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Wesley Tucker
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SKATEBOARDER MAGAZINE stuff

Post by Wesley Tucker » Mon Feb 16, 2004 4:16 am

Harvey and Go-Cat

By Henry Hester

(Stolen without permission or any effort to get permission from SKATEBOARDER MAGAZINE, February, 1977, Vol. #, #3.)

This is the story of two world-class professional slalom racers; one made good and the other, although being invited to all the races, practicing constantly, and using all of the latest equipment, didn't. We'll name our fictional characters Harvey and Go-Cat. Harvey and Go-Cat raced together all the time, and both were equally fast. Both used the same stance, the same board, but one thing they didn't share was the same attitude. You see, this is also a story about attitude. Harvey found out that the key to speed and success was the right attitude.

Harvey, in his younger days, had been beaten badly in just about every sport he attempted: swimming, football and motorcycle racing, to name a few. He knew that he had the physical ability, but there was something that the winners had that he didn't. They seem to possess an attitude - an attitude of winning. They were thinkers. So Harvey's next sport was skateboard racing, and this attitude was the thing he would work on the most.

Quickly back to Go-Cat. Go-Cat had AMAZING talent. He could ride all types of slalom courses: long, short, wide and narrow. He had the push start, the quick pump, the fast finish. He had all these things. He lacked only two things: positive attitude and trophies. We all know that trophies come with winning, but what we don't know is that winning comes with positive attitude. Hank Kashiwa's coach called it "fire and determination." Hank is a top pro ski racer.

What is all this mumbo jumbo about attitude? What is attitude? Where do you get it? What does if feel like?

Positive attitude is pretty much positive thought. While racing on a skateboard, let's say you're thinking about certain cones, your hand position, where your feet are on the board - all this breaks away from the basic. The basic is that you are moving from point A to point B. You aren't just trying to make it around the hard cone in the middle of the course. What you are doing is projecting yourself, as a whole, (not that arm or this leg,) from the start to the finish.

"Wait," says Go-Cat. "How can you make the course if you are not thinking about each cone?"

"Ahhh, good question," said our friend Harvey." All of that is taken care of in practice."

You see, Harvey didn't use his "Vulcan mind transfer" during practice. He was too busy learning the course, learning the physical outlay of the ground, and learning his equipment. He wanted to know exactly what the course was going to do. But when the real racing started, it was a different story. He thought of only one thing - projecting himself forward - reaching out with his mind, conscious of his head and mind moving, moving faster and faster. Harvey called it the "moving head theory," and it worked. Harvey found that he could beat guys like Go-Cat who were really faster than he was.

Harvey thought to himself - maybe I'm going overboard? Maybe this mind transfer stuff is all hogwash. Maybe I'm just real fast and that's it. But then Harvey looked back on all the contests - Sydney, Paris and the one in St. Louis, all of these were won by only thousandths of a seconds. Maybe, he though, just maybe positive attitude and the moving-head theory were the refined secrets of his success.[/b]

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"The one in St. Louis..." ???

Post by Jonathan Harms » Mon Feb 16, 2004 5:23 am

Interesting article, Wesley. I don't think I've ever seen that one before. I have quite a stash of old SkateBoarders, but I must be missing that one.

Armed with this "moving head" knowledge, I will be unstoppable at the Luna Slalom Jam! :-)

Wesley Tucker
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Post by Wesley Tucker » Sun Feb 22, 2004 6:07 pm

(From SKATEBOARDER, Vol. 3, No.1. )

TRAINING FOR COMPETITION

By Jeff Campbell

At 7:00 a.m. on June 5th, the Summer Contest at La Costa was just getting underway. The largest group of competitors ever to compete was meeting on the La Costa course.
The Summer Contest at La Costa was rated among the finest competitions for skateboarding so far held. The course surfaces are excellent for all kinds of skateboarding, and four of the five major events in skateboarding were held during two hard days of competition. More than 250 contestants from San Francisco to San Diego gathered to heat up the streets, as an enthusiastic crowd watched.
La Costa offered the opportunity to test the physical endurance and capability of the average as well as the professional skateboard athlete. The course we had chosen ranged from flat to hilly terrain, with gradual to steep inclines and with cones set up in various positions to test the maneuvering skill and stamina of the skateboard rider. Most of those who ran the courses at La Costa felt that they were very demanding. The competitors who ran the X-country course felt it was a trying ordeal, often running the course only one of the two times that they were allowed during the qualifying trials.
Competition in skateboarding is no lover a sport for the sometime athlete from the sidewalk surfing set, who can cruise with a beer in one hand, and after having no sleep the night before, compete and win (Tway, pay attention.) Gone are the short, flat courses for making those easy money wins. Competitions has become tougher with each contest, and the professionals in skateboarding are finding they, too, must train to be able to hang in there in future competitive events. (remember, now, this was written 27 years ago.)

PLANNING A TRAINING PROGRAM
In panning a conditioning and training program for the skateboard athlete, you have to ask yourself the following questions:
a. What event am I training for?
b. Which is my best event?
c. What training facilities are available?
d. In what areas of competition to I need the most work?
e. When can I train and for how long?
You wan tot answer these questions to choose the best training program.
For example, ask yourself how much endurance is needed for freestyle as compared to cross-country? If you are a Russ Howell and have a fast routine, you want to consider endurance as a part of your training. If your routine is more fluid and graceful, you want to think less about endurance and more about training for general body strength. If you are an all-around competitor, strength, endurance, balance and coordination are major considerations in planning your program.

Increasing Endurance

Any coach will tell you that endurance is a prime factor in consistent winning. Once of the best ways to increase endurance is to jog or run, which not only strengthens your leg muscles, but improves your heart and lung efficiency as well. The tendons in your knees and ankles become more flexible, while balance and coordination are also improved.
You can use a small running area to vary the exercise load on your heart, lungs and leg muscles. Running up a hill increase the load, while running down a hill lessens it. Running across a slope will increase ankle and knee strength, balance and coordination. Short quick runs are good for power and movement necessary in slalom events.

Training For Strength and Flexibility

One of the best ways to improve strength is to place a load on your muscles. This is usually done artificially by using weights. Most people do not like to use weights, but it is a quick method to improve individual strength.
In using weights you should consider which muscles are being used for your sport. For example, doing a bench press will not help leg muscles. Your physical education teacher is a good source of information in this area. He or she can help you plan a program that will build both strength and flexibility.
If weights are not available, calisthenics or body exercises can be used. Your own body weight can be used in push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups. This is an excellent way to build overall body strength and flexibility. (This was 1976. “Aerobics” wasn’t even a word back then.)
“When you train, train to be the best, but don’t forget to have fun.”

(TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY COMPETITORS AT A SLALOM EVENT? I can’t wait til the church lot at the ‘Da Farm is packed from rock wall to rock wall one day with people coming to race!)
Last edited by Wesley Tucker on Sun Feb 22, 2004 11:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Wesley Tucker
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Post by Wesley Tucker » Sun Feb 22, 2004 6:10 pm

(From SKATEBOARDER Magazine, Volume 2, No. 5)

ADVANCING SLALOM TECHNIQUE

By Henry Hester

As skateboarding spreads across the land, more and more riders are becoming specialized into different aspects of the sport. Pool riding, freestyle, surf skating, downhill speed, and slalom are all becoming separate sports within the whole. Even in these areas of specialization there are different physical and mental approaches to the sport. In freestyle, you might always see the same tricks, but what makes it interesting is that everyone does it a little different. Take Torger Johnson’s style as opposed to Russ Howell’s: they’re both hot, but they are miles apart in approach.
As my specialty lies in slalom I thought I’d drop a line with some advice that can be used by everyone. During the course of the past year, I’ve picked up on some little things that help in getting through a course a little faster.
As your ability improves, your mental attitude becomes more important. I find that my riding is almost 100% mental. A top rider has to think his or her way down a course as well as ride it. I’ve worked up to where I can think three cones in advance at high speed.

(IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO DO THIS STARING AT YOUR FEET!)

How can the average rider have a problem on one cone when his buddy is baffled by the next? Why can someone look fast and not turn a good time? (Tell ME about it!)
Let’s start with the last question first. There are a lot of racers who are capable of turning faster times. But they aren’t going all out on the push-start. When the starter says, “GO!”, you’ve got to already be moving. “ON YOUR MARK,” get your board right up to the line. “GET SET” Now, “get set” doesn’t always mean to stand still like I thought it did. “Get set” is the cue to kick your board back about two feet, and as soon as it’s back there, start it forward at full speed. Nine times out of ten you’ll get a “Go” as soon as you pass the line! A perfect start.

(Ok, maybe you DC Outlaws won’t listen to me, but will you consider what HENRY HESTER is saying? Hmmmm, Aaron?)

Pushing to the next line is also very important. I have found that short, quick pushed (maybe only four feet each,) outweigh the long smooth ones. I’ve been beaten because of this more than one time, mainly because I stick to the long pushes for so long. Since I’ve changed, my times have dropped right down. Yours will too.
Once you get your stance after the “no push line” you must pump your board with quick, short pumps to the first cone.

(This assumes the “no push line” is ahead of the first cone. In this century the “no push line” has pretty much become the first cone. It’s a trend I don’t like, but, hey, who am I to argue with progress?)

Anytime you do a long, smooth move in slalom you are wasting time. The quick, fast moves are always faster, even if they’re a little choppy. Anything is better than just standing there! Pick a board that will flex in this manner and you have half your work done already.

(Guess we won’t see Henry advocating PlankK-Rs anytime soon, huh?)

The first three cones are the ones that get you going. If you go your fastest through the first two or three cones, you may have some serious problems with the fourth or fifth. As you go faster, your board is going to angle towards the fall line. The nose doesn’t want to come up over that next cone. One way to control that angle is to lean with your whole body stiff as a board. Most riders will crouch down and bend their knees in times of urethane stress. This is all wrong. What you need is weight on the wheels, and a straight body will ways do it. Remember – to crouch is to spin!
OK, we’ve gotten around that hard one, and it’s usually smooth sailing from there on out. Right? Wrong! That’s where you have to go to work. You’ve gotta grit your teeth, restock your M&M’s and bear down on that board. Anytime the course gets easy (and they all do somewhere), you must go into your short pump routine again. Not until the end at high speed should break into a long rhythmic pumping motion.

(Or you can learn to footbrake, eh, Henry?)

Taking the last half of the course with short tight lines (where the cones usually get straight) was something I never agreed with until my good pals started to way me every week. The closer you get to the cones, the faster you will go. To take a straight slalom run with wide, pumping turns is the first sin in slalom racing. It is possible to maintain a strong pump, but still keep your angle straight to the cones. Your ankles must get really right; in fact, your whole body gets stiff as your work like a pendulum, back and forth from the waist down. (Goddamn it, I knew I had read that somewhere!) Once again a tense body will be a fast body under times of stress.
So I’m saying to keep a stuff body while racing (not all the time). Bending your knees is only important when you are braking. Braking? Why would you want to brake on a slalom course? The reason is simple. Take a motocross rider, or any race driver. The most important thing is to learn to slow down as fast as they speed up. Our motors are the slant of the hill and our pumping motions. Our brakes are our knees. Let’s say you’re going really fast along some easy cones, and you get to the first hard one. Wham! You miss it. Next time you cruise those cones, think about how you missed that cone in the first place. You make the run, but your time is really slow. Both approaches are equally wrong. You don’t want to waste time on any course, so go just as fast as the first time, but two to three cones ahead of the hard one, start dropping your body down in between the cones, using knees to suck the ground up into your body. It’s just like the bumps when you are skiing. The speed you maintain before you brake will do wonders to your time. Use your start pumps to get going again.

(For all the engineers and rocket scientists out there, this is commonly referred to in the Newtonian Universe as “the conservation of angular momentum.” Now back to our regularly scheduled program.)

Some last, quick reminders are: keep your clothing tucked in and not flapping in the wind.

(Yeah, Slappy, and get that iPod wire out of your face!)

Tape your bellbottoms (remember, this is 1976) so they won’t knock a cone over. Make sure your helmet fits perfectly. Get one that fits you and not your older brother. Your mom and dad should be glad to pay; there is no price on safety.

(Sure there is. Wait til Gilmour gets the bill from the orthopedists!)

Helmets (hockey helmets are hot!) (Geez.) knee and elbow pads, wrist braces and good shoes are a must on every slalom course. (Do flip flops count as “good?”)When you get this gear, victory is only fire and determination away!

(By the way, this same issue of SKATEBOARDER had a “Who’s Hot” entry for some 18-yar old punk skating for “Makaha/Logan Earth Ski” named Tony Alva. Whatever became of him?)

Wesley Tucker
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Post by Wesley Tucker » Mon Feb 23, 2004 2:36 am

(From SKATEBOARDER Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 2)

RELAXATION IS THE KEY
By Curtis Hesselgrave

One of the most important parts of performance skateboarding is relaxation. From the beginner to the most seasoned pro, keeping the body in a relaxed condition is totally beneficial. (Like, totally.)
The type of relaxation referred to is not when you feel like jelly, or the complete letting go that you do when you sleep. What we mean is a living, dynamic state in which your body works at maximum efficiency. The reason relaxation permits maximum efficiency is that only the muscles that are needed to perform the action used, and the rest of the muscles are allowed rest and conserve strength. This permits greater blood flow to the relaxing muscles so that when they are called upon to work, they have maximum strength.
Here is an example of how much more difficult it is to perform action when you are tense. First, stiffen all the muscles in your arm and pick your skateboard up by the tail so that the board stays parallel to the ground. You will notice that it is difficult to move and lift when all the muscles are stiff. It is as if the body were fighting itself. Second, let your arm relax completely so that you can feel, when you stretch it out in front of you, that the weight seems to be all on the underside of your arm. Now lift the skateboard the same way. Pick it up by the tail, keeping it parallel to the ground. This time it should feel very easy to move in any direction, and that lifting seems easy and the board seems lighter.
These examples show the two extremes between stiff and relaxed. Naturally from this test you can see that it is easier to perform any action when you are relaxed. Yet it is surprising how often people tense up before they start a maneuver.
Now let’s use an example from skating. We will begin with one of the most basic of maneuvers: a simple “S” turn. Get on your board on a flat surface, give yourself a couple of pushes, put your arms out and stiffen all your muscles. With all muscles stiff, do a simple “S” turn. (a right turn, then left turn.) You will probably notice that you look and feel pretty funny, and also it is very difficult to be sensitive to the board and the flow of the turns. Begin again, and this time before you push off, shake your body lightly up and down (by bending your knees) so that all the muscles get loosened up. Then push off, and maintaining a relaxed feeling with arms outstretched, make the “S” turn again. This time you will feel all the sensitivity of the board very clearly, and the flow of the turns will be smooth and easy.
Progressing to more difficult maneuvers, we will look at bank kickturns. As you begin to go up the bank, stiffen your muscles so that your body is fairly rigid. You will find that it is more difficult to find the proper time to begin your turn, and that it is much more difficult to keep balance properly. As you begin to go up the bank on the second try, let your body feel like water, and very fluid. Feel that the weight is on the underside of your arms, and your weight is over the board. This time it will be easy to get the timing on the kickturn, and your balance will flow right through the maneuver.
It is a good idea to try these tests a few times, even though they might seen simple and obvious. The reason is that it is a good idea to consciously make extreme examples for yourself so that you can really feel the difference. If you train yourself to understand what your body is really doing when you perform maneuvers, you will be able to correct many of the problems your have. This holds true not only for maneuvers you already know how to do, but when you are learning new tricks, it really helps to figure out the right way to do them.
Learning new tricks is especially difficult if you are hold some part of your body stiff as you are trying to get the hang of the trick. It is just like when you are trying to do the “S” turn example when your body is stiff like a board. It is difficult to feel the sensitivity in the board and your body, therefore it takes you longer to learn the trick. So remember when you are learning new moves or perfecting old ones, let your body relax and flow.
Safety in skateboarding comes from being on control at all times, control comes from diligent practice, practice produces familiarity with the moves and relaxation. If you begin your skating consciously thinking of relaxing, you will achieve control much more quickly in all you do, so stay loose, stay relaxed and skate safe.

Wesley Tucker
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Post by Wesley Tucker » Tue Feb 24, 2004 1:33 am

(From SKATEBOARDER MAGAZINE, Vol 3, No. 3)

The Center
By Curtis Hesselgrave

INTRO
The previous article on relaxation, this one, and the next two articles based on principles of coordination of mind and body, developed by a man named Koichi Tohei. Mr Tohei is Japanese, and a 10th degree Black Belt in Aikido, the newest (about 50 years old) of the Japanese martial arts. He is also founder of the Ki Society International. The Ki Society is located in many major cities in the United States, especially on the West Coast, and has classes available in the fundamental of coordination of mind and body. They are available through the telephone directory.

THE CENTER
You body has a center of gravity. So what? Well, you would find it pretty strange to move around if it didn’t. When your center moves, all of you moves. That’s a pretty simple statement to make, and pretty logical too. But the difference between your moving and not know about your center and knowing about it, makes a world of difference.
First off, your center is located two inches below your navel and about an inch in. It’s slightly different on everybody because body types vary. You can find yours by standing with both feet flat on the ground, arms loosely at your sides and bouncing loosely up and down about five times, using your knees to bounce you (get used to using your knees to move your body mass.) If you do this relaxed, you will feel like you are settling to your hip area, since your center is in the middle of your hips – you have now found your center of gravity.
Now what does all this have to do with skateboarding and safety? Just this: if you begin to consciously move from your center, (hips) all your movement will become (1) easier, (2) more efficient, (3) more controlled, (4) more stable. Why? Because if your center moves, your whole body moves.
Let’s take, for example, the simplest of turns: frontside and backside, right and left turns. Whether you stand surf style, one foot forward and one foot back, or ski style, both feet together, parallel, if you want to turn right or left, you are going to be moving your center (hips) in the direction of the turn. The best way to see this for yourself is to simply watch yourself as you skate. You will feel yourself move your hips to do things. It doesn’t matter what it is you are doing. If you notice, your will feel your hips moving. Now they may not feel like they’re moving very much, and it might not seen to be nearly as effective as what your arms are doing, but remember, if your hips move one inch, the whole mass of your body moves one inch, and that has a large effect on what happens.
OK, how can we take these ideas and make them functional for skating? First, begin by noticing that your body moves from the center. Begin to relax, as we talked about in the last issue. When you relax, it is easier to find the feeling of where your body movies from. Second, now that you can feel your center (hips) moving to move all of you, begin to do it on purpose. Get yourself to skate, thinking of moving your hips to get thing going. This works for everything, from beginning turns to advance freestyle and downhill. For example, when performing simple turns down a hill, when you turn backside, it feels like you are sitting down. What you’re doing is moving your hips (center) to the rear and bending your knees (lowering your center). When you turn frontside, it is not quite as evident because your upper body leans out a bit more, so that it seems that your turning from your shoulders.; but if the center doesn’t also move, your won’t turn. You can try this for yourself by riding along and bending at the waist. Keep your hips over the board. You’ll find that you don’t turn very much, if at all. So what this means is that more than just your upper body is doing the turning.
All the top skaters will yell you that for maximum performance, you must keep your weight over your board. This not only increases performance, but also lessens the chance of spinning out. Your center of gravity is just that – it is the center of mass, or weight, of the body. If you watch a good slalom racer, you will notice that his middle goes as straight down the hill as possible, and his legs and board go out and around the cones. His center is taking the fastest line down the hill, and that’s what makes him fast.
When doing kick turns, notice that you have to move your hips to ge the board to turn; if you don’t move them, the board won’t turn sideways, it will just go up and down. Even just getting the front wheels off the ground in a kick turn, you have to move your center over the back trucks or it becomes super difficult.
So you can see from these examples, and also from your own skating, that movement of the center is the main thing that is going on. All the other movements of your body start from your center. This plays a big part in safety because you are more in control of you motion when you know where it starts from. The more in control you are - the safer your skating will be.

Wesley Tucker
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Post by Wesley Tucker » Tue Feb 24, 2004 2:49 am

(From SKATEBOARDER MAGAZINE, Vol 3, No. 5)

USING YOUR MIND
By Curtis Hesselgrave

Basic principle four is extending the mind. What I mean by the term “extend the mind” is something that has been talked about by many people in many different ways. It has been called “thinking ahead,” “anticipation,” “mental projection,” or expanded awareness.” What all these terms means is that the mind leads the body.
Without a mind your body could not function. Biologically, all the functions of your body are controlled by your nervous system, with your brain as the central clearinghouse.
Beyond all the biology, there is a clear-cut sense of activity that you notice coming from what I call “mind.” This activity of mind is what you use when you do a maneuver, pick up a pencil, think about your girlfriend, or any other activity. If you understand that the mind leads the body through everything you do, the next step is to learn how to control and creatively use this fact.
As you learn to skate, you first learn basic maneuvers. Then building upon your fund of knowledge, the more advance techniques become more available to you. What really happens is that your mind is learning patterns that guide your body. Each additional maneuver that you learn is built upon a foundation of what has already been learned. This foundation is constructed in your mind.
When you practice a move repeatedly, the process of learning goes this way:
First: Everyone usually sees someone else doing something they would like to do, so the first step is observation of technique. The more detailed your observation is, the more information you have to work with when you try yourself.
Second: Imagine yourself doing the maneuver. This is a very important step that we often don’t use to its fullest potential. If you can piture yourself doing every part of a move completely, smoothly and effortlessly, you will be training your mind in the execution of the maneuver. The more you can do a move mentally, the easier it will be to do physically. This is because the mind leads the body. If the mind does the move smoothly, then the body will be able to it smoothly also. This is where the first part of the process comes in handy. If you have observed someone else very carefully, you will have seen exactly how they moved. All the parts of the movement should be clear. Where their legs, hands, torso, and head were positioned. How did they start the move? How did they finish it? If you get all these details straight in your head, then you can also see yourself doing it correctly.
Third? Practice the move yourself. Try a maneuver out – go for it. Do it over and over. Don’t quit because you aren’t getting it. Keep going, and you will begin to see how works. Begin to extend your mind through a move. You have observed, mentally practiced, and now in physical practice continue to use your mind. You know what the move looks like: use your mind to create the movement.
Anyone who has become very good anything – dancing, surfing, skating or martial arts – will tell you that split second before they do any move, the whole has flashed through their mind complete and perfect. This happens so fast that it’s almost unnoticeable. But id does happen. This happens because there has been an orderly process of learning in which they have observed, practiced and the performed their maneuvers without thinking.
Now it seems that I have just contradicted myself by first saying that the move flashes through the mind and then saying that they move without thinking. This is because the mind really has two parts, the conscious and the subconscious. When you train yourself and learn new maneuvers, you are using your conscious mind, which thinks, evaluates, sees different sides to a subject, etc. When something is already learned, when you have made a move on your own, then it is filed in your subconscious mind and is available to you at any time. In a sense you forgot that move consciously, meaning you don’t have to think about it. The thinking mind moves slowly. It must see and evaluate all sides of a subject. The non-thinking, or subconscious mind, doesn’t need to do all that evaluating: it simply moves.
When you have learned to move thoroughly, it goes into the subconscious and is available to you all the time. A good example of this is driving a car. When you are first learning, you must use 100% of your attention just to learn how to do all the necessary things. After you have learned, you are able to drive while talking to someone, or thinking about things and still operate the car safely. This is because your subconscious mind knows how to drive so all operations are performed automatically.
All four of the principles (the center, relaxation, weight underside, and extend the mind) work as one unit. They create a dynamic whole that makes skateboarding easier to learn. They also work throughout your daily life. In anything that you undertake, you will find it easier if you apply these principles to that activity. Remember, the first part of safe skateboarding starts with you. The amount of personal preparation that goes into any activity in the main factor in a successfully performance of that activity. These four principles have helped me in learning anything that I’ve wanted to learn. I’ve passed thin on to you in hopes that they can help you also. So, OK, keep ripping that concrete and I’ll see you next issue.

Wesley Tucker
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Post by Wesley Tucker » Fri May 28, 2004 5:49 pm

(Reprinted from SKATEBOARD MAGAZINE, Vol. 4 No. 2)

Learning To Practice
By Curtis Hesselgrave

Learning to practice, you say? Everyone knows how to practice. You just get on your skateboard and start skating - that’s practicing. While that’s true, it’s not entirely true. It is true that every time you skate, you are getting better and all your moves come easier. It is NOT necessarily true, however, that you put full attention on the minute details of each of your moves every time you skate.
To under the difference between riding and practicing, it’s necessary to define each term. When “practicing,” the move in question is performed with attention to every detail. You look carefully at the entry to the move, the middle, the exit. “Riding” is moving with the energy of the moment, the juice being created by the people you’re riding with. The sparkle of the day. The music in your head. The magic of the terrain. All blend together into one big explosion of flow.
To be able to rip when you’re riding, you have to learn to practice. Practice is something you do by yourself. Even with people about, your attention is turned inward on what you are working on. It’s being able to ignore everything except the move at hand. By spending this kind of time with yourself and your techniques, you PERFECT the elements: basics that are strung together, like pearls on a string, during a ride.
A good slalom racer will work on all the parts of a course during practice. Sometimes setting a course of only six or seven cones, the racer will practice starts, timing in out of the gate, speed to and through the first cone and the next few cones. All with the thought of perfecting the start in mind. Racers will often set a full course and only put concentrated effort in the center section or the end section. Sometimes the whole course will be for a certain turn – one cone out of a whole course!
By mastering each of the elements, master of the whole becomes greater. Good pool and bowl riders do the same thing as slalom racers. Everyone wants hit tiles and coping. But lots of times you see people who have gotten the “poke” down: the get to the tiles but their kick turns are not 100% there and they often have to bail out. The pool rider who use his or her head works on the turn first, always having the board directly underneath them, perfecting the stall, the 180 degree turnaround, and the reentry. Then, when the percentage of successful turns reaches the 90% or better range, the height come on its own. “Forevers” is pools and bowls are the same as basic kickturns. Once you get the basic kickturn down on each side, then the transition across the bottom is the point of interest. Once the bottom of the bowl is figured out, you learn where to throw your weight to get higher on each side.
Freestyle is probably the area of skating in which it is easiest to see the psychology of practice. The freestyler must perfect each trick individually, then link them together in a smooth routine. Without separate attention being given to each trick first, sequential routines are impossible. Anyone who tried the most basic freestyle maneuver discovers immediately the need to focus complete attention on all the details in order to learn.
To put it all together: the reason we practice is so that we can rip when we ride. Sometimes you find that there won’t be a hard black and white difference between practicing and riding. You often find yourself doing a bit of both. What is important, though, is that you realize the difference between the two. There are times when it’s good for your development to just concentrate and practice. Other times it’s best to cut it loose and just ride, grooving on the flow. If you can distinguish between the two, your ability will increase because of being in touch with just what you are doing. Realize when you are practicing, and when you are riding – and rip at both.

Wesley Tucker
1961-2013 (RIP)
1961-2013 (RIP)
Posts: 3279
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2002 2:00 am

Post by Wesley Tucker » Fri May 28, 2004 5:52 pm

(Reprinted from SKATEBOARDER MAGAZINE, Vol. 4. No. 4.)

TAKING CARE OF INJURIES
By Curis Hesselgrave

Injuries occur in all forms of athletic endeavor, and skateboarding is no exception. The sport of skateboarding is fortunate, though, because when properly equipped with safety gear, the skateboarder is one of the best-protected athletes for what he is doing. We have found that in skateparks, where safety gear is mandatory, injuries are quite low (much lower than was expected,) based on the injuries seen in unprotected street skating. Probably the best testimony to the effectiveness of our safety gear is that top skaters who formerly used to wear no gear at all now wear it regularly. But injuries still occur, and the subject today is how to take care of yourself if you are injured.
The most important thing to remember if you are hurt is that you ARE HURT. This sounds silly, but almost everyone who an avid skater wants to forget that they are hurt and keep skating, or wants to start skating again too soon after being hurt. Your body is a natural organ, and nature takes her time in healing. Respect nature and you will be rewarded; treat her with scorn, and . . . we all know that it’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature.
I want to talk mostly about the everyday injuries that skaters get: the strains, pulls, scrapes, bruises, Noah horses, lumps and bumps. Serious injuries should always be treated by a doctor. If there is any question in your mind as to how severely you might be injured, go to a doctor immediately. On al questionable falls on joints, have them X-rayed. Even if you don’t like doctors, you must go see one if you are really hurting.
Some people have a higher threshold of pain than others. If you happen to be the type that “doesn’t seem to get hurt,” or is good at ignoring pain, then you should take particular care of an injured part because chances are you will gloss over something that could be more serious than you think.
Once you have received proper medical attention, there is something that you can do for yourself to promote the healing of an injured part. It is a natural process of extending your vital energy consciously into the injured part to help speed the healing. This may sound a bit farfetched, yet it is something that you have been doing since you were a child without knowing it.
It is natural to hold an injury with your hand. You see children and adults do this all the time, yet we do it without thinking about it. To do it consciously to promote healing, the only difference is you concentrate and relax as you hold the injury. What happens is that your natural energy – which the Japanese cal Ki, and the Chinese call Chi and in India it is call Prana – flows through your fingertips and into the injured part. As the injury gets an increased flow of energy, healing is promoted. You should feel that you center (about 2” below your navel,) is a water pump and that water flows out through the tips of your fingers and into the sore spot. Using the idea that your energy is like water helps to get the proper feeling of flowing. The key for getting this to work is to relax. Relaxation permits your energy to flow easily.
Extending your Ki, or energy, into a hurt part immediately after hurting yourself is good first aid until you can get medical attention. It helps to calm you down and slows down your heart and breathing rate. There is almost always a mild shock to the system when you are injured; extending Ki helps right away to balance your system again.
This method, which is called Kiatsu, was developed by Mr. Koichi Toehi – president of the Ki Society International. Further information may be obtained in one of the many Ki institutes located in major cities throughout the United States. Look in the Yellow Pages under “Martial Arts.”

The main points to remember if you are hurt are:
1. Get proper medical attention.
2. Give yourself plenty of time to heal.
3. Use your own natural resources to help your body heal itself.
4. Above all, Skate Safe to prevent injuries.

Wesley Tucker
1961-2013 (RIP)
1961-2013 (RIP)
Posts: 3279
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2002 2:00 am

Post by Wesley Tucker » Fri May 28, 2004 5:59 pm

Well, folks, that's it. These are pretty much all the tips from SKATEBOARDER that in someway relate to slalom, downhilling and going fast. Some of the reprints here are universal (relaxation, injuries, proper mental attitude, etc.) and some are just for us (how to start, practicing through cones.)

SKATEBOARDER had many other tips, but I'm not really interested in reprinting how to space walk to 360 fakies on a slalom forum. Take all these and read them, ignore them, pass them around to your friends or cut and paste on other website (Bryan?.) Don't worry about copyright issues. As long as you don't compile them into a book and resell them for $4.95, you'll be fine. Plus, I couldn't even begin to guess who owns the rights to this stuff. I guess whoever is the owner of SURFER who owned SKATEBOARDER owns these words. But after 25 years of gathering dust, I doubt anyone will mind if we dredge this up and relate it to a new generation of skaters.

Good words are good words, no matter how old. There is no need to reinvent wheels that others perfected long before us. Read and maybe realize why some guys go faster than you do: because they use their heads as well as their feet. I've noticed since the resurgence of Slalom there is a preponderance of concern over equipment (wheels, decks, trucks, bearings, bushings, nuts bolts and even what's the best grip tape?) That's ok, but all the good stuff in the world won't matter if YOU SUCK at slalom and can't get through the cones.

So maybe a little thought about our sport will go a long way to getting you closer to the podium?

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