SKA
Gone are the days when I used to hang
out with my friends at the city park in my
neighborhood and skate away the summer
days and afternoons during school. I now
look back on these loose gatherings as the
time when I layed down some solid founda-
tions for my skating. You see, even though
my equipment wasn't very good, or my
abilities, we used to run through some sim-
ple games and competitions in which we
would judge among ourselves and choose
the "best" for the day. By doing this, as I
realize now, I was slowly tuning and learn-
ing basic skateboarding skills, all while
having a blast with my skate friends. The
games and variations were numerous and
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were played on anything from a small patch
of cement to a large schoolyard or ramp.
The bottom line was wherever and what-
ever we played, we had a good time. So
let's run through a few skate games to get
you started.
H-O-R-S-E: This game is blatently ripped
off from basketball, but is played in the
same manner. You simply duplicate the
move that the previous skater has pulled off
in order to avoid getting an "H" followed by
an "O" and so on. You get to create a move
when the skater before you misses com-
pleting a move and receives a letter. The
first to spell out H-O-R-S-E, or the chosen
word, loses. It's really a simple game that
screams for variation.
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DISTRIBUTING P.O. BOX 884570 S.F., CA 94188-4570
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ADD-ON: Following along the same lines
as "Horse" is a game called "Add-on."
Again, you duplicate the move pulled off by
the previous skater, but you also "add-on
one of your own. The next skater does the
first two moves, "adds-on" one of his own
and so on. When you get up there with a big
string of moves, skaters will slowly begin to
drop out by missing moves or by exhaus
tion and the champ will remain. This game,
along with Horse, is great for leaming
moves by repetition, increasing your
strength and stamina, and helps you learn
to tie things together. Try it while freestyl-
ing, streetskating or rampriding.
LONGEST/HIGHEST/MOST:
simplest games and probably the oldest
are those that fall under these three head-
ings. Just pick out a move and see who can
bring it to the absolute limit. This type of
game will simply push you and your friends
to do things better than you have ever done
them before and again help you learn
moves by repetition. Some examples I've
seen in the past: The longest board slide,
wheelie, tailside. The highest air, highjump,
boneless. The most consecutive hand-
plants, airs, grinds. The gnarliest lapovers,
edgers, slams. You name it and it will fit in
somewhere.
The
RACING: One thing that I always found fun
to do was racing among my friends. This
ranged anywhere from skating around the
block to elaborate slalom courses up in the
hills. Cones or gates can be made from
cans and timing devices salvaged from
your wrist watch. The funniest style of rac-
ing, and one that really tunes your skills, is
cross country. Find a park or schoolyard
with paths, pits, gravel, benches, jumps,
bushes, grass and anything else to man-
uever around, get it up in sort of a race
course fashion and have at it. Any type of
racing will help you tune your balance and
board control and when done at high
speeds and in large numbers, surely lead
to a blast. Just use your imagination.
ROLLER DERBY: One game that I don't
recommend, but deserves mention be-
cause I played it quite often as a kid, was
roller derby. Played in the same way as the
real thing, on a circular track, it offered that
bit of violence kids always craved. Leave
this one for the real hardy competitors.
INDOOR SPORTS: Off board games can
always be played in the form of finger-
boarding, trivia sessions, and extensive
magazine cutouts, but these should only be
used when the weather or other cir-
cumstances interferes.
Well then, are there any more? Sure
there are and they are all waiting in your
imagination. Try the ones that I've de-
scribed and the variations will follow.
Skateboard games were always fun to me
as a kid, still are. Plus the best thing about
them is that you'll improve your skating
without even trying. Take care and skate
safe.
Bob Denike
New
Impropied
V2
VENTURE
Venture Trucks
PO Box 88342
San Francisco, CA
94188-3942