As far as Ryan Sheckler goes, I feel like he always has something to prove to the world and I think with an aging audience such as myself, who grew up watching Sheckler grow as a skateboarder, he’s finally hit the point where I cant do anything but respect him. He recently caught my attention with some of things he did in the SLS but the Lifer video just brought it home, because you can see the effort, energy and also his will power to get something done within this 6 minute video.
The video really starts off with some nasty bails, and to be fair they dont look much disimilar to what I do in a skatepark, however the scale is so much bigger. This enables the audience to feel every movement in the intro and get into how I guess Ryan Shecklers mind must have been like through most of the recording for Lifer.
His kickflip drop from the Encinitas City Hall wall, is the one bail that just went through every bone and muscle in my body, because I can only imagine how much pain that would have caused. It’s devastating to watch but also possibly the most inspiring part of Lifer, because he comes back and puts the trick down with a delightful roll away. Sheckler if you ever read this, *fist bump*, absolute respect for that.
It takes a good 60-80 seconds before we really start to see some solid skating, and I guess this was edited to just give more appreciation to the video, or to just bulk it out. Either way, as long as you’re not dissecting it like I am, it’s a minute of your life that you can spare I’m sure.
There’s one trick I dont understand in the video, which is where Ryan Sheckler does a backside 180 off the red curved building. In my mind this begs for a 360 and not a 180. I dont know why but maybe he tried it and couldnt stick it, so went with the 180. Who knows? Its sick either way, but the build up, the rotation, everything just makes me think he’s going in for a 360. Never the less he pulls the sickest backside 360 over a small canal later in the video and it is beautiful to see.
I’m going to conclude here, with a couple of statements. Ryan has is flips on point, near perfect, and he can seriously boardslide. It’s a great video and I really enjoyed it. @ryansheckler, if you’re every in Newcastle Upon Tyne look me up, I’d love to have a chat and even a little skate. The video is posted below because it’s on youtube for free.
