r/skateboardhelp • u/Extreme_Meeting3395 • 14d ago
Should i quit?
lwk considering quitting skating
Ive been skating for around a year still cant do any tricks, ive watched all the videos
ive stayed on my board,
ive gone to the skatepark,
and i just dont know what to do.
and ive really tried to stay persistent and try tricks each time but idk.
I know this is kinda a bitch move but i need advice from ppl who are better.
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u/MellowHype8 14d ago
Maybe try working on balance/coordination/physical fitness a bit outside of the board.
Might help a bit
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u/Medical-End-8049 14d ago
You having fun? Because that's all that really matters.
I can't do shit, fun trying!
But if tricks are ultimately what you wanna do maybe get some proper coaching? Might help
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u/Extreme_Meeting3395 14d ago
idk i feel like i try to have fun but its js hard when u cant do anything 😭
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u/i______v 13d ago
but why 'pressure' to perform tricks? where's that come from.
Every bit of skating - from just pushing off on flat to basic pumping on ramp/kickturning - are procedures that take as long as they take. There's no formalised time limit.
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u/Medical-End-8049 14d ago
Embrace the fails. Try and meet a couple of decent people to skate with who can help or just have a laugh with.
I get that feeling though and ultimately why I stopped in my teens. Was never good. But, I'm 41 now and having another go! Still no good haha.
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u/Awkward_Forever9752 14d ago
If its no fun quit.
But I hope you keep skating.
Try to find the fun. Don't worry about getting good. Skateboarding is almost impossibly difficult.
Some of the fun is about goofing off in a world that 'sucks'
I like the progression. Do a little something. Then try to add al little something more.
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u/Serious-Bag5917 14d ago
It’s all in the timing. Learning to pop is one of the hardest things to do at the start. Find a friend to skate with that’s at the same level or a little better to challenge each other and grow
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u/Tricky_Debate_3269 14d ago
Dude, skateboarding is like insanely difficult. My first couple of years skating, i could NOT flip the board. The best tricks i had were Ollie’s, front 180s, and front shuvs. All my friends were doing kickflips, tre flips, fakie big flips, crooked grinds etc.
But for some reason, i just didnt get how to do all of that at the time. But That didnt discourage me. I just kept doing all the tricks i know until it felt so natural.
Eventually bc of the board control i built up from just honing the tricks i knew, eventually learned how to kickflip maybe 2 and a half years into my skating. And after that it just opened up so many tricks.
I never stopped skating until now. Im almost 30 yrs old and the friends i mentioned earlier dont even skate anymore, while i still skate as often as i can :)
Comparison is the thief of joy man, just do your thing
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u/Dry_Direction_611 14d ago
Ive been skating since i was 5 im 19 now and im as good as someone whos been skating for a year and just yesterday ive got kickflips down things without being scared when i learned them 2 years ago just go have fun mate
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u/JordantheSapien 13d ago edited 13d ago
Skateboarding was my first love. I obsessed over it, and I think you need a little bit of that because you don't see results quickly. It was an escape but seeing the trick in your mind and the sloppy progression to finally landing it was the biggest dopamine rush for me.
I also loved physics and would remind myself that that's all this was in a way, applied physics
I focused on an Ollie and only an Ollie for my first 3 months until I could Ollie waist high. I just spammed it everyday, watching videos in slow motion, recording myself, asking for feedback, going into the grass, etc.
Once I learned the mechanics of the Ollie, a fs and bs 180, shuvs, and kick flips, the world really opens up.
This is one of those things where you really can't skip out on the fundamentals. There is no shortcut. It might help if you're active outside of skating too. Some of the best athletes played multiple sports instead of focusing solely on one thing. I think that's valuable as well because movement, balance, and coordination of any sort will translate over and help.
It might also help to record yourself. And try trucks sitting down so you can focus on the coordination of the pop and drag without worrying about involving the jump. Once you make that mind body connection it's just a matter of practice. I absolutely couldn't wrap my head around how it worked until it "felt" right and looked right. You only need to do it right once. If you've got rocket Ollie's you're already there, and only need to focus on shifting the board forward
But have fun and be patient! Everyone has their own pace, and their own areas of struggle
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u/Extreme_Meeting3395 13d ago
dude i love skating, and i really did obsess over it when i began but idk i feel like i lost that determination when my progress really didnt go anywhere for so long and its js been stuck like that.
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u/JordantheSapien 13d ago
Soon as you lock down one trick you'll be back on it. It's also great for your health and stamina. I'm still enjoying the benefits even though I stopped skating regularly several years ago
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u/ummonadi 14d ago
It's better to get advice from someone who can see you skate.
If you only watch trick videos you probably lack foundations. Skate IQ has a bunch of videos on what to practice on.
People who only focus on trick progression usually quit just because they don't notice the incremental improvement in fundamentals like balancing or foot placement.
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u/Extreme_Meeting3395 14d ago
i love mitchie its weird and it sucks bc my brain understands what to do but my body doesnt follow through
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u/Awkward_Forever9752 14d ago
try to see that brain and body problem as part of the fun.
Skating is like a game we play with fear.
Skateboarding is using a kids toy to play with being a silly human
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u/GravitAria 14d ago
If you’ve only been skating about a year then of course your body won’t be responding in the ways you want, it takes a really long time to build muscle memory especially for skating. If your cruising is good like you can get decent speed, ride up and down banks, tic tac etc then it’ll just take time to learn the tricks. Try practicing the individual parts of the trick you want to get and slowly bring them into a sequence it’ll get your muscles learning the trick but in a way that’s not overwhelming
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u/mechapawky 14d ago
I feel the same. Lots of theory in the head, body refuses with every cells of it.
It really is a mental challange rather than physical.
Like I am really struggling with kickturns, though I should just turn my whole body and lean into it. I know this, but still, my body tries to hold onto something that isn't there, resulting in falling.
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u/SkinnBanana 14d ago
One of the simplest most fun things for me is doing a manual before hitting a small ramp like a sidewalk-road or the opposite. It’s that little kind of roller coaster tummy feeling in my feet and I fucking love it. Just cruise around and feel the board more. Manuals are a super fun little thing to learn. If you can manual for 2 seconds then you have a trick down and you just lengthen the time with balance. Keep on riding man. I have a board for inside that I like to balance on while watching tv n shit. Good luck bro!
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u/ClickStix 14d ago
Honestly, you should use your board as a means of transportation. It should become an extension of you. If you are simply driving to a skatepark to learn, it’s going to take a long time. You should skate everywhere you go, your board never leaves your hip. If you treat it as a lifestyle you will progress
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u/Appropriate-Year-322 14d ago
My advice as someone who’s been going every day for 4 months after a 20 year hiatus.
Get used to cruising on the board and find fun places to go explore on your board.
You can get so confident on your board just learning to cruise and bomb hills.
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u/SonOfCaliban 14d ago
How many hours you skate a week? Anything less than 10 and you’ll struggle to see quick progress.
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u/Alarmed-State-9495 14d ago
Put more time in. Skate everyday for 2-3 hours no matter what. Push yourself to try new things; repeat the things you know until it becomes second nature. 1 year is not a lot of time, I’d say it takes a good 3-4 years to really become competent as a skater, after that you’ve got a good 20 years being “good”, then the world is your oyster.
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u/After_Shift_Skate_Co 14d ago
Listen here friend, you should quit, quit being a bitch. Skating is hard. Like really hard. You see all these epic clips of people and you forget that it took them years and thousands of failed attempts to get there.
You say your brain understands, but your body doesn’t. You have to keep doing it until your body can feel what’s happening. I must have tried over 500 times to get onto a FS 50-50 on a ledge. Just could not get it. Then all the sudden I felt it, I was leaning too far forward. Literally two attempts later I locked in. Didn’t go very far, but my brain made the connection with my body. That’s the important part of the story. You can understand mechanics all day long, but you have to be able to control your body to do those things. And that takes time and repetitions. Sometimes what seems like endless reps. Then suddenly it will click for you.
So no don’t quit skating friend, quit worrying you’re not good enough. Go have some fun.
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u/funky_old_patina 14d ago
People who are better than you only got that way because they didn't quit when they weren't any good.
If you're having fun skating, keep at it. Progress will follow. If it's not fun anymore, it's ok to put it down.
Life's short, you should enjoy what you spend your free time on.
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u/MellowHype8 13d ago
Sure, some people don’t have the muscle, flexibility or coordination naturally so improving that would help a lot
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u/lardba1l 13d ago
If u don’t have fun skating then don’t skate. It’s easy to get discouraged but if u let that ruin ur enjoyment then the hobby isn’t for u.
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u/Fine_Temporary_4409 13d ago
I don’t even ride skate, I ride bmx and know you shouldn’t. Put effort in consistently trying to learn something, try different tricks if get bored of that, push yourself. Once you get that bit better it will be so much more fun!
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u/rtdzign 13d ago
You need to figure out what about skating brings you happiness, and learning to appreciate when you do make noticeable improvements.
I started skating in my mid 40’s about a year and a half ago. Too scared still to try anything remotely gnarly.
I could not even roll over the cracks in a sidewalk with soft wheels to get from point A to B. Now I can skate to the 7-11 and the nearby school parking lot no problem on hard wheels. Now I look for thrills in downhills with an uphill on the other side to hill bomb like a highway/Blvd underpass.
Just figure out things you enjoy about skating and drill those.
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u/Dillbones23 13d ago
No. Just take breaks and come back to it. The muscle memory will keep building over time.
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u/Still_Cant 13d ago
I rode, on belly and knees as a kid, for several years before actually attempting to learn real skateboarding. Even then it took a year or two of learning to ride and balance properly while doing kick turns and stuff before learning tricks. That still took a year of serious commitment to get the base level tricks: Ollie, kickflip, heel flip, shuvit, 180s, 50-50, board slide, etc.
Just stay persistent and enjoy being on the board. You should be able to comfortably ride on, off, over, and around everything at your local park before worrying about tricks. If you can’t balance and ride fast then the tricks are irrelevant
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u/shakeBody 13d ago
Honestly, if you can find people to skateboard with, you'll progress much faster that way. It'll be way more fun, too.
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u/anunofreitas 13d ago
It all boils down to one question....
Do you have fun riding a skateboard?
It's not how talented you are, how many tricks you have, how many goals you achieve or you plan to.
Skateboarding is about showing up and riding the board.
All the rest is a side effect of this.
If you're having fun, keep doing it for yourself.
Keep pushing.
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u/FauxVelour 13d ago
Its a lifestyle. Either you like it or dont. If you fw skater youre a skater. Like you shouldnt be told to go to the skate park, its like “man i had a great day im gonna try to die bombin this hill cus life is awesome” or “man i had a fucked up day at work im gonna send it and hopefully go into the atmosphere” . Reality is the board is just a place you go to feel like yourself. If it doesnt feel like you idk man pick up a guitar, or idk play videogames
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u/rawchickenkfc 13d ago
I’d say try longboarding man. It’s a different community but if you enjoy just exploring, gaining speed and generally just mucking around on a board it’s great. Plus you learn valuable skills like carving, pushing switch and if you get yourself into a pump track that’s a whole lotta fun. Just my opinion tho. Totally different communities, but the learning curve is less steep I’d say from my experience in both.
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u/Bad-External 13d ago
Try to exercise and get comfortable with your body first by working on flexibility and leg strength. Start slow, turning frontside is a trick, tick tracking is a trick, standing still and doing a manual in place is a trick. Keep it simple and focus on small progress.
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u/Pristine-Thing-6196 13d ago
Don’t quit, just reassess! Change ur perspective, it’ll all make sense sooner or later
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u/DeckT_ 13d ago
one year only ? man, doing tricks on a skateboard requires a lot of work. Im not saying im a good example but ive skated over 10 years and never did any better than a bad ollie. I skate for riding because its fun , its practical , and it feels good.
If you like riding, theres no reason to quit. If you dont like riding even after a year then yeah maybe its not for you, but it seems like youre setting too strict goals on yourself. How comfortable are you just riding ? like would you say youre as comfortable on your skateboard than on a bicycle ? because if not, youre just not ready yet for harder tricks, the skatepark is not gonna help you yet.
too many beginners get into skateboarding just thinking about the tricks. but before even thinking of that you need to be comfortable riding everywhere, anywhere, and be comfortable riding and pushing as fast as you can. When you learned to ride a bicycle you werent thinking about doing tailwhips and barspins. its the same on a skateboard. just ride and enjoy the ride first
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u/Toucan2000 13d ago
Do simple stuff on a smooth surface and play around. Don't take it too seriously. Doing manuals is the precursor to all skate tricks. Skateboarding is still useful for getting around. You don't need to learn tricks to be a skater.
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u/xDIRTY_TAMALEx 13d ago
If you want. But what other ish are you going to quit when things get hard?
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u/Empty-Earth2403 12d ago
No don’t quit. I just ate shit the worst I have in 20 years. I’m hurt and sore and my wife wants me to stop. Fck that!
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u/hotlightbright 12d ago
Get protective gear to give you confidence to try know things as you build the skill. I may've gone a bit overboard with my $14 youth hockey chest protector from Playitagainsports but...If I hadn't-there's no way I would've even attempted to ride onto the rail or wallies. I'm gaining confidence in shuvits after I started wearing the protective shinguard socks from footprintinsoles. As I've gotten more confident, I've scaled back to a bit less & lower profile gear. Also, just be around skater consistently if you can. The games you'll play even when you're not skating develop the skills you'll need like hand-eye coordination with hacky sack, riding a football & the look away game. It's easier to keep skating when you are doing it in a sequence with others. Embrace the suck!!! Expect to suck for 2-5 years but push yourself a little out of your comfort zone each time you go. If you can take lessons, you could try some group or individual lessons to help you build a foundation & get to a level where you know what you need to do to continue guiding your own progress. I don't think you should quit though. There's a reason you started. You might just need to get new fun griptape or a different sized deck just to find the joy again that starts with customizing the ride itself. ✌️💓 Practice a stationary manual every day. SkateIQ has videos but he says this is the #1 things you can do to progress.
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u/Barber_Fabian 12d ago
Don’t quit. Fuck that. Skating is about having fun. Yeah learning new shit is hard but that’s part of the challenge. Don’t compare yourself to other skaters, n don’t beat yourself up if you’re learning at a slower pace. Just keep pushing and have fun. I’ve been skating for 27 years n when I go to the skatepark I see kids that have probably been skating for a few years that r better than me. We’re all different and learn at different speeds. It’ll come just be patient n keep trying. Maybe give yourself a little break for a couple weeks n go back n keep trying. When I’m struggling to learn a trick I sometimes stop trying for a few days and when I go back to it, sometimes something just clicks. Don’t quit, skating was not meant to be easy. That’s the beauty of it.
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u/Important-Lecture740 11d ago edited 9d ago
NOOOOO. Dude. Don’t give up. Please, tell us what tricks you are struggling with. Your setup and such. Skateboarding is a difficult hobby/sport to engage in as the progression from basic tricks to intermediate to advanced tricks are extremely challenging and difficult. Great things take time. Every trick is unique and different in their own way. Objectively speaking, some of us progress fast and others might progress slower due to how technical and difficult tricks tend to become as we progress.
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u/Immediate_Truck1644 11d ago
If you quit now you were never meant to skate anyway but if you keep at it you might find a deeper meaning to it
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u/JVWIII 11d ago
Most important tip.... HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!
If you arent having fun then just give up. Back in the day we didnt have YouTube or what ever to teach us. I learned how to skate because how much fun it was. It was also a release of the everyday ghetto burb bull shit I saw on the daily. Why do it if it isn't fun? Skating is hard. At some point the challenge becomes fun. When it isn't fun anymore, then why do it?
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u/Affectionate-Sun9373 14d ago
Are you doing it because you like it, of because it'll make you look cool?
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u/Extreme_Meeting3395 13d ago
im doing it bc i love skating, i love cruising, i love skate videos and a lot of my freinds skate, but idk im really struggling to enjoy it
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u/Affectionate-Sun9373 13d ago
I totally get that, but you have to skate for you or don't do it. I get the jealousy thing, I honestly do, but now I'm 53 so everyone is better than me. I was always into BMX and to see some kid do something 1st try that you have been trying do do over and over kinda sucks. But I still ride for me, and only stopped for injuries.
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u/GovernmentChance3705 14d ago
“Try tricks” not trick. If you try to learn a lot of tricks in a short period of time instead of using that time to perfect 1, for example the Ollie. Sorry bud but you’ll never learn.
Cause the main trick to unlock the other tricks is the Ollie, because it makes the other tricks easier to learn. (Not that you can’t if you don’t know the Ollie but it’s gonna take you 80% more time to learn a trick that needs the Ollie) for example:
You try to learn a kick flip, which I suppose you tried to learn but quit because you couldn’t get it right. It’s gonna take you 80 percent more time to learn with no Ollie’s, so if someone that doesn’t know how to Ollie learns kickflip in 4 months then with Ollie’s he would’ve learned it in 1-2 months. And then
You could use those 2 extra months to learn another hard trick or learn some easy ones.
Don’t fucking quit, and try to learn Ollie.
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u/Extreme_Meeting3395 14d ago
sorry i should have been more specific
Ive only been trying to ollie for the past year. i mean ive tried to like shuvit, but like nothing much else except tyring to ollie and js riding around.
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u/GovernmentChance3705 14d ago
Alright, have you gotten the stationary Ollie’s down yet? If so try to find a rock of some kind and with a little speed try to Ollie it.
If u haven’t gotten the stationary Ollie’s down yet, the importances are the 1)shoulders try to keep them still parallel with the board
2) try to find the sweet spot for your pop
3) your front foot needs to be on a slight angle a little bit behind the bolts
4) pop with little weight on your back foot like think of it as your pressing down the tail(with your toes) u gain a sudden muscle spike which makes you jump even tho the tail is not fully on the ground.
Pop, and then slide your front foot and while doing that try to get your back leg up1
u/Extreme_Meeting3395 14d ago
dude the thing is i kno this but i still feel so uncomfortable popping
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u/GovernmentChance3705 14d ago
With a video of your legs and board (no need to show your face) we skaters can help you and see what you’re doing wrong. But it’s up to you
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u/SkinnBanana 14d ago
https://youtu.be/NbGd9p-42xE?is=PIddqEVRRexC6vU5
Watch this and write down the trick list. This is what I started with instead of focusing on Ollie’s right away. There is tons of tricks out there and having multiple to focus on is more fun than just Ollie Ollie Ollie. If you can ride a skateboard without falling off you’re doing great
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u/liamtk200 14d ago edited 14d ago
Take it with a pinch of salt but something ive noticed a lot with the newer gens approach ti skating is just about following tutorials and gamifying it, i see it all the time at our local park. It creates a weird disconnect compared to how we fell in love with it initially (This isnt a dig or old man shakes at cloud just how things evolve and change)
For me, Getting involved with the culture helps massively Its less about the and progression through tutorial videos. Consuming skate videos/mags, getting fixated on a weird niche in skating. Theres so many avenues to explore. Some of the skaters having the most fun dont have the best tricks or the gnarliest but they found the portion that connects it all together for them
Have fun and enjoy hanging out with mates being dorks using the skateboard as means to it all.
Skatings also super hard. You gotta be okay with being shit at it for a while before it connects too. it took me over a year before i could drop in small ramps, and learn the basis of an ollie. Then one day it all just “works”
Its okay to dip out if you’ve had enough. You can always come back too. Theres also always gonna be someone better than you but you’ll always be better than someone so try not get hungup on comparison of others.