What do skateboarding and global health have in common? | Hacker News Reader

What do skateboarding and global health have in common?

gatesfoundation.org

36 pointsReedx14 comments

I have such a deep love for skateboarding. I go through bouts of depression that seemingly nothing can pull me out of, but stepping on my board always parts the clouds.

But, it’s tricky. Partaking in it and becoming so wrapped up in its subculture can pull a kid, if left without proper mentors, into a very self-destructive world. At least that’s been my experience. It’s a world of extremes, both physically and behaviorally. I’ve seen the subculture (well, its negative sides) destroy a few people in my 25 years as a skateboarder.

I on the other hand, much like the article highlights for these kids, have no idea where I would be if not for skateboarding. I truly believe it saved me. It kept me active and pushing (pun!) towards a goal my entire adolescence, when academic pursuits meant nothing. Without it I likely would have fallen into something more destructive and anti-social.

That aside the lessons I see it imparting on kids are hard to find in team-based sports. Self-reliance, learning how to mute the fear and self-doubt in your inner monologue, persistence...these are hard lessons to get in one sitting, but they’re ever-present in skating.

As a middle aged man I use skateboarding solely for exercise and the dopamine rush. If I went to the gym I would be bored to tears. I go to the skate park and just pump around in the bowl as hard as I can for a few hours. It's great. I'm on the carve and grind program.

Ah, I like that. I actually try to go to the gym to keep my leg strength up _for_ skateboarding. I partially blame my passion for programming (i.e. sitting for long stretches of time) for it. Realistically, I know it's partially my age catching up with me, though, I'd rather not admit that ;).

I used to skateboard in my youth, and have moved on to roller skating for reasons of accessibility of locations and lining up with my children's interests. I love it, I look forward to it, it's embarrassing to admit it to people I know, but such is the level of enjoyment of it, the embarrassment is far outweighed by the desire to share my enthusiasm.

I recently stumbled across the documentary United Skates, which was both uplifting and depressing at the same time. It does a beautiful job of, amongst other things, demonstrating the value of a pastime that requires discipline in order to achieve the adrenaline-buzz payoff, and the way such a pastime can get in the way of less-socially-acceptable alternative life choices.

I'm too old for it to seem appropriate to say this, but I fucking love roller skating. Going to a rink for a session is like entering another world, and "normality" is paused and disappears into insignificance for the duration. It's wonderful.

(One of the things that put me off skateboarding at a certain period of my life was a 'skateboard nose strike to the gooch' upon attempting a kickflip. Coulda been worse, didn't want to risk it...)

Which documentary?

A friend of mine is addicted to running. Says it gives him an actual "high". When I asked how long until it stopped being a painful activity (because for me it hurts to run) he said 2years! So, if commit to 2 years of pain, maybe, if my body reacts the same as his, running will turn from pain to pleasure. That's a hard pill to swallow.

For me, it took about a year before I was surprised to discover I was looking forward to a run rather than dreading it.

35 years later, it's now a pleasant part of my day. (I don't run particularly far, fast or to exhaustion.) It has some consequences, like my feet are a bit deformed now (!) giving me problems with shoes, but it's an ok tradeoff. One day I'll be forced to quit, not looking forward to that.

> Which documentary?

United Skates (I did mention it above)

> That aside the lessons I see it imparting on kids are hard to find in team-based sports. Self-reliance, learning how to mute the fear and self-doubt in your inner monologue, persistence...these are hard lessons to get in one sitting, but they’re ever-present in skating.

Well said, agree 100%.

Offtopic, I have a personal concern in this. Could you please email me? (See my profile)

Sent.

Love skateboarding. I'm not good, but I still enjoy it. Skate videos are truly works of art. After trying to skate and even just pop an ollie, you truly realize the amount of skill and work goes into these videos. It's so easy to just get lost in these, the different skate spots, the crazy antics, and just the immersion in a different person's world.

https://youtu.be/F2Ew-i8a7cg

I have NEVER been good at skateboarding, but what I found and loved very swiftly was the openness to trying and failing. From the outside it can look scary and intimidating but I only found people friendly, welcoming once you try something. Everyone in skateboarding fails, and fails multiple times before achieving what they wanted to do - and they celebrate that failure - which I found very refreshing.

This year I took my young son to a skate park to play on his scooter and loved how welcoming all the people there way. YMMV but my experience has always been positive.

It's a lot easier to go downhill than to go up.

Although, going downhill often ends up hurting more.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com