Went to a Vans skate team thing at the new West End store on Oxford Street last night. Mental set up. Unfortunately did a hell of a lot of waiting around whilst they set up, got stiff and cold and once it finally came to skating I fully pulled my quad running up the QP and then could barely roll. FFS. Worst. (Sort of) Pro. Skater. Ever.
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Having not skated much for 15 years, I’ve been back on a board a lot lately, and it feels amazing to be back (aside from my hip flexors, they would gladly strangle me for making them feel as bad as they do).
But I have CRAZY issues with ‘ghost pop’. Like I cannot get the board to pop consistently. When I do get it right, most things go fine, I can land basic flatground tricks and when I do manage to pop the board, basic ledge tricks are ok. But maybe 60% of the time I try to pop onto a ledge (especially fakie or nollie) I just… don’t. Like I push the board down but not enough? Flips on banks are even worse like 8/10 I don’t pop and 2/10 I do the trick fine. Kickflips, fakie flips and frontside flips are the worst for it.
I’ve tried a couple of truck/deck setups and haven’t found anything that consistently works. It’s a bit better when I skate the nose of the board, but not much. I’ve ridden Polar, SciFi, and Girl so far to try and figure it, and abandoned Indy Forged in favor of some low trucks to try and fix it, and it’s still basically the same. My current setup is Polar 8.125, Slappy Low, Spitfire 93s for reference.
It’s now stopping me from moving on to harder tricks because I can’t ‘guarantee’ even the pop bit of the process is going to happen (so for example, too scared to hit anything that requires me to be above consequence (ledge down stairs or a gaps over something, because if I miss the pop I’m gonna get fucked). Anyway, bit of a rant but has anyone experienced something similar?
Could it be something to do with you?
I have had issues with similar and it can lead to slamming and accidents.
Here is what I think I have a problem with and see if you can see anything in it?
When I go for a trick I am confident because i’m basically trying something that in the past I wouldn’t have to think about, would do every time fine. In the split second of popping, I think my brain has a micro doubt but it’s so fleeting that it doesn’t really register and somehow my pop doesn’t hit, a barely noticeable flinch in my body/legs/whatever just stops the right response from the board so a few things can happen. A non obstacle trick like ollies flips can rocket a bit and lack height and even if landed they can put you on your back leg leaving you fighting a fall backwards. If going for a ledge/rail etc then you can hit things on the way up, lack accuracy and balance or just a plain jump and the board says no, not following.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with the equipment however a quicker snap might help i.e. using trucks like Thunder and venture rather than Indy etc.
But I think mental struggles are more likely than gear.
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My phantom/ghost pop happens when my legs are tired, I’m mentally tired and my brain is too far ahead of my body if that makes sense.
For me* it’s a timing issue where I’ve kicked down to pop the tail, lifted my back foot but my front foot is lagging behind or ahead and already trying to flick the board, which is then preventing the tail hitting the ground and popping in order to get the height 
I’m on forged ti Indies with a 54mm wheel. Polar 8.125” deck so not a million miles away.
*disclaimer - we’re all different so YMMV haha
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Couple of clips from that Gloucester Bowl inc. me slamming my ass onto the coping
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I was talking about a similar thing that’s happened to me since skating a bit less frequently these days and having a shit Achilles. Like Mike, it’s totally a timing thing. I feel things are familiar when rolling up to stuff, I’m not really that scared, but then I got the do any trick that involves popping and weird things happen or don’t happen! Timing of the pop flick movement is mad off.
It’s a hard one to fix for me because the Achilles is so bad, I generally need about 30-40 mins warm up before anything that requires pop. When I say warm up, I just mean going on ramps, doing tailblocks etc. so the. I start trying flips and stuff but I don’t really ever get sessions much longer than an hour or so these days so the last 20 mins to half an hour of the session just gets me frustrated.
Skateboarding is so good but so so shit / hard innit.
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That looks fun!
and @LA @Mike , I really appreciate the responses. You’re probably right to a large degree that it’s timing and I’m just still not comfortable enough on the board. It’s clearly better when I skate the nose (and especially when it’s a longish, flattish nose) so maybe that’s just what I prefer and it feels more comfortable (I couldn’t skate at ALL on the steeper SciFi board so if anyone wants an 8.25…) but the other two felt more or less ok. Just gonna have to get more comfortable i guess. Frustrating old activity really, but also the best.
“Having not skated much in 15 years”
Might be a clue. Not having a go, it’s gutting to lose all your pop and tricks i know all too well
When I was skating daily (and this forum was all fields), getting back to it after a week off was a nightmare.
Nowadays, it’s weekly at minimum, so pop etc doesn’t stand a bloody chance.
Had a good glidey/ turny session this morning though. 
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I don’t pop anymore. Just do the ramps!
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If I have a particular trick I’m getting ghost pop with I find kicking out as well as down with your popping foot helps, so you try and pop past the tail or nose. If that makes sense?
I feel this is the way. I’ve let my thighs wither to the point where I can’t pump properly. Need to get back on the ramps.
I still like to do jumps and will do so for as long as I can!
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I wanted to skate but was pretty knackered the other day, grabbed my rain board and went to the local crusty shitty park thinking I’d just do slash grinds on small quarter pipes and maybe 5050 a ledge, ended stacking rocks and ollieing over them, having good pop on an old board, felt weird but so cool!
I’ve lost my flatground moves but kinda feel like it has to do with those 14.25 wheelbases most boards I get (DLX 8.5s) have. Whenever I have a smaller wheelbase 360 flips come back like I’m 22 again. Can’t wait for this long wheelbase trend to die.
tldr: ollies are the coolest trick.
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I really like a 14.25” but a 14” does feel tempting just to see if I can get more consistent 360 flips. They’ve completely gone again now 
Maybe next summer.
You will! 14 or 14.25 are like chalk and cheese when it comes to flatground and manuals.
Lately I’ve been skating loads of DLX 8.5s (labeled as 8.5s but they’re actually 8.375s) with a 14.25 wheelbase and 360 flips are almost impossible on those. I have an old Real shaped Guerrero deck, it’s an 8.5 but has a 14.12 wheelbase and 360 flips come easy on this one.
I love a 14.25 wheelbase for transition and ledge skating though.
I guess I’m a 14.12 wheelbase person. Too bad 14.12 wheelbases are rarer than unicorns.
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I’ve always been a bit oblivious to wheel base measurements and their effects (don’t know if Prof Schmidt has covered it 
)… is long or short better for manuals?
Yeah one of my favourite things is just ollieing over stuff. I mean with me I don’t have a lot of pop so it’ll just be something low but it’s still satisfying.
The Real 8.28" popsicle has a 14.12" wheelbase IIRC albeit a little shorter in length than I’m used to.
I think Schmitt does go on about it with respect to the angle, flat between bolts and nose/tail upturn and stuff like that. I’m not great at manuals but still regularly practice.
