Not Motivated to Skateboard? 10 Tips to Get Stoked Again

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I recently visited an awesome new skatepark. I was thrilled and actually felt nervous. I really wanted to rock the bowls and ride, only to find myself not being motivated to skate.

I’ve been in sort of a skateboard depression lately. My legs just don’t work and I don’t get stoked like I used to. I actually talked to a local skater over there and when I told him I didn’t feel like skating he was baffled.

“Why don’t you feel like skating? It’s the best thing ever!”. I can’t be the only one that doesn’t feel like skateboarding once everwhile.

10 Tips To Get Stoked About Skateboarding

It’s perfectly normal to take a break from skateboarding and it’s not the end of the world. Sometimes your mind is focussed on other things and the stoke isn’t there. Let’s look at the causes of boredom and how to get stoked again.

1. Take a Break From Skateboarding

It’s as simple as that. If you don’t feel like skateboarding just stop doing it for a while. There is nothing wrong with focussing on other stuff in your life. Maybe you got a lot going on that is taking away the joy of skateboarding. Deal with that first, and get back into it.

2. Think About Your Last Great Sesh

There is nothing better than a great session, the feeling is amazing and hard to describe to those who don’t ride. Picture one of your best sessions and imagine how great it was, how you feel about it, and why it got you stoked for days.

You have these peak moments in skateboarding and you want to re-live that feeling, but for most of us they are rare. When your next session sucks, you wonder why it didn’t go as well as before. It’s normal, you will get that high again if you try.

Look, we can’t all be pros. Sometimes you hit a plateau and you’re not progressing. It happens to all skaters, no matter how good you are. Perhaps you did a perfect ollie but can’t quite get it like last time, maybe you tre-flipped a 5-stairs but can’t nail it down anymore.

If you did it before, you can do it again! Focus on other stuff and stop beating yourself up over your peak moment.

3. Stop Looking At Others, Accept Failure

Now this is a really tough one, we have the tendency of comparing ourselves to others. Sometimes someone is so skilled, you are just in awe and feel mad respect. You don’t even think about it, this skater rocks! Sometimes someone is close to your level, but seems to be way more consistent which gets you frustrated.

The worst is when everyone is progressing and you are not. If this is you, you really need to get back to the basics. Maybe you started doing tricks before you could ride? Learning the fundamentals of skateboarding and mastering them is not that hard, but it will make learning basic skateboard tricks so much easier. Skipping the basics will make it so much harder to progress.

Some people are better than you, some are slighlty better and others are worse. This is not why we skateboard, we skate to express ourselves, to feel good about ourselves and to improve. Mastery is human nature, you want to get better at something and it takes a long, long time.

Skating is also about failure, you fail and fail again. To spin this into something positive, just try and try again. I hate the phrase “there is no try, there is only do”. Try dropping in a vert on day one and see if you do! I’d rather try a lot and finally do, or perhaps come close.

Deal with the disapointments first and try again. This is skateboarding, you try 50 times and maybe you land your trick. Even the pros fail over and over again, before they get it. You only see the succes, not the failures.

And when you do finally land that trick…. stoked for days.

4. A break is Fine, But Sometimes You Need A Kick in The Butt

Taking a break can also lead to not ever skate again, be wary. I’ve almost experience it myself! My break lasted for 10 years and it wasn’t even because I didn’t feel like skating, life just happened. I’ve seen this a lot.

I remember this one guy who was really talented, he stopped skateboarding because he could never be as good as the guys in the 411 videos back in the day.

Probably a terrible example, and maybe he was making a bullshit excuse, but this was 25 years ago and I still remember. I forgot about all the quiters that slammed hard and never returned to the park, bye Felicia.

Oh here’s a funny anecdote. Once one of my friends slammed the vert so hard (not wearing a helmet) that his eyes rolled 720’s, when he came back he was so mad that he threw away his deck and just took off.

The next day he was back and rocked the vert again, Mark you are a legend (he still skates these days).

5. Change The Scenery

Do something different. if you only skate street, try a mini ramp or bowl. If you only ride bowl, do some flatground stuff. Even though you might suck at it, it’s still a fun workout and better than hitting the gym (at least that’s how I feel).

Try riding switch and feel awkward, try everything fakie and laugh about your inability to do basic things. We shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously, so why not have a good laugh. Goofy tricks are fun!

6. Go Out There Anyway

Often I have obligations, work, family, feeling tired, 10 other excuses, and just want to be a couch potato. This happens more often than I realise now that I wrote all this stuff down. The funny thing is when you decide to go to skateboarding anyway, you feel much better about yourself.

Maybe the session isn’t all you wanted but there are always highlights. I’m sure you have this one trick that others love to see, even if it’s just a minor trick.

By going out there and skate, you will feel better most of the times. And if not, you just go again. It will come back eventually.

7. Ride With Others

I think one of the most demotivating thing about skateboarding is skateboarding alone. It’s such a minf*ck. This is also one of the worse suggestions for those who really have no one to skate with, nor the means to go to a skate park.

To place things in perspective, which directly goes against my advice to stop compairing yourself to others….

Rodney Mullen ‘The God of Skateboarding’ used to practice all day long on his own. 9 hours of practice without peers is not for everyone and to be fair, Mullen is not like others.

Skating alone is terrible:

• You don’t get stoked by others
• You skate without rewards, no cheers.
• You don’t push it toi the limit.
• Scooter kids tell you they can do all your tricks on a Playstation (actually happened to me).

Skating alone is horrible, and this might be one of the reasons why I hate going to my local skate park. There are no skateboarders, only scooter kids.

8. Quitting is Not an Option

Skateboardig is not for everyone, few know the feeling of your first kickflip, drop in, Ollie, or whatever. That feeling is unique and to be cherished. If you quite, it will haunt you for the rest of your life.

Many quit on a hard slam, some for good reasons, others just can’t take it. Pain is part of the game and it happens. It will make you a bit wary when you try again, but often skaters just retire and start playing chess instead.

9. Watch Skate Videos

If there is one way to get stoked again, it’s watching skate videos. Watching someone do the most rad stuff imaginable is truly inspiring. While most of us won’t even come near that level, it sure is a good way to get inspired. If you are looking for some awesome skate videos, check out my 40 best skate videos of all time.

10. Take Every Day As Your Last

My last tip is to take every day as if it is the last day you can skate. Eventually that day will come and it couild be sooner than you expect. Set goals, try to land that trick for once instead of bailing. Often the most difficult part of a trick is in your head. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are, everyone has tricks that are some sort of mental block. You can do it but you just won’t commit.

Do it this time, slam, move on, and realize it wasn’t that bad at all.

Conclusion

I wrote this post because I’m in the same boat as you, I just don’t feel like skateboarding right now. It isn’t my first time and it won’t be my last.

I created this huge blog, full of unique tips and testing products to help skateboarders buy the right stuff. But then it hit me, I’m getting older and the local skateboarding community died again in it’s infancy. Super motivating right?

Maybe I’m a bit burned out, maybe I should take a break and focus on something else. I probably should take my own tips seriously, I’m hitting my favorite bowl tomorrow!

To be fair, It hasn’t been easy on all of us. The lockdowns, the working/schooling from home, less social interactions, and the off season usually takes its toll. The solution is pretty simple, just take a break for a while and skate again!

If you suffer from depression, contact a professional or at least talk about it. Losing interest in something you love might be a sign of you not being okay.

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