You really managed to do a TH-cam channel that covers these details nobody really talks about, so awesome! Also funny enough I think many of these "rookie" tips are things that are always important and sometimes you forget about these even as an advanced skater.
I haven’t stopped trying to watch the board and my feet since you mentioned it.. that and staying tucked or crouched until I land. Back In the day I had a terrible ankle ligament tear 360 flipping off a launch ramp and rolled off the nose. 6 months heal time made it hard not to second guess every flip trick down, over and whatever. Maybe I would’ve saved myself knowing I didn’t catch correctly and then forced the landing by trying to push it down. Don’t ever want to do that is again at 38. That and I’ve been getting used to less bulky vulcanized shoes. I believe you had mentioned the bulkier shoes can contribute to this.
It’s vital. 6 months is rough. My ankle injury from 2020 took a year to be fully healed. 5 months to skate, with extremely limited mobility. Still haven’t done much jumping since. I think my age contributed to the healing time though.
Yea that timeline sound about right for me. I remember watching the guys skate while I was spelling the alphabet with my toes to try and get the mobility back. Seemed like I lost a year cuz even sliding your foot up for Ollie was scary and felt so weird.
Ive watched quite a few of your videos now(mostly these Rookie Mistake vids. Brilliant idea) and theres one common tip you always give: safety. For someone who's getting back into the community and the sport after a decade of being away, safety is something thats definitely overlooked just for the sake of oanding a trick. The way you perform a trick,the way you land and even the way you bail can all keep you from or bring you closer to injury. Youre really dropping gems with this series. Thanks for the knowledge.
Thank you! I understand how dangerous skating is. Nearly hit my head on the edge of a ledge two days ago. So, a big part of my goal is to help reduce that risk. It’s inevitable that we sustain some injuries while skating. But, with attention and care, we can at reduce the injuries caused by our own negligence. I got hurt so many times, just by being careless, when I was young and felt invincible.
Doing tricks off/down stuff can be a real mindf**k as far as looking at your feet goes. Hard to time the pop at first when you're looking down at your feet, but like Norman said, it's absolutely a must.
I love your stuff Norman. This particular one was never a problem for me as I always felt like I needed to look down to keep from dying but just wanted to chime in to say how good your stuff is for the algorithm.
It's quite true because I actually would be looking at other feet in relation to my walking and then as I started skating I was wondering if I was just going too slow, research is important
I struggle with this. I have a crushed disk at C4 that makes looking down very painful. I basically have to take quick peeks to see if my foot placement is good.
I feel like I'm sometimes looking down too much. I think because my first year I only had flat ground to skate. Also remember the first time I heelflipped a stairset, I just blacked out. Rolled up, popped and next thing I knew, I was rolling away. Always found it funny when people said "catch it when you see the griptape" Later on I understood, as repetition is key
You can get lucky sometimes. But you want to be looking at your board/feet. That black out feeling is novelty. Once you’ve done hundreds of a trick, it starts to slow down for you. Neural pathways and all that. That’s when skating gets really addictive. I have sessions where I feel like I’m bending the air around me. The adrenaline dump you get, once such sessions end, is nuts. Feels like life in slow motion on the drive home.
Great video Norman! I struggled to grasp this concept for so many years... It was only about 2 years ago that I even started realizing that I won't land any tricks if I don't look at the board. I wonder why nobody really mentions this. I wanted to ask though, do you have any tips for doing flip tricks at higher speed? I always feel so uncomfortable, flip tricks feel completely different if I'm going too fast. Any tips would be appreciated.
It's not really much different going fast. You just have to not freak out in the middle of the flip. A lot of the times tricks feel better going a little faster.
Thanks Norman, I was just thinking about this today....I'm assuming you watch what your feet are doing on your grip tape/board as you're in the air as well, and then after a while everything becomes one? Thanks for all of your vids!
I've always had a problem doing stairsets and doing tricks over things mainly flip tricks how do I do them without looking at my feet. Its almost like I have to do my tricks blind because I have to look at the obstacle.
Honestly I’ve skated for 16 years and still to this day find my self making this mistake, especially when going bigger than usual I think it’s just nerves of wanting to see where I’m gonna land. Which I guess roots back to committing
Yes, extending too early is super dangerous, I had snapped my femur in half skating in darkness, overextended because I couldn’t see how far the ground was as a attempted to run out of a failed trick…
@@alejandropreciado1814 yea it was in ‘09, I’d plateau-fractured my tibia simultaneously which had me non-weight bearing for 3 months,months this really hampered recovery. Tbh as far as pain, is wasn’t very painful - I didn’t fall, just a bad step - crucial; when I tensed my quadriceps at all, severe pain!!! When I relaxed, almost zero pain… I’m 49 now and however devastating the injuries were, with abundant cryotherapy (ice packing) and deep stretching and continued fitness, I occasionally can tell the weather with my knee. Otherwise no problem
I'll keep this in mind, I recently started skateboarding from Ice Hockey and looking down while doing that typically means your going to have a bad day.
Ok Norman, I know this is an old video but I have a question... If you even see this comment now. I feel like you did indeed answer this in the video but I suppose I'm just looking for 100% confirmation that I am understanding correctly. So, on backside noseslides... It's embarrassing how much I struggle on this trick. When I actually pop onto the ledge I have always had my eyes on where I want to put my nose (i.e. on the ledge itself). I will look at my feet as I roll up to it but when I actually pop im looking at the ledge, it always just felt safer to me since I can measure the distance. Is your advice that I should instead be looking at my feet all the way through the pop and while my nose is landing on the ledge? I mean it makes sense but feels unnatural to me and kinda scary tbh. Btw, really appreciate your videos and analytical style of breaking this stuff down. Sorry for the long comment.
So for example if kickflipping over a gap. You want to look at your feet before snapping the tail? Or should you be looking at the gap to know when to snap?
I'm also inconsistent with these. Some days I have them every try and popped high. Other days they feel so awkward that I don't even want to keep trying them. Yesterday, I had perfect nollie heels but then my switch heels were gone. 😆
Fakie backside 180 off a loading dock. Not looking at my feet, front foot slipped off & went fakie 180 to 3 foot drop ankle roll. 23 years ago & I still think of it when I drive by the spot on my drive to & from work. Listen to this man & watch your feet.
I used to look down but I felt like it was really stunting how high I can jump and my height cause my eyes were always on the board. Does anyone know how to fix that??
You really managed to do a TH-cam channel that covers these details nobody really talks about, so awesome! Also funny enough I think many of these "rookie" tips are things that are always important and sometimes you forget about these even as an advanced skater.
So true. You’ll never completely remove these mistakes. I have to remain conscious of them today, after 25 years of skating.
I haven’t stopped trying to watch the board and my feet since you mentioned it.. that and staying tucked or crouched until I land. Back In the day I had a terrible ankle ligament tear 360 flipping off a launch ramp and rolled off the nose. 6 months heal time made it hard not to second guess every flip trick down, over and whatever. Maybe I would’ve saved myself knowing I didn’t catch correctly and then forced the landing by trying to push it down. Don’t ever want to do that is again at 38. That and I’ve been getting used to less bulky vulcanized shoes. I believe you had mentioned the bulkier shoes can contribute to this.
It’s vital. 6 months is rough. My ankle injury from 2020 took a year to be fully healed. 5 months to skate, with extremely limited mobility. Still haven’t done much jumping since. I think my age contributed to the healing time though.
Yea that timeline sound about right for me. I remember watching the guys skate while I was spelling the alphabet with my toes to try and get the mobility back. Seemed like I lost a year cuz even sliding your foot up for Ollie was scary and felt so weird.
Ive watched quite a few of your videos now(mostly these Rookie Mistake vids. Brilliant idea) and theres one common tip you always give: safety. For someone who's getting back into the community and the sport after a decade of being away, safety is something thats definitely overlooked just for the sake of oanding a trick. The way you perform a trick,the way you land and even the way you bail can all keep you from or bring you closer to injury. Youre really dropping gems with this series. Thanks for the knowledge.
Thank you! I understand how dangerous skating is. Nearly hit my head on the edge of a ledge two days ago. So, a big part of my goal is to help reduce that risk. It’s inevitable that we sustain some injuries while skating. But, with attention and care, we can at reduce the injuries caused by our own negligence. I got hurt so many times, just by being careless, when I was young and felt invincible.
Just starting to take tricks down small sets and Figured this out last night! 👍
Perfect timing!
Doing tricks off/down stuff can be a real mindf**k as far as looking at your feet goes. Hard to time the pop at first when you're looking down at your feet, but like Norman said, it's absolutely a must.
@@AlexNiedt cheers! Appreciate the knowledge. I feel line of sight is so
Important but not many people seem to talk about it.
How doesnt this channel have more subs? these videos deserve way more attention bro
Thank you 🙏🏾 we’ll get there.
Thank god I’ve always looked at my feet and board lol I love life
I love your stuff Norman. This particular one was never a problem for me as I always felt like I needed to look down to keep from dying but just wanted to chime in to say how good your stuff is for the algorithm.
You’re one of the lucky people who do it naturally. Didn’t take any injuries to learn and I hate you for it 😂😂😂 Thanks buddy 🙏🏾
@@NormanWoods haha! Stay rad sir!
Thank you Norman :)
🙏🏾👊🏾👊🏾
Skating so much cleaner with this tip.
It's quite true because I actually would be looking at other feet in relation to my walking and then as I started skating I was wondering if I was just going too slow, research is important
Thanks for your videos dude
Loving these tips bro, Cheers !!!
You’re real for that blitz tattoo
You’re real for noticing 🙏🏾 We are the Boys!
Thanks for this Norman! Appreciate this a lot as a rookie
You’re very welcome!
Love the shirt Mate, best band ever !
I struggle with this. I have a crushed disk at C4 that makes looking down very painful. I basically have to take quick peeks to see if my foot placement is good.
I noticed this before, especially with learning kickflips it helps a lot
I feel like I'm sometimes looking down too much. I think because my first year I only had flat ground to skate.
Also remember the first time I heelflipped a stairset, I just blacked out. Rolled up, popped and next thing I knew, I was rolling away. Always found it funny when people said "catch it when you see the griptape"
Later on I understood, as repetition is key
You can get lucky sometimes. But you want to be looking at your board/feet. That black out feeling is novelty. Once you’ve done hundreds of a trick, it starts to slow down for you. Neural pathways and all that. That’s when skating gets really addictive. I have sessions where I feel like I’m bending the air around me. The adrenaline dump you get, once such sessions end, is nuts. Feels like life in slow motion on the drive home.
I remember when I kickflipped down a stairset in 3 tries it felt the same way.
It just happens and you roll away its so weird but feels amazing
Great video Norman! I struggled to grasp this concept for so many years... It was only about 2 years ago that I even started realizing that I won't land any tricks if I don't look at the board. I wonder why nobody really mentions this. I wanted to ask though, do you have any tips for doing flip tricks at higher speed? I always feel so uncomfortable, flip tricks feel completely different if I'm going too fast. Any tips would be appreciated.
It's not really much different going fast. You just have to not freak out in the middle of the flip. A lot of the times tricks feel better going a little faster.
The thing about speed is that it makes timing crucial. You are going faster so you get less time to prepare
I think I’ll make a video on this one soon. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Thanks Norman, I was just thinking about this today....I'm assuming you watch what your feet are doing on your grip tape/board as you're in the air as well, and then after a while everything becomes one? Thanks for all of your vids!
Thank you for the cool channel,
I've always had a problem doing stairsets and doing tricks over things mainly flip tricks how do I do them without looking at my feet. Its almost like I have to do my tricks blind because I have to look at the obstacle.
bro that crook nollie heel on the lock wood table was awesome.. lol i wonder if i don't look at my feet enough!!!???
Honestly I’ve skated for 16 years and still to this day find my self making this mistake, especially when going bigger than usual I think it’s just nerves of wanting to see where I’m gonna land. Which I guess roots back to committing
Yes, extending too early is super dangerous, I had snapped my femur in half skating in darkness, overextended because I couldn’t see how far the ground was as a attempted to run out of a failed trick…
Holy shit femur breaks are wicked. Longest and strongest bone in the body. How was your recovery?
@@alejandropreciado1814 yea it was in ‘09, I’d plateau-fractured my tibia simultaneously which had me non-weight bearing for 3 months,months this really hampered recovery. Tbh as far as pain, is wasn’t very painful - I didn’t fall, just a bad step - crucial; when I tensed my quadriceps at all, severe pain!!! When I relaxed, almost zero pain…
I’m 49 now and however devastating the injuries were, with abundant cryotherapy (ice packing) and deep stretching and continued fitness, I occasionally can tell the weather with my knee. Otherwise no problem
I'll keep this in mind, I recently started skateboarding from Ice Hockey and looking down while doing that typically means your going to have a bad day.
What about when your skating ledges or Manny pad?
Ok Norman, I know this is an old video but I have a question... If you even see this comment now. I feel like you did indeed answer this in the video but I suppose I'm just looking for 100% confirmation that I am understanding correctly.
So, on backside noseslides... It's embarrassing how much I struggle on this trick. When I actually pop onto the ledge I have always had my eyes on where I want to put my nose (i.e. on the ledge itself). I will look at my feet as I roll up to it but when I actually pop im looking at the ledge, it always just felt safer to me since I can measure the distance.
Is your advice that I should instead be looking at my feet all the way through the pop and while my nose is landing on the ledge? I mean it makes sense but feels unnatural to me and kinda scary tbh.
Btw, really appreciate your videos and analytical style of breaking this stuff down. Sorry for the long comment.
So for example if kickflipping over a gap. You want to look at your feet before snapping the tail? Or should you be looking at the gap to know when to snap?
do you have any advice for nollie/switch heels? I have landed them before, but have 0 consistency and pop
That could be so many things. I’d have to see to know.
I'm also inconsistent with these. Some days I have them every try and popped high. Other days they feel so awkward that I don't even want to keep trying them. Yesterday, I had perfect nollie heels but then my switch heels were gone. 😆
My worst ankle sprain was because of not looking at my feet
Ouch! I know that feeling.
Fakie backside 180 off a loading dock. Not looking at my feet, front foot slipped off & went fakie 180 to 3 foot drop ankle roll. 23 years ago & I still think of it when I drive by the spot on my drive to & from work. Listen to this man & watch your feet.
@@rustyshackleford58008 yikes! That’s a rough one. The type of injury that’s hard to forget.
I would pay a proper price for you to be my skate coach lol
I used to look down but I felt like it was really stunting how high I can jump and my height cause my eyes were always on the board. Does anyone know how to fix that??
Gotta look at your feet. I pop plenty high, and never have it hindered by paying attention to what’s going on down there.