Best Music To Skate To

The best music to skate board to in my opinion is definitely rock and roll.  Others prefer to skate to rap music and hip hop, but personally I find rock to really get you pumped up to land your tricks.  Music has a huge influence on how you skate and personally I cannot skate without music.  The music that you're listening to allows you to get around the fear and anxiety which come when performing a difficult trick.  Music enables you to calm down and approach the obstacle with a mind at ease.  Personally I love to skate board to Dragonforce, a heavy metal band with extremely fast guitar.  The faster the song is the faster I seem to skate.  Another great band to skate to is The Killers, this band is extremely mellow and enables a slow smooth ride depending on the song that you are listening to.  When choosing music it is really important to chose a song which fits your current mood.  If you are currently feeling extremely lethargic you probably should not be playing something like Dragonforce.  Instead however, you should be listening to something that supplements your mood such as Modest Mouse.  Another great band that I love to skate to, however they are not rock is Crystal Castles.  Crystal Castles has extremely catch beats and also is a pretty fast band so it makes it a blast to skate to.  Personally, my top three favorite bands to skate to are Dragonforce, Lucky Boys Confusion, and David Bowie.  These bands are not necessarily best associated with skating; these are just my personal favorite bands to listen to when skating.

Skate Boarders VS Inline Skaters

For some reason or another skate boarders never seem to get along with inline skaters. Both of these groups have some negative stigmas associated with them.  To start if off inline skaters are known for being jerks.  The stigma associated with inline skaters is that they are preppy stuck up kids who are spoiled.  I am not saying that this is true, just that this is the stigma associated to them.  Skate Boarders on the other hand typically are looked at as either druggies, or gangsters.  The stigma that the skate boarder is dependent on what style of skate boarding that skater does. Since there is this negative view for each group there is often conflict at the skate parks.  The animosity of the two groups causes them to call each other names and take other skaters turns at the skate park. 

This conflict does not stem from anything of importance and simply is childish and moronic.  These two types of skating should not try and combat each other but instead should help each other obtain their goals.  Both of these groups would like to have more skate parks and better skate materials, buy instead they argue amongst themselves.  By working together these two sports could have better places to practice and perfect their skating.  Personally I find the void of these two groups completely trivial.  In order to stop this feud, I urge all skaters reading this blog to try and break down the barrier between the two groups.  Little things like not taking other skaters turns could easily help improve the situation.

Best Skateboarding Video Game

Easily the best skate boarding video game is Tony Hawk for Nintendo 64.  This was the first of the Tony Hawk line of video games.  Although this game only had about twelve levels and was relatively short this game was a ton of fun.  The game differs from the new Tony Hawk games since this version did not have any manuals.  In my opinion however, manuals ruined the other versions of the Tony Hawk games.  The manuals made it so you could score nearly one million point tricks; the first game was just simple and enjoyable.  The N64 game only allowed for simple tricks along with simple combinations.  This made the game easier for new comers since the points never reached that high of a level.  Another aspect I really enjoyed about the game was the size of each one of the levels.  The levels were large enough to enjoy but small enough to be able to remember where all the obstacles were.  The two player mode was also a blast to play since there were a number of ways to play it.  One of the modes was simply whoever could score the most points in a certain time limit.  Another mode involved using graffiti to color the ramps where you had higher scores.  This particular mode was a ton of fun since you had to land combo tricks on different aspects of the entire course.  The last mode was pretty fun as well which was horse.  In horse each player had to land the trick the other previously did on the same ramp.  The new game took away allot of these fun aspects and made it less enjoyable to play.

What Rail to Buy? ** along with info on how to promote your park!**

Before discussing which rail is the best purchase, I would like you guys to check out Just Skateboarding and their thread regarding Skateparks.  By going to this link you can post on their blog and promote your local skate park in order to raise awareness.  Now let’s talk about which rail is the best buy.  In my opinion the best rail hands down is the element six foot flat bar.  All the other rails I have ever purchased before this rail have broke.  The six foot element rail is one solid piece so you never have to worry about snagging the metal where most other rails break apart.  The rail has three different height settings and is challenging for even the most experienced skaters.  The base of the rail has rubber pads so it does not move when using it.  Most of the other rails I have used in the past do not have anything like this so the rail slid every which way.  The only real downfall to this rail in my opinion is storage.  Most rails have a feature which allows you to break it down into two pieces which enables easy storage and transportation.  I live on the third floor of an apartment complex and dragging my element rail out is definitely a hassle.  In my opinion though go with a solid one piece rail otherwise I can guarantee you that the rail will break eventually.  Having your own rail is great since it saves you a trip to the park and enables you to skate whenever you desire.  Also another benefit of owning a rail is the confidence boost you will see in your skating.  Having a rail enables you to look at rails you have not skated before and say "I have done this on my rail at home" which somehow is very comforting.  If any of you have found a rail which you feel is better than the element rail, I would love to hear about it so leave a comment with its name and a link.

Skate Park Ettiquit

Believe it or not there is an underlying Skate Park Etiquette at every park you will ever go to.  This etiquette differs from park to park but overall the unspoken rules are the same.  One of these rules that skate park etiquette tries to enforce is the idea of turns.  Skate parks are often extremely crowded with limited room which everyone is trying to enjoy so taking turns is a huge deal.  Typically lines form for rails, but lines cannot be formed on such things as tops of mini ramps or quarter pipes.  On mini ramps or quarter pipes it is important to view everyone around you and have an idea if you got to the top of the ramp before or after them.  Depending on when you got to the top of the ramp determines when you will drop in next.  People who cut in formed lines or the unformed lines at the top of ramps are referred to as a snake.  Having the reputation of a snake is possibly the worst reputation you can have at your local park.  Typically skaters who are snakes often get snaked themselves, made fun of, or simply unofficially kicked out of the park.  This is the reason why taking turns at parks is so essential to having a good time.  Another important rule of thumb at skate parks is to not hang out on ramps.  Everyone at the park is trying to enjoy these ramps, so by hanging out on them you just get in the way of fellow skaters.  The easiest thing to do is hang out on the benches that are provided at most public skate parks in order to keep a good reputation and to avoid getting hit by a fellow skater.

How to Krooked Grind

The krooked grind is one of the higher level grinds.  This grind looks allot like a nose grind, however this grind is completely different.  Unlike the nose grind which runs the nose straight across the top of the rail, the krooked grind is done at an extreme this angle.  The angle is the reason why the krooked grind got its name since the board looks crooked since the board travels on its nose at a 45 degree angle.  In order to do this trick you will want to know how to do back nose grinds and back fifty fifty grinds.  To do this trick you will want to have your feet in the Ollie position approaching the rail at a slight angle, with the rail at your back.  The next step of this grind is to pop your Ollie and lock your nose and trucks onto the rail.  This is much easier said than done because of balance issues in regards to where you place your weight.  You have to get your balance just right because if you lean to far forward you will catch the rail with the nose of your deck and will fly forward.  On the other side of the spectrum if you lean back to far your board may shoot out, you will find yourself in a wullie (which is another trick entirely), or the back of your board will fall so far below the rail that you will hit the ground.  Finding the perfect balance for this trick is imperative to get it to slide correctly as well as getting off the rail.  After getting the trick to slide across the rail the next step is to get off the rail, which will require you to nollie.  The ability to nollie will make getting out of this trick much easier since you will be able to pop off the rail when you see fit rather than having to slide the entire rail.  If you cannot nollie focus on leaning back at the end of the rail and kicking your feet forward so the back of your board does not catch the rail while getting off.

Skater Survival Pack

Every good skater has a number of essential items that he or she takes with them when traveling to parks.  These items are often kept in their vehicle, a backpack dedicated to these items, a shoebox, etc.  The items which you will want to put in your very own survival pack are a skate uni tool, extra bearings, extra wheels, water, and if possible a spare deck.  These items are essential for road trips such as going to an indoor skate park during the winter far from your house.  The worst feeling in the world is getting to the skate park of your dreams, paying 15 dollars to get in, and then popping a bearing after doing a couple of tricks.  The skate tool is an essential item since trucks that do not fit your skating style i.e. to loose, or to tight can make skating not enjoyable.  The extra wheels should be in the pack just in case anything happens to one of your wheels; the uni tool can be used to switch out wheels.  A bottle of water is another requirement of the pack since you cannot always be sure that the place you are skating has water available.  Some skate parks like the one in Bowlingbrook has a public water fountain however, it tastes like garbage so you are often better off bringing your own.  In my opinion the most important item to include in your pack is a spare deck if you have one.  Public parks do not have skate shops in order to replace your deck and indoor parks will charge you a small fortune since they know that you’re in a pickle.  Having a spare deck even if it is horrible will allow you to continue skating on your trip rather than having to wait their patiently until your friends are done.