(Andy Macdonald) Where as with most sports it’s like, “If you want to hit home runs, this is how you do it.” There’s a right or wrong. Like, here’s “the proper golf swing.” There’s all kinds of videos, and training, and everybody and their brother has a way to teach you how to properly hit a golf ball so you can hit it the farthest. Nobody’s going to tell you that in skateboarding. There’s fundamentals, like here’s how to keep your balance, you gotta keep your knees bent, lower your center of gravity - that’s like a fundamental basic or whatever. But there’s no right or wrong. If you don’t want to learn any tricks you don’t have to. You can just cruise around. And if you like the feeling of just cruising around, have at it. No one’s going to think any less or more of you because you do that.
(Cave) What kind of gear would you suggest?
(Andy Macdonald) Number one is a helmet. You gotta protect your dome, that’s most important. As far as a board there’s all kinds of entry level skateboards that you can get. Of course I’m going to suggest getting an Andy Mac board! Those are the best! (laughs) Now, I really would suggest people just stay away from getting this one that they found at the toy store because it was cheap, because you get what you pay for. To have a good experience your first time skateboarding you need to do your research enough to have a board that responds well, like a board that’s big enough for you, a board that’s gonna turn when you want it to turn, the wheels that are gonna roll. A lot of toy stores these days make boards that LOOK just like skateboards but aren’t really skateboards in that they don’t roll or turn when you need them to roll or turn! It just won’t provide you with a good first experience skateboarding. That’s the whole idea. You get out there and you’re like, “Wow, this is fun!” That’s why we all do it.
(Cave) Yeah. What motivates you for skateboarding?
(Andy Macdonald) These days it’s just the progression of it. I used to want to be able to ollie as high as my brother can. I was skating around town with my brother and he could jump over trash cans and I couldn’t. Definitely skating with people who are better than you pushes your own limits, you know? That’s the cool thing about skateboarding, it’s all about pushing your own limits. These days it’s all about progression for me, I get motivated to figure out what new, harder challenging or technical trick or routine I can put together from one competition to the next, or from one practice session to the next. Be it a brand new trick that I invent, just laying around in bed thinking, “Well, what if I did this, or…” The variations are pretty infinite in the ways that your body can flip and spin and your board can flip and spin underneath you. And then when you think you’ve got that all mastered – no one will ever really master all that, but when you think you’ve got it all, well now you have to do it switch stance! Meaning, you can bat home runs hitting righty, but can you bat home runs batting lefty? And it’s like learning to skateboard all over again.
(Cave) How many tricks have you invented?
(Andy Macdonald) It’s hard to say. There’s so many intricate variations. I mean, the board flips off your toe as opposed to off your heel - it’s a totally different trick. If you grab it with your left hand as opposed to your right hand it’s a totally different trick. Big ones, I was the first to do a backflip on a skateboard.
(Cave) Nice!
(Andy Macdonald) That was neat.
(Cave) When did you do that?
(Andy Macdonald) I did that in 97. It was just in an era when skateboarders and BMXers were sharing a lot of the same courses for competition. And BMXers could do backflips because they have handlebars and they can just pull back on them when they leave the jump. Inliners could do it because they’re strapped in. But skateboarders couldn’t figure it out because we’re not strapped to our boards. So it was a matter of figuring out how to come off the ramp in such a way that the board sticks to your feet as you start to flip and you reach down and grab it.
(Cave) That’s awesome! So, what do you do for fun besides skateboarding?
(Andy Macdonald) If it’s a board and you stand sideways on it, I’ll give it a shot! I’m definitely not a surfer, but I’ll paddle out sometimes with my friends who are surfers. I’ve been snowboarding as long as I’ve been skateboarding, I just never get to do it. I get to do it like 2 or 3 times a season. Wake boarding. I have a trampoline in my backyard, I just like being in the air. Anything that gets you in the air! (laughs)...
Interview concludes on page 3...
