How to Go To a Skate Park
While it is fun to skateboard with your friends in school yards, parking lots, and sidewalks, going to a skate park can be a different ball game altogether. Home to the pros, skate parks are venues for extreme sports competitions, and it can initially be intimidating to follow in the footsteps of the veterans. However, don’t feel pressurised to give a stellar performance on your first visit to a skate park – instead, make sure you concentrate on learning the ropes before you barge head-first into attempting potentially dangerous tricks.
Instructions
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Before you go to a skate park, make sure you have a skate board and know how to use it. If you’ve been skateboarding for some time, you will have an idea about how this works, but if you’ve never been on top of a skate board before, you will need a fair amount of practice before you can survive at a skate park, so focus on learning the basics first.
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Next, it is absolutely essential to have protective gear – helmets, elbow pads, knee pads, the works. While a trip to a skate park might be fun, an injury could put you out of action for a long time, so make sure you are padded up before you take your board over to the skate park.
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It will help if you know a few basic skateboarding tricks to begin with, before you visit the park. Try mastering a couple of easy tricks like the Ollie, the pop Shuvit, and the kickflip – a skate park is not a place for skateboarding beginners, so it will help if you have something – no matter how small – up your sleeve.
Image courtesy: desplainesparks.org
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Take a friend along (preferably one of your skateboarding buddies), so you do not feel alone and intimidated by the more experienced regulars at the skate park. Don’t start attempting dangerous stunts the moment you walk in. Instead, you and your friend can stand around for a bit, get a feel of the place, and watch and learn from the more experienced skaters – however, make sure you stand to the side, so you don’t get in anyone’s way.
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Once you feel more comfortable in the skate park, try talking to one of the more experienced skaters. Ask her/him for tips, inquire about the park, the moves that are prized here, and get a feel of the skate lingo that is used at this particular park. Be honest about how you are still an amateur – do not lie, or brag about moves you cannot perform.
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Now, it’s time to skateboard. Start small, by working on the tricks you already know. Vert ramps are intimidating, so start with a mini ramp, and slowly work your way up. People at skate parks generally tend to be non-judgmental, and will help you learn by offering tips and tricks, so just relax, ask the pros lots of questions, try your best, and if you fall, just get back up and try again. Regular visits to the park will result in a marked improvement in your skateboarding skills.
Image courtesy: carampworks.com
