Justin Hocking - Riding Street Courses

1. CHAPTER ONE
   STREET COURSES
2. CHAPTER TWO
   STARTING OUT: BASIC TRICKS
3. CHAPTER THREE
   THE NEXT LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE TRICKS
4. CHAPTER FOUR
   ADVANCED STREET TRICKS

Published in 2017 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2017 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Michalski, Pete. | Hocking, Justin.

Title: Riding street courses / Peter Michalski and Justin Hocking.

Description: First Edition. | New York : Rosen Central, 2017. | Series: (Skateboarding Tips and Tricks) | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience: Grades: 7-12.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016008905| ISBN 9781477788769 (Library Bound) | ISBN 9781477788745 (Paperback) | ISBN 9781477788752 (6-pack)

Subjects: LCSH: Skateboarding-Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC GV859.8 .M544 2017 | DDC 796.22--dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016008905

Manufactured in China

CHAPTER ONE
STREET COURSES

CHAPTER TWO
STARTING OUT: BASIC TRICKS

CHAPTER THREE
THE NEXT LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE TRICKS

CHAPTER FOUR
ADVANCED STREET TRICKS

I f you love to skateboard, you are not alone. Millions of your fellow skaters are out there, all around the world, taking it to the streets and the skateparks. Skating has never been more popular.

Nor has it ever been so easy to get out there and do it. Plenty of skaters use the already existing built environment to their advantage. Even better, growing public support has helped many communities everywhere build new skateparks. Chances are that your local skatepark probably has some kind of street course in it, or at least a few common street-style obstacles. These are the parts of a skatepark that imitate the obstacles skaters encounter on regular streets and sidewalks, like ledges, curbs, and handrails.

One major benefit of street courses versus skating on public streets is the ability to focus and not have to worry about traffic, pedestrians, or the occasional angry business and property owners. You may already have noticed many such people who may not be open to having their private property (or even the public space near them) used by skaters. Nationwide, police also seem to have mixed responses to skating.

A skater slides her board along the top of a rail, one of the typical structures found in skatepark street courses. Riding street courses is one of the most popular genres of skateboarding.

Perhaps you have developed some skating skills already and have even taken a shot at riding around a street course near you. However well you skate already, this book will provide a refresher for already seasoned skaters and plenty of tips and useful information for newbies. From basic through medium and intermediate tricks, to more advanced and technical ones, this book will help you take your street skating skills to another level. Regardless of whether you progress quickly or take your time, remember to, above all, have fun.

T here is nothing quite like skating on the street. There is something free and spontaneous about it, tackling new obstacles as you go and finding previously undiscovered skate spots.

Things not originally designed for skating, like stairs, handrails, ledges, the curb, and the street itself, become prime territory for challenging yourself and trying out new tricks. It lets you be creative and envision your environment in a way that non-skaters usually dont. Street skating can be thought of as creating a new and personalized skatepark wherever you go.

But there are lots of risks involved, too. You might get hassled by people who dont want you skating on their property. And if you get hurt, there might not be anyone around to take care of you. For lots of people, these risks only add to the thrill of street skating. For many riders of earlier eras, one of the lures was the rebellion and indepedence of skating. Nowdays, skating is more a mainstream sport and pastime, and less so the rebellious activity of the late 20th century.

With all the positive aspects of street skating, you might wonder why you should bother with street courses in a skatepark at all. Theyre designed to resemble actual street spots like stairs, ledges, and handrails, but theyre not the real thing. And you sometimes have to wait in line and pay a fee to skate. Street courses sometimes get really crowded, too, so youll have to wait your turn and watch out for other skaters, which can get frustrating.

Before street coursesand skateparks in generalwere widely bulit and became popular, the most common venues most skaters took advantage of were their local sidewalks and streets.

But skating in street courses has a lot of benefits, too. As skatepark construction technology improves, some truly incredible and spacious street courses are being built in places like Chandler, Arizona, and Louisville, Kentucky. Packed with perfectly shaped quarter-pipes (ramps that are half of a half-pipe); long, smooth ledges; and uniquely shaped rails, you wont find these kinds of extraordinary concrete wonderlands on any random street. This new generation of street course allows skaters to hit a number of different obstacles in one run, linking trick after trick after trick.

Also, if youre interested in skateboarding competitively, most street contests actually take place in skatepark street courses. One of the biggest and most famous street contests takes place at the Skate Park of Tampa (S.P.O.T.). Every year S.P.O.T. organizes an amateur contest, and thousands of young guns from all over the country come just to enter. This is a proving ground for younger skaters seeking sponsorship by a company and hoping to move up in the ranks of the skate world.

Most skaters, though, dont take contests too seriously. No one really wants to beat another skater like players would in a basketball or football game. Most people enter just to do their best and to get a chance to hang out with other skaters. Thats the other reason skateparks are greattheyre a centralized meeting place where you can join up with your friends or meet new people. Finally, street courses are generally safer than street skating. Theres usually someone around to help you if you get hurt. And while you have to deal with lots of other skaters, you wont have to worry about getting hassled by police or property owners.

The truth is, skating in the actual streets and skating in street courses are both a lot of fun. Just because you do one doesnt mean you cant do the other. In fact, doing both will help you become a more well-rounded skateboarder.