Naomi in the Skatepark

Part 4 - Welcome to Hang Time

I’m having so much fun! I actually laugh during my runs now – which must be more than a little disconcerting for those waiting to drop in…

Speaking of ‘disconcerting for other park users’, I’ve developed an embarrassing affliction. You know that rush of adrenaline you get when you’re about to stack? It doesn’t matter what kind of skating you do, you will know that moment. Most people experience it in silent panic. Not me. I yelp. Friends have joked for years that they know I’ve fallen before I’ve hit the floor because of my pathetic and girly sounding piercing screech.

If you have read my previous two articles, you will understand how utterly humiliating I found it when I started doing it in the skate park. But such is life. It started out only happening when I fell, as always, but then as I became better at the vert, I found that the yelping didn’t stop just because I wasn’t falling – in fact in each run I found myself yelping, at a volume that travelled the entire length of the skatepark, about four times. I was horrified.

The funny thing about all this though is that I’m now thinking that it’s actually a good thing. Bear with me here. Its that moment of fear that can really throw you off, and put you off doing something again but my yelps get it all out of my system right there and then and are slowly turning in to ‘whooping’ now – same thing, same sound, still from the adrenaline rush, but now that there is not so much pressure to do stuff, I’m actually starting to buzz off those moments!

Speaking of those moments, what is it that I’m doing on the ramps now? I hear you ask (play along now). Well boys and girls, I’ve not moved from the vert since returning after the Tony Hawks demo, except for a brief dip into the mini just long enough to remind me that a neglected skill jumps ship. The hand plants that I learned are coming along very nicely, though many yelping opportunities arise from my not always rotating enough before putting feet back on the boards which isn’t a good thing when those boards are vertical and 11 foot from the ground…

Also, I have a coach! Well, not a coach, I lied, but I call him that to annoy him. His name is Ricardo and he is a Vert God. He is better in the vert than I am when I’m daydreaming – and that’s pretty damned good. He is the king of big airs and has been helping me to air higher, and pass the coping. That may seem like not such a big deal but it was something completely out of reach until recently because of my fear of going near the coping. I’ve been ‘holding back’ on the vert so much over the last few years that its difficult to get out of old habits – I had got to the point where I was using little effort because I was afraid of getting too near the coping. I’m now at the point where I sometimes get half of my skates above the top.

Another huge step forwards for me is that I can exit the top of the vert in a respectable manner. This is very new. Until only seven days ago I was throwing myself frontward onto the ledge, usually punching myself in the ribs with the coping, arms thrust over the side, and then heaving one leg up and roll clumsily onto the top. Now I can ride up the vert, calmly place one hand on the top and spin 180º and end up sat happily on the top with my legs dangling in the ramp. Now that girl has style…

Naomi's website: http://www.skatefreestyle.com/

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