I finally put grip tape on that new deck I got a couple of weeks ago. I guess with the short days and crappy weather I haven’t been in a hurry. Anyway, I guess this is becomming a series about me setting up a new board.

So I’ve written about my appreciation of the “double diamond” shape in boards. The name refers to the somewhat diamond-shaped nose and tail. In this case, a Heroin Skateboards deck that is symetrical - the front and back of the board are the same. You can ride it either way and it makes no difference.

Part One of a board setup is putting on grip tape. Most skaters have a preferred way to apply the tape. Some like to create designs. Some just slap it on there solid. Some like to rip the tape and put on punk rock style. For most of my boards I create a hole in the tape, right in the middle of the board. Yes, I measure it out and try to get that ciruclar hole right in the middle. Why? Because that hole allows my walk-the-dog foot to pivot on the deck without making contact with the tape, which makes the movement easier and also makes my right shoe last a lot longer. I can’t tell you how many pairs of shoes I’ve gone through in my life with a perfectly good left shoe, and right shoe with the sole worn through from doing walk-the-dogs.

This is an old freestyle thing. A lot of old freestylers did this, and so do I.

Some people may ask “doesn’t that mess up your ollies?” No. No it doesn’t. For one thing I hardly ever do an ollie. I can do them, and I have in the past, but I’m just not really interested in doing ollie-based tricks myself these days. Not my jam. BUT - if I want to ollie I don’t find that the hole really has any negative effect. It is mostly not in the area where you drag your foot, and it is not in the main pocket where my foot is for general riding.