bowl where I grew up in New Zealand which was setup perfectly for bert slides. The only problem tho, it was the fastest way to wear through your wheels. Me and my friends (who all surfed) used to compete for the longest slide.

@XLyricsmakerX - Always. I skate every day and ride skateparks about 3 or 4 days a week.

Great videos! I'm fifteen and looking to start riding in bowls/pools and I was looking at the Powell Peralta Mike McGill Skull & Snake Re-Issue Deck. Have you ever riden one or would you recommend it?

nice progress men i like that i skate much street i want to learn so get the speed in the bowl i gonna get to practice soon

@LearnToSkateboard I understand....Definitely wasn't trying to down you or anything. Your progress was great. I'd love to see you hit some coping tricks or maybe a f/s air in the future.

Board types are really up to the individual. I don't tend to ride popsicle sticks or 80's boards very much lately. My favorite types of boards these days are big pool decks such as things from Deckcrafters or Pool King or Five Points Skates. You may want to check my other channel and the video on "Why is wheelbase important on skateboards"

such a sweet board. i got a ripsaw with some peralta bones wheels

exelent vids mate

Nice Vids...Good Job... I see you were running 2 types of skateboards... can you make a video giving details on your 2 boards setup.... It would be awesome if possible... I'm 31y. getting back to skateboarding after 13y without skating...I'm having a blast... Cheers

That pool looks plenty deep- a good trick to learn on that main wall is the Bertlemann slide. Its not as hard as it looks, and is pretty risk free as far as injury.. just gotta do it right. I'll be posting some how-to vids on that one soon. I will attach a video if I can figure out how.

Would you recommend an old school board (kinda like yours) or an 8.0 trick skateboard with rails 60mm bones wheels. Does the skateboard ever affect the carves? Please reply. Great videos @LearnToSkateboard

I like decks with a 16" to 17" wheelbase and most popsicle sticks are too small for that. Although, one of my favorite decks is a popsicle stick that is unusually large - the 35" version of the "Yoface" by Bustin. I'd also look into Deckcrafters and Pool King. Those are some of my favorite decks.

Great skating ! Whats the deal with those trucks on the Popsicle board?. i've never seen trucks with a forward facing kingpin on a short board.

@LearnToSkateboard awesome i always did street, and a bit vert never pools cuz of you im gonna practice them! you also skate street?

@NathanAsani - Mainly a Vision Aggressor II with Tracker 161 trucks, and OJIII 60mm 97a wheels.

29 people missed the like button.

Awesome vid btw! Just wondering Could you ride pool on a santa cruz simpsons bart model. Its real hard to find any stores selling pool boards in the UK

Yes. Longer wheelbase helps too.

Thanks a lot for sharing this, helps a lot. Funny how you seemed to have FS carves better than backside. I can BS carve to tiles in my local pool, but I have no chance of FS carves to tiles. Is FS supposed to be easier?

great video do you think you could do this on a jay adams z flex please answer. Also is a skateboard deck lighter than a crusier deck

a wide deck (at least 9"), 1/2" risers, big wheels (60mm) and loose trucks made a huge difference for me in terms of performance.

@sasukelgty - Funny you should ask. I've done berts on banks and flat ground, but never even tried in a pool. I should work on that!

@cbp4425ify - Awesome. Glad to hear that!

@rushreef - Thanks for the compliment. No, I have never tried surfing. But I think skaters who surf have much better style in their skateboarding. They just flow a lot better. So, I'm flattered that you thought I was a surfer!