Skateboarding can be an emotional grind. The ups and downs, the twists and turns, all take tolls physically and psychologically.
After breaking his skateboard while attempting a kick flip, Gabriel Daily knows this firsthand.
“I was kind of disappointed because I had that board for a long time,” he said.
Daily, however, didn’t let that disappointment last long.
“I want to keep trying to land a trick,” he said. “Obviously, I’m kind of persistent at it. I want to keep progressing at it.”
Now, psychological experts say this kind of persistence could impact other areas of his life.
“Skateboarding is very conducive to finding new ways to do things,” said sport psychologist Michael Boyd, who released a new study showing a willingness to learn new skills and take risks in skateboarding is linked to motivation, when focusing on one’s self.
“What we’re saying is, get into your own improvement, forget about comparing your skills to others, take a little risk and you’re going to be motivated,” he said.
Boyd believes everyone can learn valuable life lessons from skateboarding.
“It’s a great activity to teach that ongoing effort to finally obtain your goal,” he said.
While Daily had a new deck installed, his mother hopes he can benefit from failures in skateboard and apply them in the future.
“Nowadays, a lot of people try things once and if they weren’t successful, they give up,” she said. “I hope this is something he can carry on to his professional life.”
