I’m a long time longboarder and esk8er of a few years, and previously a snowboarder, wakeboarder, kiteboarder and mountainboarder.
looking to learn about vert skating. I’ve got a LY Hatchet to practice on (cruiser with double kick) is that enough or should I pick up a dedicated vert board?
what should I start with? braille vids?
what should I avoid?
Please open my eyes to what vert can do, and how I should learn to do it.
Don’t hesitate when you drop in. Go 100% or don’t go at all.
Wear knee pads and elbow pads. Start on mini ramps at skateparks and work your way up to the bigger bowls. If you have access to a vert ramp, you can learn by just pumping the walls, and slowly working your way up to the coping as you gain speed.
Damn… you’re making me nostalgic for high school sessions at vans skate part in Milpitas.
I have very little experience at it myself, I can drop in pretty confidently, I CAN ollie despite my stickers that say otherwise, and I can juuuuust barely manual here and there without busting my ass.
That said, I hate popsicle decks and nose tails in general. Nose tails are my cryptonite, I end up hitting em with my front foot and getting thrown straight at the ground. End of disclaimer, advice time.
When you drop in, do it fast. You want your front wheels to hit before the back ones make a full rotation, if that makes sense. You don’t need a popsicle, or a double tail at all unless you’re tryna do some nollies and whatnot. But you DO need to know your deck very well. Find a spot in your house(or not, doesn’t really matter I guess) where you won’t break any shit and you’ve got something decent to hold on to and practice manuals. If you can hold one for a full second, you’ve got pretty damn good control of your board, SPECIFICALLY YOUR board, and you can start playing around from there a lot harder. Don’t try and fuck around too much until you know your board. That’s important. If you’re at a park, hit the bowls and ramps and whatnot cautiously at first too. Get to know em. Then start trying some tricks n shit. Be ready to bust ass. Vert might do less damage per crash than esk8, but the crashes are WAY more constant. Learn to Ollie if you can’t, it’s essential. Grinds are tough, I’ve never landed one, but you can’t attempt one if you can’t Ollie. You’ve got an advantage as you know your way around a board, but you’re still gonna need to take the time to learn your way around a park, and one trick at a time.
I think that’s about all I got for ya xD
Solid advice!!!
do some stretches or jumping jacks/high knees/etc. before you attempt dropping in because I guarantee you you’re gonna fall a couple times and you don’t wanna pull something