After a rough time at the skatepark, I come back to the p-rail to work on my jumps. It was a frustrating and painful day, but I managed a few decent grinds. I'm in the midst of a "jump slump" it seems!
Happens all the time now that i’m in my 40s. The hand-eye-body coordination just doesn’t agree on some days. Sometimes it’s sleep, sometimes it’s diet and/or caffeine. The biggest thing I learned was to “listen to my body” and go easy those days. The days that I didnt, I broke bones 🫣 But if you must, a little extra warmup exercise I do is to do a few passes by the ledge where I roll by and just set my soul on it and coast with one foot rolling on the floor and one foot grinding the ledge. This helps to “tell” my body where the ledge is if that makes sense haha.
Definitely been there, gone out on day's I should have stayed home and ended up in the ER, not fun. I would like to think I have gotten smarter as I have aged, but I think my wife and kids would probably disagree. I do the pass by or step on grind runs on the ledges a lot to try and get the feel for them, but the shock of actually jumping and locking on is what really trashes my knee. The PVC rail is so much more forgiving with that than the concrete at the park, and still it manages to hobble me!
Oh man, I have never ice skated, the thought of that scares me! I do love watching ice hockey though and think I would have loved to have played growing up. The only ice we ever saw was in the freezer in eastern North Carolina! Keep it going and never stop!
I know it looks like my other side grinds are better (they are actually the switch side for me), but they are incredibly painful with my bad knee on the H block and twisted in front of me. I am working hard to find a less painful way to do grinds and so far have not too successful and that is so frustrating!
@@theaverageoldguy It's exactly as the friend said. Don't worry about the change now, it will disappear naturally over time. I started skating when I was 27, I'm going to be 30 now. It took me about a year to gain confidence and do some “switchs” maneuvers, but when it happened, it happened naturally. Don't get frustrated, over time your knee pain will probably lessen. Oh, I almost forgot. A hug from Brazil !
They are really getting to me that's for sure. I am still looking for the perfect grind to allow me to jump and lock on with less pain and it seems like the regular soul is NOT it for me!
if this video doesn't push you I don't know what will. Hats off to you sir. much respect! I think a shin guard would eliminate that commitment issue that you getting. but at 62? man you're a legend!🤘
Its great to see other older folks getting out there and see the culture changing around age. It used to be that after a certain age it was weird to do stuff like this. Now Im seeing tons of middle and senior age folks out at skate parks and various other hobbies typically seen as for young people. Doing stuff like this improves your body and mind its like you become 10 years younger.
Ive been wanting to get into inline skating (never skated before), and seeing this video really motivated me to soon get my own in a week and practice!
Ive skateboarded for 26 years, and i still have those days. I am a big believer in mindest and visualization. Ill go through all of the motions of the trick and how itll feel, forcing myself to piece together the details i might have skipped until i have a complete picture in my mind. I might take a few minutes to do this, but i find it very useful. But sometimes, my feet just arent there, and ill decide to take an easier day of skating. Ill also visualize rolling away from trick on the way to the park. Its inspirational to see a young old guy still getting after it!
I sometimes think about tricks all day and have this ready to go mindset, then I get to the park and strap on the skates and it all evaporates! I'm a big believer in visualization for sure, I have done that with every sport I have ever participated in, if you can't see yourself succeeding beforehand, it ain't gonna happen. As you said though, some days you have it and some days its just not there no matter how much you want it.
@@theaverageoldguy you’re just at the start of the learning curve. It’ll become exponential soon & your skill will skyrocket before you know it & you’ll be doing rings around young guys who are at the start of their learning curve. 😉👍
What a commitment! I re-discovered Inline Skating just now with 36 and after some initial weeks of wanting to learn intermediate/advanced breaks and rolling backwards at high speeds etc., I just gave up on that since it felt too risky. So now just doing 1-2 hour skating for fitness while only being able to do a T-stop. And here you are chasing those goals like a champ. I'm sure after more sessions like these and sleeping over them, it will start to click for you! I definitely get the issues with "one-sided-ness", though, I have that with everything, even scissoring with one foot in front feels wrong. I guess it's some subtle differences how we distribute our center of mass or something like that.
Most of my one-sidedness comes from a bad right knee which has led over the years to that entire side being really stiff, so working hard on that. There is always a risk/reward level everyone is comfortable with and as long as you are getting fit and having fun, that's all that counts! At least you can stop, my stopping is terrible and is why I haven't tried urban skating yet.
@@RuthlessShadowGamer I agree! The T-stop kills my bad knee if I try and drag it behind me (my right leg making the T) and trying it with my left leg back just makes me spin circles 🙄
@@RuthlessShadowGamer Thanks for the kind words! That one mostly comes down to being able to ride on one foot so that you can use very little weight on the breaking foot, otherwise you just rotate instead of stopping :o. But it's unfortunately extremely inefficient, so I basically have no emergency break. But the soul slide just won't click and I can't imagine turning backwards at high speeds to initiate a power slide or something like that.
@@Some_Guy_87 Ahahah I've been trying the soul slide too!! I can't get my leg to rotate at a proper angle to lose grip and slide in front 🙃 hoping to get it one day And the knee thing really resonates, I've been trying to strength train my leg muscles and glutes to activate so i don't put as much pressure on my knees when doing one leg squats. Keep on keeping on guys!
Its hard, I have a lifetime of injuries working against me but I wouldn't change anything except I wish I had started mobility work earlier in my life. Its hard to regain lost mobility when you get older, so if I have any words of advice, that would be it. Work on your mobility every day and never stop!
a couple of things that help for sure , a decent massage gun , a warm up skate , practice getting your skates to lock onto something other than a rail "stairs are great practice" and speed .
That's great advice! I have been trying to lock onto the stairs at the skatepark recently, the bottom step is only about half the height of the ledge there . They are ground down to almost round edge by the skateboarders, but I can lock on near the ends where the edge is more square, there is just a terrible approach. I know speed is helpful, but man its hard to go faster when I am slamming so much already!
@@theaverageoldguy I did notice that your soul foot is staying fairly "flat" try standing on the rail without moving an lean that soul foot over by pointing your knee out further so your boot is basically 45 degrees on the rail it's a lot safer 😎
I think everyone loves to see the falls. I have no lack of them I just usually edit them out since that would be about 80 percent of the content if I didn't!
One of those days … I get the same, energy levels low, body doesn’t want to do what you tell it .. difference is I am still learning the basics, not trying to land grinds, so fair play for tolerating falling that much.
Hombre thank you for asking 😆. t/ #heat, t/ #fatigue, t/ #wear & #tear of t/ body... Not to mention #dehydration... So many factors leading up to t/ Big #freeze 😅 Nodded off at t/ #wing A few nights ago Thats #win i know its Time to #retire 🛌 Def cant commit 😅 But who knows Tomorrow is always #possible
Im 64. Still skating strong. However, i do not aggressive skate. Thought about it but never tried. I enjoy freestyle urban, trail and marathon skating inline and quad skating indoors. Love it! I am in support of any type of skating ..enjoy.
I love to hear that! I would really like to try urban skating, but I am terrible at stopping! Skating at the parks doesn't really require you to be able to stop well and I just have not worked on that much. Keep it going and never stop!
As I told Stu108, the side I do the grinds on best is technically my switch side, I was working on the regular ones here to try and see if they are less traumatic to my knee, but as you can see I am failing on them badly. Still working on it though.
Just found your channel! Good effort man. Love it. I have a few tips. It looks like your prail could slide better. Some wax would help you relax into your soulgrinds, and help with a smooth dismount. Also, try just stalling on the rail and getting fully over it, and not so much to the side. This will help you grind longer. As for the switch, or other side as you call it, same thing. Stall it until you can count to three while standing on it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t jump on. It’s about getting comfortable being right over the rail. Then what you did was great, if the jump is not working, do the step up grinds. Also one thing that will help and hurt you at the same time, you need to be going at least twice as fast on your approach, the momentum will make grinding that much easier and flowing. But work up to that ofcourse. Also try doing just the one soul foot, aka Makio. Last thing, when you finish a grind, put thought into how you dismount, two feet off at the same time and two feet landing at the same time. And stomp your landing if you feel like the grind was great! Good luck and keep rolling! (I’m 47 myself by the way).
Those are great tips thanks! I do struggle with getting on top of the grind and have been working on that lately. My main issue is the pain in my bad knee from locking on and "boning" over when its the soul foot and twisting onto the H-block when its the front one, I am working hard to overcome those issues, but its really frustrating! Glad you mentioned the dismounts, mine are definitely awful and I feel like they are always survival mode for me. I am working at the park on little transition jumps where I two foot stomp the landings to get used to that feeling, so hopefully that will translate into better dismounts in the future!
@@theaverageoldguy good to hear that! Have you tried to do Miszou’s? With your front foot in soul position but your back foot trailing behind like a backside grind. That position might look like it is more taxing on the knees, but it is actually much better weight distribution, as you can really lean on that back foot which might help your soul foot knee out a bit. Also that helps you style it out. Good luck!
I've seen skaterboarders with decades of experience having trouble commiting, in the end its about confidence. If one is tired from brain fog, then it doesnt feel as good, which might affect how confident one feels, which causes mental blocks. Its for sure frustrating, but I would keep doing the natural ones to kinda just build up confidence and struggle less. We all want to learn as much "new" stuff as possible, but gotta be sure we actually learned the earlier parts properly first.
You are so right about the confidence, it all boils down to that in the end. I try to do a little of everything I know how to do every time I skate just to keep stuff fresh. If I go too long without doing some things, I lose confidence in them and feel like I am starting over from scratch and the grinds are so like that for me. Some days I just hurt too bad to try any and before I know it, I am feeling like I have never done them before. That day in Mooresville was a killer for me physically and that ended up causing this slump I'm in now because it was a couple of weeks before I could even attempt to jump again. I am slowly digging myself out, but its slow and painful!
May have been said already but I’ve had better success with aiming for the darkside of the rail. Where the pvc /wood meet. Both arms inside toward the rail. Knees to chest and send it!
Struggling to commit? Nah, you simply need to be COMMITTED…. FWIW, The Average Old Guy and I have been best friends since 1975; closer than blood relations. Gotta bust his chops now and again, to keep him honest. Back in the day, he was a skateboard God, and still fighting the good fight @ 63🎂
Okay mate. I know exactly what your problem is. And its you are predominantly left footed. Think of it in terms of reg and goofy on a board. Work on your strong side till you have it smooth and comfortable. Forget your weak side till you have the stuff with your right dialed in. And then start precticing your other side. I been blading for over 20 years. I'm 39 and just came back to it after a 3 year hiatus and I'm basically starting over I'm so rusty. But keep focusing on your strong side. I wouldnt worry about the other side till you start attempting topsides with your strong foot.. Keep it up. Dont give up. And jump higher above your obstacle and come down onto it. It gives you more time to place your soul and groove. Dont jump IN at your trick always jump above and look where you're going not at your feet
...Knowing your weaknesses is half the battle? Alot of pros don't switch Goofy before touring the realm of other possibilities. The fact that you took a hard fall the day before but got geared up again for more, only to concentrate on where your struggling speaks volumes. People tend to rest their weight more on their right which is why it's called Goofy. It's intimidating to go back over such ingrained habits, like trusting your left foot to direct and manage weight and using your right as a guide.
Can't win every game and it doesn't rain all the time. Skating has its days where NOTHING works. You may get caught up in one trick and chase it down. Gotta remember WHY you started to skate in the first place. Try to just have fun. If something's not working, wash that truck out of your line up and move to another. Or just roll around and remind yourself that this is fun, so have fun. Then, try again, and again, and again...
That's easier said than done! You are right though, there is 0 confidence on that side. Most of it is my knee, I just don't feel good with it on the soul and boned over. I'm gonna drop that side for now and go back to working on the left foot back version that I have been semi-successful on.
I have swapped out the middle wheels for anti-rocker and the grinds are easier, but I don't like skating the rest of the park on that setup. I am thinking of getting some of the FR Oysi frames to see if they make a difference.
You should get a metal rail going down at a 45 degree angle it’ll be way better to learn on and get use to reg grinding before u learn switch you’ll get it 💪
As I get older (I'm in my mid-50s) I find there are big peaks and troughs in my energy levels. I think that's probably normal. But I'd kill to have your commitment levels. Keep at it 👏👏👏
Thanks! It has been really tough and frustrating with the grinds. They are just so painful on my bad knee I want to give up. Then I watch other RU-vid videos and get fired up again!
You are right about that. I can do it for a lot of things, but these grinds are so painful to my bad knee that its really hard to let go. Still trying to figure a way around it.
I obliterated my meniscus and have been having this very same issue. I'm so afraid of killing this knee again and I'm only 36. Your determination is inspiring for sure. I am about to go and build this same setup. I've been at the park and just the sheer size of the place intimidates me a bit, hard to find a nice quiet place to get confidence in my knees again. Thank you for showing your flaws and process, keep at it brother.
I am very happy with this setup and it does help to build confidence and muscle memory. There is nothing worse than not having confidence in your knees, I still have a fear of doing a split and tearing my MCL again, so I have backed off on the frontside grinds a lot. Our park's lowest feature is about 12 inches high and that just takes a lot of confidence and commitment that I have to work back into. I hope you can build something that helps you get back in the groove, best of luck!
It is possible you are actually left footed. Or because of your knee pain you are protecting your knee. I can see you kicking your right foot with your left when you try to lock on. Also start back further so you have more time to jump. Your left footed soul grinds slide really good. But that may be because you have more weight on your front foot than normal. I saw one where you lift your heel and adjust it and put it back down while grinding. Which makes me think you had a lot of your weight on your right foot. If you want to keep trying right footed soul grinds, remember to point your toes up. Saw you skate boarding goofy, so maybe you are left footed? But hard to tell.
You have some good observations! I do tend to protect my right knee with just about everything I do. I am not left footed in general, but I do skate transition goofy on a skateboard, but surf regular, so I feel comfortable with either foot back. At this point, I have gone back to left foot soul. That works on the p-rail and also on the ledges at the park and I'll continue to work on that until I am totally comfortable with it on ledges and rails, then start working on the right foot back version (maybe).
I try to stretch every day and also lift weights and do heavy club and kettlebell training. Even with all that, I struggle with mobility. My right knee has been so bad for so long, it has affected everything on that side, ie back, hip, feet etc. For years I was a long distance runner and that didn't help much with mobility, but I have made a concentrated effort since starting the inline to improve my mobility.
Sometimes when you spot practice something you need to sleep on it before your brain and body is able to learn it. Its sounds weird but so often I'll practice something a ton and not get it and then sleep on it and I can do it or at least do it better the next time.
I have done that with success. I am a big believer in visualization and think that really helps you overcome some plateaus in your progress. This is one of those situations where the techniques are letting me down though!
switch soul ain't easy! Good on ya for giving it a go. I'd recommend making your p-rail box higher so it's a jump not a half hop or half jump etc. I'd say 3 x higher as high as you have now, add two more blocks of wood under. My crew and I seem to have the worst slams on low p-rails.
Great video! Hard for me to film when I'm not feeling it, so props to you! Inspiring stuff. Unsolicited advice Alert -- On the right-foot souls, your shoulders are turning towards the box, try to keep them oriented as forwards as possible. Best of luck and please keep making videos! -Ben
I am in North Carolina. Looks like you are all over the world recently. I love your videos, they have been a huge inspiration for me. I really struggle with the grinds and feel like giving up on them, then see one of your videos and it fires me up again, thanks for that!
