Tom Schaar landed the first 1080 at 12 years old in the megaramp. Asher Bradshaw landed a 900 at 10 years old in 2019. Gui Khury landed a 1080 on vert in 2021 at age 11, then a body varial 900 a year later. Arisa Trew landed a 900 at 14 years old this year, and most recently, 9-year-old Ema Kawakami landed back-to-back-to-back 900s, and an alley-oop 900.
Meanwhile, older (and larger) vert skaters are getting left in the dust. Is it possible that spin variations are easier for kids?
How much does body size affect your skating ability? It must have some effect, right? And how does that affect vert skating in particular?
I’ve always noticed that my favorite skaters tend to be on the short side, except for Rodney Mullen, who is a bit taller.
Daewon Song 5’6”
P Rod 5’8”
Andy Anderson 5’9”
Jamie Foy 5’7”
Rodney Mullen 5’11”
And I think balance has a big role in that. If I, as a 6’2” skater, land 5 degrees off balance (so, a regular trick for me), I would turn a lot harder than if I was 5’6” and weighed a bit less. This is true for balancing in all directions, both for turning and for manuals.
Yes, I’m partially blaming my lack of manual skills on my height, but I think it’s actually true this time.
And this one is just common sense. Do you want to bomb a hill without being turned into a meat crayon? Sit or lay down on your board, coffin style. It’s basically impossible to lose balance. Want to die immediately? Try it on stilts.
That’s just height. What about shape?
Taller people are more stretched out than shorter people. Strength is related to the cross sectional area of a muscle, or how much area it covers if you cut it in half. Taller people can have more muscle, but if it’s more stretched out, they’ll actually be weaker. And what are vert rotations if not bodyweight exercises with a side of steeze?
But doesn’t it make it easier to spin if you’re taller? In a way, this makes sense. You can wind up with longer arms and pull in to spin faster. But it doesn’t seem to actually work out like that. Here are some examples:
The first quadruple axel jump on ice skates was done by Ilia Malinin. That’s 4.5 spins, or a 1620. Ilia is 5’9”.
Greg Louganis, the most decorated Olympic diver, considered to be the greatest diver of all time, is 5’8”.
The most decorated gymnast in history, Simone Biles, is 4’8”.
Some of the latest spin records in snowboarding were accomplished by teenagers, but I can’t find their heights listed anywhere. Would all of these athletes have had the same success if they were 6’3”? Probably not.
Is that the only reason kids are the ones doing the heaviest spin tricks?
Their size is a genuine factor that can’t be ignored. In this statistical analysis of Olympic gymnasts, it reports: “Not only is gymnastics easier if you are shorter, but also if you are younger. This is because when starting the sport at such a young age you become fearless. If you start gymnastics at an older age, you are aware of all the injuries that can happen, but starting out young can help overcome all the fears.”
The fearlessness of youth is also a big benefit. Imagine being a veteran pro vert skater in 2000, trying for the 9. You know it’s a very difficult trick, and potentially dangerous with the slams you’ll take. Compare that to an 8 year old in 2024, knowing 15 other people have already done it, and never having been hurt for longer than a few days in your life. There’s much less holding you back. You’re more able to see the trick for what it really is, and not the legendary status of it.
But do these kids tarnish the legacy of Tony Hawk?
First, I’d like to thank Joseph for the question. You can submit topics for future videos on the homepage of my website, radratvideo.com, and get yourself a handsome T-Shirt while you’re there.
So what about Tony Hawk? When these news articles hit, inevitably the comments will say something about how Tony Hawk has been outdone and he should be embarrassed. Consider this.
Tony Hawk is 6’3”. When he landed the 900, he was 31 years old, and did his last one at 48. He didn’t have the fearlessness benefit, and he certainly didn’t have a size benefit. And his 900s are actually a combo, because he has to do it into his patented super squat to hold onto it. It wouldn’t be humanly possible for him to pump up into a second and third 900 at his height.
The more I see bite-sized skateboard geniuses whip around these tricks, the more respect I have for the Birdman. And for Mitchie Brusco, who did a 1260 on mega at 6’1”. And I love seeing skateboard progression. Bring out some more 9 year old vert wizards. I can’t wait to see them pull a Nyjah Huston and keep killing it for decades.