The summer is fast approaching and skateboarding competitions are sure to come up quickly! Between May and August, there will be a handful of competitions including ones in Auburn, Kent, Puyallup, Tacoma, and even one in Bonney Lake that skaters from all around will be able to participate. However, what does a skater need to do to prepare for competitions when they haven’t participated in one before? We have compiled a list of tips and tricks to help out a skater in understanding what goes on at competitions and what they will need to do to prepare for competition.
1. Drink lots of water.
It is a basic tip, but a very important one. All last summer, I could point out several skaters that would be drinking down a Monster or Red Bull. The biggest problem with energy drinks on competition day is that they will make you mentally crash in the middle of the day when you are competing. This is not what you want to happen, since competition time limits are about two minutes a session.
2. Know which level group you are competing in.
By group, I mean beginner, intermediate and advanced. These are the three basic levels that will be at competitions. At each level, the prizes will gradually increase as level increases. However, which level is your right level? All last summer, there were skaters that were questioning whether they were in intermediate or advanced. Here is the basic idea as to what level goes with what skill level. Beginner is for the guys that have basic tricks such as ollies, kickflips, 50-50 grinds and such. Intermediate is for the guys that have a good arrangement of tricks including a grab bag of grinds, flip tricks, maybe a grab somewhere and possibly linking tricks together. Advanced is for the guys that have the same arrangement of tricks as intermediate but are more fluent and consistent on landing their tricks. Intermediate and Advanced are very close together, but the big difference is consistency.
3. Get familiar with the skatepark.
This is an important tip. When it comes to skateboarding, there are two styles of skating. There is the vert skater and the street skater. Both styles will have their different bag of tricks to pull out. When a competition has been announced and a skater wants to go to it, make sure to familiarize yourself with the park before competition day. Different parks have different elements. For example, the Bonney Lake skatepark has a couple bowls with a stair, hand rail and box. In this case, Bonney Lake is a built heavily for a vert skater and has elements for a street skater. Another example, Arbor Height Kent 360 has a staircase, a couple hand rails, couple gaps and a couple boxes with a huge bowl in the center. The Kent park has an even distribution of street and vert elements that will serve both styles of skating. The worst thing that can happen to a skater is put down money for a competition and figure out that his style of skating isn’t suited for the park he is competing at.
4. Always keep a positive attitude at the competition.
There will be numerous local companies at these events promoting their business and teams. These same businesses will also be scouting out skaters at competitions to potentially bring onto their team. Not only are they looking for a skater that is talented but also respectable. There are a good share of skaters that feel like they can be rude and into themselves if they feel like they are better than everyone else. This is NOT the attitude that local businesses will want promoting their brand. It is important that no matter how good a skateboarder may be, they must always show a respectable personality while out and doing their deal. In all honestly, it doesn’t matter how good a skater is. A shop is always looking for a respectable person that will represent their shop or brand in a positive light. It might not be as a skater on a team all the time, but having a respectable personality could potentially lead to a job opportunity at a local shop.
5. Have fun!
Overall, competitions are meant to be fun! There might be a fair share of talented skaters that might beat you out, but that shouldn’t keep you from doing your best and having fun. I believe that a person learns the most when they are having fun doing what they are doing. If you remember to have fun and do your best, that is all that matters at the end of the day. Just do your best at skating, get to know the local shops that have a booth up at the competitions, meet new friends and just enjoy the fact that you are at a skateboarding competition competing and having fun!
Not sure where skating competitions will be and when they will occur this upcoming summer? Make sure to check out the Emerald Pacific Facebook and Twitter pages and we will keep you guys covered on upcoming competitions and where they will be, when they will be and how much it is to compete. If you have any more questions about the competitions coming up, feel free to email me at BrittonLorentzen@Gmail.com or post up a message on the Emerald Pacific Facebook wall about your question/inquiry and we will get back to you shortly with an answer.
