Sports & Gaming
How to Win
Lesson time 11:03 min
Tony shares his insider tips on how to stand out in competitive skateboarding and what it takes to win.
Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars
Topics include: Own Your Style • Drop the Ego • How I Won • Do You Have What It Takes? • Doing the Impossible
Teaches Skateboarding
Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk teaches you how to take your skateboarding to the next level, whether you’re a beginner or a pro.
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- I say anyone that's trying to make skateboarding a career, the first thing you have to know is that you're only as good or as popular as your last trick or your last video. And you've got to keep challenging yourself. [MUSIC PLAYING] Doesn't matter how far you get. Even if you're considered skater of the year, you're number one, you won the event, people will forget about you very quickly unless you keep outdoing yourself. And that's-- that's the key. Like that's what's kept me relevant all these years is that I just continue to challenge myself. I didn't really care how I rated in competition. I didn't really-- it wasn't about the coverage I got. It wasn't about the accolades that I got. It was more about what's the next trick. My advice for anyone that wants to do contests is the first key is confidence. Know that what you're doing you're capable of doing, that you've done it in practice hundreds of times, because the first thing is you hear your name called, and you drop in, and the first instinct is like, what-- what am I doing? I don't know how to do this. And if that's your attitude, that's how you're going to fail. And so you have to approach it like, oh, another practice, another practice run just like I did yesterday. If you can maintain that sense of confidence and calm, it's going to carry you through. But I also think that you need to, in the beginning especially, stay conservative with the tricks that you know you're going to make, the ones that you have dialed in. And if that gets you to the next stage of competition, build upon that. But don't keep doing the exact same run, because if you scored-- let's say you scored an 85 with that run in the beginning. By the end of the event, you're not going to score an 85 with it. That's just how it is. I know it shouldn't be that way. I know the judges shouldn't be looking at like that, but they want to see improvements. If you're trying to make a name for yourself or you're trying to pick up a sponsor, the best thing you can do is to do something unique. Choose your own style. Don't just copy what you are seeing in videos. Don't just copy the trick of the week. If you're doing the kind of tricks that people are used to seeing, you're not going to stand out. If you showed me a silhouette of someone doing a trick, I could probably tell you who it is just based on how they keep their body positioning. And that's what I love about it is that you have your own signature style. And that is hugely important, especially now. Especially with how diverse skating is, there are so many different terrains, and styles, and disciplines to skating that it's hard to stand out. Some people only skate ledges. Some people can only skate transition. But once you find that focus, you find that you excel in it and that maybe you're going to do things that no one else has done. So if you have something very unique, you've got to run with it, because that's going to be your hoo...
About the Instructor
A pro at 14 and the first to land a 900 at the X Games, Tony Hawk is one of the most influential skateboarders of all time. Now he’s helping you take your skateboarding to the next level. Joined by pros Lizzie Armanto and Riley Hawk, Tony teaches you beginner, intermediate, and advanced tricks in street, park, and vert. Learn how to push yourself, get up when you fall, and find your own style. Start reaching new heights.
Featured MasterClass Instructor
Tony Hawk
Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk teaches you how to take your skateboarding to the next level, whether you’re a beginner or a pro.
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