Spot Hunting
I’m sure we’ve all had those days where we go out in search for new things to skate, but in the end have no luck. Either you’re tired of the spots you always skate, or just located in a dull surrounding. Times like these call for creativity! Looking at things in a different perspective! Being open minded to what may seem boring can always spark up a great skate session. Here’s some useful tips for the next time you go spot hunting. Let’s get started!
Walls
Walls are everywhere you look. Being ubiquitous, they’re a convenient way to start up an interesting skate sesh if nothing else is around. Don’t know how to wallride? No problem! If you own a kicker, or have some plywood laying around, setting it against the wall is a great way to learn how to. Sometimes you’ll find walls with a bank leading up to the wall making it easier to get onto. This is rare, but when found, take full advantage of it! If you find a short wall about 2 feet tall, it’s a blast doing wallies on.
Once you’ve mastered the basics of learning how to ride walls, you can take it up a notch. Kickflip wallrides, wallride 180 out, wallride nollie shuv out, wallride manuals, the list goes on! After getting used to skating walls, you will start to be able to include them in your everyday skating like any other obstacle. Who knows, they might just become one of you’re favorite things to skate!
Pole Jams
Pole jams are hard to come by, especially ones in the street. The most common places to find these would be on city sidewalks, a mall, or school parking lot, or even behind office buildings. Wherever you may find one, when you do, use your fullest potential in skating it! Most of the time when you find one it will just be the pole by itself. That’s ok though. If you’re new to skating them, you’ll just want to focus on getting used to riding the pole without any distractions (like a wall, drop, gap, bank, etc).
Can’t seem to find any decent pole jams? No worries. If you have some angle iron, or just a metal pole laying around the garage or whatever, you can easily make one. Just have supports holding it down, and you’re set. Don’t have that either? Well, if you want to be hesh, take your car, or ask someone who is willing, and run the pole over. Not a a very smart way to create one, but it sure does get the job done. Once you get comfortable on them, you can start trying other things. For instance, smiths, 5-0’s, nosebonks, 180 outs, powerslide into, etc. They’re loads of fun once mastered.
Nose Bonks
You can do nose bonks are virtually anything if the surface is ridable. Most of the time nose bonks are done using what the skater finds. There’s lots of things you can do this trick on ranging from trashcans, guarding rails, tree stumps, rocks, ramps, and much more! If you for some reason can’t seem to find anything around, try going into your nearest town or city, and just look. Be creative! Sometimes you’ll find that things can be nose bonked that you wouldn’t even think was possible. A local skater had nose bonked a downrail that was maybe 2-3 inches wide at one of the skateparks around here. Don’t say no until you’ve tried!
They are a quick trick, and look sick when done properly. You can do all kinds of things with them once you’ve learned the nose bonk. Nose bonk manuals, 360 shuv outs, kickflip nose bonks, etc. They are a great trick for when doing lines!
Stairs
Now I probably know what you’re thinking. How could you get creative on stairs? You just huck yourself down them trying tricks. That’s true, but there are other ways to skate them! Doing tricks down stairs is boring. Test your pop by doing tricks UP the stairs. It’s a great way to practice your trick height, and it’s pretty original as far as how many skaters do this.
Another cool way to skate them is doing firecrackers. A firecracker is basically a quick manual on each step. It makes a loud, snapping noise, just like a firecracker. Hence the trick name. This trick can be a little intimidating at first, but just go into a manual before the first stair, then ride it down the rest of the way. The only way you’d fall is if you leaned forward, so don’t do that.
Firecrackers are a great trick to do when doing lines. They look cool, and sound even cooler. If you get really into them, doing a kickflip before the first step, or a quick 180 down looks awesome! Also, if it’s a double set, pull a Lizard King and ollie firecracker! They are very impressive to most, and very few skaters bother doing them.
“Natural” Skating!
Yes, you can skate nature if she let’s you! Finding a bank leading up a tree, or a smooth rock is tons of fun! It’s not only creative, but very original! These are probably the most hardest things to find when looking for new things to skate. But if you’re determined, and can’t find a tree around, get some plywood, or a kicker and set it up against the tree. This will ensue lots of tree riding fun! Rocks will be a little harder to come by. Sometimes there’s big ones on school campus’s, or even around malls, or just random office buildings. They are rare, but rewarding once found!
So there you have it. Whenever you are in need of something to skate, just remember these tips, and I’m sure your skate session will be more interesting than most previous ones. And if you’re still in need of some motivation, or just want to visually see some people skating these obstacles listed, here’s a few videos to get the imagination going.
