www.LearnToRide... After experiencing a setback for a few months with the height of my frontside carves, I'm finally able to consistently hit tile in the deepend of Venice, Glendale and Santa Monica again.
Speed is the key. If you're shaky, you're most likely going too slow. And remember that most of your speed comes from the carve you just FINISHED doing, not the one you're starting on. So, if you feel like you keep going too slow as you come up the transition, work on getting faster in your previous carve. Good luck!
I learned to hit tile in the deep end the other day at my park, and I wanted to go higher because I loved the sound so I accidentally did a back side grind in the deep and it was the coolest feeling but scary because I wasn't expecting it!
Nice vid ! Just got back into skating after 21 years, never really did bowls/pools as a kid so learning to carve little bowls at the moment, watching stuff like this is an inspiration and an education :)
Great Video's. I will be 51 yrs old this April and I just picked up a new Hosoi Hammerhead Can't wait to start riding again. Love your video's. Keep up the good work I'll shoot some video as well....
Stoked on your vids. I'm 49 and getting back into it. I'm pool skating at least 3x per week. I go back to your vids an analyze your technique. Also, I set up a tripod and cameral. It Works!!! Gotta know what you do.
Your pool videos have made me wish I hadn't thrown away my old late 80s early 90s era boards. I have a newer style board that I skate miniramps with, but after watching your videos, and the Tony Alva video; I really want an Alva pool board. BTW, 35 years old, long time ramp skater, 1st time pool skater, today. Sprained my elbow and wrist, but totally stoked to heal up and go again. Thanks for the inspiration.
@RomanSkateboarding - Thanks very much. That's a very kind compliment. in answer to your question, yes, I hope to do more, but I also need to take the time to learn more! I skate all the time, but I do a lot of the same old stuff. I have another skateboard channel - the website is SkateboardingCalifornia. That one gets updated a little more often. Thanks again for the comment and have fun at your new skatepark!
I'm 48 just started skating again after 33 years with my son in central NY. don't have parks as nice as yours but grateful we have a couple of parks in town one with an 8' deep concrete pool bowl that looks about 3' feet deep & Flat on video especially when shot with a gopro so I appreciate the bowls your riding are deep. unfortunately bowl skating hasn't caught on mostly street skaters in my area so the park does little to maintain it. Nothing better in skateboarding than riding bowls
Thanks for the vids - an inspiration for those of us that NEED to get back into it. I just posted my "first drop in in 32 years" it was a small 1/2 pipe ramp - i gotta find some pools to carve/crave. Thanks again good job.
@jvz773 - Drop-Ins: You are doing it right. Start small and work your way up to higher things. Remember that physically-speaking, a drop-in is easy. Psychologically is where it is hard. Stick to mellow radiuses when you're learning. Frontside: Three common mistakes are lack of speed, aiming too high, and failing to lead with the shoulders. Remember not to go too slow, don't go for coping/tile right away, and be sure to turn your shoulders/upper-body before you turn your feet.
i love watching your videos Eric. i've learned a lot from them I'm 33 and skating more and better than i ever have. I hope to meet you some day at one of these parks. Venice was build a year or so after i lived in LA and was hanging out there all the time. i couldnt believe 2pm and no one's there in glendale! that rocks
48 windsurfer skated in the 70's briefly no bowls/ramps just learned dropping in myself & dropped into my first 8' deep pool bowl last week. What makes dropping in easier for me is to get down low extending my body & head out over the front of my board & let myself fall into the pool nose first squaring up my shoulders and board with the wall as I am falling down the wall. even preasure on the feet as I feel the transition easy relaxed legs absorb the transition then press for speed. dive in
I like your videos, they give me something achievable to aspire to - much more encouraging than watching vids of Caballero at 15! Lol. a I'm 38 and have been skating since I was about 11 or 12, but there's never really been any bowls around until recently. I always just skated street and mini ramps, and when I was younger I could drop in and grind a big vert ramp. But because it's mostly been ramps my skating is very linear - all kick turns - and I don't know how to carve. Just starting to get the hang of it in pools but I still kick turn out and don't hold on to the carve, mainly because all the bowls around here have flat walls. Just started skating a proper bowl but it's 45 minutes drive from where I live. I'll keep persisting!
reloaded the page a million times so I could leave this comment!!! anyway, very inspiring video. This is exactly what I was looking for. I'm getting back into skating and hope to carve bowls like you in this vid without getting too hurt haha good job man!
Learn To Ride A Skateboard Last time i was on a skateboard was 33 yrs ago... i came across your vids on 'how to skateboard', felt inspired and took it up again at the grand age of 51. Only ever skated on the flat - after 3 months i can fakie, kick turn on small ramps and pump a tranny . Many thxs for the excellent vids.
@thewaterfalloflove - Cool. Glad to hear you're so stoked on skating. I don't know how hard your wheels are, but if you're slipping on metal ramps and the rocks are getting you, it sounds like they may be kind of hard. You may want to try softer wheels like 95a or thereabouts. You'll be slightly slower, but you'll have better grip.
Yep. You guessed it. Totally scared to catch a little air. It's not the launch out that frightens me. It's messing up that reentry! Hanging a truck. Leaning too far forward or back and slamming into the flat. That sort of thing. I need to conquer that fear and just go for it.
Watch all 7 chapters of videos in the LearnToRideASkateboard playlist. That will help a lot. The board I use in this video is a Pool King brand and the model is called the "Dead Piranha". Little plastic boards are terrible trendy pieces of junk. Don't get one of those. Longboards are great in cities and for downhill, but they can be harder to ride in skateparks. Shortboards are fairly versatile all-around. Good luck choosing and have fun skating!
For me backside carves are harder since I can't see the coping. First, I get lots and lots of speed. Then I compress and hold the carve line just like a cutback in surfing. Sometime I look back a little at my board to see where I am. Also, practice, practice, practice. Start low and work your way up. Baby steps work. You just keep building on them.
@weathsausage - My Vision Aggressor II has Tracker 161 trucks and OJIII wheels at 60mm and 97a with Bones Swiss 6 bearings. My Pool King (in this video) has the same setup, but using Autobahn wheels of the same size and durometer.
Cool. Check out "Pool King" and "Deckcrafters" if you're looking for a nice manly pool board. Glad you enjoy the videos. Have fun when you get back in the pool!
Hard to say without seeing you or the pool. There ARE natural flow lines in pools, so it could be that it's super hard to switch your line in that pool. Try coming up with some new lines and see if you can flow differently. Maybe that will help. Good luck!
You Rock! I'm 39 and about to move to California from NYC. I visited Venice and skated the bowls very carefully: I had no gear and was coming off a broken foot from a motorcycle accident but I STILL HAD FUN! You rock! I appreciate your passion! KEEP IT GOING! I wanna do what you do!! (But are you scared to catch a little air?, just curious...cuz I am! But still curious!)
It is very cool of you to take the time to make these videos... I'm 38 and recently took up Skateboarding, with my soon to be step son. I've built him a 4ft mini half and he is trying hard! I can drop in but haven't figured out the rock-to-fakie(probably just chicken to commit to the re-entry). We live in the bible belt, not a lot of places to skate but I am dying to go to a pool/skatepark... Any suggestions or recommendations?
@thewaterfalloflove - I want to get grinds back, then work on airs. Be careful on those metal ramps - they are slippery as hell. Age is just a number. There is always hope. I see lots of over-30 skaters complain about their age, as if it somehow makes skating harder. Ridiculous. Eat healthy. Stay in shape. Work out. Take care of yourself. You can be more fit at 45 than some people are at 16. People start skating at 5 and at 65. Doesn't matter. If you love it and have fun, you're doing it right!
Just remember to start small. Don't try to learn to drop into a 6 foot pool. Start on a small miniramp that's 4 feet. Even better if you can find one that is only 2 or 3 feet. Then work your way up to stuff that's bigger and bigger.
Will you be doing more of these awesome videos? I watched them all when you actually uploaded them but I´m watching all of them again because a new skatepark will be opening in a few weeks in my neighbourhood :) That reminds me of how psyched I was when you uploaded each of your videos. I really hope there will be more in the future. Take care, Roman
Can't hurt to try different boards. I find riding a variety of styles of boards tends to make you a better skater. Bigger is usually better for transition. Check out the video I made called "Why is wheelbase important on skateboards?" on my SkateboardCalifornia channel.
Just get on Google and search around. There are more skateparks in the world today than there have ever been in the past. Who knows? You may have one or two in your community and not even realize it. The "concretedisciples" website has a list of skateparks all over the country. So does the "skateparks" website. Good luck!
hey man lovin all the videos, great for me to watch as i am a fellow goofer as well. ive always had trouble with frontside carves and it's nice to know other people have had that problem too. what was the main thing that helped you get it again? i feel shaky as i go higher up the transition because i have to make a sharper carve to come down. thanks again for putting up these videos, would love to sesh the pool with you next time im down south
@20002000bosco - Not on this channel. I have posted a few things on my Skateboarding California channel which is under the username "skateboardcalifornia".
You start small. It's not like you drop in a 12-foot pool on your second day of skating. You drop in on 4-foot stuff until you feel comfortable. Then you move up to 5-foot stuff. You keep doing that. Then you move up to 6-foot and so on and so on. It takes a lot of time. It's a slow process, working your way higher and higher. It can take months or years to learn.
Awesome job carving that pool!! I'm trying to drop down big and tall ramps but I always get scared of falling back (which is what happen when i broke my arm) and falling forward and breaking another arm and I fell on my knee trying to drop in the venice beach pool and now my knee sometimes gets cramps and man that pool is huge!! Also every time I watch a skate video, I feel like i have the courage to do that but when I'm at the skate park i am like "i am not droping down that quarterpipe this day... maybe another time". any tips? xD
Ha, seems I'm in good company: I'm 38, surf & took up skating a few wks ago to compliment my surf training. Primarily interested in pool 4 the surfy-carvy aspect. Already noticing how much easier backside kickturns are to Frontside. If I skate straight up the wall, I can almost reach the tile & kickturn backside, but FRONTside eludes me! Also, trying to wrap my mind around the drop in. Did it on the tiny ramp & THAT was scary. Any technique advice for those two things? Thanks for the vids!!
@YAYUC51 - Just keep practicing and you'll get there. Try videotaping yourself so you can see what your form looks like. Getting yourself on video can help you to see what you're doing right and wrong.
Hey man, I really enjoyed your videos. Vert skating has always been something I've never really touched, even though I've been skating for quite a while now. These videos inspire me though, and I think I'm gonna commit myself to learning it, videos will be posted of progress in the next few months! Also, what kind of board would you recommend for bowls? I've been on a standard 8, but do you think it would be a good idea and mix it up and get some type of old school board?
@r3d3 - Thanks. Funny you say that. I've had people tell me that at skateparks. They'll be like, "Yeah, I watched your video, then I went to The Cove and I had no idea it would be so deep! The video doesn't do it justice."
first off nice carves, I've seen your progression over the years. Second, you should pop out on your board, you have the speed, I'm surprised you don't. Now try grinds 5 o and 50/50
Im watching this because yesterday i went to the skatepark and i cud barely do anything. I realized that i really need to bend my knees and lean forward so i can actually go down. If anyone wants to give me tips im all ears.
Bro for some reason my backsides carves are not as high and strong as my frontside, I am not sure if is something related with the fact that I mostly surfed and now im learning skateboarding due to where I live now we have no waves. Any tips to improve my backsides carve. Pura vida!
I feel like my body just does not want to do frontside at all. It's so bad that I can even do backside 360s for up to 12 turns but backside I can barely manage a mere 90 degree kickturn.
Great vids. I know you must have paid your dues learning to carve bowls. Can you tell me what elbow and knee pads have served you best? Our city is building a skate park with a bowl this summer and I imagine I'll be falling a lot. -thanks
Learn To Ride A Skateboard Thanks. I actually bought the PD elbow pads and wrist guards before your response. They are great. I'll get the knee pads too.
Not really. Some people are freaked out by the coping making the nose sit a little higher, but it's really no different. A pool with vert, versus a bowl without vert is a little different too, but not much.
Shoot video of yourself. It really helps to be able to watch what you're doing. You'll be able to tell right away if you're too stiff and need to bend your knees more.
Do what I did - shoot video of yourself. Sometimes it will become very obvious what is wrong in your form when you can actually watch what you're doing and analyze it. Good luck!
I just got started skating a carver (about 2 weeks ago) as a alternative for surfing and its an good cross over sport. But man I could do with some tips, Check out my vid and let me know what you think: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-juumC4fUu58.html
