dropping in

Dropping in.

If you ride a skateboard you know what it is. In case you don't, dropping in is how a skateboard rider enters a ramp or pool from a horizontal surface.

The best way to think of it is like an empty swimming pool. Imagine you are standing on the side of the pool, on the flat surface. You want to skate down the side of the pool and up the other side.

You could just climb into the pool and start at the bottom, but that would be too hard. So you drop in. You just position your board with the rear wheels over the edge and the front wheels in the air. Your board, assuming it has a bit of an angle in the tail, will be pointing up at about a 45 degree angle. Then you just hold the board in place with you back foot, put your front foot on the board which is still pointing upwards. Then all you do is bend the knees, lean forward and stamp down with your front foot. The last bit is by far the hardest.

Dropping in, when it doesn't work, hurts. A lot. Like a everything, it gets easier with practice.

The hardest part is dealing with your own mind. Your mind, quite sensibly, will probably tell you that jumping head first off a concrete wall is not a good idea. It will probably urge you to go feet first.

Going feet first is not a good idea. What happens is your feet are ripped from under you and you either slam your head against the wall or end up falling hard on you back, or both. I've done both lots of times.

Right now I can drop in. Just. And only on a smallish ramp of about 5 foot. I first tried it after skating for about four days and that was where I learned that falling 3 feet and landing on my back really hurts.

Soon I will try and drop in to a proper 'bowl'. The idea terrifies me, which is the best part.