style
LEFT: Jeff Hartsell glides a
low pivotal backside against
the hot Arizona sun.
Photo: Chuck Katz
What exactly is style? More importantly, what
isn't style? An older guy we kinda looked up to
in our formative years once said, "It's simple, just
don't look stupid."
Style isn't the full action-wear wardrobe and the
upper lip curled sneer. Style is backspin on the
quarters as you put them in the candy machine.
Style is different things to different people. A
one-footed shallow end re-entry will draw more
hoots than a picture perfect generic ramp routine.
Smooth is not necessarily style, but one can have
a smooth style. Some people have no style at all.
I appreciate an old-time surf-style. Try skating a
backyard pool with Hackett some day.
ABOVE: In a display of
creativity, Lance
Mountain boosts from
an extension of
vertical.
Photo: Steve Keenan.
RIGHT: Style comes
with experience.
Keith Meek lets
It flow with this
layback grind at a
secret backyard pool.
Photo: Steve Keenan.
PRECEEDING PAGE:
A flick of the
wrist, a flick of the
tail, even the flick
of a Bic can
denote style.
John Gibson draws a
line at Pflugerville.
Photo: M.Fo
Make tricks your own by adding your own twist, or better
yet, invent your own. The ollie and the McTwist Initially were
Kicked-out with control, Steve
Caballero styles a frontside
drifter in the heat of
not copied from anyone. They were both originated by competition, Tempe, AZ.
Floridians.
Style is a subtle arch in the back, the placement of hands.
It can be looks but looks can be deceiving. A certain breed
of kid (open-mouthed type), native to Del Mar, CA, and ▸
Photo: M.Fo
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