Be a Skater Girl

Everyone wants to be a skater these days. Luckily, this means that many more girls are getting into skateboarding and skater culture. To be a skater girl, you'll have to hone your skills, develop a certain attitude and adopt the style. Don't worry about looking good to boys or impressing them. Remember, you're doing this for yourself and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

Steps

  1. Start off with a good skateboard. No cheap ones from Walmart. Although they are $25 dollars and can be tempting, don't buy one from there or any other stores like that. Get one from a good skate store. Don't focus on what it looks like, just get a good, complete mini logo deck. Go to a local skate store and ask anyone questions. Do not be afraid to say, "Hey, I'm new at this stuff and I was wondering..." They will most likely be more than glad to help you out.
  2. Purchase a board. A smaller board and medium-sized (53mm-57mm), soft-ish (92a-98a) wheels will be easier to learn on. Independent trucks turn the best but Thunders or Ventures are better for a beginner since they turn less and make your wheelbase longer so your board will feel more stable. Save up the money and go to your local skate shop and purchase a complete setup including deck, trucks, wheels, and bearings. Ask them if they can put it together or learn how to do it yourself. Also, have them go over the parts of the board with you. You can also get other parts for your board and trick it out to make it you. For example, get grip tape with crazy designs on them and different colored wheels and trucks. Or you can bust out the paint pens and spray paint.
  3. Get some safety gear. A helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, etc. A lot of skaters just wear nothing or a simple baseball cap to look good, don't be that oblivious to risk your own head for the looks, or you could suffer major, permanent damage. This may sound like your parents talking, but if you fall down you'll be glad you have a helmet on.
  4. Get good skate shoes. Normal shoes don't grip well on skateboards, and if you want to do tricks such as ollies, kickflips and all of those other cool tricks, your regular shoes will rip in 30 minutes. Suede and leather are more durable than canvas. Emerica/Etnies, Lakai, Nike, Converse, Adidas, Puma, Vans, DC, Supra, Circa, DVS, Globe, Habitat and Fallen all make good skate shoes. Most importantly, never buy girl skate shoes! You can get them for looks, but they don't do much good. For about same price, you can get longer lasting, better gripping, guy's (boy's/kid's or men's) skate shoes. You could always get plain skater shoes and decorate them later using a paint pen or sharpie. A shoe size conversion chart will help sizing guy's shoes or try 1.5-2 sizes smaller than girls shoe sizes. http://www.zumiez.com/size-chart click on shoes
  5. Start off slow. Don't try to grind the rails, kickflip off of 10 stair stairset. Just cruise around until you are comfortable. Also, you might want to figure out your stance. Regular is riding with your left foot forward and pushing with your right foot. Goofy is riding with your right foot forward and pushing with left foot. Pushing Mongo (with your front foot) is a bad habit to get into, because you don't have as much balance, and it takes longer to get into a cruising stance from a pushing stance. To learn more, go to about.com and search.
  6. Learn to Ollie.You should probably learn to ollie. This is what every trick in skateboarding comes from. It's very important. Also go to the skate park to learn. I mean be modest, but people don't care if you're bad. Then you can ask people "Hey can you help me with my ollie?". It's always good to do this, and don't be afraid to ask: it makes people feel good.
  7. Get some skate friends. Once you know a thing or two about skating, find some friends who are willing to join you. It's funnier to be skating with friends than alone. Besides, do you really want to fall down, look silly and have a bruise alone? No. Get some friends.
  8. Be modest. If you are learning how to skateboard, don't act like you're the coolest skater girl ever to step on a skateboard. Be honest and humble about your abilities.
  9. Do your homework. Know what all the parts of a skateboard are called and know what to call the tricks you do. Deck, bearings, trucks, wheels, grip tape; easy enough.
  10. Learn how to skate. Practice the basics of skating. You can watch skate How-To's on Youtube, but the best way to learn is to actually go outside and start.
  11. Don't be afraid to fall! Learn how to fall... Fear is your worst enemy when learning how to skateboard. Make sure to wear the right gear when skating and don't rush into learning complicated tricks until you have mastered rolling, stopping, pushing, carving, turning, kickturns, and the ollie.
  12. Do not shop at places like Hot Topic for your skate apparel. The only things you'd want from there if you're committed to looking cool would be band t-shirts, hoodies, and piercings.
  13. Don't wear too much makeup! A little is great, like something more natural. If you wear heavy eyeliner and eye shadow is cool too, if it works for you, but just take note that it doesn't work for everyone. You get all sweaty skateboarding, and then your makeup just wears off and it's uncomfortable.
  14. Get sponsored by skate brands if you're good enough. It's really difficult to get sponsored though. Some of the best skaters can't get sponsored by anyone but their local skate shop.
  15. Find out what kind of skater you are. There are several types of skaters: Freestylists, who basically make up their own cool tricks, street skaters, who are all about jumps and grinds, vert skaters who do flips, ramps, and are usually the people you see on TV, and cruisers, who are a sort of relative of skaters, who are mainly about some ramps, stance, and lots of speed. Cruisers are usually mistaken for posers. But if that's what you do, it's ok.
  16. Take this fun quiz to see if you have a chance of making it as a pro one day http://www.quizmoz.com/quiz.asp?quizid=50313

Tips

  • Just have fun and you should always remind yourself the reason you've started skating. Remember, no pain no gain!
  • Talk to the dudes out there. Ask for help. They will be more than glad to help you.
  • Sure it's fun to be the only girl at the park, but see don't get caught up in that. It's all about having fun, learning new tricks and getting over a fear!
  • Remember: push yourself. Step up your game. Believe in yourself.
  • Be original and fun.
  • Be nice, but be sure to have some comebacks stored for the brat who asks you why you don't wear Abercrombie.
  • Get your friends into skating too. Skating alone is okay but it's not half as much fun as skating with friends. Just make them start skating! You want them to love it as much as you do.
  • Don't focus on your looks. You are most likely to get called a poser. Start changing slowly.
  • Don't be full of yourself,and don't lie about tricks that you can't do.
  • Don't give up on skateboarding because you can't get tricks down. It takes time! Even some of the best skaters take over a year to learn to Ollie.
  • Not all skater girls stick to plain black and white and dull colors. Mix and match colors like electric blue and black checkered skinny jeans (believe it or not, tight pants are easier to skate in) with some rainbow colored DC hightops. (BUT, girl skate shoes are HORRIBLE to skate in. Guy shoes have better grip).
  • Dress in style but not as a poser: just about the worst thing you could do.
  • Skating takes time, especially if you want to learn tricks, so be patient and most importantly have fun!
  • Be a skater because you want to. Just be yourself.
  • Get to know some skaters at your school. They might be a big help and provide encouragement when you feel like giving up on skateboarding.
  • Always have color.
  • Some recommended brands (for Decks) are: Element, FLIP, Zero, Anti-Hero, Girl, THINK, Chocolate, and Enjoi.
  • To calculate your size in men, subtract two from your current size. Ex: size 10 women=size 8 men
  • Once people see you can't land it, you'll be considered a poser .
  • Be yourself! You can be the most girly girl out there and still skate. You don't have to go out and spend money on shoes you can actually skate in or skate brand shirts. Be proud of who you are. Just because you can skate doesn't mean you have to make new friends or anything. If you don't like the other skaters then don't hang out with them. If they are trouble makers then stay away! Your old friends should respect your new thing and they might try it themselves. Just because you are a skater now doesn't mean you have to change your whole look, personality, or lifestyle. If you want to then that's okay, but don't do it because someone called you a poser.
  • By all means go to Camp Woodward at least once!
  • Getting a hair cut or wearing your hair in a ponytail keeps your hair from getting in your face, or you can wear a hat.
  • Don't give up just because you got hurt, but wait till your injury is healed. Don't enforce something, take your time.

Warnings

  • While trying to make friends, do not come on too strongly.
  • Don't tell other people that you're a skater. Let them figure it out by themselves. You can also be called a poser if you are going to show off that you're a skater girl.
  • If you are only in for the looks and getting guys, people will eventually call you a poser.
  • You might get hurt doing this SPORT unless you are a natural skater and very very lucky.
  • Never do PE in skating shoes. They will fall off.

Related Articles

You may like

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Be_a_Skater_Girl&oldid=286108"