It's there such thing as being too old for skateboarding?

Hadn't skated in about six years (and it was only a few times and before that it was college 12 years ago).  I'm turning 37 in a month. Decided to get the board back out.  Day one I was squirrelly till I realized that I'm 25 lbs heavier and adjusted my trucks.  Second day I was starting to really get some flow back in a 4' bowl and relearned several stalls.  Today I went to drop in switch on a 3' bowl and of course slammed hard into my elbow which swelled up quite badly.  I really want to continue as it's such a convenient way to get exercise on weekdays but holy crap do the injuries hurt at this age.  I miss being a teenager lol (at least I miss having that injury resistant body not so much the idiotic brain).

Isaiah aka Zay Foulks wrote:

Hoooo man... skateboarding is not a crime! Unless you live in Mariposa hehehe

Havent touched my board in years. I'm 33 now. Concrete got hard somewhere around 25.

I was there when they built the Mariposa Skate Park... talk about Neverland! 

So many hills to bomb...

Yeah man, I miss those days, when i could say "fuck helmets, fuck pads," eat shit and bounce right back up (though a few broken bones and two concussions mighy disagree).

Then one day... the ground just felt... HARD... you know?

Scabs that used to heal in three days suddenly took a month.

What's that, 26 years old and off the family insurance plan?

I'm sure I could still drop in on a pool, carve around, bomb a hill... but u better believe I'm buying pads first.

I'm in no hurry though. If the weather's good enough for skating its probably good enough for climbing.

Yeah I already started wearing my soft mountain bike kneepads, also thinking about elbow pads and wrist protectors. At least I really don't care much about looking cool anymore.  But yeah I remember concrete being a lot softer.  I more started back up because I want to get exercise on weekdays afternoons after work and it's so easy to throw the board in the car and go 10-15 minutes down the road to a skatepark. Also good cross training for snowboarding when all the snow is melted.

Scott Biegert wrote:

We will have that answer if and when Tony Hawk stops skateboarding.

Lol I knew Tony hawk would come up in this, let's be honest though he is a freak of nature....

Scott Biegert wrote:

We will have that answer if and when Tony Hawk stops skateboarding.

Alva is a decade older and still skating.

“Concrete got hard somewhere around 25.”

Couldn’t agree more. I even find it painful to WATCH kids fall. Hitting the concrete, getting right up, trying again to ollie off 18 stairs. Geez….

Yer gonna die!

I skated a ton in my teens and early 20s. I just picked it back up again after moving closer to my brother who’s got a ramp at his house. I’m 33 now. I was surprised to find that skill-wise it was like riding a bike, I could do 90% of my old tricks and already learning new ones. However, even a minor fall will usually put an end to my session. I like to think that I’ve become “tougher” with age, but every damn bump and bruise will now be sore for a week. I sort of treat skating with the “leader must not fall mentality” and that every time I drop in is like roping up for an R rated climb. It’s pathetic, really.

Cronwrote:

I skated a ton in my teens and early 20s. I just picked it back up again after moving closer to my brother who’s got a ramp at his house. I’m 33 now. I was surprised to find that skill-wise it was riding a bike, I could do 90% of my old tricks and already learning new ones. However, even a minor fall will usually put an end to my session. I like to think that I’ve become “tougher” with age, but every damn bump and bruise will now be sore for a week. I sort of treat skating with the “leader must not fall mentality” and that every time I drop it is like roping up for an R rated climb. It’s pathetic, really.

Another thing I've found is that it's working muscles that snowboarding and climbing don't work.  I'm so freaking sore today and am basically wadling around.  I agree with the bike riding thing.  Second day I was back to doing backside 5050s and 50s and that stall where you have one truck on the other on one or the other side of the coping and was doing boards and blunts over a spine.  Front side is still scaring me a bit though as is coming back in switch (the whole reason I decided to try and drop in switch).  Almost landing kick flips again.

I'm 42, still skate once a week or so. Self care is key: stretch before, warm up thoroughly, drink water, stretch after, theragun / foam roll / etc. Ibuprofen is your friend. Remember that your previous skill level was attained over years of continuous skating; take it slow and don't overdo it or "progress" too quickly. Go shred some curbs!

Not Hobo Greg wrote:

Been skating for 20 years. I treat it like trad climbing, in that I’m trying really hard to never fall, and so I skate well below my limit, and almost never street. That’s like bouldering.

Longboarding and bowls/pools = trad.

Street = bouldering.

Roller blading = sport climbing.

Razor scooter = slack lining.

Yeah I don't even mess with street anymore, I went down a five set on my 14th bday and sprained my lower back so bad that my sciatic in my left leg was pinched for a month.  Then after that went away I ignored my pt and never healed back quite right.  Still have back issues occasionally to this day.

check out this subreddit r/oldskaters

Granite Grantwrote:

check out this subreddit r/oldskaters

Sweet thanks for the link.  Nice to see others out there my age and much older.  So far the skateparks have been mostly teenagers and some others in their 20s. Good to know there's a chance I might run into someone my age eventually.

Lol so I just googled some injury avoidance stuff and came across this gem of Engrish verywellskate.com/how-to-av…

A friend of mine who runs a skate park (and coaches snowboarding once told me " you don't quit skateboarding because you get old , you get old because you quit   skateboarding"

Btw I saw an 82 yr old man leading at the crag the other day.

Not Hobo Greg wrote:

Longboarding and bowls/pools = trad.

Street = bouldering.

Roller blading = sport climbing.

Razor scooter = slack lining.

This elicited an honest-to-goodness guffaw. I couldn't agree more.

This one time I entered a layman's skate comp in Montrose as a 26-year-old and won "best dressed skater."

Lol almost two months later and I'm sitting at an urgent care about to have that elbow x-rayed.  Even with pads now I've had two falls in the past week and a half that made it swell back up. The fall today I almost blacked out and puked from the pain initially.  Starting to wonder now if I had a minor break initially and I'm just repeatedly reinjuring it.  On a positive note I've been progressing pretty fast in the bowl.  I've gotten a lot of backside stuff and even some combos like axle, pivot and feeble to tail.  Finally got a FS feeble yesterday and almost had a FS axle today.

Man, I am envious of you aged skaters. I’m  47, 200lbs, inflexible and have no ankle strength.  Finally chucked the board last year.  Could barely ollie.  Get some while you still can!!!!

I'm almost 37. Still have a skateboard in the back of my vehicle at all times. I usually hit the parks early on weekdays when there's no 8 year olds to show me up and rip around until I slam. 

To me a skateboard is a symbol of freedom, fun, and “conquering the useless”.  So, we could also ask: is there such a thing as being too old for fun?  I have reduced my skating as i have found less punishing ways to experience that profound freedom of bombing a hill, cruising around feeling the wind, playing skate with friends.  I hope i never give up on fun

Hopefully you concussed yourself enough skating as a kid that your memory is all jacked and you will forget the falls and only remember the glory!
I’m 39. I try to cruise or mess around with safe stuff, but there’s a couple rails around that whisper sweetly to me, “Tommy, you could at least boardslide me, just one try…”

Well no broken bone (seriously I don't understand how I've made it 37 years without a single one).  Just severe bruising I guess.  Going to have to take some time off skateboarding to let this thing heal properly especially since I've got an out of town guest to climb with in two weeks and I don't want to blow that.  Can't wait to get back on though and really work on those FS tricks.  Now I just need to figure out some other exercise in the interim so that I don't blow my cardio gains.