Can I Learn to Skateboard in My 30s?
Photo : Jordan Calhoun  The first time I stood on a skateboard, I was in high school. I was transferred from an all-Black school in Detroit to a predominately White one, and learning to navigate a new cultural landscapehacky sack, field hockey, acoustic guitarsled me to Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 and, later, a group of kids playing S.K.A.T.E. outside. Advertisement  The rules were familiar enoughno different than the H.O.R.S.E. and P.I.G. I was used to from the basketball courtso when they told me an ollie was easy to learn, I trusted them. When I stood on the deck and tried to jump, though, the board flew from under me and I landed sideways. I couldnt breathe and bruised my ribs. I never touched a skateboard again. When resident Lifehacker health genius Beth Skwarecki was organizing our monthly Lifehacker Fitness Challenge series this year, I noted I wanted to use it as an opportunity to tackle something I was afraid of; my logic being that if I choose something I always wanted to do but was too intimidated by, I would make it public so I cant back out. (That was likely the logic behind our parenting editor, Meghan, choosing to become a runner.) And so here I am, closer to 40 than I am to 30, choosing to overcome my fear of skateboarding. Skateboarding is a physical hobby where Im going to get hurt. Its virtually inevitable. My tongue might get tied when Im learning a new language, but it wont make my mouth bleed...  Why Im afraid of skateboarding  Learning new things rarely scares me, because Im not afraid of making a fool of myself. I have that much in my favor: Adults are often bad at learning because weve grown so used to being competent in our jobs, hobbies, and interests that were resistant to looking or feeling dumb, but Im good at laughing at myself. Like many adult learners, Im inspired by the endless quotes about how Vera Wang didnt start designing dresses until she was 40, or how Toni Morrison didnt publish her first book until she was 39, or how Ava DuVernay didnt pick up her first camera until whenever she picked up her first camera. Skateboarding is different, though, in that its not a mental skill as much as a physical one. Specifically, skateboarding is a physical hobby in which Im going to get hurt. Its virtually inevitable. My tongue might get tied when Im learning a new language, but it wont make my mouth bleed; my fingers wont hurt when playing the wrong piano keys. So, Im afraid of the pain and the longterm injury that can take me out the game for longer than this challenge is meant to last. Im afraid of what I felt when I played S.K.A.T.E. and landed on my ribs, and the instant failure an injury can bring. To mitigate those fears, I probably went a bit overboard. Advertisement  I bought enough pads to protect me from a two-story fall, let alone a regular one. How much my beginner skateboarding gear cost me  Lifehacker staff writer Sam Blum wrote about how to start learning skateboarding as an adult, so naturally I followed his advice shopping for a skateboard (I bought from a local skate shop in NYC called Uncle Funkys Boards), finding a beginner-friendly surface to practice on (I chose a local basketball court in Harlem), and getting inspired by watching other skaters (my Instagram feed is now full of skating accounts). Advertisement  What Sam didnt mention, though, was the safety equipment I would need to feel confident enough to step back on a deck at my age. I bought enough pads to protect me from a two-story fall, let alone a regular oneenough to make Sam laugh when he saw me engulfed in pads. Probably. In the interest of full transparency, I didnt shop around or do much in the way of price comparisons either. Heres what I bought and how much I spent:  Fairweather Street 8.5 Complete: $175.00  Triple8 Certified Sweatsaver Helmet: $60  187 Elbow Pads: $38  187 Wrist Guards: $25  187 Knee Pads: $45  Add $30.44 for New Yorks 8.875% sales tax, and my total was $373.44 to stand up to my fears. Anyone else learning to skateboard can likely get by much cheaper if they shop around, but my resolve was in a race against my fear, and I was happy to support a local skate shop that was patient in answering the slew of questions I asked them. Advertisement  You could also buy much less. As I learned so farofficially a week into my journeyI could have gotten by with only the wrist guards and done without the other pads. Those are only type required at my local skate park, and while Ive taken some hard falls, thankfully none have been hard enough yet where I felt the pads were critical. How the skateboarding community can help a beginner  Since I started learning to skate, Ive gotten a few tips and support from helpful friends and strangers, and Ive asked them all the same question: Whats a reasonable trick for beginners?  Advertisement  (The first question I actually asked the staff at my local skate shop was whether I could learn to ollie in a month, to which the clerk answered, That depends... how committed are you? Since then, Ive gotten a lot of differing opinions on whether ollies are a good beginners trick or not, so I changed the question from can I learn to ollie in a month to asking about what trick I should attempt.) What I know for sure is that I need a goal in order to achieve one, and thats where I could use help. I found my own answer to the ollie question fairly quickly: Heres my first baby ollie after skating almost daily. Ill take the advice for what makes a reasonable, achievable goaland Ill take the encouragement, too. Im still scared, after allbut I wont let that stop me. Advertisement