Monthly Blog 2
Whilst teaching my lessons I have been asked most commonly what skateparks are good for beginners or good for the younger age group. There are a few skateparks in Coventry, none of them are perfect, but they are good to practice on if you do not want to travel to areas like Birmingham or Leicester
In this blog I will be naming my top three skateparks in and around Coventry (within a 15 minute drive from the city centre). They may not be the best quality, but I am naming ones I have the most fun skating.
Long Lawford - CV23 9AB
This skatepark is fairly new with it being built in 2015. The surface is smooth and the layout caters to all abilities with lots of opportunities for different disciplines. The obstacles include gaps, rails, manual pads, a spine, jump box and a whole bunch of quarter pipes for all different abilities and to try out different things whether that is street or transition skating. There are a variety of people that travel to go to the park and the locals are friendly. A few downsides to the park is that it can get quite busy as it is a little smaller than other places. Despite this, the park is really enjoyable to skate and it was refreshing to see obstacles I’ve never seen before like a ‘jersey barrier’ and a jump box leading onto the rails and street section of the park. It is always great fun to go and string some lines together whilst watching what others come up with.
Holbrooks skatepark - CV6 4BY
Holbrooks bowl is another one of my favourites, I love the transition. There is a 4ft shallow end and a 6ft deep end. A Bowl is similar to a typical “pool” you would see people skating in the 90’s with the main difference being the coping (the metal part at the top you see people grinding on). I find these types of park great fun to skate as you can do so much. You can create speed by carving around the bowl to slide your tricks more, do tricks jumping into the transition, on or even out of the transition. Once you get used to skating here it becomes great fun. The two downsides to this park is that there are some huge cracks in the ramps which can hurt if you hit them with speed with the wrong foot positioning. Secondly, you would have to be confident at dropping in to be able to skate the park as there are no banks or roll-ins to help build confidence.
St. Margaret’s skatepark - CV2 3EU
This is probably one of the most popular skateparks in Coventry. It has a little bit of everything all in a small space, so it is great for all disciplines of skateboarding. The ramps are a little bit rough to ride and the transition on the ramps isn’t the best, so bending the knees to take impact is very important. The layout is simple and caters to most abilities. The layout also allows lines to be strung together quite easily. Hitting the quarter-pipe, box, bank, ledge and rail would be an impressive combination, but something that would be do-able with a lot of determination. The downside really to this park is the rough floor that sucks up your speed, so it is a battle at times to gain speed. Despite this, once you get used to the park it is brilliant.
That’s it. These are my personal top three skateparks in and around Coventry. I have definitely missed out a few potentials, but skating in Coventry is mostly made up of street spots and car parks. This is one of the things I love about skateboarding, despite there being a lack of good skateparks in Coventry, the skateboarding community create their own by turning the street into a skatepark. Skating things that aren't really meant to be skated; like stairs and handrails, even bins occasionally. If you have ever travelled into the city centre on a sunny day, you would have most likely seen a few great examples of this; people ollieing over and down things. Something which is all part of the sport and gives people the kick they need to keep going.
Feel free to comment on what your top three would be.