balance help now

[fiberlightsrock]

ok guys, i have a little problem...i am extremely clumsy and thus have bad balance...i need help correcting this problem so i can move on in my skating life....i have been skating for about 2.5 weeks and cant turn right worth a shit and have a lot of trouble ollie'ng.....so any tips on getting better balance would be nice...thanks...

[baker_etnies]

practice would be a rather good idea there boy-o.

[fiberlightsrock]

yeah i know...my freinds have said that tac'ing helps alot...

[baker_etnies]

just practice, we all have to deal with balance. all anyone of us can tell you is to practice. and you will get it sooner or later.

[fiberlightsrock]

yeah i see what u r saying, i wsa just looking for Mr. Miagii style help....

[skaterat]

Tic Tacs will help you but just get out and hit the sidewalk, parking lot, street or whatever. Get comfortable cruising around at speed carving frontside and backside. Your balance will come with practice. Learn the fundamentals first my man, the rest will come with time.

[fiberlightsrock]

yeah will do, me and my freinds cruze all over the roads, he lives in a subdivision a really big one at that...

[baker_etnies]

basically yeah. just cruise and you will learn what you need.

[philip]

practice,practice,practice,practice,practice,pract ice,practice,practice,practice,practice,practice,p ractice,practice,practice,practice,practice,practi ce,practice,practice,,,


and o'course,PRACTICE!!!!

[fiberlightsrock]

yeah well here in florida u cant do it evryday....becuase of the magical thing called rain...of i could skate in the house, and make my parents real happy...

[skaterat]

When it's raining hit a parking garage or your garage if you have one. On another note, I grew up in Florida. What city do you live in ?

[fiberlightsrock]

i live in callahan, which is about 15 minutes north of jacksonville if u didnt know...also i dont live near any parking garages, i am in the country...though i do have a garage...

[skaterat]

That's cool, I was born in Jacksonville till I was 8. Then spent some years in Daytona Beach. Well good luck to you and hit the crete all you can. Peace Bro.

[Fire.Freek]

It will come with time. No one steps on a board and gets it right away.

[philip]

since u got a garage,why don't u buld a mini inside it??

[EmericanIdiot]

yep, what all them said, practice makes perfect :P

[AlmostJeff]

Don't worry bro I am like the most clumsy person ever I just skated around in circles a lot when I first started skating and tic-tacing and soon balance came for me...by the way my brother lived in jacksonville for awhile he had to move back home recently though(money issues.)

[Jordan_H_TSC]

Try tightining your trucks tight like were there's no lean, then try it. then over time slowly loosen your trucks as you get better. But me I've skated my trucks as tight as they go for 8 years now. So that's just me I can do so much more like that.

[SlimJim_junky]

I think you might be advancing a little bit too fast. You should just ride around and get good at turning for about a month, then start doing ollies.

Advancing too fast can really screw up your skating.

[Undercat]

Of course, it's all about putting time on the board. If you can, skate wherever you can, on any small errands or trips to friends' places. I'd say going medium distances (approximately a mile) has done more for me in the way of balance than any other practicing I've done.

[GrizzledJASPER]

I hear you there undercat, my balance and manuals have gotten a lot better in the time ive been at college, since i skate to and from classes every day.

[bmmetcalf]

How do you place your feet?
Try starting off with your front foot pointing the front and when you push and start moving slant your front foot.

[fiberlightsrock]

i ride goofy, and i turn my front foot sideways whenever i get the speed i want...

[FIGHT!]

Learn the fundamentals first my man HOW TRUE!

I am noticing alot latley that young kids skating are going right out and trying to learn difficult advanced tricks before even learning some basic board control. There are so many layers to skating. When I was a kid and started skating, it was a trick just to stay on the board, then I moved to learning how to go down a hill without dying, carving, sliding, stuff like that. then I learned how to drop off a curb, wow! I prob skated for over a year before I learned to ollie. I see kids skating at the park trying to learn all these tricks switch too! before they even master regular shit! Or I see a kid that can do all kinds of flip tricks, heels, three's, ect. but EVERYTHING they do is sketchy and they have no STYLE at all. they look like they are having a seizure or something. Learn how to turn, powerslide, tick tack, learn all the basics first, dont go out and try to learn all these advanced pro tricks right away or you will be just another jackass trying to land switch varial flips over and over meanwhile you can barely stay on your board, and you wont develop a nice style.
This hits kinda close to home as last night at the skatepark, some young kid asked me how long I have been skating, when I said over 20 years, he was like "how come if you have been skating so long your not that good?" simply because I wasnt sitting there doing every flip trick under the sun, I was in fact busy trying to practice nose manuals on the flat for 2 hours. And I said to him, do you think YOU are good? because I am LANDING all my tricks, and all I see you doing is kicking and flipping your skateboard around everywhere, not landing ANYTHING and you have no style. I said, "I bet I can do a ton of tricks YOU can't do, and you can do a bunch I cant do, is this a contest?" I then procceded to start in on some old school tricks, 180 no-complys, no-comply wall rides, step off shove its, and before you know it, this kid and a bunch of others all wanted me to teach them these old tricks. Point being, its not about who can do the most tricks, its about fun.There is also a rich history of the progression of tricks that most people arent bothering to learn about. Did anyone see the dogtown documentary? those dudes didnt even ollie, where they not good???? and a good skater is someone that can stay on thier board and skates with style, regardless of the tricks they are doing. wheather they are doing crazy flip tricks , or downhill on a longboard.

wow, that was alot of typing...

[skaterat]

^^^Word!!!

[falloffboy101]

just practice and practice.

[Francesco]

Right on, Fight. There's these two kids at the skatepark and they can't ollie while moving, much less keep their balance very well, and they're getting into heated debates about which one gets closer to a heelflip off of a ledge. of course they spin it 50 feet away and it goes all crazy and stuff.

Fiberlightsrock-Work on rolling around for a while, just cruising and turning. Balance will come.

hey skaterat! You ever been to Deland, Florida?

[360degrees]

i ahve problems with balance too, but i have reasons with ankles, and the fact i have size 8 (9 in usa) feet and im 6 foot 1

[JoeyKovacs]

im 12 years old, 5'9 in height and Size 12 feet. I can't skate it my friend's basement cuz when i ollie i hit my head :'(...

Yah anyways, and spend 4-5 weeks just crusing and rollin off little ledges and stuff. Powerslides help with board control aswel.

[philip]

yeah,,for 2 years I was just ollieng... I can't jump over 3 decks cause I have fat legs and a fat ass!but I ollie of and onto everything with great style...then, I started doing kickflips. I stil try to land ON the bolts so I bail all the time...(yeah,Iknow,practise,practise,practise,prac tise)

[Ramp]