Stourbridge

Pay Unit 360 a visit you will not be disappointed DY8 1JN.
Monday 9th Feb over 30s skate session 8 p.m. till 10 p.m.
G.

tusks

I am very happy that the editing fell in sync with the music by a fluke!
Thanks to all the skaters in this clip you know they were fun times.
G.

Loving Skateboard Tales

Since I reported my own skateboard tales recently I decided to watch the Girl/Chocolate short film called Wet Dream. It has got me stoked on skating street seeing Mike Carroll through down a heel flip and Gino and Rick Howard sessoining a 1/4 pipe makes me want to get out there and be glad I can axle stall and rock fakie, now do it with more style!
g.

12 Skates Of Christmas

Over my 16 days holiday I have managed to step up my skate sessions to a very full timetable.

Now I am pushing 40, so to get in 3 skates over 7 days can be demanding. I have proved to myself that I can fit in 2 vert sessions a week and session at my little park and mini ramp in between. Street sessions have been really fun and I am so inspired to get out and build up a new diy spot in 2015. Most of my progress with big ramp skating has been to gain confidence grinding and make a backside grind on vertical. I am turning with more control, grabing the nose on turns and getting 3 wheels out in a cheating way with the 3rd wheel on the coping when I kickturn frontside on the vert. A correct 3 wheels out is with the 4th wheel on the coping. I am having fun anyway and some of my mental blocks should pass with time. It has been frustrating to struggle at simple parts of my skating but I am just over thinking some things and when having fun in the session with others I forget these hang ups and get as much as I can out of it. No more skate-spergers.

Going skating 3-4 times a week all through December was so Rad and I can't wait for my next week off sometime in Feb, who cares about the winter weather when you can skate indoor parks.

Let it Snow Let it snow Let it snow.

pop it

I know I am progressing its hard but you got to work on it.
G

vert

This is some old footage from a session I had at Creation in 2013 it's good to see the progression I have made since this time.

Skate-spergers

Recently I have begun to learn to skate my local vert ramp. This has been a big commitment of making a fifty mile round trip and practicing for two hours every week. It has made a difference to my overall confidence and board control on a big ramp, but more than this it has helped me understand how my aspergers can be a barrier when doing a brand new activity on my skateboard.

I find all kinds of problems that have nothing to do with the act of skateboarding, such as distractions caused by other users and their suggestions about how I should approach learning to ride the ramp. After all we all need encouragement to improve, but I will let some of the comments play on my mind well after the session has finished. Then  for days on end I will daydream through hundreds of scenarios that involve me attempting a new move. I will be obsessive about these daydreams and it will leave me being very insular when around others or unable to relax and be at peace in my free time.

This is known as a maladaptive-daydream. I found that as soon as I skated the ramp again I was focused and they stopped and so far in the past three sessions have yet too return. It is good to be able to visualize what you do on a skateboard but not at the expense of living your life. The compulsive nature of Aspergers has helped me develop my skills for pumping the vert and gives me the determination to keep going and learn new moves. Things like an early grab, drop in or pop out will be the way to progress in the future as my control reaches its best level. For now skating within my abilities is the best way to have fun and understand the fear that needs to be controlled when faced with a ramp that feels too big.

G.