Skateboarding Journey: Getting Back on the Board After 20 Years in My 40s 

Hi! Thanks for the sub, really appreciate you! I literally had this exact same feeling. I thought for sure I would be able to just start doing tricks again because I visualized them. The first day on the skate, I said to myself I was going to learn 360 flips, and boy was I humbled very quickly on my first ollie attempt. I felt like a sack of potatoes, that’s the best I can describe it. I weigh about 158/160lbs(71kg/72Kg), but the flexibility and light-on-the-feet feeling just isn't there at all. I also think, at least for me, when I was younger, I was never really in the mindset of "how do I do this trick" or "how can I improve myself physically to have more fun doing this," but rather just doing tricks to keep up with the crew. Which was fun, but after a while, it just wasn’t fun anymore not being able to progress. So fast forward to now, and I'm 43, older and worn, but can dedicate some time to having fun with this again and, most importantly, build a discipline of getting on the board as often as I can while figuring out how to be a little more flexible and "skate fit", if you would. Love the shin guards tip, didn’t even think of this! I'll be the first to admit I'm a kook, lol, there's plenty of us out here of all ages and genders just trying to get some middle-aged shred, and I love every second of the kookiness. Portugal surf must be really good, see great shots all the time. A friend of mine spent a lot of time in the Santa Cruz area and also traveled to Nazare, which I'm sure is awesome to see in real life. For surfing, it's been tough on me mainly because of the distance I have to travel, about 1 hour to my closest surf break in Rhode Island (US). Which can be a pain with kids' events, family life, and all the fun stuff. So there's certainly a lack of consistency for me there; however, surfing is way less strenuous on my knees currently. Thanks again for subscribing! And sorry for the long response… I tend to be a talker. Keep getting on your skate when time allows, and you'll definitely get that pop back!

@@OldBrokenSkater Lol, no worries for the long response. I know the family obligations. Even if I live near the beach, there are just weeks that I have no time at all for surfing, and then I'm just driving by perfect surf on the way to picking up kids from somewhere, crying a little inside. Anyway. Keep it up man!

Thanks! Hopefully see you around soon!🤟

Thanks!! Yes and yes!! Things I neglected for sure, squats and stretches have started to help already. Working to eventually add some plyometrics.

Sweet, just saw your comment on another video. If you ever have any questions, definitely feel free to ask. This has been such a fun journey so far, and I'm glad to have skating back in my life again. Also, it's great to have this cool community of people online from all over who can relate. Make sure you keep it fun, work on the foundation tricks, and have patience with yourself... lots of patience. We're not the same youngsters we used to be, but we can definitely get back there or close to it if we enjoy the process and are patient. Talk to you soon!🤟

Oiii... my first slam was a good one! Me and the pavement became one. Just like forgetting how to ollie, I forgot how to try and soften the fall. But all good, right? Part of the fun. Great you're starting! So much fun and even with the slams, it's such an incredible activity to do and watch yourself progress. Keep getting your sessions in!

He's definitely not alone, my knees have been through the ringer. Its been just about 2 months now and glad I got back in to it. Love every day I get to skate😎

Thanks brother!!!🙌

Sweet!!! We're not that far apart, I'm 43, so there's definitely hope I'll make it to 44😂. Definitely can't get enough now, and it's only been a few days. I think because we're old now, we kinda think about this stuff so we can make adjustments, rather than when we were kids, it was always just do it and do it as big as possible. The last knee surgery, left leg (goofy), I quit midway through rehab of tibial fracture and pcl and mcl tears. So working through some re-rehabbing, that’s definitely the leg I lack the most power and mobility in. But I'll get there, love just being back on and seeing all the rippers in their 30s, 40s, 50s also just out here like we're teens again... until that fatigue and adulting sets in.

Thanks!! Super excited to be back and it. Also your job rocks!!! Or the time in between does!!

@@OldBrokenSkater I love my job, no supervision and it provides me the opportunity to see a lot of places. 🤙

Thanks man! Welcome back!!! Get rolling and comfy, things will eventually start to come back. Just so much fun to be doing it again and hoping to keep going until I actually can't anymore.

@@OldBrokenSkaterhaha, me too. Just told my lady a couple days ago, I don’t mind if I’m terrible at skating until I’m 60. As long as I keep skating till I’m 60.

🙌 100% we're riding till the wheels fall off

Welcome back bro!!!! Best feeling ever being back on the board! Just checked the channel out and your making progress already! Patience with myself helped me a lot and also just trying new things when I couldn't figure out something I used to be able to do. You're filming yourself which is very useful. Even though I make videos on here the most important part to me is looking at the footage to see where I'm doing something wrong so I can try and correct it or compare then adjust. Super helpful for me. Stay with it and if you ever have any questions feel free to ask!

Yah, I look at my videos the next day or when I’m editing videos and my editor has a better “frame by frame” function. Most times I can’t really tell what I did diff My ollies have clicked finally. It’s all about getting a good flick and pop and it’s feeling good!

Good stuff, frame by frame is exactly what I do. I found one of my biggest issues for tricks including the ollie was foot placement and hinging my body instead of squatting. Definitely play around with foot placement if you haven't already. For hinging which like bending over at the back instead of squatting, I started doing air squats to strengthen my quads and just develop the muscle memory overtime.

Thanks!!! I was okay, but I never put much thought and effort into actually learning tricks. It was more about just keeping up with my friends at the time and getting hurt. I'm having so much more fun now, and it's so cool to see people from all over the world sharing similar journeys! Thanks for the sub. Talk soon!

HA! What gave it away the sad looking foliage 😂. Currently live in Connecticut but grew up surfing in Rhode Island and some of the northern states also traveled a lot to Mexico and Puerto Rico. Despite the somewhat colder water and inconsistent swell we do get some good waves. Learned on a shortboard but quickly switched to longboards in my teens. Really appreciated the style and culture at the time and still love it to this day, plus you tend to catch way more waves. I spent a year traveling up and down California just surfing when I was in my early 20's, it was blast. Love the waves out there.

Eventually, I'm going to get a nice little cruiser for the parks and around town. That will definitely make it fun on days that I just want to cruise.

I'm looking into skateable cruiser boards not the ridiculous banana shape for hipsters. Santa Cruz and landYacthz are making nice boards. With 60 or + mm wheels it should be an awesome board

I'll definitely have to look at getting one these. When I was 12/13 I use to have a Santa Crux Roskopp, I love that board in the parks....I think I use to have 60 or 65mm slimeballs and that board would cruise.