3 ms·

> I've not skated for about 10 years, but I got a board recently to see if I still had it. Ollie'ing is like riding a bike, never forget how to do it. :) It's

> I've not skated for about 10 years, but I got a board recently to see if I still had it. Ollie'ing is like riding a bike, never forget how to do it. :) It's tough for me. I skated nearly every day of high school and not much since then. I got on a board a few months back and it was like starting all over again. The biggest difference that I noticed was my diminishing flexibility. I need to start managing that--my wife, a physical therapist, says that lack of flexibility in our 30's and 40's is highly correlated with likelihood of falls when we are elderly.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
chrisdone 12y ago
Good on you! I noticed I was initially afraid to just get moving on the thing. What about the skateboard falls? Partly why I stopped street skating was all the falls and ankle kinks. I still feel like I need to stage a fall on this new board just to break the ice. :-)
akbar501 12y ago
> The biggest difference that I noticed was my diminishing flexibility. This is definitely the biggest change I've noticed. There is no way I could skate now like I did in college and high school as my body simply won't allow it. Also important is that I doubt I'd recover from a nasty fall like I did when I was younger. Lastly, even if I could physically move like I did before, the mental concern about the cost of a bad fall / breaking a bone / pulling a ligament / etc. would prevent me from landing any type of trick beyond the basics. One of my friends who skated with me a lot in college used to like saying that the biggest factor in pulling off a trick is "thinking that you're going to".
- tomsthumb 12y ago
  > There is no way I could skate now like I did in college and high school as my body simply won't allow it. With some work you probably could. You'd be surprised by how many "older" dudes (40+) absolutely crush it at the climbing gym. It takes a damn lot of strength and flexibility for them to be able to do that.
  - lordbusiness 12y ago
    To add to this, when it comes to rock climbing so much is down to finesse, and precision. As a mediocre climber, I find myself limited when on routes that I can't muscle my way out of; it's a conscious effort to practise planting my feet slowly and accurately, and coordinating my balance. Climbing is such a wonderful activity precisely because it blends so many things; strength, agility, discipline, accuracy, not to mention shear mental focus. Oh, and you get to play with lots of gear and gadgets. It's great for geeks. :-)
doorhammer 12y ago
> my wife, a physical therapist, says that lack of flexibility in our 30's and 40's is highly correlated with likelihood of falls when we are elderly. I think this is why a lot of people get injured as they get older. You just don't realize how much less time you're putting into something you used to be able to do really well, then you try something that used to be easy with less flexibility and bam. problems, heh. I ran an obstacle course recently after having not done it in awhile. I was actually pretty surprised at how coordinated I still was (I'm 31, so I don't have all the issues I could yet), but I felt the tightness during and was sooooo sore the next day I really need to start doing consistent balance drills and flexibility training
- rosser 12y ago
  I really need to start doing consistent balance drills and flexibility training If that's your aim, I can't recommend a regular yoga practice highly enough.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - doorhammer 12y ago
    This seems absurdly obvious now that you've mentioned it :) I'll have to seriously look into that

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

chrisdone 12y ago

Good on you! I noticed I was initially afraid to just get moving on the thing. What about the skateboard falls? Partly why I stopped street skating was all the falls and ankle kinks. I still feel like I need to stage a fall on this new board just to break the ice. :-)

akbar501 12y ago

> The biggest difference that I noticed was my diminishing flexibility. This is definitely the biggest change I've noticed. There is no way I could skate now like I did in college and high school as my body simply won't allow it. Also important is that I doubt I'd recover from a nasty fall like I did when I was younger. Lastly, even if I could physically move like I did before, the mental concern about the cost of a bad fall / breaking a bone / pulling a ligament / etc. would prevent me from landing any type of trick beyond the basics. One of my friends who skated with me a lot in college used to like saying that the biggest factor in pulling off a trick is "thinking that you're going to".

tomsthumb 12y ago
> There is no way I could skate now like I did in college and high school as my body simply won't allow it. With some work you probably could. You'd be surprised by how many "older" dudes (40+) absolutely crush it at the climbing gym. It takes a damn lot of strength and flexibility for them to be able to do that.
- lordbusiness 12y ago
  To add to this, when it comes to rock climbing so much is down to finesse, and precision. As a mediocre climber, I find myself limited when on routes that I can't muscle my way out of; it's a conscious effort to practise planting my feet slowly and accurately, and coordinating my balance. Climbing is such a wonderful activity precisely because it blends so many things; strength, agility, discipline, accuracy, not to mention shear mental focus. Oh, and you get to play with lots of gear and gadgets. It's great for geeks. :-)

doorhammer 12y ago

> my wife, a physical therapist, says that lack of flexibility in our 30's and 40's is highly correlated with likelihood of falls when we are elderly. I think this is why a lot of people get injured as they get older. You just don't realize how much less time you're putting into something you used to be able to do really well, then you try something that used to be easy with less flexibility and bam. problems, heh. I ran an obstacle course recently after having not done it in awhile. I was actually pretty surprised at how coordinated I still was (I'm 31, so I don't have all the issues I could yet), but I felt the tightness during and was sooooo sore the next day I really need to start doing consistent balance drills and flexibility training

rosser 12y ago
I really need to start doing consistent balance drills and flexibility training If that's your aim, I can't recommend a regular yoga practice highly enough.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- doorhammer 12y ago
  This seems absurdly obvious now that you've mentioned it :) I'll have to seriously look into that