mat422 alpha journal

[Jeff]

Sure, have anything in particular you need help with? The most important thing I've found when skateboarding is to stay centered, if you are off center everything gets screwed up. Always keep your weight centered evenly between your two feet. Also try to keep a slight bend in the knees, standing up straight might be more relaxing when you are cruising around, but if you hit a pebble you are going to go down hard.

Also it's good to get a feel for how the board responds to you. How much you can turn, how shifting weight effects the board, etc. Before you start trying tricks, it's good to really get a feel for the board. Also be ready to fall lol, it's not a question of if but when. If you stay centered you will prevent the slip back that a lot of beginners deal with. A common tendency for people first starting is to lean back too much and the board slips out from under them.

Oh and one more thing. This is a bad habit I'm glad I got rid of, it's called pushing mongo. When you push you want either your left foot up by the bolts and right foot pushing(called regular) or your right foot up by the bolts and left foot pushing(called goofy). Mongo is when either your left or right foot is at the bottom of the board instead of the top. The problem with mongo is sometimes the board will lift up when you are pushing and it's harder to get your feet on the board to set up for tricks.

Just wait till you start learning tricks, your legs will hate you lol. After an intense day of skating my legs are like jello the next day.

I ride regular. Although, being an ambidextrous skater is one of my goals. Two issues I am having trouble figuring out on my own are:
-Slowing down (especially slowing down when going fast down a hill)
-Turning (heels dig backward & balls of feet push forward) or push down with back foot and turn body
**** how do you turn when going fast

Oh and large sidewalk cracks are a slight challenge. Tips? Thank you for the advice, I want to be able to ride decent before I start the fancy tricks.
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I second that. I have doing some slight indulging with my money, bought the P90X and a nice skateboard. They are both long lasting and great for me. Cash well spent. The gear switch is easy, just getting to that point where you are able is the more challenging aspect. Keep the goodness of life coming