[03.24.22]
Went out for 45 mins today. It's still sad spring weather.
It kind of clicked.
I still suffer from all the previous problems I had like not raising my back foot high enough or popping right in the middle, but I'm feeling positive this time.
It's like my mind stopped telling me what to do.
There was no dissonance between my head and my body - everything was together.
I wasn't focused on the fear of falling or getting hurt.
It felt good.
The thing I did differently was focusing on popping the board with minimal effort as if I were trying to ollie and lifting my legs.
I loosened up the way I squatted, putting less force going down in order to have the energy to catch the board after the flip.
I'm also starting to "feel" when I think the trick is turning out right. It's just like when I learned the ollie or pop shuvit.
All I need is trust!
[03.05.22]
Oh hey, we're in the new year! Happy 2022. In March.
It's winter. Every parking garage near my place has high security and frankly, I don't feel like trying to bring all my gear to skate there to be kicked out in 15 mins.
I've gone to skate all of 7 times in the January and February.
My heelflips are at the same level of consistency as where I left off in Dec ↓
The days I focus less on the heelflips, I can land them. The days I worry more about them, they feel weird.
Hopefully when spring comes, I'll get them consistent rolling. For now, since I'm going to indoor skateparks I'm trying to use the facilities to get my moneys' worth. I'll start a new page on boardslides and maybe some ramp stuff!
[12.01.21]
I watched a video right before skating today to tweak my technique a bit more.
I think I got confused between dragging and kicking the board out. Like I started to doubt whether or not I should be kicking it. It's kind of both and I was just focused on doing one with my new shoes.
When I was learning shuvs many moons ago, my confidence in landing depended on how controlled the spin of the board was. It's harder for these heelflips to feel consistent but the idea is the same.
Today I could actually flick consistently with the same amount of force a few times in a row! The difference between today and a few months ago is that my whole body is involved in this motion: with balance, mentioned in the last entry and the back foot being active in trying to land. The back foot is actually coming up higher than before.
One of the keys to maintaining power in the flick was to kind of "hear" the rhythm of the trick. I remembered this from the ollie: the solid tap of the pop, the slight delay when I jumped up, and then the sound of both wheels landing.
Compared to the ollie, the heelflip's sound is faster, like double the speed. In my mind, that rhythm reminds me to flick my front foot faster and also come back just as fast. I know when to expect the board when it lands, which helps my brain and body prepare for it.
These past few weeks I was treating like a lottery. It's like I was praying, "Maybe I'll land it this time!" without thinking too much. ...That's not really a great way to get a trick down. At the same time, the frustration of not being able to get it after so much practice propelled me into reviewing the techniques again.
I have to tell myself that it's normal to get frustrated with this trick though. There are so many things to think about in a split second. My body is still trying to get used to processing all of it. The ratio of landing is still pretty dismal, but all in all, I'm way better (and possibly cooler) than I was when I started :)
[11.28.21 - 11.30.21]
My flick is kind of getting messed up with new shoes and I've been a little frustrated for the past few days, like wtf really I've been practicing forever and I still can't land it T_T
At the end of my practice, I started to flick it out instead of up like an ollie. I got two really nice ones in a row landing with just the front foot. The back foot wasn't too far behind! That gave me some hope. No one wants to be credit carded, even as a female!
I've also been trying to understand where to put my weight. When I do a stationary ollie and I pop kicking the foot back a little bit, the ollie levels out. It feels like I can keep the board underneath me when I do that for the heelflip too.
It's like a minor weight shift from the middle of the board to front foot -> back foot -> back to center (before landing).
That's not me.
Source: https://youtu.be/epiW8FC3TSQ
I noticed that the head has to follow the arc of jumping forward just like you would do an ollie if you're doing it moving. If not, the back foot doesn't end up going with the board.
It's fun experimenting the minute details. I'm landing better in general compared to a few weeks ago and starting to get more control once I really focus :)
[11.14.21 - 11.27.21]
I went to visit my family to escape the cold for a few weeks. I have another week left. Some recent progress is that I've been able to land at least 1 or 2 with both feet within a 30 min sesh!! Very exciting stuff compared to last month!
I did a lot of them stationary for the first few days, but I had some kind of ugly falls. When there's no momentum moving forward and you land with both feet without control, the weight shift makes the board fly out from under you. I fell back badly and landed once or twice on my wrists. I was legit worried once because it could have been worse which means I need to learn to fall better making them into a fist when I fall and just do them moving now that I've got the form.
When I jump up, I feel like I have springyness in my legs to jump straight up with enough power to pop the board and flick. I noticed that if I can kick out fast and come back, the front foot makes it back to the board for a stable landing. I feel excited when I can "feel" that the trick is right. I had one day when I was jumping really high with new shoes I wasn't comfortable with the day before. Confidence varies from day to day but I know that I'm slowly getting them!
And one thing about shoes - I've had canvas shoes up to this point and the lack of padding isn't great for my joints. I feel it when I jump over higher objects or just down short stairs. The new shoes I have are Nike SB shoes. It is a fine pair and a lot of people gave me compliments. They have thicker soles than my Vans canvas shoes, but less board feel. It felt totally different - messed up my heelflips the first day because I just couldn't flick them right. I was kind of upset, but I felt like it absorbed shock better when I landed. My foot hurt less when I landed sideways on the board. My back foot would have a bruise with thinner soles from the last shoes I had. It's all good now though.
[10.28.21]
It's been raining a lot lately and then temperatures dropped a lot. I guess I won't have to worry about my groceries melting at any point from now on :(
I feel real happy when other people also get excited when I land tricks, especially someone who doesn't talk to other people much!
I'm more comfortable falling on the heelflips now. I think I can land them more often if I bring my legs up when I jump and try to keep my shoulders straight when I land.
I am going to shift my attention to getting them moving and write the next entries about that :)
[10.24.21]
Weather: COLD but Sunny. Maybe today's the last nice day of the year :'(
Buuuut....
I LANDED IT. I LANDED MY FIRST HEELFLIP STATIONARY!!!!!!!! FINALLY and I did it twice in a row after that!!!
Counting the breaks, it took 2 MONTHS!!!
(for anyone scrolling down the dates, it's like you didn't take 2 months liar)
(yeah well I had some other tricks to learn too)
I was in a good mood. I said, I'll land it today! I was also pretty comfortable falling.
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