Only those who skated today please

[John Doe]

This is an exclusive thread. No has-beens, no wanna-bes
NO SKATES
NO HELMET
NO POST
Only those who skated today need post.

I'm kidding.

Well, I did it again. I seem to have trouble coming off of a curb.
Skating kind of fast, I like to jump up onto a curbed sidewalk, then
do a sharp turn and then jump off of the same curbed sidewalk.
Unfortunately, too many times coming off of the curb I slip and fall
usually on to my right buttock/thigh (think sliding shorts). That
happens jumping off of other curbs without the prior sharp turn. I
was trying to stay low, perhaps it has something to do with having my
knees very bent (I think knees bent is a good idea, but I might be
missing another part of the technique). My guess is fatigue might be
the problem.

[wbskates]

Your knees may have been bent too much. You may have effectively
bottomed out your shocks before landing. Land with your knees barely
bent and you can then absorb the landing and have some extension left
for any needed skate placement adjustments.

Bill Stanley

Post by John Doe
This is an exclusive thread. No has-beens, no wanna-bes
NO SKATES
NO HELMET
NO POST
Only those who skated today need post.
I'm kidding.
Well, I did it again. I seem to have trouble coming off of a curb.
Skating kind of fast, I like to jump up onto a curbed sidewalk, then
do a sharp turn and then jump off of the same curbed sidewalk.
Unfortunately, too many times coming off of the curb I slip and fall
usually on to my right buttock/thigh (think sliding shorts). That
happens jumping off of other curbs without the prior sharp turn. I
was trying to stay low, perhaps it has something to do with having my
knees very bent (I think knees bent is a good idea, but I might be
missing another part of the technique). My guess is fatigue might be
the problem.

[i***@gmail.com]

Post by John Doe
I
was trying to stay low, perhaps it has something to do with having my
knees very bent (I think knees bent is a good idea, but I might be
missing another part of the technique).

More than likely (your are loo low, knees too bent). If you are trying
to land with your knees too bent, and bend them some more in taking up
the landing impact, you are probably over-balancing rearward (most
likely on the side of the skate that is forward). Your centre of
gravity (COG) is too far back initially, and the momentum from the
rotational motions of your body during landing is taking past the point
of no return.

You need to find the point between too much knee bend and not enough.
Landing with a body position with a low, off-centre COG is not
advisable.

Corey

[Dave V]

ok,

I did skate today, and I'm bored so...

I would suggest just relax, I always seem to have more fun and skate
smother when I dont try so hard.

My favorite thing is to go out with neighborhood kids on their bikes and
scooters and play tag and just goof around, I forget about trying to skate
and just have fun.

My k2 aggressive skates were delivered to work today so I just had try
them out. I rolled around the cubicles at work (my boss only called me a few
names) and then went out to the bike path with them. I can tell you that
they are not the right skates for the bike path, but thats not what I bought
them for. The last two pairs of skates were just plain fitness style
rollerblade brand. They work fine for plain forwards/backwards skating on
the street. I went to a skatepark with the fitness skates once a couple
years ago and ended up with a fractured wrist and elbow. I want to go back
to the skatepark with the k2's, but this time I will just be skating around
the bottom and up the ramps a couple feet or so until I learn how to deal
with that much. I could see how much different aggressive skates are and I
wanted to try using an appropriate skate this time.

thanks,
DaveV

Post by John Doe
This is an exclusive thread. No has-beens, no wanna-bes
NO SKATES
NO HELMET
NO POST
Only those who skated today need post.
I'm kidding.
Well, I did it again. I seem to have trouble coming off of a curb.
Skating kind of fast, I like to jump up onto a curbed sidewalk, then
do a sharp turn and then jump off of the same curbed sidewalk.
Unfortunately, too many times coming off of the curb I slip and fall
usually on to my right buttock/thigh (think sliding shorts). That
happens jumping off of other curbs without the prior sharp turn. I
was trying to stay low, perhaps it has something to do with having my
knees very bent (I think knees bent is a good idea, but I might be
missing another part of the technique). My guess is fatigue might be
the problem.

[Motorblade]

Be very careful if you have never skated at a skatepark....it is not really the
best thing to start at full adult size as a beginner unless you take it real
slow. I got a concussion on my first visit to a skatepark at age 35.

First just try approaching ramps from below and work your way up them, dropping
in(from the top of a ramp) is very dangerous for beginners who are full size
and weight. You might consider shock pants or hockey pants because it is common
to fall on your tail bone the first several times dropping in and the
compression waves are hell on a full grown spine.

Good luck and don't say you were not warned.

I learned best by building my own mini quarter pipe (about 3 feet high) andd
learning to drop in on it before attempting the 6 foot plus drop ins at a skate
park.


"fritz"
http://www.londonskaters.com/interview_fritz_blaw.htm
www.motorblade.com
a.k.a "Masterblader" refferee for Lonestar Rollergirls http://www.txrd.com
Birdy(Parker), Brazil(Gilliam),and Brewster McCloud(Altman)

[Dave V]

Fritz,

you certainly arent wrong about taking it easy, thanks for the heads up,

i fractured my elbow and wrist a couple years ago just coming down a three
foot ramp fast and loosing my balance, i had all my pads on too. i first
tried dropping into a 5-6 foot pipe three times and gave up. i did okay the
third time until i got to the bottom and my weight caught up to me. i think
i'm a little to old (40) and a little to big (6-02-235) to be dropping in. i
went to a skatepark a second time a year or so ago. i just stayed on the
bottom of the ramps and had a good time. it must have looked really bad tho
:-)

there is a little more to the story of course. I'm trying to get my six year
old boy interested. skating seems to be one of the few things he isnt afraid
of. I only get to see him a couple times a year, he is in phoenix and i am
near dc. i got him a pair of decent rec skates and he is doing very well.
some big kids showed up at the school we were skating and showed him some
tricks on my last visit. he spent his time trying to copy them, made me very
happy :-) on my next trip i plan to take him to one of the local skate parks
and i want to be able to skate around the bottom and encourage him. my
parents never did anything like that for me and his mother wont take him,
grrrrrrr i have some short video clips of him if your interested :-)

the amazing thing to me is that the kids there are fairly receptive. i
thought they would make fun and try to run me off. they will even talk to me
and try to give me suggestions if i ask. i sure dont remember being friendly
to any adults when i was a teen. they were the ones that pointed out i had
the wrong kind of skates.

thanks,

Post by Motorblade
Be very careful if you have never skated at a skatepark....it is not really the
best thing to start at full adult size as a beginner unless you take it real
slow. I got a concussion on my first visit to a skatepark at age 35.
First just try approaching ramps from below and work your way up them, dropping
in(from the top of a ramp) is very dangerous for beginners who are full size
and weight. You might consider shock pants or hockey pants because it is common
to fall on your tail bone the first several times dropping in and the
compression waves are hell on a full grown spine.
Good luck and don't say you were not warned.
I learned best by building my own mini quarter pipe (about 3 feet high) andd
learning to drop in on it before attempting the 6 foot plus drop ins at a skate
park.
"fritz"
http://www.londonskaters.com/interview_fritz_blaw.htm
www.motorblade.com
a.k.a "Masterblader" refferee for Lonestar Rollergirls http://www.txrd.com
Birdy(Parker), Brazil(Gilliam),and Brewster McCloud(Altman)

[Jim A]

most people spend a few days "pumping" to get the feel of the half
pipe...before trying to drop in...this way they already know what its like on
the way down feeling wise and perception wise...

essentially you start in the middle and just work up momentum back and forth
til you get higher and higher up on the ramp..typically when you're comfy at
the coping area...you'll likely have the stones to drop in..

i haven't attempted it in years...and the last time i did it successfully
involved snow...but that is the way every pro i know started..so there must be
something to it!

[johns]

Post by John Doe
Only those who skated today need post.

I skated today. Actually I'm up to 5 days a week now.
I'll be on the ice all winter, but last summer, and next, I'm
back on the PicFrames with some nice stuff. Fun one
to try is called a 5-step mohawk series on both skates.
Working the 8-step mohawk series too .. very fast and
lots of footwork. About jumping off curbs ... jump
from behind the curb. Don't let your toes ride off the
curb. That is a sure fall. Snap your knees up from about
a foot back. If you let your toes get down below your
heels, the skates will shoot forward quickly, and you
will bust everytime. Snap them up while they are flat.

johns

[John Doe]

... About jumping off curbs ... jump from behind the curb.
Don't let your toes ride off the curb.

I do jump from behind the curb partly because I have a thing about
symmetry. Jump up and then jump down.

That is a sure fall.

I suppose if one doesn't know the terrain, there is some risk of
hitting an uneven sidewalk/curb junction. I have no trouble rolling
off of curbs though. When doing very short curbed jumps, I sometimes
hit the curb on the takeoff and/or the landing. I am impressed how
skates can do that without tripping (usually).

If you let your toes get down below your heels, the skates will
shoot forward quickly, and you will bust everytime.

I have a feeling the comments about (over)bending my knees on the
landing should be given careful consideration, and will be. It is
easy enough to figure after being told.

I can imagine landing on my toes wouldn't help either.

Have fun on your smooth/flat ice.





Snap them up while they are flat.

johns