Tutorials

Longboard Magazine Instagram account @longboardmagazine.eu

How to grow your Instagram following smarter and faster with scheduling

by

In April 2017 Instagram reached 700 million users and it feels like almost everyone we know is using it. Doesn’t it? Most probably you use it as well…

Some people use it just to share photos and videos with friends and family, sponsored riders to grow their personal brand and promote their sponsors, companies to promote their products and raise brand awareness as well as event organisers to promote the events and so on…

In this article, I will share with you how we manage our Instagram account @longboardmagazine.eu and which tool we use to optimise the workflow.

Interested? OK, let’s go!

Over 4k new followers in 4 months

We started our Instagram account in 2013 but we haven’t really been posting much and the number of people who followed us was quite low.

The situation changed in March this year when we decided to post more regularly and started using some cool tools to make the workflow easier, faster and more efficient.

Since then, the number of people who follow us on Instagram grew by 4000.

That’s a 1000 new followers each month. 

@longboardmagazin.eu Instagram statistics
Longboard Magazine Europe Instagram account following growth stats via Onlypult.

Believe it or not, those numbers are not even that impressive. While we peaked at around +350 new followers per week, some Instagram accounts go up to +500 new followers per week or more…Some a lot more.

How we utilise our Instagram

With our Instagram page, we aim to provide a place where longboard enthusiasts can discover new riders, connect with them, catch up with the ones they already know, get inspired by their adventures and see what’s up on the scene.

Everyone is welcome to tag our @longboardmagazine.eu Instagram account and let us know about their new great photo. We check who tagged us every day and hand-pick 4 to 6 which are then scheduled for reposting on our Instagram page.

In case if you’re wondering, we don’t make any money by posting or reposting on our Instagram account. So far running our Instagram account only cost time and money, but we keep running it because it keeps us connected with the scene and it helps with the exposure for Longboard Magazine Europe.

That’s all there is to it right now…

Our Instagram posting schedule

We implemented a content submission system which seamlessly connects via the link in our bio and we use our Instagram account to feature other people’s photos or videos, as well as our own when we have something to post, most often to promote the best content published on our website.

One thing we had to establish right at the beginning was how often we should post photos on Instagram in order to maximise the engagement or how many posts per day is too many.

After two weeks of testing, we learned that we could post round the clock all day long and as long as we published the posts 3 to 4 hours apart, they all had the same outreach and engagement regardless of what time they were published.

That’s how we decided to post 6 times a day and the result of more frequent posting was a much faster following growth.

So, you might be wondering if we hang out on Instagram all day long?

Of course, we don’t…

Scheduling Instagram with Onlypult

We use Onlypult, an online Instagram scheduling SAAS (software as a service), to prepare and schedule the posts on a computer one day ahead which saves us a ton of time.

So, instead of logging into our Instagram and posting 6 times a day, we spend approx. 2 hours every morning to prepare the schedule and Onlypult publishes the posts automatically for us.

Here’s how the admin looks like…

Longboard Magazine's Onlypult account
Longboard Magazine’s Onlypult account.

Onlypult is not a free service

Onlypult is not a free service and that’s actually a good thing.

Free services often disappear over the nigh since they thend to run out of resources because nobody is paying for their work. No money, no honey. Right?

While paid online services are being funded by their customers, people behind them are highly motivated to provide a good product in order to keep the existing customers and get the new ones. This means that the service is regularly maintained and upgraded.

Another good thing that comes with paid services is a constant and fast support.

In case you need help or if something doesn’t work as expected, you can send an email and expect almost immediate response.

The basic Onlypult account costs 12 $ if paid from month to month, but you will get a solid discount if you decide to pay for 6 months (15% discount) or 12 months (30% discount) in advance.

Onlypult pricing

Please note that the pricing can change, so it’s best to check on their website.

Of course, before purchasing we wanted to save some money or at least make sure that the money we were about to spend was well invested, so we tried out few other free and paid solutions.

None of them came close to Onlypult and at the end we decided to give it a try for 6 months which costed us exactly 57,54 Euros. So far we’re nothing but impressed.

In contrast to many other free or paid services, Onlypult is compliant with Instagram’s rules, so you can rest assured that your Instagram account is safe.

You would be surprised how easy it is to get your account blocked or “shadow banned” when using apps and services like Instagress, Followliker or Mass Planner, or services like Boostly, Social Envy or Socially Rich…

Some of those are already out of business which makes a lot of sense since they were only able to help you to get a bunch of “fake” followers your to get your Instagram account banned.

Control everything

Publishing the scheduled posts is not the only thing that makes Onlypult our favourite.

The biggest difference between Onlypult and similar free services is that Onlypult actually publishes the posts for your and it enables you the completely control of your Instagram publishing.

You can edit everything just like you can edit in the official Instagram app, except much easier and straight from a web browser on your computer.

Here’s how the editing of a scheduled post looks like…

Editing a scheduled post in Onlypult

I could write another thousand words about what functionalities Onlypult has, but I will sum it up by saying that Onlypult is the most complete solution to handle your Instagram from a computer.

It really does everything: You can post a single image, video or gallery. You can tag others on the photo, you can search for the users and @mention them, you can edit the post, comment and whatnot. We don’t miss anything in there.

Instagram reposting with ease!

With Onlypult you can also repost other people’s Instagram posts. What I like the most about it is that it feels a lot like sharing on Facebook.

Here’s how that looks like…

To repost an Instagram post in Onlypult, you just navigate to “Favourites” tab where you can choose to search by #hashtag or by @username.

The app will list the post and all you have to do to is to click “Repost”. You will be presented with an editing form already filled in with all the information. Change the text to add some personal touch to it and schedule or publish immediately.

Onlypult also enables you to save other Instagram user for tracking which is especially useful for companies, brands and team riders. This will create a special feed under the “Users for tracking” tab with the posts from users you chose to track.

Click “Repost” again and you’re good to go in a second.

Your team managers will love this…be sure to show it to him 🙂

For example, a company can track their team riders from a single place and repost their posts much faster and much easier.

The basic account comes with a limit of 10 users for tracking…fair enough.

Statistics – grow your following smarter and faster

If you’re a bit more serious about growing your Social following, you must know how your activity performs. The statistics will help you to determine what kind of content brings new followers, what people like the most, when you will receive the most interactions and so on…

Unfortunately, a personal Instagram account doesn’t provide with any statistics. You can only look at the number of people who follow you and the number of likes and comments your posts received.

To see some basic statistics, you have to switch from personal Instagram account to its business account. This might not make much sense to you if you’re not running a business, for example, if you’re a sponsored rider. Although that is or at least it should be some form of a business.

Onlypult provides with useful statistics that enable you to see how the number of your followers is changing, how many interactions are your posts receiving, at what time the posts received the most interactions and similar.

Of course, you will not benefit from it by just looking at the charts and numbers without taking any action. You will have to be able to recognise what kind of photos or videos work best and focus on creating more of them in a similar fashion.

That’s a wrap!

I have to stop somewhere, otherwise this post could go on forever. Hopefully you’ll get something smart out of it or it might give you an idea about how to grow your Instagram following.

The bare essence of this post is that in order to grow your Instagram account faster, you need to post more frequently.

How much? Well, I guess a good starting point would be to post at least once every day. Yes, that is 30 posts a month and it’s a lot of photos to collect, but don’t worry…

Soon I’ll share some tip about how to get your Instagram covered even if you don’t have 30 photos of yourself, which you will be able to start practicing right out of the box.

If you have any questions or if you want to share your own experience with Instagram, leave a comment below and we’ll continue the conversation there…

To learn more about Onlypult, check out their website.

Peace out!

How to make money with your longboarding video

by

Wouldn’t it be great if you could make money doing what you love the most and to be able to keep doing if full time instead of your boring 9-5 job? In this post, you will learn how to cash-in your longboarding videos and live a life of a pro rider without even having a sponsor.

But wait…Isn’t skating for money a bad thing?

Some time ago, if you wanted to cash-in your skateboarding activities, people would quickly get very judgmental and often you could hear some saying “He’s in it just for the money!” as if that’s a crime or a very wrong thing to do…

You know, as if that person who’s trying to make money with skateboarding actually hates skateboarding but he or she does it just to get some money out of it. So much BS.

However, nowadays there are more and more riders who want to get paid for the footage they capture in order to be able to travel even more, attend more events and heck, why not try to make a living out of it as a pro skater.

To get out on the mountain, skate and film it, you had to spend time and money. So why wouldn’t you get at least some of the money back and refill your wallet for another trip or an event registration fee?

There’s a bunch of riders who already make money with their longboarding videos, you probably know them in person as well…

There are more ways to turn your video into cash but in this post, you will learn how to make money with your longboarding videos by licensing them to companies that specialise in distributing a user-generated content.

If you are a sponsored rider, I will also give you some hints about how to promote your sponsors in those videos and make it work out great for everyone.

Meet Jukin Media

Jukin Media is a company that specialises in distributing a user-generated content and it is a company behind some of the world’s most popular channels like People Are Awesome, Fail Army, JukinVideo and The Pet Collective.

If you have a cool video they will distribute it, monetize it and share the profits with you.

Jukin Media @ jukinmedia.com

To get started with Jukin Media all you have to do is create an account on their website and submit your video. If they like it, your video will be added to their online library where it will be available for licencing to media professionals who are searching for great videos.

Jukin Media will not buy your video. You remain the owner of the video and you only give Jukin Media the rights to represent and manage your video on your behalf.

So, how will your video actually make money?

Jukin Media will try to turn your video into cash by licensing, syndication and YouTube monetization:

  1. Licencing – Your video could be licensed and used in TV shows, advertisements or websites. The companies using your video will pay a fat sack of money for it.
  2. Syndication – If someone is using your video on YouTube,  it will be claimed and monetized by pre-roll commercials or banners ads. In addition to YouTube, Jukin Media will send your video to other major websites like Huffington Post, AOL, and Yahoo.
  3. Production – As I mentioned earlier, Jukin Media also produces their own shows like “People Are Awesome” and “Fail Army”. If they use your video, they they promise to pay you.

How much will you earn with your video?

It’s hard to say exactly how much you will get paid because that depends on the variety of factors, like how long will it be used, where it will be used, how it will be used and so on…

To see how much Longboard Magazine would have to pay for one of the downhill skateboarding raw runs available in their library, I sent them an email asking for the price.

They replied the same day and wanted me to further explain where and for how long I will use the video…I explained that the video would be uploaded to our YouTube channel, Facebook page and get featured on our website and remain there indefinitely.

This is how video distribution usually works in longboard industry, right? A sponsored rider creates a video and then sends it to his sponsor who then posts the video on Facebook, their YouTube channel and maybe their website/blog.

The next day I received their reply and they offered to license me the video for 1.600,00 Euros.

So, considering that Jukin Media will share 50% of that revenue with the owner of the video, he would make 800,00 Euros.

I wonder if your sponsor would pay you that kind of money 🙂

But this is only one scenario…Your video could be licensed to a TV show featuring action sports videos and it would, for example, be used only once for a short period of time.

In that case, I guess the price would be much lower. According to what some riders have made, my rough estimate is that the price in this case could be around 300-500 Euros. The owner of the video would again make 50% of if, somewhere around 150-250 Euros.

* Please note that this is just what I think your video could make. It could be less, it could be more.

Will anyone be interested in watching your video?

Of course, if your video is low quality or boring, nobody will be interested in watching it.

You will have to make sure that your video stands out by showcasing some kind of funny,  dangerous or outstanding performance, high speeds, beautiful scenery, awesome tricks and dance moves.

The general population is intrigued by crazy downhill skateboarding videos these days. Big media companies know that and they want to include this kind of content in their program in order to get the views, followers and to provide a popular content to their audience.

How to promote your sponsor in your licensed video?

We are used to putting sponsor logos at the beginning of the video, which is a bad idea anyway…If you want your video to be licensed, you should avoid any logos in it.

Think about it; Not everyone is an idiot like we are at Longboard Magazine and the broadcasters will not promote your sponsors for free like we do.

So, make sure that you upload a version of your video without the sponsor logos.

The same goes for the music. As usual, riders just steal some popular music and put it in their video. This is of course not allowed and you should upload your video to Jukin Media including copyrights free music or no music at all.

So, how do you promote your sponsor in a licensed video if you can’t put a logo in it…

That’s easy…Wear a t-shirt or a sticker on your helmet. Get creative and have your sponsor showcased in a different way. Maybe your video footage can include a closeup of the product (boards, wheels, helmet, gloves etc). You’ll figure it out, I’m sure.

Who is already doing it?

Some of the popular names are already on it. Here are some of them…

Seismic team rider Javier Tato recently uploaded his video from Nueno freeride and in a matter of days, it was featured on People Are Awesome.

A Loaded Boards ambassador LoTfi Lamaali – WoodWalker is also a regular uploader and recently a young ripper from US, Josh Neuman, bragged on Facebook about making a nice amount of money via Jukin Media as his Bails video got aired on TV.

Among others, like Andrei Churakov, there’s also a fast and tight run by Ambroise Trt which we also featured on Longboard Magazine.

These are just some examples, but you can sign up and see the rest at www.jukinmedia.com.

How will your sponsors profit from your licensed video?

They will not. The thing is that these videos are mostly shown to a large audience which actually doesn’t care about longboarding brands or about you for that matter.

Your sponsor’s Facebook page will not get millions of new likes and their business will not skyrocket. As the matter the fact, hundreds of thousand fake Facebook views will get them maybe a couple of new followers.

However, who knows…You just might be discovered by the next talent hunter and get featured on a television or perhaps even score a trip overseas…

That’s it! This post stretched out far enough to give you an idea how to cash-in your videos.

As mentioned earlier, this is just one of the ways of making money with your videos and I will share some more as soon as I find the time to write them down. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter or follow our Facebook page.

So, will you give it a try and upload your video to Jukin Media?

Peace out brothers and sisters!

Cover photo by Mihael Zadravec (Longboard Magazine)
Riders on the cover photo: Ruben Loosmore & Arthur Friedrich Schmidt

Traveling the world on board with Rosanne Steeneken

Traveling the world on board: Tips for travel noobies

by

My name is Rosanne Steeneken and I’m a 21 year old skater from the Netherlands. In 2016 I tried to escape my flat country by exploring Europe without any experience in traveling with my longboard. My adventures were successful and now I’m planning a 2 month trip to North America. A dream come true…

This article is meant for skaters who are complete travel noobies. I wrote down all the basics you need to know about traveling and this is my way of helping the community and giving something back.

In my experience, traveling is fun, but it can also come with some complicated situations. At the end, making mistakes will give you the best life skills. So I advise you to go out and explore the world, skate fast roads and meet new people, but if you want to learn from my mistakes, here are my tips that will make your travels easier.

Make connections

The great thing about the longboard community is that we are one big family. You will most probably always find people that are willing the help you out and contacting the right people really helped me a lot during my trips.

Group photo of the girls skating Wallonhill. Photo By Jouke Bos

On my first journey last year, a trip to Italy, I didn’t event meet any of the girls before going on a road trip with them. It turned out we became really good friends and shared a lot of good times together.

With this said, my advice is to check out the local longboard crews from the country you want to visit and ask around if they would maybe like to show you around or even have a couch for you to surf on. If you are lucky you may even find a skate house where you can stay.

Traveling by plane

Traveling by plane may seem way too expensive…and at the end, it may be. I was able to travel to five different places in the past 6 months just by spending some extra time researching online. At the end, the struggle was worth it. Here are some websites I used that can make traveling by plane a lot cheaper and easier:

Note: Keep in mind that ”budget” air companies make you pay extra for booking and checking the baggage. Also note that the prices are almost always a bit higher than those you see online.

Traveling by bus or train

If you are staying inside Europe, I would consider checking out the buses and trains going to your destination. Although, it may take a lot more time than traveling by plane, it can also be less hassle with your luggage.

With Flixbus you can even bring one item of hand luggage (max. 42 x 30 x 18 cm, max. 7kg) and 2 items of luggage (max. 67 x 50 x 27 cm, max. combined weight 30kg).

Also check out BLA BLA car. Sometimes it can be a good option, just make sure you check the luggage size you are allowed to bring!

I like traveling by bus or a train, because it gives me the chance to see more of the country I’m in. I can also stretch my legs and keep an eye on my stuff.

Packing for the trip

There are two types of luggage you need to consider, a backpack and luggage with all your skate gear. When I travelled, I use both. A backpack (a carry on if you’re traveling by plane)  for small stuff and personal belongings and a longboard bag for all my skate gear.

Before you go on a plane, think about what you want to put in your carry on luggage. I normally use a backpack and fill it up with skate wheels and small accessories to save some weight for my longboard travel bag.

Packing a full face helmets is always a bit tricky, but I have my own little trick. When I fly, I check if the company allows me to carry a little extra cabin bag. If this is allowed, a full face may be too big to become that extra little bag. What I do is, I just put my jacket over the helmet when it’s time to board the plane.

If you do this, you need to be super friendly to the flight crew and put your helmet underneath your feet or chair in front of you once you are on the plane. Also, if you explaining that your helmet is a life/death situation it may do the trick.

Packing for a longboard trip. Photo by Rosanne Steeneken

For my longboard gear, I got myself a 42 inch loyal buddy Decent Hardware bodybag that has been by my side for a half a year now. I don’t know what I would do without it. This longboard travel bag comes with little wheel bags inside and is big enough to fit your full face in as well.

I found out that this 42 inch bag is allowed at almost every budget air company. The only thing is, you will be asked to put it in the odd baggage section. When you land at your destination, just ask someone from the airport where you can pick up your oversized bag.

My Packing List

As long as you don’t make your mom pack your bags it’s not that hard to bring a lot of stuff with you. Before you set off, you can Google packing tips and find a lot of minimalist packing lists to hold on too. Here are some essentials I always take with me:

  • A micro fibre towel – it dries super quick and is small enough to keep in your bag.
  • Extra pair of laces, maybe even 3 – you can also use it as a belt.
  • Don’t pack shoes, pack breaking soles instead – you’re only gonna need 1 pair of skates shoes, 1 pair of casual shoes and flip-flops.
  • Reusable water bottle with a carbine hook
  • Extra slide pucks
  • A smaller backpack and a wheel bag – because wheels are always dirty.

Important documents you need when traveling

Passport

Having a valid passport or ID card is one of the most obvious things you need to travel. I have too many friends that forget or lost their passport during traveling, that is why I recommend making a copy of your documents and emailing it to yourself. You never know what will happen.

Organizer

What I like to do is keeping my passport, boarding pass, wallet, phone and other important document inside a fanny pack. It’s easy to grab and close to your body and it is much harder to steal.

If you want to make it extra safe, put your passport and boarding pass inside a plastic folder. In addition, you will also get 10 extra swag points for wearing a fanny pack these days.

International drivers license

When you planning to go outside of Europe, make sure you get yourself an international driver’s license. You don’t want your buddies to drive all the time right? 😉

When I need one, I just Google where to get it and take a passport photo with me. Most of the time it costs only around 20 euro.

Insurance

ALWAYS GET TRAVEL INSURANCE!!! You are a skater and you never know when you’ll get yourself into trouble. Getting travel insurance, besides your EHIC card is a lot easier and cheaper if something actually happens to you any you need to get treatment.

Additional tips

  • Get yourself a credit card. If you’re going to rent a car somewhere they will most probably ask you for one.
  • But don’t only take your ATM card, make sure you always have around 50-100 euros cash on you.
  • If you own an iPhone you can download an app called iPhone Wallet. With it, you can save all your digital tickets. If you keep your phone charged, you don’t need to print them out.
  • Don’t forget to pack a universal power converter and a power bank.
  • Have a journal and a pen. You can make a list of your schedule and a list of your belongings so you always know what you took with you and what not to forget.
  • Check what time the airport opens in the morning. If your flight leaves early you don’t want to sleep outside of the airport. Been there done that…

My favourite places to travel

If you want to start your new life of traveling, start with longboard events and freerides. This way you have something to hold on too. Besides longboard events, I find it really fun to also visit local communities and meet new people. These are the places I liked the most so far:

  • Tenerife ( Sliders skate house ) duh..
  • North Italy
  • KnK Longboard camp ( Slovenia)
  • Bela Joyride (Austria)
  • Barcelona
  • Wallonhill (Belgium)

Rosanne's longboard trip to Tenerife

 

If you want to make it interesting, take a look at the less popular destinations like Poland, Scandinavia or England. They have great skate spots and an awesome longboard community.

Final words

Last but not least, don’t be an asshole. Pitch in your fair share. You’re a broke skater, we get it, but so is everyone else.

When traveling with other people pitch in for gas and throw in your part.  Do people let you stay at their house for free? Be a good person and help them clean up. Even if you have a place to stay, camping rules still apply.

Leave the place cleaner than you found it. Because there’s nothing worse, than a shitty house guest or travel partner. It leaves a lasting impression so make it a good one.

In conclusion, I hope this article helped you and made you excited for traveling in the upcoming season. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me online or leave some comments down below! 🙂

Traveling without the EHIC card might cost you a lot of money

by

As a resident of the EU traveling and skating across Europe, the minimum you can do to ensure that you will get the required medical attention in case of an accident, without ending up with a huge hospital bill, is to have a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

In this post, I’ve compiled all the information you need to know about EHIC. Read through to know where to get yours, how it works and what it actually covers.

Be a good friend and share this post with your skate buddies, so that they can also learn about the EHIC card for themselves.

Why you shouldn’t travel without the European Health Insurance Card

The European Health Insurance Card allows you to receive medical treatment in most European countries as you normally would with your national health insurance card in your country of habitual residence.

It is issued totally free of charge and the only criteria of getting one is to be insured or covered by a statutory social security scheme in your own country.

A passport, an ID card or a national health insurance card are often not enough to get “free” health care in a foreign country. That is why you need EHIC.

Basically, the EHIC card is a document which proves that you are covered by a statutory social security scheme in your own country. If you don’t have it, the foreign hospital providing you with health care can’t know if you’re covered or not. So, as a precaution, they will charge you for the treatment.

Where to get your EHIC card

The EHIC card is issued by your national health insurance provider. You can obtain yours by visiting their office personally, as well as ordering it online on their website by filling an application form.

Follow these 3 steps to locate the correct EHIC application form for your country:

  1. Visit the European Commission website
  2. Find your country on the list of flags and click on it. You will be presented with a hyperlink to the official website of your national health insurance provider.
  3. Click the link to visit your national health insurance provider’s website.
  4. Once you’re there, look around for “Apply for your card” button (or something similar) and follow their instructions (fill in the form and submit).

Get your EHIC card on time (!)

In my country, it’s advised to order the EHIC card at least four working days prior to a trip.

In case if you forget to order your card in time, you can still visit your national health insurance provider and ask for a certificate which will temporarily replace the EHIC card.

List of countries where EHIC has you covered

The European Health Insurance card is valid in 28 member states of the EU and 4 member states of the European Free Trade associations (EFTA). This includes all of the European countries with the addition of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

  • The European Union (EU)
    Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
  • The European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland
    Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein (EEA countries).
    Switzerland.

However, it does not apply to The Chanel Islands, Isle of Man, Monaco, San Marino and The Vatican, but these are not popular skate destinations anyway.

Furthermore, if your EHIC for some reason is not recognised by the authorities in the European country you are visiting, you can request your home insurer to call the doctor or the hospital where you are treated.

Know what you can expect in a foreign country

In case you will need to use your European Health Insurance Card on a skate trip, you will receive state-provided healthcare treatments. This will be provided in the same manor as it would be to a local resident.

EHIC also covers treatments of chronic or pre-existing medical conditions, but be sure to consult with your insurance company before your trip.

EHIC does not cover rescue or repatriation services (flying you back home) nor does it cover dental treatment that can be delayed until you get back. It also does not cover any travel related incidents such as stolen property or lost luggage.

This means that EHIC is not an alternative to travel insurance.

It would be best to also think about getting a valid travel insurance policy before you start your trip.

Because health care systems vary depending on the country, you should check with your national health care provider to find out what exactly is covered in the country you wish to visit.

Important tips that can save you loads of hassle in case of an injury

First and foremost make sure you have your European Health Insurance Card and your personal documents (passport or identity card) on you at all times.

This is important especially when you’re attending a longboard event in a foreign country.

Often times at the events skaters spend a long time waiting in the ambulance for their friends to finish their run, go to the campsite/hotel and search for their documents and EHIC.

Save yourself the hassle and be responsible, have it with you on the track.

Best thing to do is to tell your friends where you keep your documents. A good idea is to also have a responsible friend in charge of the car keys (they may need to drive or follow you to the hospital).

The next important tip is to always have some spare cash at hand.

It is true that the EHIC insures you get free treatment, but that’s not always the case.

In some countries you may be expected to pay the bill upfront. You can however claim a refund once you get back home. In this case, save the receipts and all of the paperwork. Once you’re home safely, get in touch with your insurance company.

Moreover, you may also be asked to pay a percentage of the state-provided treatment. This means you may also need to pay for prescription costs, also known as co-payment. This may not be refundable.

As mentioned previously, the card is free, so please note that if you order it through a business or a non-official agent who wants to charge you for it, it’s probably a scam.

A very useful tip for those who already have their European Health Insurance Card is to always check the expiration date before you start your trip. The EHIC can be valid anywhere from 1 month to 5 years, depending on your health insurance status.

Final outline

  • Order your European Health Insurance Card at least 4 working days prior to your trip
  • Check the expiration date before you leave home
  • Always and I mean always, have your documents and EHIC on you
  • Let your skate buddies know where you keep your documents
  • Always carry some spare cash on you – you might need to pay for your treatment
  • EHIC is not an alternative to travel insurance – it’s best to get additional insurance
  • If you find yourself in an emergency during you skate trip in Europe, dial 112. This is the European emergency number and is valid in all EU/EEA member states

That’s it for now…

If you have any questions or think something’s missing, let us know in the comments below. Also help you friends learn about EHIC by sharing this article with them.

Thank you for reading, now go out and skate and keep it safe!

Disclaimer: Please note that you should double check all the rules according to your country and inform yourself properly via the official EHIC webpage. Information provided in this article can eventually become outdated in case if  EHIC regulations change. We will make sure to check and update the website with the new information. The featured image of this post represents a Slovenian version of EHIC and has been altered in order to protect the privacy of the card owner.

Additional editing by Mihael Zadravec.

One foot no comply shuvit with Brandon DesJarlais

Learn Longboarding: One Foot No-Comply 180 Shuvit with Brandon DesJarlais

by

If your plan is to learn new tricks, then you’ve come to the right place. This is a simple three step tutorial with Brandon DesJarlais on how to do a No-Comply 180 shuvit with a one foot landing.

For this trick you will need a half shell helmet and slide gloves, because as Brandon said ”shi* happens”. Moreover, landing this trick will be easier if you already know how to do a no comply 180 or better yet, a No-Comply 180 shuvit.

* Brandon skates regular so if your stance is goofy, just flip it around.

For more vlogs by Brandon, see his profile on Longboard Magazine.

Step 1: Nail the pop

One foot no comply shuvit with Brandon DesJarlais

This step is all about perfecting your motion so your body is able do the 180 pop every single time. Start out with flipping your board around and catching it with your foot. Stand shoulder width apart with the ball of your back foot on the heel side edge of the board. Push the board straight from the outside corner of your board, pop it and land it. Ideally you want your board to land straight at the same spot, without turning sideways.

Step 2: Nail the landing

One foot no comply shuvit with Brandon DesJarlais

Step 2 is all about landing your back foot at the right position. For this step, keep your front foot grounded while flipping the board with your back foot. So pop it, keep your front foot on the ground, turn the board 180 and plant your back foot on the longboard. Your foot should land in the middle of the deck.

Step 3: Go for it

One foot no comply shuvit with Brandon DesJarlais

Once you’ve got the first two steps down it’s time to push off and perfect your technique. Follow steps one and two with the addition of pushing off with your front foot once you’ve landed the board.

Some problems you might have while doing this trick are over or under rotation, not popping enough and not landing in the right spot. But don’t worry, all this can be fixed with perfecting the first two steps. All you have to do now is practice and soon enough you’ll be able to show off your new skills.

Brandon filmed this tutorial on a Moonshine MFG Elixir longboard deck, Abec 11 62 mm 81a Polka Dots wheels, Arsenal 180 50˚ trucks and RipTide bushings.

Awesome video filmed with bicycle featuring Ferdi Mohr, Stefan Reinprecht and Alexander Mohr

Awesome video filmed with bicycle featuring Ferdi Mohr, Stefan Reinprecht and Martin Schræg

by

About a month ago, Ferdinand Mohr shared with me a video filmed by his brother Alexander Mohr, featuring him and his buddies Stefan Reinprecht, Martin Schræg.

Rather then full raw runs, which have overcrowded our Facebook timelines in the past couple of years or more, I’m a great fan of “edits” because it takes much more effort to create them and personally I find them to be more interesting. This one impressed me very much.

When I finished watching the video, I was curious to find out more about it because just posting a video without any additional information really isn’t what I’m trying to do here on Longboard Magazine.

So, I asked Ferdinand to tell me a bit more about what went down that day and what I found out blew me away. It might not seam that big of a deal to you (hopefully it does), but to me this was special.

As I was watching the video, I thought that some scenes were filmed with a follow car, but it turned out that the guys used a bicycle in order to make the whole experience safer. How freaking awesome is that!?

I know that to many of you this might be nothing new and for sure it has been done before, but the way this video came out… These guys deserve some respect for sure.

While following and filming a skater down a hill on a bicycle might not be an option for every situation, for example, when skating downhill at higher speeds, this is a great option for youngsters who don’t have a car or a driving licence…or if they want to play it safe.

Hopefully this video will inspire other young skaters out there to try out something similar. For more stoke check out this photo from the shooting.

Filming a run with a bicycle. Photo by Sebastian Mohr

It all started last year when my brother, Alexander Mohr wanted to film a video with me, but we were wondering how to film, because we were afraid of filming with a car. That’s how we came up with the idea to film with a bike and his glide cam. It was a funny construction, but it worked really well. We went to spots all over Vorarlberg (Austria) and Liechtenstein. Big thanks to my brother and of course to the community! ~ Ferdinand Mohr

There you have it… It doesn’t necessarily take a car to make great video which would get noticed and appreciated 🙂

Toeside - toes are slightly over the edge

How to improve your feet placement for quick transition between heelside and toeside slides

by

Proper feet placement is something I struggled with as well and I often see others doing the same mistakes, especially beginners, who have just started learning stand up slides.

This tutorial will show you how to improve your feet placement on a longboard when doing stand up slides for easier, more controllable and faster transitions between heelside and toeside slides.

longboard-slide-heelside

But wait! Before we start, please note that there are different styles of skateboarding and this tutorial doesn’t say that “this” or “that” is wrong. However, when it comes to fast transitions between heelside and toeside checks, a proper stance on a longboard is required if you want to perform well and progress faster.

Proper longboard setup matters

* This part is for beginners who might not have a proper longboard setup.

Before we push off, let’s talk a bit about a proper longboard setup for freeride. Learning stand up slides on a pintail cruiser and soft downhill wheels could easily take the fun out of your experience.

Your deck should have a nice deep concave to hold your feet locked in while sliding and give to you good leverage over the trucks. I highly recommend symmetrical decks with a platform wide enough to fit your feet size. Pintail? Forget about it.

Use extra coarse grip tape. It will hold your feet on the board much better. One of the worst things that can happen when throwing stand up slides is your feet slipping off.

Softer bushing and symmetrical bushing setup are much recommended. Don’t tighten them too much, you should be able to do a deep carve before throwing out the slide. Trucks should be around 176 – 180mm, but not necessarily. You can use wider but narrower than that will give you a headache if you’re still learning.

And of course, I would recommend that you get yourself a set of a freeride longboard wheels. It’s much harder to learn how to slide on the softer downhill wheels. Wheels with rounded lips and durometer between 80a – 83a will make you get there much faster.

Let’s get down to business – feet placement

This is the juicy part of this tutorial. I’m going to “talk” about the feet placement which will help you make easier and faster transitions between heelside and toeside stand up slides / checks.

Let’s say something about the placement of the front foot first. This might be just my personal preference, but since it works for me, I am sure it will work for you as well.

If your board has wheel cutouts, you should place your foot as far in front as the platform allows you to do so (see photo 1). If not, try to stand around 1.5 – 3 cm away from the bolts (see photo 2). Your foot should be positioned at an around 45* angle, evenly across the platform, from one edge to the other.

Front foot on a board with wheel cutouts
Photo 1: Front foot on a board with wheel cutouts
Front foot on a board without wheel cutouts
Photo 2: Front foot on a board without wheel cutouts

When shifting between the heelside and toeside slides, you might want to slightly adjust the angle of your front foot, there’s nothing wrong with that. More specifically, when sliding heelside, you can lower the angle by moving your heel a bit forward / towards the nose.

The catch is mostly in the positioning of a back foot. Let’s talk about it.

If your trucks are tightened too much, you might have problems with the lean. If that’s the case, you most probably put your foot over the edges of the board in order to be able to push it out into the slide. This forces you to move your foot around the board before and after sliding. Most likely, that’s what holds back your progress. Also, this way you probably push the board out too much and don’t really feel the wheels sliding. When pushing the board from the side with your heel or toes far over the edge, you can’t really feel how much pressure / weight you need to apply. See photos 3 and 4 below.

Toeside - too much over the edge
Photo 3: Toeside – too much over the edge
Heelside - too much over the edge
Photo 4: Heelside – too much over the edge

The key to quick transitions between heelside and toeside checks is having your feet always positioned pretty much the same way and just shifting the weight from heels to toes. This will also help you feel the slide much more and make it easier to decide how much pressure / weight you have to add or remove from your board. See photos 5 and 6 below.

Toeside - toes slightly over the edge
Photo 5: Toeside – toes slightly over the edge
Heelside - heel is slightly over the edge
Photo 6: Heelside – heel slightly over the edge

Here’s a short demonstration video I put together. It’s nothing to be impressed with, but it should give you a good insight about how to place your feet on the board. Let’s watch it.

[facebook url=”https://www.facebook.com/longboardmag/videos/vb.146707288710724/916168005097978/”]

Yeah, I know… It’s a slow hill and that sweater makes my legs look shorter than they are, but I love it. It’s from Alternative Longboards. Thank you Szymon!

That’s it! Hopefully you will give it a try, especially if you found yourself doing the same mistakes as I used to. At first, you might feel a bit uncomfortable changing your feet positioning, but don’t worry, you will notice a big progress in no time. Skate on!

Let us know how that worked for you or share your thoughts on this tutorial via the comments below.