Touchdown !!!
dude
If you've ever seen the first Plan B video, Questionable, one of the most memorable clips is of a young Danny Way about to treat his board to the old Touchdown number. Look, it's a football! No, it's a skateboard, and Danny has just scored a touchdown and is about to spike the living crap out of it. In this instance, it got a little out of control, and Danny's board flew out of his hands like a great hawk being released into the wild. Simply put, Danny gets caught losing his cool in an attempt to perform The Touchdown. This is a common mistake, but if you keep a cool head while freaking out, you'll avoid this. The Touchdown is a simple maneuver: perfect for beginners, but able to stand the test of time and work equally well for veterans. The key to an effective Touchdown is to keep it calm and not look like you're out of control. After one too many bails, when all the shouting and profanity in the world can no longer soothe you, it's time to offer up your board as a sacrifice to the skate gods, with vain hope that they will bless you with better luck next time -- even if it's the following week, because you have to save up for a new board. Be aware, however, that after this desperate act, your board will no longer function in the manner to which you have become accustomed. The Touchdown, although not as effective at rendering a board unskatable as The Focus, adds a personal twist to the run-of-the-mill freak-out. It still gives you the satisfaction of destroying your board, yet allows it to continue to function as a tool of transportation, so you don't have to walk home. a.) The key to a successful Touchdown is to perform it as if it is a celebration. You are going to spike your board, just like the over-paid players in the NFL spike the ball after scoring. Disregard your anger, and concentrate on a good, clean spike. First, after your final heart-wrenching bail or slam, take a nice, deep breath and count to three. Slowly walk over to your board and pick it up by one of the trucks. Make sure not to fuss over which truck, because, as the old saying goes, "He who hesitates is lost." b.) Begin a slow-motion sort of skip, like the strut a bowler takes before releasing the ball. At the same time, using the arm that your board is in, begin your wind-up, which involves swinging the board backwards, then over your shoulder. Keep gripping the truck, and as your arm begins to come down, plan your release. At this point, think of Devo and the song "Whip It": let go too early, and you're going to get a bad angle on your spike, causing limited damage and provoking derision from onlookers; let go too late, and you risk chopping off your toes with your razor-sharp nose or tail. When your arm is about 10 degrees from being perpendicular to the ground, release the board, sending the nose or tail, depending on which truck you are holding, into the ground about a foot and a half in front of you. At this point, your board should look like a flower in bloom. c.) You're almost done; stay with it. The key here is to play it cool. Pick up the board nonchalantly, get on it and skate off.
