Discussion on ROLLERBLADING (interested!?)

[Cameron Card]

I've recently put grinding on hold, it's now been 24 days without. (thanks Mike Torres for opening my eyes to this idea) I feel I've put most my focus on grinding rather then spreading it all around to the other aspects of rolling. I've also noticed in a lot of edits people will do grinds and combo's with amazing amounts of control, but as they roll up and when they land it looks as if they can hardly rollerblade. Is this something as a whole we are all lacking? Learning the basic ways of rollerblading, rather then learning how to grind and skipping this step.

Yes you'll eventually learn some basics of rolling while learning how to grind. But, will you have the necessary control to have good style?

Hopefully we can have a good discussion on this topic. I'd love to hear other people's opinions and ideas on this matter.

I can't tell you all how much fun I'm having just rolling all 8 down and how much it's opened my eyes to new ideas of how I roll. I'd recommend taking grinding out of your vocabulary to anyone open to see a whole new light.

[bobgross]

Little rolls and stuff have almost always been more fun than grinding.
I was under the assumption that most of the people who end up grinderblading started off on recreational skates, so they'd have all the control they'd need as far as rolling around. I guess bringing it back by rolling around flat could help you remember the basics maybe.

[Muppet4Eternity]

I would agree with you, since taking up skating flat I have grinded far less, and learnt to do a number of other things. For instance, I could never air quarter pipes, and I have magically learnt to. I think blading became to grinding emphasized since the plank spankers made everyone doing jumps over stuff extra gay. So yeah, I think grinding is only the tip of the iceberg, and we are finally starting to diversify.

[Red Rider]

I get what you're saying, seems like everybody is in a rush to do things sooner. I knew kids who could do switch ups like mizou to kindgrind, but couldn't just do a straight up kindgrind.

[fast eddie]

i'm recovering from knee surgery, so i really have to take it easy with doing grinds until January. i basically just go to the skate park and flow the ramps for up to 5 minutes continuously, then rest for 5 minutes, and do it all over again. i like making a game out of how high i can get when i air out or how long i can hold a carve on the transition on the 30 ft. wide 6 ft. quarter.

this is the most comfortable i've felt on skates in a few years. i'm starting to understand the physics and mechanics of being on skates and how to subtly shift my weight to make everything look more effortless. having Bones Super Swiss 6 bearings help a lot, too.

[:(]

kids that start with aggro skates from amall with the little razors anti rockers are doomed to be trapped into grinderblading for the first several years of their blading careers.

[someguy]

Stair bashes
are
the
shit.


and they are definitely way easier if you skate flat.

[Muppet4Eternity]

I get what you're saying, seems like everybody is in a rush to do things sooner. I knew kids who could do switch ups like mizou to kindgrind, but couldn't just do a straight up kindgrind.

Hahahaha... Reminds me of seeing all the prail edits on Youtube where these kids would take 5 tries to do a soul, and then do a 720 top mistrial with absolutely no steeze. Taking it slow, and knowing your limits, and where to be cautious will really stop you falling too much. When I go to skate, I don't really ever do anything too far out of my comfort zone, and because of this, I hardly ever fall. When I do fall though, it usually ends quite badly. Slow and steady wins the race... apart from against fast and steady.

[Village Idiot]

i dunno, i had a phase a long time ago where i was mostly into gaps and roll ins, and i skated flat during that time. in 5th elements, that's how long ago that was, but i jumped off roofs back then. with my back getting worse over time, i find it easier to do grinderblading exclusively. the impact when i land is just too much for the nerves in my lower back.

however, i do agree that it's funny to see kids doing 450 royales that can't land and ride away fakie properly.

[machtroua]

freeskate.

At the end of a " hard" trick you're not as stable as you expect. It doesn't look cool but what the worst? that or waiter arm?
But I partially agree, sometime I put my carbon to not grind, just to feel how great is the simple fact of skating.

[Muppet4Eternity]

I wonder what would happen if I took the soul, H block and sidewalls off my Cr4bunz for a sesh one day. Will do, and make edit for enlightenment.

[Village Idiot]

don't remove the souls, you'll fuck up the base of the skate.

[Muppet4Eternity]

don't remove the souls, you'll fuck up the base of the skate.

Hmm.... then maybe I will tape duct tape to my souls to prevent any grinding of any sort.
Why would it fuck up the skate? Shatter the Carbon or something?

[Cameron Card]

Stair bashes
are
the
shit.


and they are definitely way easier if you skate flat.

Def my new favorite thing to do on blades. back when I started the guys I was learning from use to misty filp to stair bash!!!

[Cameron Card]

Hmm.... then maybe I will tape duct tape to my souls to prevent any grinding of any sort.
Why would it fuck up the skate? Shatter the Carbon or something?

you could always use self control ;). I know it's hard because that's what I've been doing. but def takes up less time. duct tape might leave some sticky crap to ruin your grinding experence next time you roll.

[Monday]

Earlier this year a BMXer approached me at the skatepark asking if it wasn't possible for Rollerbladers to do airs... :?

[Muppet4Eternity]

you could always use self control ;). I know it's hard because that's what I've been doing. but def takes up less time. duct tape might leave some sticky crap to ruin your grinding experence next time you roll.
I guess so...
Ah well.

[Chris Fortune]

i enjoy grinderblading. it's actually what got me into this sport. I always thought grinding was the coolest in any sport so when I saw that's all that rollerbladers basically do, a little bit of blood went to my adolescent wiener.

[Cameron Card]

Earlier this year a BMXer approached me at the skatepark asking if it wasn't possible for Rollerbladers to do airs... :?


haha I was going to add something like this in my first post.. (almost thought I still did after reading your post.) I pretty much had the same thing happen to me. he said he has respect for rollerbladers but doesn't know why we have to grind so much.

weird.

[Muppet4Eternity]

haha I was going to add something like this in my first post.. (almost thought I still did after reading your post.) I pretty much had the same thing happen to me. he said he has respect for rollerbladers but doesn't know why we have to grind so much.

weird.
Yet, come competitions and everyone goes straight to the fly box.

[bobgross]

Some kid on a bike asked me if I could misty flip.
I said I can't do any flips, and I mostly do grinds. He just looked at me like I was crazy.
And then my friend proceeded to misty the spine and the biker kid jizzed everywhere.

[:(]

rollerbladers grind so much because we don't have anything to whip, spin, or flip

[Matthew Shannon]

All i used to do is grind and skate street. even when i skated park i would skate the flat boxes, coping, and down ledges.

Until I moved to boston and started skating with the bike skate chocolate cake crew (mostly Ian and Tom). Ian always skates really odd spots that most people would over look, or think of one trick to do and leave. Skating a lot of little banks, wallrides, funky gaps and crusty ass transitions became the norm for me. My appreciation and love for skating has tripled since I widened my vocabulary of spots. Now I love more than anything to go really fast at shit and just glide. Bombing hills is also the biggest rush ever. Boston has some monstrous and deadly hills. But, now that Im back in rochester I've mostly been skating more traditional spots. But, the mindset is still there, and My approach to rollerblading is completely different than it used to be. I have way more fun than I ever have, and I feel like I have more control over what Im doing. Non grinderblading FTMFW. this thread just reminded me how much I love not grinding... so Im going to not grind for a long time just to see what I can come up with for interesting spot/trick selection.

[bobgross]

rollerbladers grind so much because we don't have anything to whip, spin, or flip

Well, you can spin and flip your body. Which is really what people in other sports think is cool about rollerblading.

[Chris Fortune]

rollerbladers grind so much because we don't have anything to whip, spin, or flip

I was thinking the same, we're pretty limited to spins, body flips, and grabs. Gets old real quick in my opinion. I hate watching 8 people do the same spin over a box in a park contest.

[Dan Barnes]

I have been saying for years now, there is an absolute lack of overall control by many skaters. It can be pin-pointed to the switch-up / spin to win era of blading where frontsides and soul grinds were completely skipped in the learning stage, but everytrick became bs-torque dominant. To make skating look solid and appealing you need to roll up and away from a trick with confidence, just watch any top pro from today, or watch a video from 2000 and see the godfathers skate.

Most bladers who are older and grew up during the golden years have what it takes to pull off the no-grinderblading. They learned the basics and branched their skating off of that. But the "new schoolers" seem to be missing that learning phase and even the history of solid pure skating and it's reflected in their skating.

For example: Rolling up to a trick fakie and being able to look over both shoulders. That takes control and confidence in your skating and isn't seen as often today.

Roll up with confidence + land with confidence = good style

[Mudhut Jollyrancher]

nogrinderblading contest 2010?

[bobgross]

I was thinking the same, we're pretty limited to spins, body flips, and grabs. Gets old real quick in my opinion. I hate watching 8 people do the same spin over a box in a park contest.

This is why people do flatspins, off-axis spins into grinds, etc.
They're trying to diversify their bonds, nigga.

[Muppet4Eternity]

I have been saying for years now, there is an absolute lack of overall control by many skaters. It can be pin-pointed to the switch-up / spin to win era of blading where frontsides and soul grinds were completely skipped in the learning stage, but everytrick became bs-torque dominant. To make skating look solid and appealing you need to roll up and away from a trick with confidence, just watch any top pro from today, or watch a video from 2000 and see the godfathers skate.

Most bladers who are older and grew up during the golden years have what it takes to pull off the no-grinderblading. They learned the basics and branched their skating off of that. But the "new schoolers" seem to be missing that learning phase and even the history of solid pure skating and it's reflected in their skating.

For example: Rolling up to a trick fakie and being able to look over both shoulders. That takes control and confidence in your skating and isn't seen as often today.

Roll up with confidence + land with confidence = good style

I'm in the younger generation (07-10), but look over whichever shoulder depending which way I am going to spin, and which way I span into cab. Sometimes I don't even look. Definitely makes Zero airs easier.

[Cameron Card]

I have been saying for years now, there is an absolute lack of overall control by many skaters. It can be pin-pointed to the switch-up / spin to win era of blading where frontsides and soul grinds were completely skipped in the learning stage, but everytrick became bs-torque dominant. To make skating look solid and appealing you need to roll up and away from a trick with confidence, just watch any top pro from today, or watch a video from 2000 and see the godfathers skate.

Most bladers who are older and grew up during the golden years have what it takes to pull off the no-grinderblading. They learned the basics and branched their skating off of that. But the "new schoolers" seem to be missing that learning phase and even the history of solid pure skating and it's reflected in their skating.

For example: Rolling up to a trick fakie and being able to look over both shoulders. That takes control and confidence in your skating and isn't seen as often today.

Roll up with confidence + land with confidence = good style

Dan you've touched on some really good points. Totally agree it's the younger generation of rollerbladers that lack this control you speak of. Of course not their fault that's where rollerblading was at when they joined.

I also didn't/dont like the whole spin to win thing. I miss the ASA contest where people were putting whole lines together. I miss watching Blake Dennis in contest...



All i used to do is grind and skate street. even when i skated park i would skate the flat boxes, coping, and down ledges.

Until I moved to boston and started skating with the bike skate chocolate cake crew (mostly Ian and Tom). Ian always skates really odd spots that most people would over look, or think of one trick to do and leave. Skating a lot of little banks, wallrides, funky gaps and crusty ass transitions became the norm for me. My appreciation and love for skating has tripled since I widened my vocabulary of spots. Now I love more than anything to go really fast at shit and just glide. Bombing hills is also the biggest rush ever. Boston has some monstrous and deadly hills. But, now that Im back in rochester I've mostly been skating more traditional spots. But, the mindset is still there, and My approach to rollerblading is completely different than it used to be. I have way more fun than I ever have, and I feel like I have more control over what Im doing. Non grinderblading FTMFW. this thread just reminded me how much I love not grinding... so Im going to not grind for a long time just to see what I can come up with for interesting spot/trick selection.

ahh you've touched on the same mindset I've been in for the last 24 days. It's such a good feeling to open up your own eyes and change what you've known for so long. I'm so happy Mike Torres and I had this discussion.

[Cameron Card]

I nongrinderbladed on and off for 10 years before I ever started aggressive skating. Rollerskating, recreational-skating, street-hockey, roller-hockey, free-skating . . . my first grind was accomplished using a pair of hockey skates with the middle wheels taken out. I frontsided (with metal frames) the bottom of a bikerack waxed with Nestea. Steez.

yeah my "grinderblading" actually stemed off of playing ice hockey for 8 years. It was an amazing way to be introduced to it. Learning was much easier for me then guys who didn't have experience on skates/blades.

[Muppet4Eternity]

I find that grinding seems to stem from people with injuries who don't want to go big for a while in case of re injuring, and it then becomes a habit.

[bobgross]

I remember whole days spent sessioning a park bench, jumping on it and doing wall taps, stalls, bombing hills, trying to slalom skate around lines of shoes in the street...
It's a completely different feel than grinderblading. It's a lot more relaxed.

[UnknownPleasures]

Toe rolls.

[Mudhut Jollyrancher]

i hate when people talk of rollerblading being limited in any aspect, there are alot of things you can do with your body

[:(]

damn but think about how much cooler riding a skateboard is. i mean, that shit isn't even attached to your feet. its like juggling a soccer ball vs your feet being soccerballs.

[basshole]

i consider myself fairly well rounded in blading, the only thing i wish i could do better is carve bowls switch fakie. that shits scary

[Mudhut Jollyrancher]

damn but think about how much cooler riding a skateboard is. i mean, that shit isn't even attached to your feet. its like juggling a soccer ball vs your feet being soccerballs.
do you really think skateboarding is better eddie?

[basshole]

do you really think skateboarding is better eddie?

toats

[BeauCottington]

is the over emphasis on grinding, when we starting skating back in 92 grinding was non existent (as was being able to turn pro), yet we still got hooked just as bad as all the kids of today. look at old videos, their transition skating and spins etc are still on par for today and would stack up next to the one off 540 or 180 kids film on a gap etc. What happened to the ryan jacklones busting fakie 720 rockets? that is the shit skating needs, wild shit that the public likes to watch. i have long since been over killing my body and shins skating ledges and rails. i have been riding flat 67mm 92a wheels for months and going back to riding anti rocker feels more like walking to me now than rolling.
Im going to go bomb some hills and skate fast as hell, like the good old days.

[:(]

do you really think skateboarding is better eddie?

yup. there is only a small number of bladers that make blading seem worthwhile. check the sneeze thread and the guy that created this thread

[ift]

do you really think skateboarding is better eddie?

Powerslides. Wallies and the sharpest trannies. Yeah. Blading is tight, but I should have stuck with skateboarding.

[toe-bee]

not that i ever disliked a section/edit of yours (except for that one where you weren't wearing your helmet...) but after reading the first post i can't wait to see the next one.

[Mudhut Jollyrancher]

Powerslides. Wallies and the sharpest trannies. Yeah. Blading is tight, but I should have stuck with skateboarding.


yup. there is only a small number of bladers that make blading seem worthwhile. check the sneeze thread and the guy that created this thread
i feel like if you guys really felt that way you would skateboard and not blade at all
reason?

[ift]

Well I can already rollerblade proficiently. I don't have the amount of time it would take to be able to skateboard at the level where I would have the amount of fun with it I already have with rollerblading.

[UnknownPleasures]

Epic Beau post.

[Mudhut Jollyrancher]

:?

[Monday]

weird.
The weirdest thing about my encouter actually was that he picked me. I usually have about 60 % airtime when I skate... ;)

It's funny how other sports perceive the things we do... :D

[Muppet4Eternity]

Blading is better than plank spanking, accept it or fuck off. I don't think skateboarding is bad, or 100% gay, but rollerblading is next level, and skateboarding isn't.

[s.]

:?

+1

[Monday]

do you really think skateboarding is better eddie?
Is it even a question that it isn't!?

[macon deals]

i don't enjoy grinding anything near what i enjoy rolling around. i found this out several years ago, and ever since then i rarely skate typical handycap, or stair rails, but from skating differently the few times i do grind i have a LOT of confidence in it, and generally will just try rails a lot more quicker now that i know when i jump on and don't lock on, i will be able to catch myself and not just fall down in a flame of fire.

[Monday]

Powerslides. Wallies and the sharpest trannies.


Well I can already rollerblade proficiently. I don't have the amount of time it would take to be able to skateboard at the level where I would have the amount of fun with it I already have with rollerblading.

WTF!? :shock:

That's exactly my opinion/what I'm getting beef for all the time... :D

Let's start Skateboarding gaddamnit... :cool:

[Matthew Shannon]

I also didn't/dont like the whole spin to win thing. I miss the ASA contest where people were putting whole lines together. I miss watching Blake Dennis in contest...




ahh you've touched on the same mindset I've been in for the last 24 days. It's such a good feeling to open up your own eyes and change what you've known for so long. I'm so happy Mike Torres and I had this discussion.

I have so much respect for Torres. Dude has kinda become the wise sage of the rochester scene (atleast in my opinion).

[oldskizzle]

Powerslides. Wallies and the sharpest trannies. Yeah. Blading is tight, but I should have stuck with skateboarding.

its funny you two say this cuz i have always respected skateboarding, but it never was as exciting to watch to me as BMX. I guess what i am saying is i feel this way about BMX>Rollerblading. I envy the fact that they are not as limited to pavement/urban environments and can build a "park" off in the woods with nothing more than a shovel and hard work. I really wish rollerblade had put more effort into developing these:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/aaronwesley/coyote-big.jpg
Steve has a pair at AB and they just seem cheap and seriously lack components that would make them realistic for "extreem" use. I would love to have a pair that did just to see what was possible for real. This is my new dream, no grinderblading with the ability to shred the side of a mountain and skate bowl in the same day with the same skates.

[ift]

WTF!? :shock:

That's exactly my opinion/what I'm getting beef for all the time... :D

Let's start Skateboarding gaddamnit... :cool:

Well I only have time to skate a few times a month, and I don't have a skatepark to go learn trannies on a skateboard. I have a lot of fun rollerblading, especially lately trying to get better with coping, bowl skating and cess slides on transitions. I can't wait for the next time I can skate a nice park... December isn't soon enough!

I skated street today for the second time since April, and it was pretty damn fun :D Edit soonish 8)

[ift]

BMX is tight too.

[justinthursday]

See I rolled around for years before I ever knew grinding existed! So i learned all that 8 wheels down control at a very young age.
But I agree that most people really just don't know how to rollerblade as well as they can grind and it just makes them look awkward.
This is why I advocate skating flat to EVERYONE. It just makes rollerblading feel more real somehow.

[basshole]

Well I can already rollerblade proficiently. I don't have the amount of time it would take to be able to skateboard at the level where I would have the amount of fun with it I already have with rollerblading.

weak

[bobgross]

Skateboarding and BMX is definitely cool, but not better than rollerblading.
I'd say all three are about equally cool in my eyes, it's just that I barely ever see skateboarders or bmxers that are actually any good, and when they are good they're almost always older dudes.

[Mudhut Jollyrancher]

If you think anything is better than rollerblading and you don't go to whatever that may be instead . . . your whole life is a lie.


QFP
QUOTED FOR POWER

[bobgross]

I can't believe there are people who rollerblade and put a lot of time into it that think that boarding or bmxing is cooler.

[ift]

If you think anything is better than rollerblading and you don't go do whatever that may be instead . . . your whole life is a lie.

My whole life isn't defined by one activity/interest.

[s.]

"Rollerblading is, undeniably, fucking amazing."- Brian Shima

[Monday]

I love blading, but I feel like there's many things that are wrong with it. The exaggerated focus on grinding is only one thing.

Skatebaording and BMX came a long way and are 'more grown up'. Not only the tricks, but the people, too. I enjoy skating with seasoned Skateboarders/BMXers a lot. Most of the Rollerbladers around here have little sense for what one can do on blades other than doing pointless grinding variations on coping leges with tons of wax on it. Almost none of them can skate a pool properly, few grab their feet while spinning in an acceptable way. And what bothers me the most is that they don't put their heart into their skating (if that makes sense, lol).

I've been blading since the time where there only were a few tricks and I will stick to it till my legs fall off. And even longer if that's required to see Rollerblading reach it's full potential... :cool:

Hope this makes sense, fell asleep twice while typing this... :lol:

[Cameron Card]

See I rolled around for years before I ever knew grinding existed! So i learned all that 8 wheels down control at a very young age.
But I agree that most people really just don't know how to rollerblade as well as they can grind and it just makes them look awkward.
This is why I advocate skating flat to EVERYONE. It just makes rollerblading feel more real somehow.

I also started rolling with all 8 down and it is a great feeling. It's like you have more control without something holding you back. very similar to ice skates.

there's some pro's and con's to riding flat expecially if your grinding ledges or thicker rails.
pro's for flat
control, feeling, speed, stair bashing, even grass rolling :)

con's for flat
getting caught up on grinds, walking up stairs is a little hard.... rolling too fast.... having to buy 8 wheels and bearings...

okay so there's really only one con. but that one con is a big enough deal that I will prob be carrying a anti set up frame around. I wouldn't want to miss out blading bercy ledges!!!! (dream of mine)

[Muppet4Eternity]

"Rollerblading is, undeniably, fucking amazing."- Brian Shima

I quoted this on a school project.
Truest words ever spoken.

[Muppet4Eternity]

I also started rolling with all 8 down and it is a great feeling. It's like you have more control without something holding you back. very similar to ice skates.

there's some pro's and con's to riding flat expecially if your grinding ledges or thicker rails.
pro's for flat
control, feeling, speed, stair bashing, even grass rolling :)

con's for flat
getting caught up on grinds, walking up stairs is a little hard.... rolling too fast.... having to buy 8 wheels and bearings...

okay so there's really only one con. but that one con is a big enough deal that I will prob be carrying a anti set up frame around. I wouldn't want to miss out blading bercy ledges!!!! (dream of mine)

Hanging up isn't too major a problem with elements, would recommend. I have only hung up badly once, after skating flat for two sessions. :D

[Cameron Card]

Hanging up isn't too major a problem with elements, would recommend. I have only hung up badly once, after skating flat for two sessions. :D

5th elements?

[al dolega]

Beau posted :shock:

In the last year or two I have sensed a growth in anti-grinding (well, more like pro-other-stuff, but you know what I mean) sentiment in skating... I think this is a really good thing for the sport. I know that Torres' nogrinderblading edit/video will be 100% legit and amazing, and I hope that it will help people act on those sentiments.

[Muppet4Eternity]

Someone dig out that no grinds edit from some time last year... think it was on vimeo.

[Muppet4Eternity]

Upon closer inspection I found multiple edits... but I think this was the first

http://www.vimeo.com/3846508

[Monday]

http://vimeo.com/3942684

:cool:

[Mudhut Jollyrancher]

I love blading, but I feel like there's many things that are wrong with it. The exaggerated focus on grinding is only one thing.

Skatebaording and BMX came a long way and are 'more grown up'. Not only the tricks, but the people, too. I enjoy skating with seasoned Skateboarders/BMXers a lot. Most of the Rollerbladers around here have little sense for what one can do on blades other than doing pointless grinding variations on coping leges with tons of wax on it. Almost none of them can skate a pool properly, few grab their feet while spinning in an acceptable way. And what bothers me the most is that they don't put their heart into their skating (if that makes sense, lol).

I've been blading since the time where there only were a few tricks and I will stick to it till my legs fall off. And even longer if that's required to see Rollerblading reach it's full potential... :cool:

Hope this makes sense, fell asleep twice while typing this... :lol:
it seems you're talking about the culture while i was talking about the action of rollerblading itself

[Dielawn]

Holy fuck, Rochester nogrinderblading!! Im gonna try this out for the next couple times I go rollerbooting, new flat setup on my slimlines should be fun. Plus all of that looked 100% badass.

[BL]

I can't tell you all how much fun I'm having just rolling all 8 down and how much it's opened my eyes to new ideas of how I roll. I'd recommend taking grinding out of your vocabulary to anyone open to see a whole new light.

I can agree with you to the extent that rolling flat or taking grinds out of a normal session will help you learn control and obtain better style. But to completely eliminate grinds from your "vocabulary" seems too extreme to me. You saying only do non-grinding tricks is the same as saying only do grinding tricks. In both cases you are only utilizing a portion of your skates purpose and your own ability. Once again you are limiting yourself and in no way will that help you progress. The best skaters and the best sections have always had a good mix of grinds, airs, gaps, wallrides...

Of course it is important to be able to skate comfortable, carve both ways, air, and roll fakie looking over both shoulders but it is easy to practice every type of skating in a single park session without limiting yourself to no-grinds. Hope that all made some sort of sense.

[Cameron Card]

I can agree with you to the extent that rolling flat or taking grinds out of a normal session will help you learn control and obtain better style. But to completely eliminate grinds from your "vocabulary" seems too extreme to me. You saying only do non-grinding tricks is the same as saying only do grinding tricks. In both cases you are only utilizing a portion of your skates purpose and your own ability. Once again you are limiting yourself and in no way will that help you progress. The best skaters and the best sections have always had a good mix of grinds, airs, gaps, wallrides...

Of course it is important to be able to skate comfortable, carve both ways, air, and roll fakie looking over both shoulders but it is easy to practice every type of skating in a single park session without limiting yourself to no-grinds. Hope that all made some sort of sense.


Makes complete sense. I didn't say forever... what I'm going for is to progress in what I look for in blading. My eyes are only really trained to look for things to grind/gap/roll. If I take grinding completely out I have no other choice but to change the way I think. Thats all. I can't wait to put it all together once I feel I've acheived what I'm going for. I already dream no grind blading. I'm also already thinking up tricks I want to do that involve both rolling and grinding. I hope that makes sense.

[JonFromm]

Man, this would be so hard for me. Haha. I want to give it a shot though. See if I can skate a whole session without grinding

[al dolega]

I can agree with you to the extent that rolling flat or taking grinds out of a normal session will help you learn control and obtain better style. But to completely eliminate grinds from your "vocabulary" seems too extreme to me. You saying only do non-grinding tricks is the same as saying only do grinding tricks. In both cases you are only utilizing a portion of your skates purpose and your own ability. Once again you are limiting yourself and in no way will that help you progress. The best skaters and the best sections have always had a good mix of grinds, airs, gaps, wallrides...

Of course it is important to be able to skate comfortable, carve both ways, air, and roll fakie looking over both shoulders but it is easy to practice every type of skating in a single park session without limiting yourself to no-grinds. Hope that all made some sort of sense.

Cameron beat me to it, but I was gonna say, I don't think he meant you should eliminate grinding permanently. It's just that grinding is so deeply ingrained in skating as we know it right now that it's kinda necessary to eliminate it (temporarily) in order to keep yourself from just reverting back to grinding, which is the easy, obvious choice that we have trained ourselves to always make.

To make a photography parallel, it's kinda like going out to shoot, but purposely leaving your zoom lens(es) at home, and just taking a prime (fixed-length) lens with you. It makes you think and compose differently, and that's a valuable learning experience. And once you've learned that lesson, you can go back to using your zooms, but you'll probably use them a little differently and better than before.

[Monday]

Yeah, let's all start zooming with our feet... :cool: ;)

[BL]

Cameron I guess I was looking for that in your initial post (about integrating non-grinding techniques back into grinding and spot selection). In that case I completely agree with what you've said.

[Cameron Card]

Cameron I guess I was looking for that in your initial post (about integrating non-grinding techniques back into grinding and spot selection). In that case I completely agree with what you've said.

:)

[estiloskater]

I usually have about 60 % airtime when I skate... ;)

DAMN

[DnEhThEnD]

I suck at it so i tend to shy away from it

grinding = pain
pain = fear

fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering

grinding = suffering

[smiley]

where is tim taylor when you need him. that dude is so good at the non grinderblading. he got third place last year at the pow wow and barely did any grinds

[ift]

The grinds he did were laced, not always easy, and it was hard to tell what was his regular and switch... Tim killed it with high level, versatile, consistent skating.

[-Fifty50-]

This thread makes me want to skate reeeeally badly right now. Fuck.

[tdskate01]

no one cares that you can land with one hand behind your back and the other parallel in-front

MORE RAW TRICKS

[adaptation]

I suck at it so i tend to shy away from it

grinding = pain
pain = fear

fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering

grinding = suffering

I actually disagree here. missing a tech grind switchup hurts, but not as much as failing to land a 10 stair gapper.

Solid post Cameron. Reminds me a lot of Dustin Latimer ''post brain fear gone''. His sections in Words exactly represent the other side of skating that needs to grow.

[Tony.T55]

this post makes fucking sense when i first started i would just try to find the biggest thing i could throw myself down then go for it now to me its more about style and tech shit

[tim_adams]

Haven't read this whole thread yet, but just wanted to initially respond to Cameron's original post with a big FUCK YES.

[austin from texas]

when i was still a chi'ren, i wanted to get into aggressive skating so bad. there were two dudes at the ymca that bladed and were pretty good for the time, one of them had some roadhouse crayolas, the other was just a douche. they kept each other from hanging out with me. so one day one of them was alone, the non-douchey one, and asked him "how do you become a skater?" he explained to me the concept of grinding and that to be considered a skater you had to grind. so, i got some skates with an h-block and started learning how to grind.

i will always consider myself to be a skater since then. i will never give up grinding, not for any amount of time. when i go skate, i want to slide on things. that is my style, thats who i am.
i like other aspects as well, but practicing grinds is my number one priority

[SeanHunt3r]

I def. agree and am in tune with what Cam is saying. There are several times during the week where I would just get tired of skating the same ledges at the park. It really made me look at what was available for rolling lines, gaps, and other odd (but fun) obstacles to air out of or into. It even evolved into me doing bigger switch spins and bettering my fakie spins. After I stopped skating for about a year or so I definitely miss the confidence that came from skating like that. I've actually been more focused on bringing that confidence back more then the spin to grind variations that I had. I've always preferred having that confidence while skating over doing the hardest spin to trick variation or craziest switch up.

A lot of my blade confidence stemmed from playing ice hockey and roller hockey at an earlier age. Turning from forward to fakie (and vice versa) as well as skating at high speed backwards helped a bunch. Being confident with weight placement and stride made park skating feel almost natural. I see so many kids doing hard tricks or fast tricks but can't roll away fakie or just seem off balance.

I don't know if I would eliminate grinds for a certain amount of time but definitely limiting yourself to a few a day is a good idea. What I found myself doing was using a soul or bs royal to link a line that consisted of more spinning/rolling/gapping rather then let grinds dominate my session. It's fun. It's something different and can eventually benefit you.

But let's be honest....it's tough to beat the feel of a solid, grabbed, and steezed out backslide that can be held for a good time. :)

[xxxx]

This confuses me:


My eyes are only really trained to look for things to grind/gap/roll.

Not trying to be a smartass at all, but besides cess slides and parkour type stuff, what else can you do on rollerblades?

Cameron, I agree with you're initial point if you're talking about people trying to be professional, but if someone doesn't want to be pro and they don't care about doing specific types of tricks or how they look when they skate and they're having fun and loving rollerblading, does it really matter?

[jakeordie]

Apologies in advance for the stream of consciousness, I didn't want to make a huge essay out of just a couple ideas;

Way back in Dare to Air, Jess Dyrenforth introduces grinding as "the latest craze" in rollerblading. It wasn't long before "Aggressive skating" was 98% grinds, and the mentality was that the two were synonymous. I think this also had a lot to do with the division between what we do and other genres and disciplines of rollerblading.

Don't get me wrong, grinds are cool and I wouldn't want skating to be without them.....but when does 98% return to something more proportional? This is one reason why I love watching Walt Austin skate, his sections always have a great mix of different aspects of skating and he blends them together to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts.

Although I like the idea of no-grind skating, I don't think much will change if this is the attitude towards other aspects of skating.....we might as well just call what we do no-boarding. Let's define it by what it IS rather than what it ISN'T, then we get a better understanding of what we're missing out on when all we skate is knee-high ledges and p-rails.

When I first moved to Phoenix, I very quickly became aware that it was gonna change my attitude & style of skating in ways I'd rather it didn't. I just moved away to a place that has several downtowns, EPIC hills, one terrible skatepark that I'll prolly never skate and apparently no rollerbladers......this will change my skating in ways I wanna change. And if I'm lucky I'll make it out to Woodward West sometimes.

Big decade ahead.

[xxxx]

P.S.
A) I forgot stalls, which, ironically, have not really been explored or exploited fully (although many a pro has done some gnarly ones).

B)In my opinion, if you are trying to be pro...

I think a professional's trick selection is about whatever genre of rollerblading they are trying to explore and make people look at differently (which can be influenced by a specific spot [most of the time this is the case], composing a section that magnifies a certain theme [think Dustin Latimer WORDS], or a period in your career [think Farmer or Broskow changing their tricks selction up]) and the aspects of a particular spot and the objects that make up that spot in order to use them to their fullest potential based on the genre you are into at the time (be it gapping, or grinding, or rolling, or whatever you choose to do on rollerblades).

Confidence comes from knowing who you are, what you want, and the idea that you have what it takes to get what you want. Comfort comes after you've taken your confidence and applied it with success. Physical technique stems from being so comfortable and confident that you start to explore different aspects of comfort in order to expand you confidence. Style is the culmination of all of these things.

[Monday]

DAMN

:lol:

;)

[Geoff from Fl]

The grinds he did were laced, not always easy, and it was hard to tell what was his regular and switch... Tim killed it with high level, versatile, consistent skating.

Tim Taylor skates in real life like I skate when i'm dreaming. That was some of the best, if not the best "pound for pound" rollerblading i've ever had the JOY of seeing live.

[Muppet4Eternity]

P.S.
A) I forgot stalls, which, ironically, have not really been explored or exploited fully (although many a pro has done some gnarly ones).



The problem with stalls, is that the majority are stationary grinds. Therefore, once you stall something, the next step is to grind it.

[Metric Fuck-Ton]

I think schwab had it right when he said cess slides into other tricks would be the next step.

[xxxx]

The problem with stalls, is that the majority are stationary grinds. Therefore, once you stall something, the next step is to grind it.

Refer to my Aaron Feinberg thread.

[*ROYALwithCHEESE*]

Nothing pisses me off more than someone who can grind well but coming out and skating upto tricks that look like their going to fall...

I cant understand how they can do 3 or more switchups and Im jealous

[ift]

Anyone else have no desire to do 3 or more switchups?

[Muppet4Eternity]

Anyone else have no desire to do 3 or more switchups?

Nope. It is, in a word, very gay.
No cool skater does more than two.

[oldskizzle]

I can't believe there are people who rollerblade and put a lot of time into it that think that boarding or bmxing is cooler.

I personally didnt say i thought BMX was cooler. I rollerblade so blading will always seem "cooler" in my eyes. I simply think that from a public standpoint i can understand BMX's appeal and overall BMX>Rollerblading from a spectator standpoint. Again as i posted before, if we could design offroad skates that were realistically functional for grinds this might not be the case. I envy the fact that biking isnt limited to pavement. While we can get somewhat creative with non "urban" obstacles, we are still limited.

[Muppet4Eternity]

I personally didnt say i thought BMX was cooler. I rollerblade so blading will always seem "cooler" in my eyes. I simply think that from a public standpoint i can understand BMX's appeal and overall BMX>Rollerblading from a spectator standpoint. Again as i posted before, if we could design offroad skates that were realistically functional for grinds this might not be the case. I envy the fact that biking isnt limited to pavement. While we can get somewhat creative with non "urban" obstacles, we are still limited.
Off road skates? Ride flat.

[bobgross]

I personally didnt say i thought BMX was cooler. I rollerblade so blading will always seem "cooler" in my eyes. I simply think that from a public standpoint i can understand BMX's appeal and overall BMX>Rollerblading from a spectator standpoint. Again as i posted before, if we could design offroad skates that were realistically functional for grinds this might not be the case. I envy the fact that biking isnt limited to pavement. While we can get somewhat creative with non "urban" obstacles, we are still limited.

I wasn't really thinking about you in particular when I wrote that, even though you're pretty much the only one who talked about BMX.
That was more targeted at :( and co.

[oldskizzle]

Off road skates? Ride flat.

Did you eat a retard pill recently, what is up with you? I am legitimately talking about off road skates:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/aaronwesley/coyote-big.jpg
and the possibilities if there were a durable, practical, version made.

[bobgross]

Did you eat a retard pill recently, what is up with you? I am legitimately talking about off road skates:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/aaronwesley/coyote-big.jpg
and the possibilities if there were a durable, practical, version made.

http://www.terrablades.com/
Not very pretty, but practical for what they're made to do.

[Quark]

I didn't even know what grinding was until I had been skating for 3 years. I was doing 720's, backflips and misty's by then. One of my friends started the grind craze in our crew, but we've still always been doing flips and dopey transfers and such. There's no need to cut any of it out, everyone should do whatever they feel like.

[Cameron Card]

This confuses me:



Not trying to be a smartass at all, but besides cess slides and parkour type stuff, what else can you do on rollerblades?

Cameron, I agree with you're initial point if you're talking about people trying to be professional, but if someone doesn't want to be pro and they don't care about doing specific types of tricks or how they look when they skate and they're having fun and loving rollerblading, does it really matter?

I'm not sure if I know how to respond to this... I don't try and better my self in what I do to be pro at something. I didn't start rollerblading to become a professional rollerblader. I just prefer the feeling of perfecting what I'm doing rather then only putting half the effort in. I have a lot of fun accomplishing new things. I guess you can say it's like doing an art piece. I'm going to paint and paint and paint until I feel it's good. Until I feel it's what I want it to look like.

So maybe people where influenced to not really care what it looks like as long as they were having fun throwing paint at the wall... it's been applied to everything they do in their lives.. I don't know.

In all I really only care about rollerblading as a whole. My mind never stops thinking about it.. I pick and pick at it continuously and try to find out why millions of kids don't love it like I do.

I hope this makes some sense and I hope no ones's getting offended. This is only a discussion and I'm very open minded to criticism and hope that others are too.

[basshole]

The problem with stalls, is that the majority are stationary grinds. Therefore, once you stall something, the next step is to grind it.

not at all the case. look at skateboarding, so many stalls in that sport. you just have to find something sweet to stall. i incorporate lots of stalls in my lines at parks, and not backside stalls. i havent done one of those in years

[estiloskater]

http://vimeo.com/13575131

watch from 6:18

[bobgross]

http://vimeo.com/13575131

watch from 6:18

That dude lands so hard, doesn't bend his knees to absorb the impact AT ALL.
Romain Godenaire and Steve Swain have some pretty clean flips/spins.

[oldskizzle]

http://www.terrablades.com/
Not very pretty, but practical for what they're made to do.

yeah, seen those. They are just massive. I wish there was something in between. Maybe i just need to put some speed frames on my skates, rock 110's and see what happens.

[salomonskater]

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and their like, it's better than yours, damn right, it's better than yours

[NickL]

i think the problem is people see aggressive skating and want to start, so they buy skates and immediately start trying to grind. i had a friend like that. he could do some impressive grinds, but couldnt skate backwards. in the end it really fucked him up. when i see a new rollerblader i always try to convince him to learn how to roll around first and get comfortable coasting.

[fergus_oi_oi]

ah there seems to be alot of other people thinking about this too. alot of edits and dvd's these days seem to literally almost totally focus on rail tricks and have the odd gap. i do have rec skates and use my blades for transit too and so have gotten alot more fluid and digging flowing down the streets trying to trick of everything rather than just doing static rail based tricks and what not.

[salomonskater]

ah there seems to be alot of other people thinking about this too. alot of edits and dvd's these days seem to literally almost totally focus on rail tricks and have the odd gap. i do have rec skates and use my blades for transit too and so have gotten alot more fluid and digging flowing down the streets trying to trick of everything rather than just doing static rail based tricks and what not.

+10000000000000000000

[xxxx]

I'm not sure if I know how to respond to this... I don't try and better my self in what I do to be pro at something. I didn't start rollerblading to become a professional rollerblader. I just prefer the feeling of perfecting what I'm doing rather then only putting half the effort in. I have a lot of fun accomplishing new things. I guess you can say it's like doing an art piece. I'm going to paint and paint and paint until I feel it's good. Until I feel it's what I want it to look like.

So maybe people where influenced to not really care what it looks like as long as they were having fun throwing paint at the wall... it's been applied to everything they do in their lives.. I don't know.

In all I really only care about rollerblading as a whole. My mind never stops thinking about it.. I pick and pick at it continuously and try to find out why millions of kids don't love it like I do.

I hope this makes some sense and I hope no ones's getting offended. This is only a discussion and I'm very open minded to criticism and hope that others are too.

I'm definitely not offended (Did it seem like it? I hope not.)

The only reason I talked about being a professional is because (in todays rollerblading world) you have to be a talented skater, you have to reinvent yourself and/or keep going bigger/better in some way to keep kids interested (whether intentional or not), and you have to do tricks that (at least on some level) a lot of people want to see and want to imitate (as well as many other factors, but I think that those are basic points everyone can agree on). Acomplishing these things will sometimes take some reviewing of your rollerblading and actively changing something that you don't like about it. For many people, this will never matter because they rarely (if ever) have seen a clip of themselves skate. Although many trends and styles have been 100% natural for rollerbladers, others have clearly been well thought out and executed in order to accomplish something in a career.

Changes to any art form is a product of seeing your art (watching yourself skate on video [how you feel when you skate is much different than how it looks to others, and, as well, to yourself from the third person perspective. Some people are born with amazing spacial recognition and don't need to see their own clips to know what they look like, some people do]) and having the desire to change something, being someone who performs their art with the purpose of tangable achievement (for example, knowing you can now do a trick you couldn't before, getting the way your knee bends on your roll aways exactly how you wanted it, a first place trophy, a paycheck), and enjoying your status (either personal mental status or audience defined) enough to continue pushing yourself into further change.

All of these things make up being a professional, whether you get paid or not, it's looking at something in a professional way. Do this to achieve this in order to feel good about accomplishment is not an abstract way of looking at anything (i.e. when painting: draw line to fix jaw in order to have jaw look the way I want). It's pretty straight forward, and it's how most professionals (in the real world) look at things.

All I can say is that perfection and beauty, as everyone knows, are in the eye of the beholder.

Thinking that someone doesn't care about how they look when they rollerblade translates into someone being a halfassed person is a pretty gnarly perspective. I'm sure if you thought about that more it wouldn't make enough sense for you to consider it to be true.

I would say that the best example of splattering paint against a wall is bombing a hill. When most rollerbladers start going close to 30 mph, they think less about how they look and their technique and simply enjoy the experience of the hill itself. I could bomb thousands of hills flat, antirocker, or on a bike, and I'd probably not learn much about rollerblading (or biking) in the process, but I would love every minute of it.

Some people like DeVinci painted for perfection, some like Picaso and Van Gogh painted to change people's perceptions, many people around the globe just paint to create and see it and enjoy it for something they've made.

I'm just trying to say that art can't be about perfection because there is no perfection.

[austin from texas]

I'm definitely not offended (Did it seem like it? I hope not.)

The only reason I talked about being a professional is because (in todays rollerblading world) you have to be a talented skater, you have to reinvent yourself and/or keep going bigger/better in some way to keep kids interested (whether intentional or not), and you have to do tricks that (at least on some level) a lot of people want to see and want to imitate (as well as many other factors, but I think that those are basic points everyone can agree on). Acomplishing these things will sometimes take some reviewing of your rollerblading and actively changing something that you don't like about it. For many people, this will never matter because they rarely (if ever) have seen a clip of themselves skate. Although many trends and styles have been 100% natural for rollerbladers, others have clearly been well thought out and executed in order to accomplish something in a career.

Changes to any art form is a product of seeing your art (watching yourself skate on video [how you feel when you skate is much different than how it looks to others, and, as well, to yourself from the third person perspective. Some people are born with amazing spacial recognition and don't need to see their own clips to know what they look like, some people do]) and having the desire to change something, being someone who performs their art with the purpose of tangable achievement (for example, knowing you can now do a trick you couldn't before, getting the way your knee bends on your roll aways exactly how you wanted it, a first place trophy, a paycheck), and enjoying your status (either personal mental status or audience defined) enough to continue pushing yourself into further change.

All of these things make up being a professional, whether you get paid or not, it's looking at something in a professional way. Do this to achieve this in order to feel good about accomplishment is not an abstract way of looking at anything (i.e. when painting: draw line to fix jaw in order to have jaw look the way I want). It's pretty straight forward, and it's how most professionals (in the real world) look at things.

All I can say is that perfection and beauty, as everyone knows, are in the eye of the beholder.

Thinking that someone doesn't care about how they look when they rollerblade translates into someone being a halfassed person is a pretty gnarly perspective. I'm sure if you thought about that more it wouldn't make enough sense for you to consider it to be true.

I would say that the best example of splattering paint against a wall is bombing a hill. When most rollerbladers start going close to 30 mph, they think less about how they look and their technique and simply enjoy the experience of the hill itself. I could bomb thousands of hills flat, antirocker, or on a bike, and I'd probably not learn much about rollerblading (or biking) in the process, but I would love every minute of it.

Some people like DeVinci painted for perfection, some like Picaso and Van Gogh painted to change people's perceptions, many people around the globe just paint to create and see it and enjoy it for something they've made.

I'm just trying to say that art can't be about perfection because there is no perfection.

christ thats a hell of an insight

+ rep

[Matthew Shannon]

christ thats a hell of an insight

+ rep

+1 billion

[xxxx]

Haha...thanks y'all.

[macon deals]

i havn't read this post, but i have to say when you take something out of rollerblading you are only harming yourself. yes it is a great idea to skate all different sorts of ways to spread your type of skating out, but taking grinding out of the equation is just taking a super amazing part out of it.

[austin from texas]

i would up your rep even more if i could for using yall

[Matthew Shannon]

i havn't read this post, but i have to say when you take something out of rollerblading you are only harming yourself. yes it is a great idea to skate all different sorts of ways to spread your type of skating out, but taking grinding out of the equation is just taking a super amazing part out of it.

but constraints help to open up possibilities. when you constrain yourself from being able to grind you are forced to find other ways to skate things which in turn exercises your brain so to speak, making your rollerblading more intelligent. Also more controlled because you are doing things you aren't comfortable with that over time widens your "vocabulary" of body positions you can put yourself into.

I was skating my friends box last night, and doing difficult stock grind tricks with ease; true soul, true top porn, 360 top porn, christ true makio (was really proud of that one).. Then I thought about this thread for some reason and challenged myself to at least think of different ways to skate the box other than "roll up grind jump off". I tried using the top of the box, shuffling on the ground, and a few other things. I felt so uncontrolled and awkward.. But, I know that if I skate that way and that way only for a while It will incredibly benefit my confidence and control.


Just look at Tim Adams. the man oozes confidence and control, and he skates very very differently than most people I know. And He mostly skates burly and different spots. I was sessioning the rails in my sig, and it was actually that same day, there was three or four of us skating the rails and Tim was off looking at some ridiculous, scary, and massive stunt. Something that I have never seen anyone acknowledge is skateable.

Kind ranting.


Point is. Nogrinderblading helps your style, control, and confidence.

/thread

[RichieV]

two words....."Switch Fakie"
If it doesnt make sence to you, then your probably from the younger generation.

[Freddy White]

I just got back from a bowl tour, where every passing day had me doing less grinds and putting together longer lines. Even when we reached Bulle (which is a pretty awesome park for grinding, considering all the perfect ledges and rails they built), my mind mostly sought for lines, and ways to skate the whole place like a bowl. I've also gotten a lot better at airing during those 10 days.

That's probably why I love summer so much.


but constraints help to open up possibilities. when you constrain yourself from being able to grind you are forced to find other ways to skate things which in turn exercises your brain so to speak, making your rollerblading more intelligent. Also more controlled because you are doing things you aren't comfortable with that over time widens your "vocabulary" of body positions you can put yourself into.

http://www.deslivres.fr/public/France/.la-disparition-georges-perec_m.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Void)


nogrinderblading contest 2010?

I'm down.

For further information, please refer to the previous threads :

Soul frames are for cheaters (http://www.be-mag.com/msgboard/showthread.php/3280-Soul-frames-are-for-cheaters?highlight=soul+frames+cheaters)

Soul frames are for cheaters - second edition (http://www.be-mag.com/msgboard/showthread.php/13853-Soul-frames-are-for-cheaters-second-edition?highlight=soul+frames+cheaters)

[Freddy White]

This thread also reminded me of that "friend" of ours that quit skateboarding and started rollerblading with us. He'd gotten pretty awesome at back farfs within a few months, he seriously laced spots that very few had landed within a few tries too.

But he never learned to roll properly, and I think this video might be the perfect illustration of what we're talking about :


http://www.vimeo.com/10751594

[Stefan B.]

Going back to what Dan said about people being conditioned into grinding because of the era they grew up skating in, I think a lot of the reason rollerbladers focus so much on grinding is because of spot selection.

When you're growing up and trying to find things to skate, ledges and rails are going to be the most obvious things that you'll be able to skate on (and easiest to find. Anyone can spot a rail anywhere and say "I can do this grind and this grind on that"). I think this becomes en-grained into kids heads instead of looking outside the box to spots that normally wouldn't be considered as skateable. I know a lot of the younger kids here always say "I wish I could go to the city and skate all the ledges and rails there, but I'm not allowed to go until I can drive myself." Because of that they feel like they'll never be good at skating or that they don't have anything to skate in their area. I try to tell them that you don't NEED to skate rails, you don't NEED to skate ANYTHING specific to be considered "good." You can find and create spots where ever as long as you're willing to think.

I'm realizing that spot selection is just as important as trick selection when it comes to doing a "cool" or "good" trick. An obvious example would be a soul on a straight 10 foot long ledge compared to a gap to soul on the side of a roof to drop. Yes they're both souls, but which one would be better? Gumby is a perfect example of this. "Yo, someone could totally wallride that roof." "Ok that's cool, but I'm going to do an alley oop wallride up the thing then 180 and roll down it forward."




This post and a lot of other things I've seen lately have inspired me to refilm/rethink the edit I'm doing right now. The type of skating I enjoy the most is creative, weird, mushroom, "outside the box" blading, but I never make the effort to USE that inspiration to change my skating into the type of skating I want to be doing.
I'm actually upset with a lot of the grinding clips I've gotten for said edit because I feel like I'm trying to make the edit filled with "good" clips as to what OTHERS would consider to be good (spinning to grinds, technical grinds, etc.) instead of what I enjoy skating and what I think is "good" (parkour, creativity, wallrides, gaps, etc.)

[Alexandre]

This thread also reminded me of that "friend" of ours that quit skateboarding and started rollerblading with us. He'd gotten pretty awesome at back farfs within a few months, he seriously laced spots that very few had landed within a few tries too.

But he never learned to roll properly, and I think this video might be the perfect illustration of what we're talking about :



Having big feet does not help to roll properly with such small wheels ?

[al dolega]

Torres showed me a little preview file of the clips for his nogrind edit today, and there is some hot shit in there. I think when he finally drops it it will have a tangible impact on the sport. At least for a week or two until everyone gives up and goes back to grinderblading, haha.

[DnEhThEnD]

i grew up skating the curb and flat street in front of my parents house, im terrible at grinding :(

[hogie]

i like when people make rollerblading look fun.

honestly, the older i get, and the les seriously i take rollerblading, the more fun i have. when i watch someone skate, and it looks like they are having a blast, i dig it so much.

michael obedoza is the shit for this reason.

[al dolega]

i like when people make rollerblading look fun.

honestly, the older i get, and the les seriously i take rollerblading, the more fun i have. when i watch someone skate, and it looks like they are having a blast, i dig it so much.

michael obedoza is the shit for this reason.

+1

[Apsley Cherry-Garrard]

i didn't read the entire thread, but:

i like grinderblading because i think grinding is the most fun. if i wanna skate and not grind, i use my speed skates. when im on xsjados, its because i wanna grind.
but i agree with you about the looking like they can't skate part, and the horrible style part.

also, if anyone pays attention to my posts, i enjoy rollerbladers who can grind switch & regular, and dislike watching rollerbladers who only grind regular, which is most bladers, pros included.

[LaGuigne]

I just got back from a bowl tour, where every passing day had me doing less grinds and putting together longer lines. Even when we reached Bulle (which is a pretty awesome park for grinding, considering all the perfect ledges and rails they built), my mind mostly sought for lines, and ways to skate the whole place like a bowl. I've also gotten a lot better at airing during those 10 days.

That's probably why I love summer so much.


I was waiting for your contribution my dear ! To see if you've learnt something from our meeting !

And You're doing It right ! Grinds are so overrated .

To me, they are legitimate only when they're needed in a line.

Making lines (and I'm not talking only about skateparks), going fast and/or fakie is the next step.

I've lost so much time doing grinds instead of learning how to skate !

By the way , Hi everyone, I'm new, in some way....

[Apsley Cherry-Garrard]

maybe this was already said, as well, but i think the people who got into blading because of blading are the ones who don't know how to skate properly and look like they're going to die.
the people who started with hockey are usually pretty easy to tell because they feel so at home on skates. i skated from age 5-12, playing hockey, before i started doing grinds. i've been out skating and actually forgot i was even wearing skates because they felt like just a part of me.

[michael briggs]

maybe this was already said, as well, but i think the people who got into blading because of tricks are the ones who don't know how to skate properly and look like they're going to die.

you are right though.

[Freddy White]

I was waiting for your contribution my dear ! To see if you've learnt something from our meeting !

And You're doing It right ! Grinds are so overrated .

To me, they are legitimate only when they're needed in a line.

Making lines (and I'm not talking only about skateparks), going fast and/or fakie is the next step.

I've lost so much time doing grinds instead of learning how to skate !

By the way , Hi everyone, I'm new, in some way....

And I've been waiting for your first post for quite some time too ! Join date : April 2009 !?

The tour was awesome, glad I got a chance to skate some bowls with you and the CGV !!!

[eric2roll4life7]

I read about 5 pages of this post before I couldn't wait any longer to chime in with my 2 cents on the matter.

I learned how to skate on a half pipe that my step brother (Cory Lennon) built in his back yard when he was about 12-13 and I was 10. For the first two years of skating I never had any interest in learning how to grind. I loved skating park and airing over flybox's and quarterpipes and I couldn't be bothered with anything else. It was only when some friends of mine got into the sport and built some p-rails that I started learning how to grind.
If it wasn't for the older skaters that only cared about grinding and how it was the only "cool thing" about rollerblading, I probably never would have even learned how to grind. When Dan Barnes said that thing about how kids these days know how to grind better than they know how to roll, I couldn't have agreed with him more. THIS is the reason our sport has made no progress in the public eye. It is because skaters care way too much about grinding and don't have enough respect for other aspects of the sport.
I have a perfect example. Last Thursday at RASP a friend of mine was doing flatspin 360's and flatspin 540's over this camel hump thing in the skate park. NOONE cared. Kids were asking me what I was clapping for and when I told them their response was "thats boring, not creative at all". I was baffled. I was the only person that was giving him shouts and clapping my hands because I have respect for those kinds of tricks, and if more kids had respect for non-grinding tricks the sport would be doing much better then it is today.
Every thursday night is rollerblade night at RASP, and I am one of like 3 or 4 of the 15-20 rollerbladers that come to the park that actually skate the flybox section. I don't know if the other kids don't think its cool, or don't think its fun, but I wish they would come skate with us.

[gRANT]

Every thursday night is rollerblade night at RASP, and I am one of like 3 or 4 of the 15-20 rollerbladers that come to the park that actually skate the flybox section. I don't know if the other kids don't think its cool, or don't think its fun, but I wish they would come skate with us.

Its because its big and scary and some of us aren't good at fly boxes, but I'll skate it with you tonight, don't you worry.

Also, I believe the original message isn't about fly boxes and gaps, nogrinderblading is more about weird rolls, strange obstacles, skating things that aren't as simple or obvious as a gap or flybox, not that those things can't be included but its about using the environment around you differently than we've been taught/conditioned to. Rollerblading will always have to be a good mix of all aspects if its going to continue growing, but it really is fun to attempt to change your perspective on things from time to time, learning different ways to skate and move will usually have a positive effect on all parts of your blading in the end.

[Roc.N.Rol]

Its because its big and scary and some of us aren't good at fly boxes, but I'll skate it with you tonight, don't you worry.

Also, I believe the original message isn't about fly boxes and gaps, nogrinderblading is more about weird rolls, strange obstacles, skating things that aren't as simple or obvious as a gap or flybox, not that those things can't be included but its about using the environment around you differently than we've been taught/conditioned to. Rollerblading will always have to be a good mix of all aspects if its going to continue growing, but it really is fun to attempt to change your perspective on things from time to time, learning different ways to skate and move will usually have a positive effect on all parts of your blading in the end.

I am definitely one who is not good at fly boxes, and will admit it right away.

I believe nogrinderblading has more involvement with the streets than the parks anyways...

[Tra]

eric, i cant believe the first thing that came to your mind when talking about not grinding was flyboxes. come onnnnn now.

[Timothy James Kelly]

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