One of the funnier things I notice when I go to our local skatepark is the complete and utter lack of differentiation on boards / trucks and decks with the young'uns. 7 1/2" - 8" popsicle deck, tiny Thunder/ Venture / Mini - Logo trucks and some nondescript 52mm wheel. When I ride my old school shape / new school concave and kick nose decks, they all want to try them out. I am more than happy let them have a go. Almost to a person, they say they have never seen a shape like that, big trucks like that or bigger ( 60 mm tall ) wheels like those and the board rides " so smooth." I tell them I need a board that is appropriate for my size ( 9" width +, 15" wheelbase and bigger wheels for speed / keeping speed up) and has some style to suit my tastes. They always ask about the rails on my boards. I tell them why I have them and then show them when I do a parking block long board slide as smooth as these old bones can. I then ask them why they chose the board they have. They pretty much say it was whatever the local skateshop had or what they got in a complete on - line or as a gift. I then ask them why not pick a board that they like, that has some style and fits what they are doing skatewise.To a person they say, " it is hard to do " whatever ollie based trick they think they need to learn and land " on a different board. The thing that makes me laugh a bit at this is I watch them trying to land some of these tricks and they almost never do. Not even close. It is almost like they are going thru the motions and not doing the trick to improve or have fun. When asked, most them seem to like doing other tricks and riding the bowls than the ollie based new street stuff. I taught a kid how to do a boneless 180 on a slight transition a couple of weeks ago and he said it was an awesome trick and asked if there were any other " board grabbing tricks." I told him to check out Street Skating with Rob and Natas on youtube for a whole new world of tricks. I even brought a launch ramp to the park and left it there ( I don't know if it has been clipped yet ) just so they could experience blasting an air of one like I did as a wee pup. Anyway, I really think the youngsters are primed for another move to a much more free form skating that incorporates old school street, bowl riding and new school street with a much wider variety of board sizes, shapes, etc.It does my old Grinch heart good to see them loving the same stuff I learned how to do 20+ years ago.
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