Category: skateboarding

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Session Report

I posted this on the AlwaysWill messageboard, an oldschool forum I and some buddies set up as an alternative to Facebook and other social media. A couple of the guys enjoyed it. I guess it spoke to them. I tend to write this stuff publicly but it’s really more self-reflection. Helps me sort things out.  The background — I’m working to film some stuff for the NeverWas-2 skate video, the upcoming sequel to Can You Spare Some Cutter Me Brother. So this mission has taken me back to all my old skate spots, which of course is where I skate all the time anyway, but looking through the lens of this project I realized how appropriate I think it is to go back to the old spots. It’s important to have places in your life worth caring about. Places are a big deal. Find the shittiest place you can find, and somewhere there’s a person for whom that place is sacred. The house I grew up in is 3 streets from this school. Anyway, all but one of our old neighbors have moved out of the neighborhood. Sometimes I wonder when I skate there if anyone drives by — someone who’s lived there for 45 years – sees me skating – and thinks “There’s that guy again.”

Well, yesterday the Richardson Community Band took over my freestyle spot for a Memorial Day Weekend concert of patriotic music. Of course, being a non-patriot, I didn’t go. Instead I went to my little ditch that I’ve been skating for the last 40 years and filmed a few tricks for the next NeverWas video. Then I went over to the school parking lot in my old neighborhood where I learned to skate and film a few more tricks and lines on a street board.

Going there is peaceful. It brings up some emotions. I remember being in that parking lot 40 years ago. I was the youngest of a little crew in the neighborhood. In the summer we’d skate there all-freaking-evening until the sun went down and then some. There was nothing there but flat, curbs around the edges, and a wheelchair ramp. We made do. We’d spin 360s on the little tiny ramp. Do freestyle tricks. Roll around.

A couple of years ago they tore up the little ramp and replaced it with a sideways facing one that is covered in those shitty textured concrete tiles they put all over the place these days for “safety”. I was bummed. The concrete there is starting to get kind of crusty in a few spots, just like I am. We are damned near the same age. I know it’s probably just a matter of time until they rip that concrete up one summer and redo it. That will be weird for me. There’s this one spot where there’s a circle of smoother concrete. That’s where I practiced 360s. It’s still there! It’s so strange to me to think that all this concrete is the same stuff I have ridden on thousands of times.

Yeah, my wife has been out of town for over a week, I’m a solitary person, and maybe I need some company. Maybe I’m delving too deep into this weird peaceful melancholy.

Anyway, it was fun to skate there. I’ll go back later today and film a little more, I think. Toni’s flight gets in about 10:45pm tonight. That gives me time to skate, come home and shower, then go out and get her.

I still need to get some better stuff for that video, but it is coming together.

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Old Bastard Trick Tip #4: End-Overs

First, for a really comprehensive guide to learning this trick, I recommend you go to Tony Gales End-Overs tip on FreestyleTrickTips.com, on which Tony guides you from the very beginnings of this move. Tony gives you some variations that are very much part of the basic freestyle movement vocabulary that I’ll probably not cover here.

End-overs are one of the most basic elements of freestyle, and in my opinion skateboarding in general, and are often overlooked. Until I started this project I honestly had no idea that people have trouble with this. I suppose because it is one of the first things I learned back in about 1975 or 76, it has just never occurred to me that everyone doesn’t do these. But I think skating began to be so vert and later street oriented that people just didn’t learn this.

So here’s my tip. It is intended as “additional commentary aimed at the old guys” to Tony’s more comprehensive instruction.

EndOvers from Bob Loftin on Vimeo.

I would also point out that when you can do endovers easily, stuff like this becomes easier as well, though it isn’t freestyle. Freestyle really should be, in addition to and end in itself, the fundamental building block of your skating.

360 Nose Rock from Bob Loftin on Vimeo.

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Old Bastard Trick Tip #3: Walk the Dog

My talking seems to be increasing rather than decreasing, but I swear to remedy this. Part of the issue is that I am not just teaching the trick, but I’m also trying to talk to the old guys out there and address what I think are particular concerns and issues they might face. So that simply requires more talking. Next time I may wear a mask so y’all don’t get too sick of seeing my face.

So, Walk the Dog is one of the primary footwork tricks in freestyle. It’s important. Like the moves I’ve described in previous tips, it is a move that emphasizes the ability for the skater to move atop the board. It requires that your feet not be glued to the deck. You must be able to move them with some ease and eventually some grace. That’s the goal.

One thing I failed to mention in my excessive talking is the idea of not overpowering the kickturn in this. This move is all about subtle weight distribution. You may not have it at first. That’s OK. This trick will help you develop it. But when you are doing the kickturn part, try not to beat it to death. Just relax. Everything’s gonna be OK. A calm, peaceful, centered kickturn is what you want. So calm your mind, get all Zen, and let it flow slowly and smoothly.

Practice your Walk the Dog along with the previous tips here. Over, and over, and over. That’s how you get better. Mix them all together. Be creative!

I know with 100% certainty that you can do this!

Also, you can always get better! Looking at this video, I really need to work on my arm style. Man, it’s not the worst I’ve every seen, but it could be a lot better. I generally don’t like to copy anyone’s style, but when I see something in my own that I find ghastly, I try to adjust a bit.

Finally, for additional trick tips, and additional more detailed info on these, check out FreestyleTrickTips.com , by Tony Gale.

OBFTrickTip3 from Bob Loftin on Vimeo.

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Old Bastard Freestyle Trick Tip #2: the Walk-Around

First, let me apologize for the excessive talking in this video. I was tired from my work day. But since probably 10 people will watch this video, and they are all friends, I figured it might be OK anyway, so here it is.

The Walk-Around (that’s what I call it, anyway) is simple footwork move that you can apply to a freestyle run, as footwork or as the entry into various tricks. It is quite versatile. With some speed and control during the initial wheelie carve, it can be quite stylish too. It’s a nice little move to have for nearly any skating situation. Next week when I go film some bank tricks for the upcoming NeverWas 2 video, I’m going to do this on – you guessed it – banks. My friend Tony Gale taught me a version of this going the other way, where you pivot on your heel rather than the ball of your foot, and it’s really cool. I’m going to start practicing it obsessively too.

So when you go out to skate, work this move in. Practice it with focus. Obsess on doing it as fluidly as you can. Try to make each one smoother than the last — your feet moving across the grip tape with ease. Really, it is fun to do! When you get this down, think about doing 2 in a row, than doing the previous tip (2 endovers into the Shove-It Thingie) all as one line. YOU CAN DO IT!

OBFTrickTip2 from Bob Loftin on Vimeo.

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The Insane Challenge

As you go through these trick tips and tips on overall freestyle-ish-ness, I have a couple of challenges for you.

  1. Practice these every time you get on your board. At the end of any line you do, after any slappy, do one of these things. Make it a habit. That is how you learn.
  2. Shoot some video of yourself doing this stuff, put it on youtube or instagram, and share it on the Old Bastards Freestyle forum. Join the forum, on the Always Will message board, if you haven’t already. It is more fun to learn things when you share your progress and innovations with the like-minded.
  3. Ignore the ollie. Yes. Ignore it. So many skaters grew up doing ollies and ollie-based tricks constantly that they can’t do anything else. Even old guys do this, since guys who started skating in the mid to late 1980s are now OLD. Yet there are at least a million things you can do on flat without the ollie. So commit to practicing freestyle without the ollie, so it isn’t a crutch.

Once we have done 10 tips here, I’m thinking about doing a Cyber-Freestyle Challenge, where you will film a short run to share with everyone.

When you post something, use #TheInsaneFSChallenge. If you post on Instagram use @bibliosk8er as well. On Facebook, tag me.

So get on it!