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Comment by mycologos | Hacker News Reader

I know relatively little about skateboarding, but there's a certain genius-from-restriction, literally tinkering-in-the-garage romance to Mullen's skateboarding journey that I really like. From Wikipedia [1]:

> When his family moved to a farm in a remote part of Florida, Mullen began perfecting his flatground techniques in the family garage; he has said that the isolation and lack of terrain naturally guided him towards freestyle skateboarding. Mullen cites July 1979–August 1980 as his "most creative time," a time when he was predominantly a loner who counted the cows of the family farm as his best friends....[i]n 1980, the 14-year-old Mullen entered the Oasis Pro competition, defeating the world champion, Steve Rocco.

Every now and then I think about trying skateboarding again, but I wince just thinking about all that force on early-30s knees.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Mullen

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> Every now and then I think about trying skateboarding again, but I wince just thinking about all that force on early-30s knees.

Yeah, I think skateboarding is probably what KILLED my knees, and I cannot imagine how I would pick up anything BUT mini ramps and verts now, and even then, probably very little air, and just grinds, slides, and carves.

I was never a pretty skater, but my signature trick was a double kick indy on flat. It was ugly, it was way to fast, but it was something I could do that no one else around me could. Sure I couldn't nollie inward heel, or 360 flip, or tail slide, but I could double kick to indy. I'm still look back fondly on the sheer number of attempts before I could land it consistently forsaking learning all the other tricks everyone else was learning, just so I could do something stupid that no one else even wanted to.

>just so I could do something stupid that no one else even wanted to

this pretty much sums up the joys of skating

> Yeah, I think skateboarding is probably what KILLED my knees ...

Are stunt scooters safer in this regard? Asking because I just bought one for our 7-year-old son. I've been involved in jump-and-run sports all my life, but I do feel somewhat uneasy. This is Kids with Only Two Knees, Wrists and Ankles and Only One Skull meeting Really Hard Surfaces, hm.

Also, should I be worried that Bad Influences characteristic to the skateboard/scooter scene are going to turn my kid into a junkie?

BTW, in Early 1990s Estonia, during the strange mixture of post-communist socialism and predatory capitalism, essentially only one kind of skateboard was available. So this was pretty much all you could see; these were everywhere, and sold with a ridiculously low price: https://bit.ly/2SihYmd

As mentioned above I skated for more than 10 years and have perfectly fine knees (and all other joints as far as I can tell). And I did crazy stuff, like jumping down stairs higher than myself etc. My younger brother fucked up his knees by playing handball indoors (rapid changes of direction are bad).

So I think it really depends on the individual, and what they are doing. Some people destroy thwir knees by stepping out of bed the wrong way.

Make sure the kid warms up and does stretches before going for anything crazy, that helps a lot.

Scooters are probably a lower risk activity in some ways, but with that come some of the lack of positives you get in the nature of playing. In Skateboarding, you're constantly trying to figure out how to do stuff and how not to hurt yourself too badly doing it. While there are some scummy skaters out there, they aren't going to turn your kid into a junkie any more than anything else will, if you teach them appropriately, but certainly not at that young an age. Skateboarding has some risks, but is a great social activity, teaches perseverance, and is cool.

There's a kid (12) that comes to the park I skate at regularly with his mom (probably hovering a bit much, but she's alright) and has generally positive influences all around, while progressing very quickly.

> Are stunt scooters safer in this regard?

Nope (or barely so), impact is impact. See https://www.thedailypush.com/footprint-insoles

> Also, should I be worried that Bad Influences characteristic to the skateboard/scooter scene are going to turn my kid into a junkie?

You can't help a teenager having the rebellious feelings ;)

That said, if you're worrying about a cultural aspect being a bad influence, part of the skateboarding crowd is moving towards a healthier lifestyle, because it's the right thing to do if you love skateboarding for what it is (which means you want to skate forever).

The days of Dustin Dollin and Ali Boubala are by and large gone.

Look into Andrew Reynolds and Neen Williams, the latter of which turned his life around 180degs.

Every now and then I think about trying skateboarding again, but I wince just thinking about all that force on early-30s knees

Nah, go for it. I got my start last summer when my kids bought me a board for my 49th birthday.

Their mistake, since now I’m the one dragging them to the skatepark on sunny mornings to beat the hordes of scooter kids.

Lifetime skater here. You hit the nail on the head with the 'genius-from-restriction'. I call it "the Mullen effect"

Every generation has a handful of those skaters that grew up in total isolation. Instagram and other social media has made it less likely that a skater stays fully separated, but those that do still stand out.

The big one of the last generation was Chris Cole, who grew up skating in his driveway with a little ledge he built himself. Similar to Mullen mastering flatground, Cole mastered every single ledge trick. The term "NBD" (Never Been Done) was coined to describe the tricks that only he is known to have done

I skated from 10 to 20 and staeted again with 30. I never had a single issue with my knees. Usually I can feel my ankles after a long session, but that isn't really something.

If you are worried about your knees there are certainly low impact tricks (most of the freestyle stuff) that you could start with. This is also a great way to start, because you learn to control your board before actually trying stuff that might hurt your joints.

The thing I love about skateboarding is that you can do it everywhere, and you can do it alone. It never gets old and it changes the way you look at places in a good way.

> Every now and then I think about trying skateboarding again, but I wince just thinking about all that force on early-30s knees.

Warm up diligently, skate respectful of your body.

Lots of tips at https://www.thedailypush.com including a very recent post about impact.

Good posture, some workout, and proper insoles go a long way towards being able to skate forever.

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