Skate School LDN

d developing a vocabulary of gestures and techniques that enable them to navigate and interact with the spaces and structures they encounter in the world. SSL sees skateboarding as a creative and exciting mode of exercise and a fun dynamic medium to express yourself through. Aside from being a healthy way to keep fit, learning to skate teaches you how to fall over and then get back up and try again…and again. This process cultivates an ethic that can be applied throughout life and the feeling of personal achievement derived from landing a new trick or mastering a new technique is an extremely fulfilling and emboldening experience for the rider. Once the basics are grasped there is an almost infinite array of potential moves to explore and attempt in a self directed and playful way and the more skills you acquire the more fun you can have in applying them to different spaces and situations. Performing tricks aside, the skateboard is also a convenient method of transport in urban areas, just getting from A - B on your own steam is a useful and satisfying thing to be able to do. What is skateboard tuition? Many people step on a skateboard, fall off straight away, blame themselves and never step on one again, not realizing that their approach and technique may have been wrong or indeed the equipment may not have been suitable. A good instructor will teach you the safe way to get to grips with the board, how to control it and how to safely fall over when things don't go to plan. They will demonstrate and guide you through the basic operations and where necessary spot or support you physically so that you are safe while learning them. Why not just learn on your own or with friends? In short you could progress much quicker under the correct instruction. Learning on your own and with friends is what being a skateboarder is all about and we encourage all our students to skate as much as they can outside of lessons, however many beginners find the insights, guidance and safeguarding provided during a lesson to be invaluable in establishing the good habits and proper technique that will enable them to master the basics much faster and set them in good stead for future self directed learning. What is the experience like for students? First and foremost we want to make sure our students have fun on a skateboard and our informal skate-together teaching style reflects that. Our friendly instructors aim to make everyone feel comfortable and confident when facing each new challenge, be it mastering the basics of board control and navigation or attempting a more advanced trick once the fundamentals have been acquired. Students are also facilitated in safely exploring their own on-board ideas and intuitions in a supportive and creative atmosphere with constant reassurance and feedback so they may uncover their own style and capabilities as organically as possible. The sessions are dynamic and exciting but are always tailored and paced to the individuals specific needs and abilities. Because we are established regulars at the parks we teach at, the sessions take place in a relaxed community situation where the student will also learn simple skatepark etiquette like how to read the flow of the skatepark, anticipate situations and share the space with other users. What ages and abilities do we cater for? We start at 3 years old and go up to as young as a 100 yrs old, if you have the will then we have the way! Please contact us if you have any queries concerning the accommodation of students with specific special needs or disabilities, every circumstance will of course be different and we will do our best to accommodate each individual's needs where physically feasible based on our evaluation and discretion on a case by case basis. What types of skateboarding do we teach? We cover Street and Transition skateboarding and have a Vert / Bowl specialist on our team. We also offer competition coaching for intermediate and advanced students so whether you want to go all the way to the olympics or just want to learn for fun, we got you covered. How safe are the lessons? Skateboarding is an extreme sport and riding a board will always involve some level of risk dependent on how and where you wish to use it. We would never advise a student to attempt anything that is not within their grasp and will always do all in our power to insure against serious injury through appropriate protective gear, secure handheld support and clear informed direction. Our instructors are prepared for and experienced in the many eventualities of aborted or incoherent trick attempts and will intervene where necessary to protect the student to the best of their ability. The student is also taught how to fall over safely and will learn to anticipate and avoid dangerous situations as they gain more experience and train their reflexes. On-board autonomy is attained through the calculated and gradual reduction of safeguards by the instructor until the student has acquired sufficient control of themselves and their board to warrant unchaperoned activity. How long are the lessons? Our standard lessons last 1 hour for a beginner but for younger students with shorter attention spans we can do shorter lessons. We also offer longer bespoke training sessions for intermediate and competing riders. Where do they take place? We teach at all outdoor skateparks and at selected street spots in the Greater London area. What hours can we book? We offer lessons from 8am till dusk, 7 days a week and will teach up until 6pm at floodlit skateparks during the winter months. Why Skate School London and not another skate school? Though we are not the largest or longest running, we are the only skate school in London to offer tailor made dynamic tuition for beginner to professional levels. We respond to the specific needs and circumstances of the students and cater tuition accordingly unlike many other schools who apply a generic format and teach in large classes with no view to continual progression. Skate School London are skater owned and operated and our instructors are life long passionate riders who care about the positive and constructive development of skate culture in the UK. We teach skating because we love it and wish to share the joy of riding with anyone who wants to learn no matter what level you are. What experience do we have? SSL was established in 2020 by an already practicing instructor, 3 years on and we have a team of selected instructors who are all lifelong skaters with at least 10 years personal experience in a variety of disciplines. How quickly will a student improve? Everyone has different capabilities and demeanours and will learn at their own rate, improvement is relative to the individual and there is no one ladder to climb or single benchmark to be compared with. To date SSL have successfully brought all of our students to the level of being able to control the board and navigate a skatepark environment independently but, as with any discipline, it is those who practice the most outside of lessons once they have been shown the basics who will improve the quickest. Our bespoke bracing techniques also enable the rapid overcoming of mental barriers to achieve tricks that may otherwise take students months to crack on their own if at all. Do we provide the necessary kit? For the first couple of lessons we will provide all the equipment needed (pads, helmet and skateboard) for the student to try it out and decide if they wish to take it up. But going forward students need to get their own board that caters to their body shape and style which we will advise you on. It will also be important for them to practice outside of lessons so having their own gear will be necessary if they decide to take skateboarding seriously. How much does a skateboard and protective gear cost? The average starter price for a kids complete is £50 and an adult set up can range from around £70 to £180 for a high end professional rig. Entry level protective gear starts at around £20 with high end professional equipment reaching £80 plus. Where do you buy a skateboard? We always urge customers to purchase from UK based skater owned shops and can suggest and direct you to a Skate Shop in your local area. What is the right board to buy? We can advise you based on your body shape, and what style of skating you wish to use it for. Alternatively any good local skate store will have expert staff happy to work out a setup that's right for you. Is protective gear and a helmet compulsory? We require all students to wear full protective gear unless they can demonstrate to us the necessary aptitude and reflexes to warrant otherwise but this will always be at the instructor's discretion. Do we have a grading system? We have no formal grading system as such at present but our instructors have developed their own personal frameworks to evaluate progress in the sessions and they draw on a wealth of experience to be able to intuitively assess development and give the relevant feedback. We are however currently collaborating with Archiglyphics to develop a non-linear skateboard syllabus that functions as a type of grading system whilst retaining the self directed explorative ethos from which skateboarding evolved. Do we teach intermediate or advanced riders? Yes we do and we have a range of specialist instructors who can cater for people wanting to enter competitions but also for those who wish to develop their style and approach to filming and creating video parts. Do we do group discounts? Yes we do:
1 person: £35 an hour
2 people: £50 an hour
3 people: £60 an hour
4 people: £70 an hour
5-10 children at £13 per head


What is Archiglyphics? Archiglyphics is an exciting new project developed by Henry Edwards-Wood who is a life long skateboard videographer and former spokesman for the Long Live Southbank campaign. Henry has created an intuitive notation system to express the language of skateboarding we call tricks and is using it to build an academic framework to teach skateboarding theoretically but also to expose students to fundamental mathematical principles that are prevalent in the patterns of skateboarding. SSL tutors and students have been collaborating with Henry for the last 2 years to develop techniques to teach and share this new mode of visualising and thinking about skateboarding and to find out how it can be used to help riders understand universal concepts applicable inside and outside the skateboard world.