[rahimnathwani]

For someone in their 40s, what's the best way to learn to ride a skateboard? I just want to be competent enough to replace a 10 min walk to/from a subway station.

I've tried following video instructions. But each time, after 10 mins I felt like I was making zero progress. Perhaps I just need to keep trying and eventually it will click?

Or perhaps I should ask one of the neighbourhood kids?

[pengaru]

Consider rollerblades, way easier.

If you insist on skateboarding, larger diameter wheels go a long way to not crashing on every crack/pebble/uneven surface. A long-board is easier than a street/short-board, and will usually have larger wheels by default.

Beyond that I have no advice for learning in your 40s. I learned to skate street in my childhood and can still effectively get around on one in my 40s. But it's no joke to crash on pavement at our age. Be prepared for some slow-healing fractures and irreparably damaged laptop/phone if you're commuting with a tech job.

Having said all that though, skateboarding is awesome and should get way more respect than it tends to. Super challenging and rewarding, more kids should learn it, character building.

[benoit_cotte]

I love that answer. Thanks for sharing this.

[hammyhavoc]

Unless you've got insurance that'll cover it, and/or cash money for fairly serious injuries, you probably shouldn't. You won't bounce back like most of us did in our childhood and teens, and you stand a chance of seriously fucking yourself up.

Depending on where you live, sidewalk construction may be an issue. E.g., paved areas in the UK can be shitty due to inconsistent height between paving stones. The slightest thing and the newb is gonna go flying.

The thing to remember with skateboarding is that for every several minute video showing cool tricks, you aren't seeing the hours of bails. The Tony Hawk games always included bails videos to show that there's a lot of perseverance and pain that goes into making it look effortless.

I did myself some horrible injuries over the years, including slashing the palm of my hand wide open on a pebble-dashed wall whilst learning just to coast. Also gave myself a horrendous groin injury at one point whilst casually riding around.

[Huggernaut]

A few years ago I realised I left my laptop in the car some distance away in London. I hadn't skated for maybe a decade but my roommate had a skateboard. I texted him telling him I was taking it and was going to do "so many kickflips". Next text was from the hospital with bruised / cracked after I caught a lip and supermanned the pavement.

[rahimnathwani]

Thanks. It seems like an easy choice. I don't have time for injuries!

[carlmr]

I wholeheartedly agree with the previous poster. I'd add for your purpose a kick scooter might be the better choice.

It's still good to cover short distances, and you can learn it in an hour and not fly off on every little pebble.

Ideally get one with bigger wheels.

[benoit_cotte]

Totally aligned with the answer below. Probably not the best for commuting. But it is true that it opens a whole new world. Both deep and fascinating IMO. I have been thrown in during my childhood, and realised it is a whole part of who I am now. If you want to try it out, we have a friend of us in the Old Skaters Tricks Challenge who started out recently at 36 yo. Being part of the tricks challenge helped him unlock tricks like BS 180 or FS 180, and it made the other guys with often more experience super stoked to witness that. First time landing a new trick is quiet something. Anyway, if you want to get skateboarding a chance, we're here.

[bravetraveler]

I can only vaguely recall this stage... but I found standing on a board without trucks or wheels fairly helpful!

On a relatively firm surface (ie: carpet) this provides some practice for the balancing act. How foot placement and the contours in the board impact things too

Similarly, on something with a little more flex (grass), it's a decent way to start trying some flip tricks :)

As for rolling around, I think it's mostly finding really smooth/flat surfaces... and just doing it a lot.

Depending on your wheels/weight placement, anything thicker than a quarter can stop you almost immediately.

It takes a little while to get the 'feel' and speed to deal with rougher surfaces particularly well

[rahimnathwani]

So perhaps it was a mistake to try to learn to push off without first learning to balance on the board, with both feet, then one foot etc?

[bravetraveler]

Now that you mention it... there's probably something to that.

The 'kicking off' motion is pretty tricky, compared to say - standing normally, rolling down a driveway.

Instead of just managing balance side/side, front/back gets really important with only one foot on the board -- it wants nothing more than to shoot forwards/backwards, depending on where you're leaning.

Some familiarity with standing on it is key, mainly because kicking requires a lot of balance/control -- one leg/knee is doing a lot of work. It's holding you above the board, but it's also holding the board under you

Standing with one foot on it and rolling back/forth and getting a feel for it can help too. Finding how sensitive the shifts can be and how much 'locking' is necessary to make the transition from kicking to standing

[bravetraveler]

Another thought and I can't edit now!

Try to avoid learning to push in the 'mango' style; planted foot on the back of the board.

Like a Dodge Viper, there's a lot of nose - it's hard to steer/keep under control.

Planting your foot near the front of the board is better for keeping control and powering through rough terrain. Near the back, it'll wander/bounce like crazy

There's no one good spot, but roughly on/just behind the front trucks is a good place to plant for pushing

[brian_spiering]

There are skateboard coaches. I hired one after skating for 10+ years, and it made a qualitative leap in my abilities.

[rahimnathwani]

After I find one, is there anything I can ask them to help figure out if they're good, or do I just need to try out a couple of lessons?

[gtani]

well, I have to admit seeing decent numbers of fractured collarbones and wrists, and the occasional serious trauma among people learning, so first get best helmet you can find and protective gear.

You could try a hub driven electric board, supposedly they can be freewheeled without the motor like a heavy passive skateboard to increase your practice time, which musicians and gamers call shed time or seat time

[rahimnathwani]

Hmm maybe I'll just walk...

[gtani]

I believe with good brakes and good skills, an electric skateboard is probably safer than riding a bike if you keep lower speeds and learn how to roll instead of just flopping/falling on the ground but a passive skateboard with no brakes is clearly more accident prone.

[Doxin]

So perhaps this is obvious, but for commuting you probably want to use a longboard, not a skateboard. Can't do tricks on a longboard, but other than that it's much easier than a skateboard.

[rahimnathwani]

The only trick I want to do is not falling off!