My goal this time around was to begin making turns with the board, so I have some sense of control over where I'm going rather than just letting the board take me in whichever direction its headed. Now that I've completed my final week of learning for the 20time project, I can say - with a fair amount of certainty - that I feel comfortable stepping onto the board. This week I once again ventured outside the comforts of my backyard and went to a local park to practice my skating. |
The advice provided to me by a colleague a couple of weeks ago really proved to be essential this time around. When trying to make turns, I let my body guide my direction - when turning left, I leaned left into the board, and then when turning right I shifted by head/body towards the right. Overall, I feel content with my progress this week. Not only was I able to make slight turns, but I felt more comfortable stepping onto the board, taking larger strides when pushing, and I just also felt like I had better control of my direction. I've included a video of the progress I made this week. I didn't get as much footage as I wanted because my recorder (aka little sister) became distracted as she collected bugs for a bio project; however, I did manage to collect evidence of me being able to make those slight turns right and left. Although my five weeks of learning for the 20time project are over, I still plan to continue practicing and learning how to skateboard. My next steps will definitely include me stepping away from practicing on flat, nicely paved, and isolated surfaces such as the basketball courts I have practiced on. Additionally, I plan on gaining practice learning how to cruise for more extended periods of time. | |