Nyjah Huston Biography

November 20th, 2009

One of the best and youngest American skateboarders is Nyjah Huston, who was born in November 30th, 1994.  Landing some of the biggest tricks in the X Games, Vans Downtown Showdowns, and at the Dew Tour, he has proven the right to be a professional skateboarder since age 11.

Nyjah Huston’s Skateboarding Career

Nyjah Huston’s skateboarding career started at 5 years old, just like many of the other skateboarding superstars, including Ryan Sheckler and Tony Hawk.  Huston skates “goofy-footed,’” which is like being left handed, as the side of the skateboard he stands on is the left side of the board.

As Huston began to learn skateboarding and get better at tricks, he reached a point where he could compete at the professional level, which began in January of 2005.  He went on to compete in the competitions, such as the Vans Showdowns and Dew Tours, and he also became the youngest skateboarder in history to compete at the Summer X Games.

Huston then went out to place in many competitions and continues to progress in the sport of skateboarding.  He even skated well enough in 2006 to win Tampa Am, skate a bunch of professional events, placing in top rankings, and also ranking in the WCSK8 Year-End World Rankings, which he placed 17th in the street competition

Huston’s Sponsor

Nyjah Huston’s sponsor was always known to be Element.  Ever since he was on Element’s amateur skateboard team “Twigs,” which is a separate project Element had been working on with mini-skateboards, he has been known to skate for Element Skateboards and to feature in many competitions and videos promoting the company.  Well, in December of 2008, Nyjah Huston left Element Skateboards.

One theory of why he left Element, is because he never got a signature pro-model skateboard and an actual “Pro-Skater” status, benefits, and popularity.  When he left, he really didn’t know where he was going to take his career.  He had many opportunities with successful skateboard companies, professional skate teams, and growing skateboard companies, yet he decided to go the best route to benefit the best from his talent.  Nyjah Huston started his own skateboard company.

Nyjah Huston’s Skateboard Company:

I&I Skateboards

Instead of trying to move up in a skateboard company and promote other companies products, Huston decided to start his own skateboard company, which began in July, 2009.  It is named l&l Skateboards and features himself, Richard Jefferson, Andrew Williams, and a couple developing amateurs.  Nyjah Huston has his own skateboard series pro-model, which features some very awesome graphics.

Video’s Featuring Nyjah Huston

This is My Element - Element Skateboard Video

Elementality – Element Skateboard Video

Silver in Barcelona – Sliver Trucks Skateboard Video

Video Games with Huston

Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (2006)

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (2007)

Hustin’s Competition Placements

2004

  • 4th Place

Volcom Damn Am – Street Competition

2005

  • 1st Place

Tampa Am – Street Competition

  • 2nd Place

Vans Downtown Showdown - 6 Stair Competition

  • 3rd Place

West 49 Can Open - Handrail Competition

  • 4th Place

Vans Downtown Showdown - Gap Competition

West 49 Can Open - Street Park Competition

  • 5th Place

Vans Downtown Showdown - Stair Set Competition

2006

  • 2nd Place

Mt. Dew Tour: Denver, Colorado – Park Competition

Mt. Dew Tour: Louisville, Kentucky – Park Competition

Vans Downtown Showdown - Best Trick Stair Competition

Global Assault – Street Competition

  • 4th Place

Mt. Dew Tour: Overall Position – Park Competition

Read Another Pro Skateboarder Biography

or Skate Home

Sources: iandiskateboards.com, wikipedia.org

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Pro-Skater Bios | No Comments »

The Tony Hawk Ride Video Game: Living Room Skateboarding

November 19th, 2009

Although stores didn’t get their Tony Hawk: Ride supply of video games to sell back in October, which was the first date the game was supposed to be released, it did release on November 17th, meeting “Ride” video game’s second date announced for its release.

The Tony Hawk Ride video game has been made for PlayStation3, XBox 360, and Wii, and is sold for $129.99 – $199.99.  The game comes with the disk for your console, along with a skateboard filled with sensors.

Basically, you put the game in, hook up the cords to the “skateboard controller.”  Instead of using the regular controllers, the Tony Hawk Ride video game presents a new way of playing a skateboard game, by actually simulating the tricks through sensors built in and on the skateboard.

The skateboard controller lets the gamer to stand on the skateboard and lean, lift, twist, and turn the controller to perform tricks on the video game.  All of the motion sensors for tricks involving the movement of your feet are picked up through many built in sensors inside the skateboard.  The four clear sensors on the edge of the skateboard, which are located on the nose, tail, and on both edges of the controller, pick up any hand movement you do towards the side of the skateboard, will perform grab-tricks, such as the indy and nose grabs, inside the Tony Hawk Ride video game.

You can pick up the game at your local retail stores, which sell video games, and you can be skateboarding in your living room this holiday season, with the Tony Hawk Ride video game.

Want to know more about Tony Hawk?

Check out the complete Tony Hawk Biography.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Skate News | No Comments »

How to Impossible on a Skateboard

November 19th, 2009

Learning how to impossible on a skateboard is actually not too hard, and it really isn’t “impossible.”

Things to Know

The first thing you need to know about this trick is how you have to use your back foot.  The entire trick counts on your back foots movements.  From pressing down to pop the board, to rolling the skateboard over your foot, you have to remember to always concentrate on what your back foot is doing to learn how to impossible.

Feet Positioning

The impossible is a different trick than most of the other skateboard tricks, simply because you don’t use your front foot much.  The front foot should go about 3-4 inches onto the skateboard, about right behind the front truck bolts.

Your back foot should cover the tail, with your toes sort of grabbing onto the opposite edge of the board from which you are standing on.  Doing this will allow your to scoop the board, and let it roll around your foot, to complete the impossible skateboard trick.

How to Impossible

Everyone does the impossible somewhat differently; however, the concept of the trick is always the same.  Basically, what the trick consists of the elements of 360 pop shove it, while sort of flipping or rolling around your back foot.  It is seen to better if you get the board to go as vertical as possible, creating the best style to the trick.

When you start the impossible, you want to begin by shifting your weight back and popping the tail, with your back foot.  As soon as the board pops, drag your front foot off the skateboard fairly quick, while also scooping and kicking your back foot, in order to roll the skateboard over and off your back foot, which will do an impossible.

Landing the Impossible

Landing an impossible on a skateboard shouldn’t be hard, especially with your back foot, as the board is always rolling around your back foot.  Landing your front foot on may be a whole different story.

Many times, people don’t land this skateboard trick and actually think it is “impossible,” just because their front foot always seems to land on the ground, right next to the skateboard.  Commit to the trick and you should be able to hold your front foot up long enough to catch the board.  However, you can also try flipping the skateboard faster, which will allow your front foot to have more time to land on the skateboard, yet your board may be harder to control flipping at a faster speed.

The entire time you are doing the trick, concentrate and focus on what the board is doing, so you can see when the grip tape appears to land the trick.  The board should complete a full 360 degree turn during the impossible, so you will land on the skateboard with the board in the same position as it started.  Once you see grip tape after the board flips around your foot, catch the board and land with both your feet on the truck bolts, so you don’t end up falling or breaking your skateboard.

Learning how to impossible on a skateboard can take forever; however, practice as much as you can, get a feel for what the trick is actually doing, then concentrate on what you are doing during the trick and you should be landing the impossible.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Trick Guides | No Comments »

How to Hardflip on a Skateboard

November 18th, 2009

Learning how to hardflip on a skateboard is one of the more difficult tricks to land.  The trick puts together a kickflip and a frontside pop shove it, making what would actually be a frontside varial flip.  Since the trick is one of the hardest skateboard tricks to land, it’s titled the hard flip.

Hardflip Feet Positioning

The hardflip begins by putting your back foot on the tail, just like any other skateboard trick, but place your foot more towards the edge of the board that you are standing on.  Doing this will enable you to push down and pop the board, while also being able to scoop and push the tail of the skateboard in-front of you, in order to begin the frontside pop shove it.

Your front foot should go in its normal kickflip position.  If you seem to be having trouble with flipping the board, keep catching the board on your feet during the flip, or not being able to get the full rotation of the hardflip, simply move your front foot more towards the edge of the skateboard which you are standing on.

Moving your foot to the edge of the skateboard will help the board to flip faster, while also giving you an easier time to get your feet out of the way, letting the board flip.  Now that you have your feet in place, you should be ready to learn how to flip a hardflip.

How to Hardflip

Begin by shifting your weight over your back foot, pressing the tail of your skateboard down, popping the tail.  As the tail pops off the ground, there are two movements you need to concentrate on doing.  The first movement is with your front foot and is to begin to drag your front foot forward, then off the edge of the board, which will begin the kickflip part of the hardflip.

The second movement is with your back foot.  Instead of just jumping straight up, like you would for a kickflip, you have to kick your back foot forward, so the board does the frontside pop shove it into the hardflip.  Putting both the front foot kickflip motion and the back foot frontside pop shove it motion together will result in a hardflip.  If you don’t do the motions at the same time, right after you pop the tail, you probably won’t end up with a hardflip.

Landing the Hardflip

Everyone knows how hard it can be to land a simple frontside pop shove it.  Add in a kickflip to that frontside pop shove it and you have a hardflip; however, you are probably wondering,“How the hell am I going to land this trick?”

Truth is, the hardflip isn’t too hard to land.  As long as you can successfully flip the board, it should be easy to catch it, with at least one foot.  Practice flipping the board and catching it with your front foot.  Once you are able to catch the board consistently with your front foot, put all your effort into the trick and commit to landing the hardflip.  Once you are able to commit yourself to landing the trick, you should have no problems with landing hardflips

Problems Doing Hardflips…

1) The first problem we ran into was not being able to flip the complete hardflip or getting your feet in the way of the flip. Although it may take awhile to adjust, we explained repositioning your front foot closer to the edge of the skateboard will help you to flip the board faster and give you more time to get your feet out of the way.

2) The second problem we ran into was commitment to landing the hardflip.  Like any trick in skateboarding, committing to the trick is key.  Without commitment, you will probably end up getting to the point where you can consistently land the hardflip with one foot, but you just can’t seem to ever land the trick.

All you have to do is commit to the hardflip, and you’ll land it.  Yes, you will mess up, probably many times.  You might get cut or bruised, with the chance of a broken bone, but you have a better chance of landing the trick, if you just commit and focus on what you are doing.

Now that you know how to hardflip, check out How to 360 Flip or Skate Home.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Trick Guides | No Comments »

Tony Hawk Biography

November 17th, 2009

lmost everyone in the world knows of the professional American skateboarder named Tony Hawk.  From his ground breaking skateboarding abilities attracting young skateboarders to cheer him on, to movie appearances around the world, everyone has become aware of the “Birdman.”

Hatching the Hawk

On May 12th, 1968 in San Diego, California, Frank Hawk, a retired U.S. Navy officer, and Nancy Hawk, a part-time business teacher, gave birth to Tony Andrew “Birdman” Hawk.  During his younger years, Hawk had an older brother, which got a skateboard at eight years old.  As a result of his brother getting a board, his dad built a ramp in the backyard, which began Hawk’s skateboarding journey.

Hawk grew attached to skateboarding, simply because of the freedom and ability to test yourself in the sport.  It isn’t like baseball or basketball, where you have to worry about the team or scoring points.  He liked how he was able to skate to the best of his ability, complete tricks, and win competitions based on what exactly he had been working on or practicing for the past couple months or years, while having the ability to use creativity to put together a good skateboarding run.

When Hawk was 11, he took 1st place in his first contest.  He continued to skateboard and progress until he was 14 years old, when he turned professional.  As he skateboarded, he continued to attend and finish high school from Torrey Pines High School, located in San Diego.  After high school, he continued to progress and achieve many awards in skateboarding, leading him through one of the most eventful and successful journeys known to the skateboarding industry.

Hawk’s Skate Life

Beginning at age 14, Hawk began shaping his career practicing at least 6 hours a day.  His sponsor was the Powell Peralta skateboarding team, which was called the Bones Brigade, and many of you might be familiar with the “Powell Peralta” name from the Lords of DogTown movie.

With yearly competition wins, helpful sponsors, and good guidance, Hawk grew to be one of the best in the world.  Although at many competitions he was required to wear knee pads and he always stood out from other skateboarders, because of being very skinny and tall, with blond hair, he had the feeling he always had to get out there and try his best.  If he wasn’t out skateboarding and getting roughed up, he felt he wasn’t accomplishing or progressing towards any of his goals.

The Hawks Influencing Skateboarding

During tony Hawk’s younger years, there weren’t many competitions or sponsors in the skateboarding industry.  His father, Frank, really got into supporting his son at competitions and practicing, as he would drive him wherever he needed to compete or practice, and didn’t want to see his son’s achievements go to waste.  In order to spark up more interest and competitions for Hawk, his father began the California Amateur Skateboarding League in 1980, also known as the CASL, which to holds competitions and skateboarding events for younger, amateur skateboarders.

Three years later, in 1983, Frank Hawk created the National Skateboarding Association, which holds some of the greatest skateboarding competitions and events in the world.  The events of the NSA have been given credit for helping to build the skateboarding industry in the 1980’s.

Tony Hawk’s creative style and amazing performances, although often frowned upon and was thought of as showing off when he was younger, lead him to the discovery and creation of how to do an Ollie.  This trick, which is a standard of skateboarding today, lead him to win 3 NSA competitions and over 20 other professional skateboarding events before the age of 18 years old.

Wealth to Crisis

As he graduated from high school in 1986, he was already making over $100,000 a year through skateboarding, media appearances, public events, and working with companies, such as Mt. Dew, in promotions.  He grew to be the “King of Skateboarding” and took advantage of the popularity.  However, soon into the early 1990’s the skateboarding industry began to suffer, as insurance costs forced many skate parks and competitions to shut down.  Tony Hawk went from skating in-front of thousands, to where he could literally count the number of people spectating at demos where he skateboarded.

During this slow time in the skateboarding business and in a financial crisis, he took the initiative to team up with another skateboarder and good friend, Per Welinder, to begin Birdhouse Projects, where they created skateboards and other skateboarding products.  Although the business became successful, the first couple of years were rough and Hawk even ended up selling his house, in order to have money to support the business.

Hawk and Birdhouse’s Breakthrough

1995 was the turning year for both Tony Hawk and Birdhouse Projects.  Not only did his business start to pick up, he was also called up by ESPN to skate in the first X-Games.  By 1999, he had won many of the X-Games competitions and began his road to becoming “The King of Skateboarding” again, as the skateboarding industry grew.

Most of this newly generated fame came from the 1999 X-Games, on April 27, 1999, where Hawk completed the first two and a half revolution trick on a Vert ramp, which is known as the 900.  Although it took him 12 tries, he went down in the record book to be the first skateboarder ever to complete the trick.  After completing the trick, Hawk stated it was the best day of his life.  He then went on to complete another 900 during the 2001 X-Games competition.

Tony Hawks X-Games metal winning appearances faded off after 2002; however, Hawk continues to skateboard, hold skateboarding events, build his skateboarding company, which is now named Birdhouse Skateboards, and take on new business ventures to better his company, his family, and the world of skateboarding.

Hawk’s Family

Two years before he started Birdhouse Projects, he married his first wife, Cindy Danban, in April of 1990.  On December 6th, 1992, around the same time he first began his business, Birdhouse Projects, they had their first and oldest son, Hudson “Riley” Hawk, who usually goes by Riley, adding another Hawk to their nest.  Unfortunately, Hawk and Cindy got divorced a year later, in 1993.

In 1996, three years after the divorce, Hawk got remarried to his second wife, Erin Lee.  During their marriage, two more Hawks were born.  His second son, named Spencer, was born on July 26, 1999, and his third son, named Keegan, was born on March 18th, 2001.  Although their relationship lasted a couple years after Keegan was born, they ended up divorcing in 2004.

On January 12, 2006, Hawk got married on the heart shaped island of Tavanea, Fiji, to Lhotse Merriam.  About two years after their marriage, on June 30th, 2008,  Hawk had his fourth child and first daughter, Kadence Clover Hawk, who is pictured on the right, with Hawk and Lhotse.  Tony Hawk and Lhotse Merriam are currently still married and living together in California.

Hawk spends most of is time with his family, as they are incorporated into his life and business.  They travel with him to contests, when he needs to go away, and skateboard in their private skatepark when they are all at home.  Riley, his oldest son, is sponsored and skateboards for his business, Birdhouse Skateboards.

Video Game Developing

Besides skateboarding and Birdhouse skateboards, he is a totally different market making some great entertainment, as many of you video gamers already know.  Hawk has used his skateboard knowledge and experience to create a couple video games.  Well, 16 different video games licensed by Activision, since 1999, is more than a couple, but this number is made up of all the main series titles, spin-offs, and repackaged video games he has created.

Hawk’s Video Games

Tony Hawks Pro Skater (1999)

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (2000)

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2X (2001)

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (2001)

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 (2002)

Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure (2003)

Tony Hawk’s Underground (2003)

Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 (2004)

Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 Remix (2005)

Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland (2005)

Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land (2005)

Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (2006)

Tony Hawk’s Down Hill Jam (2006)

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (2007)

Tony Hawk’s Motion (2008)

Tony Hawk: Ride (2009)

The Tony Hawk Boom Boom Huck Jam

Beginning in 2002, Tony Hawk set out to create a new type of extreme sporting event.  Featuring skateboarding, bmx, and motocross, the event is called a “jam.”  During the jam, there are competitions amongst the sports, tons of high flying tricks, special events, such as the loop and gaping the vert ramp, while having many other events and activities for viewers to watch.  The Huck Jam toured around to the major cities, theme parks, skate parks, and arenas all over the United States.

X-Game Competition Medals

With just over 40 years of skateboarding, it would be too long of a list to mention all of his competition winnings and positions.  Although we have mentioned a couple of the skateboard competitions in the last section “Hatching the Hawk,” here are a list of X-Game competitions he has placed in:

X-Games Gold Medal

Rhode Island (1995) – Vert

San Diego (1997) – Vert & Vert Doubles

San Diego (1998) – Vert Doubles & Vert Best Trick

San Francisco (1999) – Vert Doubles & Vert Best Trick

San Francisco (2000) – Vert Doubles

Philadelphia (2001) – Vert Doubles

Philadelphia (2002) – Vert Doubles

X-Games Silver Metal

Rhode Island (1995) – Park

Rhode Island (1996) – Vert

Philadelphia (2001) – Vert Best Trick

X-Games Bronze Metal

San Diego (1998) – Vert

San Francisco (1999) – Vert

Movies Featuring Hawk

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)

Gleaming the Cube (1989)

xXx (2002)

Derk Dogz (2004)

Drake & Josh Go Hollywood

The New Guy

Jackass: The Movie

Jackass 2

Haggard: The Movie

Lords of Dogtown

“Weird Al” Yankovic – Smells Like Nirvana

T.V. Shows Featuring Hawk

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody

The Naked Brothers Band

Yo Gabba Gabba

The Simpsons episode “Barting Over” (guest voice)

CSI: Miami episode “Game Over”

Million Dollar Password (2008)

Fox’s Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Hawk’s Other Info

  • Tony Hawk was featured in  Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX and Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer video games.  In order to use Hawk’s character in the game, you have to unlock him through playing the game.
  • In 1982, Hawk helped in the creation of the well known Convey Island Skate Park.
  • Author Nick Hornby wrote the book “Slam” using elements and events of Tony Hawk’s life.
  • Tony Frank “Birdman” Hawk has a couple popular nicknames, which include “Birdman,” “The Hawk,” “King of Skateboarding,” and his usual name, “Tony Hawk.”
  • On January 1st, 2009, Birdhouse Skateboards and Blitz Distributions split, which where the two companies owned by both Hawk and his business partner, Per Welinder.  Tony Hawk took over Birdhouse Skateboards and Per Welinder will took over Blitz Distributions.
  • When visiting the White House for an event, he found himself in an empty hallway all alone.  He thought, why not skateboard in the White House??  So, he did, which is pictured below.

Return Home: Skate Home

Read More: Pro-Skateboarder Bios

Sources:  www.notablebiographies.com, en.wikipedia.org

Tags: , ,
Posted in Pro-Skater Bios | No Comments »

Ryan Sheckler Biography

November 15th, 2009

As one of the most popular, well-known, and successful skateboarders on Earth, Ryan Shekler has truly created an inspiring career for himself through dedication, many hours of practice, and a list of accomplishments since he first turned professional in 2003.

Before we get to far into his amazing career, and even mention his new clothing line or his MTV reality show series, let’s learn about his early childhood years.

Sheckler Growing Up

Sheckler was born on December 30th of 1989, in the city of Clemente, California.  At only 18 months old, Ryan was always found outside trying to balance and ride down the driveway or sidewalk on his dad’s old-school skateboard.  From that point on, his parents kept him around the skateboard, up until he was around 6 years old.

Early Years of Ryan’s Career

In the summer of 1995, when he was 6, his dad built him his first halfpipe in his skatepark, which was behind his house.  This lead Sheckler to practice at least 22 hours a week and encouraged him to sign up for the California Amateur Skateboarding League, also known as the CASL, which is an amateur skateboarding league created to hold competitions, events, and practices for younger skateboarders.

While he was in the CASL, Sheckler entered and won a contest held by the league, which enabled him to attended a party where Tony Hawk made an appearance.  At the party, Tony and Ryan had time to work together and practice some moves, which inspired Ryan to work towards building upon his recent success in skateboarding competitions.

Between ‘97 and ‘01, Ryan won the CASL State Championship Skateboarding Competition.  As a result of this difficult accomplishment for such a young age, he received his first sponsor, Amette eye wear, which also sponsored Tony Hawk at the time.  He skated as a sponsored amateur for around 2 years, until he entered and won the X-Games, Gravity Games, Van’s Triple Crown, and the Slam City Jam skateboard competitions of 2003, he turned pro.

After Turning Pro

During 2004 and 2005, he won the World Cup of Skateboarding’s National Street Championships, and he also won the AST Dew Tour Athlete of the Year award for 2005.  At 16 years old, in 2006, Sheckler traveled to Australia to compete in the Global Assault skateboard competition, where he took first place.  During the same year, he took 5th place in the Tampa Pro skateboard competition, which is held once a year, featuring some of the best professional skateboarders in the industry who come to compete in this very popular skateboarding event.

Today, he skates and places in the top positions at many major skateboarding events and is on tour during this year (2009) for Journey’s Backyard Barbecue.

Ryan Sheckler’s Sponsors


  • Plan B Skateboards
  • Etnies Shoes
  • FKD Bearings
  • Nixon Watches
  • Oakley Eyewear
  • Red Bull
  • Panasonic

Skateboard Competition History

(2003)

In 2003, Ryan Sheckler set out with his new sponsorships to win 1st place at the Gravity Games (Street), Slam City Jam (Street), Vans Triple Crown (Street), and the World Cup of Skateboarding (Street) skateboarding competitions.  He also competed in the United States Skateboarding Championships, placing 3rd in Street skating.

(2004)

In 2004, Sheckler went back to the United States Skateboarding Championships, where he placed 3rd the previous year, to place 1st in Street skateboarding.  Although he came back with that accomplishment, he was unable to catch first place in any other competition during 2004.  He placed 2nd in the World Cup of Skateboarding and then went out to get 3rd place in the Gravity Games and in the Vans Triple Crown competitions in both Cleveland and Vancouver.

(2005)

Sheckler had a great success in the 2005 AST Dew Tour events, placing 1st in the Louisville, Denver, San Jose, and in the overall scores of the entire competition of the park section of the competition.  He also came second at the Portland event, along with 3rd place at the Orlando event.

After winning the entire park section of the 2005 AST Dew Tour, he placed 2nd in the Globe World Cup and 3rd in the World Championship of Skateboarding, giving him one of his most successful years of his career.

(2006)

After 2005’s very successful 1st place positions at many of the AST Dew Tours, including 1st overall, Ryan Sheckler moved on to place 1st overall again in 2006, along with 1st at the Louisville, Portland, and San Jose events.  During the AST Dew Tour, Sheckler received 2nd at the Orlando event and 4th at the Denver event.

On top of achieving the great success of his previous year’s accomplishments, Sheckler went on to win 1st at the Globe World Cup, Melbourne event, 2nd place at the Los Angeles X-Games event, and 5th place at the Tampa Pro competition.

(2008)

The year 2008 brought Ryan Sheckler a 1st place in the X-games and a win at the Thrasher Magazine’s Bust or Bail Competition.

Movies Starring Ryan Sheckler

MVP 2: Most Vertical Primate (2001)

Grind (2003)

What’s New, Scooby-Doo? (2004)

Almost: Round 3 (2004)

Dishdogz (2005)

Life of Ryan (2007-09)

True Jackson, VP (2008)

Street Dreams (2009)

Tooth Fairy (2010)

Life of Ryan on MTV

Life of Ryan, which aired on MTV, was a reality television show based around his life at 18 years old and issues, problems, and events as a professional skateboarder, maturing adult, and key family member to the functioning of the Sheckler household.  Some of the issues he encountered were physically tough and emotionally draining skateboard competitions, dramatic situations between himself and immediate family members, usually between his parents or his brothers, and, also, the challenge of maturing as a young adult male, obtaining a girlfriend, working to become successful, and moving out of his mother’s house.

The show was featured on MTV from the years 2007-2009, and it displayed some of the most important and life-changing events of Ryan Sheckler’s life to the entire world.

Sheckler’s Clothing Line, RS

“RS” is Ryan Sheckler’s clothing line and the name was derived from his first and last name initials.  He launched the clothing line in May, 2009, and the clothes should be selling in JCPenney stores, nationwide.

Skate Home or Learn Skateboard Tricks

Source: Wikipedia.org

Tags: , ,
Posted in Pro-Skater Bios | No Comments »

How to 360 Flip on a Skateboard

October 22nd, 2009

After you have mastered how to varial kickflip, you can then move onto learning how to 360 flip on a skateboard, simply by adding in another pop shove it into the varial kickflip. This can be done easily, by pushing faster and harder backwards with your back foot. However, there are many problems that arise when everyone begins to learn how to 360 flip. First, let’s take a look at how to do the trick.

360 Flip Stance

Basically, the stances for a 360 flip is generally the same as the varial kickflip. Place your back foot on the tail of the skateboard, with the ball of your foot on the upper edge, near the opposite corner of the tail from the side you are standing on. Putting your toes on the far, outer corner of the tail will give you an added scoop and help rotate the board 360 degrees.

Your front foot should go in a kickflip position, with your toes on a 45 degree angle away from your body, about halfway into the board, and about 3-4 inches behind the front truck bolts. If you need to flip it more, adjust your foot closer to the edge of the skateboard or further back towards the tail, until the board begins to flip right.

How to 360 Flip

Begin the trick by bending your knees and shifting your weight to your back foot. Once the board pops, scoop your back foot backwards, kicking it behind you, while kicking a kickflip motion with your front foot. The board will then spin a 360 pop shove it and a kickflip, all at once. Once you see grip tape after the board has flipped, catch the board and land, bending your knees as you hit the ground to cushion the landing.

A 360 Flip Problem

A very common problem when learning how to 360 flip on a skateboard is throwing the 360 flip out in front of you and catching the board with one foot, or even throwing the board so far in front of you, that your not even close to landing even one foot on the board , let alone both your feet.

To stop this360 flip  problem, you really have to commit to the trick and not be afraid of anything that could possibly happen if you land wrong. If you can block all that out and just act like it’s as simple as a kickflip, then you will have no problem keeping the board under you and actually giving you the possibility of landing the trick.

Learning how to 360 flip and landing them consistently will improve your skateboarding ability exponentially, as the 360 is a difficult trick for most skateboarders to get a good handle on. You should also be able to learn how to hard flip on a skateboard, if you don’t know how to already. If you do, check out some other skateboard tricks.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Trick Guides | No Comments »

How to Laser Flip on a Skateboard

October 17th, 2009

Learning how to laser flip on a skateboard should be fairly easy to do if you have mastered how to inward heelflip.

If you haven’t mastered the inward heelflip, you will probably have a very difficult time learning how to laser flip, simply because you won’t know how the motion of the trick really has to be performed.  This laser flip is an advanced trick and can take a very long time to learn, and even longer time to master.

Laser Flip Stance

Setting up for the trick is exactly the same as setting up for an inward heelflip.  Your front foot should be 4-5 inches behind the front truck bolts with your toes hanging off the opposite side of the board from the side you are standing on.  You should have your back foot on the tail with the ball of your foot at the upper middle edge of the skateboard.  You may need to move your front foot back towards the tail even more, to ensure you are able to kick your back foot backwards as hard as possible.

How to Laser Flip

Begin the laser flip by bending your knees and shifting your weight to your back foot.  Right before you even pop the tail, begin to kick your front foot out as hard and far as possible, while scooping and kicking your back foot backwards as hard as possible.

The board should do a 360 pop shove it while also incorporating a heelflip.  As soon as you see the tail of the skateboard reaching your back foot and the grip tape flipping over, you should  begin to lower your feet to land the trick.

Landing the Laser Flip

Catch the board and extend your legs until you reach the ground.  Once the board hits the ground, begin to bend your knees to cushion the landing and roll away.

Remember to always commit to the trick, in order to prevent your back foot from landing on the ground instead of on the skateboard.  Also, make sure to get your feet out of the way after you kick your feet, so the board doesn’t get caught up in your feet, causing you to fall.

Now that you know how to laser flip on a skateboard, you should be well on your way to doing all your flatland skateboard tricks down stairs.  You can also learn something a little different, like how to hardflip.  Doing your tricks down sets of stairs is the only way to take your street skateboard tricks to the next level.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Trick Guides | No Comments »

How to Inward Heelflip on a Skateboard

October 16th, 2009

After mastering the heelflip and the pop shove it, you can try putting both tricks into one, learning how to inward heelflip on a skateboard.  The inward heelflip is also known as the varial heelflip, but I think inward heelflip fits the trick better.

Inward Heelflip Stance

To set your feet up to do an inward heelflip, you should place your back foot with the ball of your foot on the middle, upper edge of the tail of the skateboard.  You should then place your foot in the same position as heelflip, with your toes hanging off the edge of the skateboard about 5-6 inches behind the front truck bolts.  When figuring out how to inward heelflip on a skateboard and you can’t get a good flip to the trick, you might want to try moving your front foot back towards your back foot, to see if that helps out at all.

How to Inward Heelflip

Begin the trick by bending your knees and shifting your weight to your back foot.  As you shift your weight, pop the skateboard pressuring your back foot down and backwards.  You should also be dragging your front foot forward while kick your foot out in front of you as far as you can.  If you don’t kick your foot out far enough, the skateboard might flip and hit your foot.

After the board completes and entire pop shove it and a heelflip, all at once, you should be able to see grip tape.  Catch the board, landing with your front foot on the back truck bolts and your back foot on the nose of the skateboard, or on the front truck bolts.  If you landed with the board the opposite way, you probably didn’t get the pop shove it into the trick.

Inward Heelflip Problems

The biggest problem you can run into when trying to learn how to inward heelflip is not kicking your foot hard enough and far enough.  You don’t really need to worry about turning the board for a pop shove it, as your back foot will naturally spin a pop shove it.  Just make sure you flip the board, then get your foot out of the skateboards way, so you can get the entire flip.

Another problem you may run into when learning how to land an inward heelfip, is landing with one foot off the skateboard.  The only reason this happens is because you don’t commit to the trick.  You really have to give the trick a %100 effort when setting up, flipping the board, and landing, or else you probably won’t get to the point where you can consistently land an inward heelflip.  Commit to the trick from the beginning, and you’ll have a much easier time learning how to inward heelflip.

Now that you know how to inward heelflip on a skateboard, master the trick and all your other basic skateboard tricks.  Once you can do inward heelflips, move on to learn how to laser flip on a skateboard.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Trick Guides | No Comments »

How to Varial Kickflip on a Skateboard

October 14th, 2009

Learning how to varial kickflip on a skateboard is very easy, if you know how to kickflip and how to pop shove it.

The Varial Kickflip Stance

To begin you need to place your back foot on the tail, with the ball of your foot at the upper middle edge of the tail, just like you would for a pop shove it.  Then place your front foot 2-3 inches behind the front truck bolts, on an angle off the board the same side you are standing on, just like you would put your front foot for a kickflip.

How to Varial Kickflip

Begin the trick by bending your knees and shifting your weight to your back foot.  As you slap the tail to the ground, begin to kick your back foot behind you to get the shove it rotation going, while dragging your front foot up and off the upper corner of the skateboard, causing the board to flip like a kickflip.  This will combine both the kickflip and the pop shove it, resulting in a varial kiclfip.

Landing a Varial Kickflip

When your up above the skateboard as the board is rotating a varial kickflip, you will need to watch for the board to complete a 180 degree turn of the pop shove it and then finish flipping the kickflip.  As soon as you see the grip tape, catch the board and plant your feet on the truck bolts to ensure a clean, solid landing.  Landing on the bolts will also prevent you from breaking the skateboard, along with bending your knees to cushion the landing.

Varial Kickflip Problems

Some problems you may encounter is under or over flipping the kickflip part, or maybe you are under or over turning the pop shove it part of the varial kickflip.  No matter what you are doing wrong, you need to take time to learn the trick and time it out correctly.  Simply flipping the trick until you land it won’t work, because the problem will progress.  Just concentrate on how you place your feet, how you move your feet and body, and use your knowledge to figure out what you need to manipulate in order to land varial kickflips all day, everyday.

Now that you know how to varial kickflip on a skateboard, simply add another front-side pop shove it into the trick and you should be able to learn how to 360 flip on a skateboard.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Trick Guides | No Comments »

« Older Entries