Understand the Skateboard Language
"Styles of Skateboarding
Flat-ground Skateboarding: Style of skateboarding where the rider performs tricks on the ground and doesn't use any obstacles.
Free-style Skateboarding: An older style of skateboarding where the skater performs technical flatground tricks.
Street Skateboarding: Style of skateboarding done in the streets where the rider skates handrails, stairs, grinding surfaces etc.
Vert Skateboarding: Style of skateboarding where the rider skates vertical ramps.
Parts of a Skateboard
Axle Nut: The lock nuts that attach to the trucks.
Baseplate: The metal base of a truck.
Bushings: Plastic rings which help the truck to turn. They come in soft, medium, and hard. 2 are needed for each truck.
Concave: The curve in the top part of the deck that helps the skater to ride and flip the board.
Deck: The wooden part of the skateboard that the rider puts his/her feet on.
Grip Tape: Sand paper used on decks to prevent your feet from slipping off.
Hanger: The metal part of the truck which grinds across surfaces.
Hardware: Nuts and bolts used to attach the trucks to the deck. Come in a set of 8 (4 for each truck).
King Pin: The metal bolt in the centre of the truck.
Lock Nuts: Nuts that have a plastic ring inside so they "lock" onto the trucks.
Nose: Front of the skateboard which is curved upwards.
Pivot Bushing: The bottom end of the truck that pivots inside of the pivot cup when the skater turns.
Pivot Cup: The hollow burrow on the base plate where the pivot bushing is held.
Ply: Refers to the amount of plywood layers in a deck. 7 is standard.
Rail: The side of the skateboard.
Risers: Plastic or rubber plates used to give the wheels more clearance from the deck. Can help to prevent wheel bite.
Tail: Back of the skateboard which is curved upwards.
Truck: The metal part of the skateboard that allows the board to turn. 2 are needed per skateboard (one in front and one in back).
Washer: Metal ring used between the bearing and the axle nut, which helps the wheel to move more freely. Optional.
Other Definitions
Abec: A common unit to measure the quality of bearings. A higher abec means better quality.
Bowl: Similar to a half-pipe, but the slopes connect around, usually in a circle or other design.
Coping: The top edge of the skateboard ramp or half-pipe where the skater grinds or stalls. Usually made of metal.
Durometer: The hardness of a skateboard wheel, which is sometimes shown on the wheel.
Fun-box: A set of structures which includes a ledge and one or more ramps.
Gap: A distance between two objects that a skater performs a trick over.
Half-pipe: A "U" shaped structure which includes two ramps on each side and usually has a flat section between. Does not have to have a vertical incline.
Hand-rail: Used by skaters to grind or slide across or perform tricks over.
Ledge: A rectangular structure that the skater can perform tricks on, off, across, or over.
Mega-ramp: A bigger scale of a half-pipe.
Mini-decks: A mini-deck is less than 7.5" wide.
Mini-ramps: Ramps that are small and do not have a vertical incline.
Pressure Cracks: Cracks which appear in the deck from being under stress.
Pyramid: A structure which includes ramps from all sides surrounding a ledge.
Quarter-pipe: A single ramp that slopes up as much as a vertical incline.
Urethane: A popular substance which wheels are made from.
Vert Ramp: A ramp that has a vertical incline near the coping.
Wax: Used to make edges of fun-boxes, ledges, rails etc. slippery so the skater can grind across without coming to a stop.
Wheel Bite: Happens when the rider leans on the side of the skateboard, causing the wheel to burn into the deck."
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Sports Psychology - Never Give Up
"Lets begin by having a brief discussion about what sports psychology is about. For an athlete, clinical sports psychology is as much about a positive mindset as sound technique. Clinical sports psychology will assist the athlete to remove or conquer a variety of psychological symptoms and challenges they would normally struggle with and help them gain psychological, behavioural and cognitive qualities which will develop or improve the athletes physical capabilities and generate psychological qualities that will encourage the athlete in their goals for improved sports performance.
Besides being sports people, athletes are human. They have issues of anxiety, self-esteem and sometimes poor emotions just like everyone else and their symptoms are much the same or similar as those experienced by the general public. Overall, the athletes main concern is sporting success. Problems of anger, public speaking at interviews, self-esteem, alcohol, drug related problems, peer pressure all blot their life beside their sporting career. The athlete may additionally suffer from a fear of success, lack of motivation, lapses in concentration and other problematic conditions which may impair their performance.
Sports psychology can enable positive change for the athlete who needs quick results and more easily achieve potential with a balanced mindset. By adopting a positive attitude the athlete will improve motivation and have greater discipline in training habits.
It must be stressed, sports psychology cannot make someone without talent become a top-class athlete, but it will considerably help an athlete with talent to develop their skills and potential.
I'll start with a question that can change your way of thinking about your attitude toward success. Here it is. Do you think that those who appear to be more talented or successful than you are in fact more skilful or superior than you or are more expert than you?
Statistics don't always tell the whole story!
Often they will know something more than you, they may be slightly fitter or technically better than you. They may be good bluster and appear to be more than they really are. Don't be intimidated. More often than not a small difference, maybe a second quicker than you is all it takes for them to thrive and go on to be a champion.
The difference between good and great is very small. When you are on your personal quest for excellence, you must never give up. By setting goals, being consistent in your approach, never taking your eye from the prize, taking notice of all the small details in the nature of your game and then modelling excellence in the world winners, will lead to higher levels of success for yourself. Be curious what it is that so-and-so is doing that is different to you which is creating a better result?
You may remember dozens of situations when you have experienced a set-back when all it took was a tiny percentage in your opponent for success to occur. Starting today, be aware of every tiny item you can in your sport that will create hunger and desire in you and lead you towards your greater success. Difficult? Maybe. Impossible? No."
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Realistic Tips to Jump Higher
"Jump training is essential if you want to be a good basketball player. The heights that you can reach dictate how you are as a player, and even as an athlete overall. The traditional and proven and tested way to getting effective jump training is via weight training. This is a grueling method but it has been proven to work without fail. It's understandable how this method may not be the most appealing to athletes however, when in doubt, you need to revert to the original ethics of exercise. Remember what your gym instructor used to tell you all the time? Yup, that's right. Chase the burn. If it's painful to a certain the degree, then it's almost always designed to work and be successful.
This traditional method usually includes exercises such as lunges, squats, toe raises and leg presses. This requires heavy loads in terms of weight requirements. The focus here is to build strength and develop the so-called "jumping muscles". Thus, heavy weights with low or few repetitions are advised.
While reading on, you might probably be wondering why this is an effective way to increase vertical jump and why it counts as a sensible jump training. The principle of the thing is pretty simple. The reason why traditional weight lifting is sensible for jump training is because vertical jumping relies heavily on one thing: that's power. Do you still remember the common formula for power back in physics class? Power is the product of speed being multiplied to strength. That's exactly the reason why weight training is essential.
If you're still a bit skeptical about this, just try to think back on the good things that good weight training gives out to you. Weight training improves your maximal strength overall and that is the key ingredient to getting you to learn how to jump higher - because you're equipped with the power that you technically need to nail it.
Take note that traditional weight training is best recommended for beginners in strength training. This not only improves their overall physical strength as it is, it also equips them with the power that is usually the prerequisite in how to jump higher. Learning how to jump higher not only involves a lot of practice, but a lot of power to come along with it too. Traditional weight training provides this to the a beginner athlete and in more ways than one; yup, you got that right - will increase that athlete's vertical jump.
This traditional method usually includes exercises such as lunges, squats, toe raises and leg presses. This requires heavy loads in terms of weight requirements. The focus here is to build strength and develop the so-called "jumping muscles". Thus, heavy weights with low or few repetitions are advised.
While reading on, you might probably be wondering why this is an effective way to increase vertical jump and why it counts as a sensible jump training. The principle of the thing is pretty simple. The reason why traditional weight lifting is sensible for jump training is because vertical jumping relies heavily on one thing: that's power. Do you still remember the common formula for power back in physics class? Power is the product of speed being multiplied to strength. That's exactly the reason why weight training is essential.
If you're still a bit skeptical about this, just try to think back on the good things that good weight training gives out to you. Weight training improves your maximal strength overall and that is the key ingredient to getting you to learn how to jump higher - because you're equipped with the power that you technically need to nail it.
Take note that traditional weight training is best recommended for beginners in strength training. This not only improves their overall physical strength as it is, it also equips them with the power that is usually the prerequisite in how to jump higher. Learning how to jump higher not only involves a lot of practice, but a lot of power to come along with it too. Traditional weight training provides this to the a beginner athlete and in more ways than one; yup, you got that right - will increase that athlete's vertical jump.
Do keep in mind, that these are just a few tips to jump higher. There are always going to be new methods and tips out there to increase your vertical." |
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