Introducing the Second Sunday Skateboard Sessions - Doing Less to Skateboard More

This was my second heelflip attempt of the day.
I was pleased I at least got the full rotation
even if I didn't land it.

I am determined to keep skating for as long as possible, though, since my last post in May 2024, about reigniting my kickflip battle at age 54, I've probably been skateboarding less than I had hoped. Still haven't landed that elusive kickflip either.

Strangely I've been wanting to film myself skateboarding again but have been reluctant to do so because it can be a bit of a hassle trying to create interesting content, not to mention a lot of editing, if you want to capture the full journey of learning a trick. I really hate editing.

Looking at my camera equipment the other day I was thinking what is the most minimal setup that I can put together that would make it easy to film skate videos anywhere?

I landed on using my Samsung A13, Android phone, mounted on a GoPro selfie stick that has a tripod base in the handle, and a wireless mic I bought some time back for filming skate content and being able to talk without being near the camera.

In an effort to not tie myself to a desktop computer to do my edit, I downloaded YouTube's free beta video editing app to my Lenovo, Android tablet. Using Google's Quick Share feature, transferring clips from my phone to my tablet is a breeze. I can literally edit anywhere and upload directly to YouTube too.

Below is my first video filmed and edited with this complete setup. The edit is deliberately minimal as I'm still learning the new video editing studio. I may get fancier later on but that's why this video doesn't have my usual intro or outro.

Rather than just film a one and done video, I decided to go for a series of ten episodes, filmed every Second Sunday (my partner works every second Sunday for the entire day so it's a good day to film and edit all in one go). Ten episodes gives me a goal and an end point, where I can stop or start a new series if I choose.

I've set myself the challenge of getting better at Braille Skateboarding's seven tricks that make up Volume One of Skateboarding Made Simple. I've never mastered all these tricks even back in the 90's when all I did was skate. You didn't need to know these for mini ramp skating.

To keep the videos short, and to cut down my edit time, I'm limiting my tries to three to five per trick. I may do a few extra if I land a trick badly, or get close to something I haven't landed but I'm not going to film a persistence in the video. Ideally between videos I will spend time doing the persistence attempts and hopefully have some improvement by the next video.

I hope you found the video interesting, and you watched through to the end. I'm trying to talk more all the way through to hopefully give a more authentic look at my typical skate sessions. Not particularly easy for me, because I'm not really a chatty person at all.

I promise I won't make you watch me sweeping and do warm ups every time. I just hadn't done either by that point, and the camera and mic were all set up ready to go. I wanted to make a start before I lost my enthusiasm for making the video at all.

It may not come across in the video but I did enjoy filming this and I felt good about where I was at with my attempts at each trick. Especially getting my heelflip attempts to fully rotate. I'd say that's the hardest thing out of all these tricks.

I will be posting the entire series of videos here as I film them. If they're a little too basic for you then I understand if you decide not to watch, but I hope you'll check in maybe at episodes five and ten just to see how I'm doing.

The main thing is that I'm skating again, and enjoying riding my board. Hopefully that comes through.