PRACTICE, PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE

These three things are the most important aspects of skateboarding. You can have all the talent in the world, but without the three P's, you are nothing. On the other hand you can be a talentless, uncoordinated goof and as long as you have the three P's you'll make it somewhere. I suppose that this goes for anything really, but for me it applies mostly to skateboarding.

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Pukesick would have me add this, hence: you also need balls, the three P's will help you, but if you want to go big (i.e on vert) then you need balls.

All those P's are important, but I feel there's on missing: pain. It's a simple fact that you're going to have to get used to. Skateboarding hurts. Even if you never fall (yeah, right) it causes an amazing amount or wear to your body. Your knees will be sore, your feet will flatten and ache, and your ankles will be ruined. Get up and brush it off. It was bound to happen.

My Injuries (so far)

1. Seven stitches to my face. I snagged on a smith grind and smacked my chin on the floor. I stood up and cupped my hand to my chin, but the blood pooled up and began dripping everywhere. Then, I passed out. When I awoke I drove myself to the hospital.
2. Twelve stiches to the back of my head. I bailed on a set of stairs, but one of my feet landed on my board. My head bounced off the pavement and I was driven to the hospital by a friend. Thankfully, there isn't a scar.
3. Four broken toes. I landed primo on varial kickflip and broke four toes on my right foot. I didn't think this required a trip to the hospital, so I set them back myself. (Which wasn't to bad, really.)
4. A two inch cut to my taint. I was attempting to do a frontside flip the "hard way"* but the nose of my board didn't flip all the way over. I ended up landing perfectly balanced with the board stuck upright into my crotch and both feet off the ground. I treated this injury at home, and couldn't sit down for a few days.
5. Numerous sprains in multiple joints. (Last count on my ankles: Right:5 Left:8) An ankle sprain is easily the most common injury, but are especially bad because you can feel them happen. You can watch your foot roll of the front of the board and twist straight down. God, does it suck.

Injuries I have tended to

1. Three broken arms. Two of those refused to go to the hospital, instead attempting to drink it off. After their forearms turned a healthy shade of blue they decided it was time to go see a doctor.
2. Two broken fingers. These really creeped me out because they were walking around nice and calm with a finger sticking out in some ungodly direction. Ew.
3. Two broken ribs. The person slipped out on a backside tailslide and landed sideways on a concrete barrier.
4. The worst injury i've seen: I had to be responsible for a guy after he fell ten feet to land directly on his head. (Yes, he was wearing a helmet) It was especially bad because he couldn't remember where he was, how he got there, etc. It was really bad because he had driven two hours to skate this particular ramp and he was by himself. He spent three days in the hospital before returning home.

It's not my intention to scare people away, but you should know what you're getting into. Understand that you probably will get hurt and you won't feel so bad when one of your ankles looks like a rotten peach.

* The "hard way" to frontside flip involves the board rotating between your legs, instead of around in front of your body. It's fairly natural when riding on transition, but strange when skating street.