Kids in the skate park

Dry weather means one thing. Skatepark. Concrete waves and fun!

I met up with some friends and their kids today just for a play at the local skatepark. Initially some of the kids weren't so bothered about going as they just wanted to play football. An hour and a half later we were still there skating about and playing on the carver mini surf skates that we recently purchased to support the lessons we'll be running. There is something about grasping and being able to move on a skateboard that creates a super sense of achievement.

Notably the mini surf skates with the C5 trucks were unsurprisingly a lot better for lighter riders, but the ease that the kids could turn with was really exciting to see. From playing on adult boards and moving to the mini boards, like in SUP when kids paddle narrower boards, the difference is being able to do it properly over, not really.

The 3 coaching points we spoke about today were foot placement on the board, pushing off and generating speed through pumping. Interestingly all of the kids were individually better at certain things than others. The push off felt more natural for some, concentrating on getting feet in the correct place more so for others and being able to generate speed through pumping was easier for others. Now, these kids are between 4 and 7. But nevertheless, had fun, played some games and had a lot of fun.

I made point of making sure each child felt valued after the session so gave wee awards to best "pusher", best "carver" and "biggest dare devil."