who will teach my 9 year old to do skateboard moves?

[tigermoth]

Any entrepreneurs out there - here's a gap in the market.

My oldest son wants to learn some fancy skateboard moves. He has no older brothers or cousins to teach him, and he is too self conscious to ask strangers to show him techniques. Skateboarding is all about being cool and teenage I guess.

A new skateboard park has opened nearby. It's full of boys from 9 or 10 upwards, all enjoying the ramps and half pipes. My son was raring to join them, but spent his time hiding behind a wall and taking furtive peeps. He is convinced they will all laugh at him if he tries to join in.

I think he really needs someone to show him the ropes - he can skateboard on flat surfaces, but he's nervous about slopes. If he was part of a proper class he wouldn't mind making mistakes.

As far as I know, such classes don't exist - there are certainly none at this new skateboard park. So how do boys learn to skateboard?

Hmmm, this is difficult, I suppose most boys do learn from older brothers/cousins/friend's brothers, (never really thought about it before). The only thing that springs to mind is what about his friends? Do they skateboard? If they all went together to the skate park, then they could all make mistakes together, and no one would feel too self conscious. (safety in numbers)
Sorry, not much help, I fear. Not very hot on "boy things"

Bless. What about setting up a mini skatepark in your back garden for him to practise on. Nothing extreme but maybe a gentle ramp here and there, kids are always making them with bits of old board 'round my way.

www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316142239/ref=pd_sim_b_dp_5/026-3139048-9543643

Here you are

Good question tigermoth. I don't know the answer but expect this to crop up in our house in a couple of years too.

You see custy - I'm not the only one who thinks a course would be a good idea (she laughed v. loudly when I suggested this to tigermoth at the Xmas meet)

my 14 year old has gone from skateboards to BMX tricks - shame really there is obviously a market out there he could make a mint!

if you want tigetmoth - you welcome to make a summer date and we can go to our local skate park - where eldest will show off how high he can jump of the ramps on his bmx - but my 10 yr old will be only to greatful to fall in unison with someone else on the ramps

its right next door to the hospital too ...which is useful.

yes i did laugh, quite unthoughtfull i am too! londons obviously a different animal from the rest of the world and i forget that sometimes.

what a kind offer custardo, and one that I may take you up on come the summer. The propsesed group - a 14 year old who's ace but happy to pass on his knowledge a 10 year old, another fellow beginner to fall down with, sounds ideal. And a handy hospital as well.

WSM, oh if only life was that simple. If only I could set up a small ramp in our garden, but alas the flat bit is all grassed over, so useless. The pavement could be a good place, but I just have visions of my son's skateboard madly careeering off and denting the parked cars. Can't afford the repair bills. There is no nearby safe skateboard space for ramps, either.

Yes, prufrock, this lack of a skateboard mentor is a real problem and the conversation we had is well remembered. I had no idea, custardo, that you were laughing at my son's sorry plight, but then I had had a few glasses of wine.

He's so inbetweeny - we risk getting bad looks from parents of young children when we go to playgrounds and he hurtles around on his chosen type of wheels, or he cringes with embarassment and won't join in when he sees teenagers being cool in skateboard parks.

Sadly none of my son's friends are into skateboarding. The sporty ones all like football and the unsporty ones don't like skateboarding.

I suppose I will persevere with the skateboard park and hope my son get less fearful of failure. But I still think if someone set up a skateboard school for older children, they would get loads of interest.

tigermoth, has he no friends with big bro's who skateboard? My 10-yr-old has friends who do it and at least one has an older brother - I know there can be a lot of elbowing re status etc but I would have thought most bigger boys (maybe not the same size ones) would be secretly pleased to pass on their expertise? (But can understand your DS's reluctance to approach the ones in the park!)

Oh - sorry - just re-read your last post! No friends who do it. OK. Could you encourage him to just stand with his board at the edge of the ramps, looking wistful? I bet the older ones would love to teach him if they realised.

janh, he needs little encouragement about looking wistful - he's got that to a tee. I think he'll have to hover till he either plucks up courage to attempt some moves or someone takes pity on him. At least he can skate on flat surfaces so he can whizz round edges of the skateboard area.

ditto abut the boys helpung. Have you got a skate board ish clothing shop near you - could you asj the staff there to help you out?

BTw where do you live?

theres more ideashere

I like the look of the video, coddy, but would they let him plug in his telly at the skatepark?

told the kids i had invited you tigermoth and they went to the shed sourcing skateboards from summer and taking wheels off and doing stuff with ball barings until i had to shout at them to shut the bloody door.
its the fact that i will take them to the skate park cos i never ever do!

anyway my e mail is [email protected] - write it down and get in touch if your son wants to still do this in spring/summer

anyone else fancy a kids and skate meet in summer?

cw,thanks for that video link - I feel a birthday present coming on. There are no skateboard shops in my area of SE london, but I do know of some further afield in london so yes, I will ask the staff about courses.

custardo, your children sound fab and I will be in touch. I'll need to offload the 4 year old onto dh as well. He is a fiend in a skateboard park - he loves running just where he shouldn't. And needless to say, my oldest son finds his antics deeply embarrassing.