Zero to Hero Skateboarding: The Basics Video Review

Zero to Hero Skateboarding: The Basics is a skateboarding instructional video that walks you through all the basics of skateboarding, from building your skateboard to the ever elusive ollie, and a little beyond. The video is hosted by pro skateboard instructor Mike Ogas, and for the most part it does a decent job. The video lacks some depth in some areas, and jumps ahead of itself a little too quickly, but it's no where near as boring as most skateboard instructional DVDs, and I think kids would get a lot out of it.

Mike Ogas has taught skateboarding for around 10 years at the point that this video was made, and he's very good at it. In every scene Mike Ogas talks to the camera with a confident, comfortable tone, and he's constantly surrounded by kids who he walks through the tricks and maneuvers he's teaching.

For each step, and each trick, Mike demonstrates what he's talking about while talking you through it. Then, the trick is seen in slow motion, with Mike Ogas explaining everything again in a voice over. The later tricks in the video all have several steps outlining what you need to remember.

In fact, the DVD comes with a little booklet with these steps repeated, so that you can shove it in your pocket and take it to the skatepark with you. It's pretty handy.

In the later tricks, pro skaters step in and help Mike Ogas out, instead of little kids. This is helpful, since they really know what they are doing, but they also lack some depth that the start of the DVD has.

• Building your skateboard
• Basics (safety, how to fall, stance, pushing, turning and stopping)
• Park Basics (parts of a skatepark, rolling in, rolling fakie and kickturns)
• Street Basics (riding off a ledge or curb and grinding)
• Ollie
• 180 Ollie
• Kickflip
• Manual
• Nose Manual
• Boardslide
• Ramp Basics (parts of ramps, pumping, kickturns and dropping in)
• Axle Stalls
• 50-50 Grinds
• Tail Stalls
• Rock n' Roll

The opening parts on buying and assembling a skateboard are very useful. Mike Ogas walks you through buying the parts for a beginner, and even shows you how to put griptape on a skateboard.

Extra time is also spent on teaching new skaters how to stop, how to turn, and how to do some basic things like riding off a ledge.

The video has a strange point where it shifts. It starts with Mike Ogas explaining things like how to fall in great detail, surrounded by little kids. It's great. But then, when they get to the ollie, everything changes a little. The instructions get shorter for each trick, with no help with common problems, and no real intermediate steps. Everything past the ollie instructions really requires that you first learn the ollie, but the ollie instructions are weak. I would say that a third of the e-mail questions I get are skaters needing help with their ollies. This isn't something you can really skimp on.

And keep in mind, if you want to buy Zero to Hero Skateboarding: The Basics, that it truly is aimed at young skaters. And I mean young. On the cover of the DVD, Mike Ogas is kneeling next to a little skater, and that should give you a good idea of the target market. I think that adults and teens could still learn from it, but it's not aimed at them. In fact, I think a teenager could feel talked down to.

On the other hand, because it's aimed at young skaters ("groms", as they're called in skateboarding. It's short for "grommets"), it's free of any attitude or questionable content. That part should make a lot of parents happy.

My last complaint is that often the music overpowers what people are saying. It's a strange problem, but only happens every once in a while.

Zero to Hero Skateboarding: The Basics isn't a bad skateboarding video. Mike Ogas has a comfortable, approachable style about him that makes this instructional video easy to watch. He covers all the basics very well, and has a lot of little kids demonstrating how to do things. Younger skaters who are new to skateboarding should be happy to see this, and they should be able to relate to what Mike Ogas teaches.

However, the instructions for things past the basics aren't as strong.

So, I would recommend this video for pure beginners - for little kids who just got their first skateboard. Older kids might also get something out of Zero to Hero Skateboarding: The Basics. But if you are shopping for an instructional DVD for someone aged 15 and up, I might recommend getting a different video.

However, if you find this DVD at a great price, it would be a great addition to a library. There are some things covered here (like how to put griptape on a skateboard deck or how to fall) that aren't covered anywhere else. And, Mike Ogas' style is very comfortable, real, and approachable.