StarTalk Radio - #ICYMI: Physics on Wheels, with Dr. Skateboard & Othello Clark

Episode Date: November 9, 2017

Chuck Nice takes Gary O’Reilly for a ride down memory lane when he revisits his skateboarding youth with a couple of real pros: 2x US Master’s Champion Dr. Bill Robertson, aka Dr. Skateboard, and former skateboarding and snowboarding pro Othello Clark.Don’t miss an episode of Playing with Science. Subscribe to our channels on:TuneIn: tunein.com/playingwithscienceApple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/playing-with-science/id1198280360GooglePlay Music: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Iimke5bwpoh2nb25swchmw6kzjqSoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/startalk_playing-with-scienceStitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/startalk/playing-with-scienceNOTE: StarTalk All-Access subscribers can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://www.startalkradio.net/all-access/physics-on-wheels-with-dr-skateboard-and-othello-clark/ Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to new episodes ad-free and a whole week early.

I'm Gary O'Reilly. And I'm Chuck Nice. And this is Playing With Science. And today we go for the theatrical and tread the boards. Are you with me? Oh, I'm with you. So let's see if all the world is indeed a stage. Then there may well be thrills and there well may be some spills. Are we there yet?

Absolutely. The eagle has certainly landed. This show has been long overdue. Yes. We know skateboarding has always been something of a precarious balancing act. Yeah, and for those who have ever cruised the asphalt or carved the park, this one's for you, baby. And for those of us who never have, well, it's for all of us, really. It is, and I'm in the latter of that. So the first act belongs to a man

who could be a hero straight off the pages of a DC comic, none other than Dr. Skateboard himself, a.k.a. Bill Robertson, a former Masters freestyle champion and a PhD on wheels. Yeah, and we're going to bring a touch of Shakespearean class to the proceedings. Also, former professional skateboarder and snowboarder, a DJ, no less, and a star of, okay, wait for it.

Hold the page. The bold and the beautiful Mr. Othello Clark will be with us. See, I never got on a skateboard. By the time skateboarding hit the UK, it's the early 80s, and I'm a professional soccer player. Right. No motorcycles, definitely no skiing. Absolutely. Definitely no skateboard.

Absolutely. So I'm off the cliff here. I am into the unknown. Your body was worth something back then. My body, on the other hand, was completely worthless. And I threw caution to the wind quite a bit as a kid. And I was a skateboarder, I have to say. I was a skateboarder. I loved it. I lived in a neighborhood where all the kids were discovering skateboarding at the same time. And we had a neighbor with a pool. And the next evolution between flat surface exercises, you know, where you learn to kick flip and maybe do an ollie or tail flip or, you know, jump a curb or something like that. The next thing was somebody said, yo, man, there's these dudes in California, man. They skate in the pools. And we got to learn how to drop in.

That was it. And so a neighbor had a, I'll never forget, a kidney-shaped pool that was three feet on one end and eight feet on the other. And you started off inside the pool and you would just learn how to actually go up the side of the pool. And then I'll never forget, Rodney was the first kid to actually drop in successfully. What a hero. And everybody was like, yeah! I'll never forget that day, man. It was so cool. But enough about me. Why don't we bring in our guest? He's none other than Dr. Skateboard himself. Bill, how are you? Really good, Chuck. Thanks, Gary. Thank you both for having me on the show. Pleasure. First things first, Dr. Skateboard, was that just, oh, it's got to be Dr. Skateboard,

or was there a list? Were there options on the naming? Well, you know, when I've been a skateboarder for over 40 years, I always had trouble remembering my name as Bill Robertson. So I started as that skateboard guy. But when I was going after my Ph.D., I remember telling a friend of mine, I'm going to get my Ph.D. And he said, dude, I don't know anybody with a Ph.D. And he was one of my skateboarding friends. And so that's when I started thinking Dr. Skateboard. And he was one of my skateboarding friends. And so that's when I started thinking Dr. Skateboard. Dr. Skateboard also allowed me to be a little bit of a dichotomy. So to put skateboarding with something in education was a motive as well. And I got to tell you, man, that it's so important. I was just thinking how if there was somebody like you when I was a kid and we first started skateboarding, how much more excited about science all of us would have been simply because skateboarding is one of the few activities where you can see physics at work, like physically the outworking of physics at play. When I started skateboarding like you, Chuck, it was something fun to do. And then later on, I competed as a pro, but then I was a middle school science teacher and was trying to get students interested in physics. And they just didn't care about the stuff I was doing

in the classroom until one day I thought, you know, I could demonstrate forces, motion, Newton's laws of motion, simple machines with my skateboard. And I brought that in and started doing tricks and showing them the physics behind it. And that's when I really knew I had a way of engaging and motivating kids in education through skateboarding. And you call it edutainment. Right. And that I think is just a wonderful term. And then there's another term that's been attached to you, which just really energized me when I read it. Action science. Now, I would learn science from a chalkboard.

I had a chemistry teacher, and I kid you not, white lab coat, bow tie. Classic. Bill Nye was your science teacher? No. Oh, okay. His name is Mr. Neil, and he wore a bow tie because he used to have a longer tie that was once made of acetate, and he lent over a Bunsen burner. Hence, he had a bow tie from then on.

Enough about my history. And then they called him Professor Burn Victim. I'm sorry. Okay, but you bring it to life. So what's stale on a chalkboard is now animated and real. And some students learn through this tactile experience. They don't learn from reading things off of a chalkboard. It must be amazing for you. Well, the thing we always tried to do within action science and the approach was to make

it authentic. I mean, first it had to be good skateboarding. I've worked with BMX riders as well. And, you know, we wanted it to be something that if people who are in the sport respected what was going on. Beyond that, we tried to embed a lot of content about the physics into mostly first live performances and then video has been the big thing we've been working on now. And so, you know, we, we hook people by the action, but then we sustain it through the science. And as Chuck and I were talking about earlier, you know, you also have the ability to, to show people, you know, the physics they're doing and then break down, you know, what they've mastered in terms of the science as well. So a lot of times, you know, good skateboarders don't think about the physics they've mastered in terms of the science as well. So a lot of times, good skateboarders don't think about the physics they've actually mastered.

But when you help them to link it, learning those terms and learning those concepts actually might help them with tricks. And so that motivation and engagement through skateboarding into their education is something that's central to what we've been trying to do. Okay, you've got two of the worst pupils ever to sit in front of you. That's why we do this show. It's really just a veiled attempt for us to get a free education. It's a retrospective education.

That's all. So drop some science on us. Give us some forces, motions, balance, Newton's third, whatever you got. Try and make us at least a D plus on our grade. Well, yeah, and why don't we narrow that? Why don't we start with just balance? Because balance is the most important thing to master first on a board. So with respect to balance, talk about it from the physics standpoint.

Sure. So when you're on a skateboard, one of the things you want to try to do is, you know, you want to be balanced, but you also, it's really about your center of gravity. So keeping your center of gravity over the middle of the board, or if you're in a manual or a wheelie, um, that you're, or, you know, a kick turn, you're up on the trucks. So the center of balance, being able to shift your center of balance over your board and center of balance is also known as center of gravity or center of mass. So it's trying to keep that center of your body over the middle or the point of your board where you're turning. The other part within that is you're always really trying to manage balanced forces and unbalanced forces. Actually, when you're moving, you know, you're using unbalanced forces.

So you're constantly trying to stay in balance, if you will, by keeping your center of gravity over the board, but you're also wanting the forces to be unbalanced so that you can keep moving. So that's a little bit of the dance you do on your skateboard. And in physics terms, though, I think the most important thing is to keep that center of gravity or that center of mass right over the middle of your board or a pivot point over your trucks. Dr. Professor, I'm not sure how I address you now. If for someone like me who never rode a skateboard more than one hundredth of a second, an ollie, I know the term, but it has got some amazing physics in it. And you've talked about center of gravity but you're actually

playing with the center of gravity of your own body are you not can you explain or break that down for us so so the ollie which is where you do basically a no-handed aerial you go into flight and you you basically bang the tail or the the back of your board on the ground and then you roll your ankle and jump forward right and this is uh and then and then you level of your board on the ground, and then you roll your ankle and jump forward. And this is, and then you level out your board and you fly through the air using it. And people who master that trick can, you know, go over things at great height or great distance. You know, it's a trick that was originated back in the 70s by a guy named Alan Gelfand, and it was perfected on the flat ground by a guy named Rodney Mullen. But it's a standard in skateboarding. The physics really is it's all about flight.

So you're trying, again, overcome gravity with lift and thrust with overcoming friction. But the other part of that is you do have to maneuver yourself and keep that center of gravity right over the middle of your board as you're moving through this transition. The one thing you'll notice, like a lot of things that go in flight like that, is that a skateboarder actually rides a parabolic arc. So you'll see a skateboarder kind of ride an arc all the way across. They're not necessarily going straight up or straight down. They're going in this arc, this parabolic motion. And so riders that cover a lot of distance or can get really high and manage the speed can either go farther or go higher with this trick. But it's a fundamental trick that's just like the basics of flight. Sweet. Man, this segment just flew by. I cannot believe this is like one of the fastest

a segment has ever flown by. It's got wheels. Ah, I see what you just did there. Ah, it's a segment with wheels. Okay, before we go to a break, a lot of what you said, yes, physics, science, absolutely pure. But I sense an awful lot of intuition of every skater that comes into that. Are you able to portray that and bring that into the thinking of students? Well, one of the things we try when we're appealing to skateboarders is to tell them, you know, the things they're doing with their skateboarding, the things they've mastered are really high level thinking. They're problem solving, they're analyzing things, they're

synthesizing information, they're evaluating, and then they're being creative as a result of it, which is by definition, higher order thinking. So we try to make a link from that to something they've mastered and say, you know, the things you do with your skateboard that have caused you to be really good, practicing, being tenacious, being persistent, setting goals, being creative. Those are the same things you can apply to your education. And a lot of times it's just trying to tell people, hey, you know, if you're really good at something and you know what it's like to master something, whether it's a skateboard, a guitar, a second language, you can probably master something else. And so for me, a lot of times it's trying to just get them to link those habits of body, mind and spirit to something they

love to do and then integrate it into their education. You know, that was true for me. I mean, I was not necessarily the greatest student when I started skateboarding, but skateboarding gave me experiences that took me a lot of different places. And then people encouraged me and said, hey, you're good at skateboarding. You could probably do pretty good in school. And I made that commitment myself. And really, that's what I'm trying to do is reach out to people who might be marginalized because they're into a sport. But inherently, they're the kinds of students you want to succeed because they are thinkers. Nice. That's fantastic. All right. We are going to take a commercial break. I don't want to lose the flow that we've got with the doctor's skateboard.

So we will come back. Thank you to Bill Robertson. We're going to take that break. The science we've looked at, the technology is on its way. Stick around. Welcome back. I'm Gary O'Reilly. And I'm Chuck Mayes.

And this is Playing With Science. And we're exploring the science behind skateboarding. And joining us via video call is the man we had in part one, Dr. Skateboard himself, Bill Roberts. I just need a really deep, echoey voice then, but I just don't have it. We've covered the physics in part one. Now, let's take a look, a good look, at the tech innovation and evolution of the board yes well let me tell you so boards have come such a long way dr skateboard and i were talking before the show about you know he and i are from the pretty much the same era um where 90s yeah well yeah well late 80s 90s um

where you know i i was telling you that i go so far back that I was skating before there were precision bearings. So, and one of the most traumatic things that could ever happen to you was you just got these brand new polyurethane wheels, but the first polyurethane wheels that came out, they had regular bearings inside of them. They weren't sealed. They weren't sealed. And then you would pop a bearing because you would like do a trick and you would land like slam down on the

concrete and then your wheel didn't work and you're like what the what just and then you'd pick it up gosh yeah what the gosh just happened there you go what the what and you would look inside your wheel and you would see there's a bear you You popped a bearing. Let's get Dr. Skateboard on the scene. A whole other world now. Just how much of a difference did this evolution in bearings make? We've got the polyurethane wheels. We know a little bit and we'll revisit that because I want to talk to you about transference of energy. But bearings, just lead us through bearings, if you would, please.

Right. So what Chuck is talking about with the the bearings popping out you know was something that was common and it was another way that you know you would just slam so gravity would overtake you no matter what kind of wheel you were riding the the precision bearing or the you know the that was in the wheel was a big deal because it not only allowed for those the bearings to stop coming out but it also allowed you to maybe progress and push a lot harder because you weren't just thinking about oh well you know i can't depend on my wheels the other thing is is that the bearings were encased so they had you

know they had lubricant in there they lasted a lot longer uh they the dirt kept out of there and those were some of the other things that really impeded what was going on that. And, and then they started to make different grades of bearings. So you had different types of bearings, um, that could be all the way, you know, from grade like one through seven, they caught, you know, and then they also made them, uh, like Swiss bearings. So just like fine tune a watch or something like that, you had different, uh, versions of bearings. So just like fine tune a watch or something like that, you had different versions of bearings. And so if you really wanted to go fast, you use the seal bearings. And that's been a big progress in the sport. Absolutely. And I'll never forget. Oh man, I forget the kid.

He had these, they were, they, he was like, these are German precision bearings, right? And they'd be like this, dude, they're German. So, you know, they're good. bearings right and they'd be like this dude they're german so you know they're good all right we touched on the the polyurethane construction of the wheel and that that obviously changed everything for skateboarding but in there you've got degrees of softness yeah and and from that you can actually deform the wheel slightly so you can get an extra pop with the energy is that correct well so within urethane wheels there's a hardness scale that's basically called durometer and it's uh and it typically extends from maybe in the 70s up to 100 plus

really hard wheels are what you use say in a skate park where you want to go fast. There's low friction on that. And then as you move down the scale of 90, 80, those become softer wheels. So they're grippier, you know, so they hold on to the ground a lot more. So the friction, if you will, that part is increased. You tend to use softer wheels on slippery surfaces or if you're, you know, in very uneven surfaces. So for instance, you would use big soft wheels, maybe when you're using a cruiser board, you're riding around campus, you're riding on the boardwalk, and then you want to use really hard wheels when you really want to go fast in a park. And so, so the different durometers, the different sizes of wheels, the contact spaces

on it and the hardness of the wheel definitely contribute to that. And so it's, I think it's less about deforming the wheel as it is about, you know, managing the speed or the, the, the friction, if you will, uh, based on the hardness or the softness of the wheel. And one of the things that happened, like right after I started, you know, right after I got out of the, look at the me, like I'm a professional boarder. I'm happened like right after I started, you know, right after I got out of this, look at me like I'm a professional boarder. I'm like, right after I retired, you know, when I retired from skateboarding, you know, got a job and joined the rat race. But you saw wheels get like super tiny. You got these tiny little hard wheels.

And so the diameter of the wheel then changes the whole aspect. And those wheels were like the wheels that guys that were doing like super cool tricks. They were on using on these tiny wheels. So why did that development happen? Or what is the purpose of the tiny wheel is what I'm really asking. So the guys can do these great tricks. Remember they had small feet?

Yeah. Well, the tiny wheel is one of the primary things. So you have a smaller contact area. It's a smaller wheel. It's lighter. So in some ways what you're doing is you're decreasing the contact edge of the wheel, but you're also decreasing the weight of the board slightly. So I think different smaller wheels were an advent for people who are really trying to do progressions of flip tricks where they're really flipping things and doing that as well.

There's also the other part where people looked at the ridiculously small wheels as just a marketing ploy for companies to sell more wheels, if you will. But I think what you've seen now is the advent of more of a 70s concept, where you have different wheels of different sizes used for different things. For instance, when I'm riding flat ground, I use a smaller wheel, about a 52 millimeter wheel with a 38 millimeter contact patch. And then when I'm riding the park, I use a 60 millimeter wheel with a 38 millimeter contact patch. And then when I'm riding the park, I use a 60 millimeter wheel, which is a much taller wheel. So I maintain my speed and keep my contact edge a lot more. So it depends on what you want to do to, you know, you can vary your

wheel. That's super cool. So let's talk. Cause we're, I can't believe we're running out of time. It's just like, this is so cool. Okay. I feel like I'm 13 again. Oh, wait, I just got to sit on my nose. Oh, okay. Anyway, let's go back to the future. Yeah. So, uh, let's talk about, um, two things and I want you to relate them. So when you're dropping in a half pipe, okay. I want you to talk about the physics of when you drop in, it's like you allow gravity to take you down. You get to the bottom of the pipe. And then you kind of like, I can't explain it because, you know,

but you kind of like push down on your board. You know what I mean? Like you drop your butt and you push down and then you take that. You drill down in and then you expect. Right. And then you kind of like come up off of it on the upside. And that becomes like a pump to get you back up to the other side. Right. That's the man. hoverboard and what would the difference in skateboarding be between those two things on the surface the way i just explained and on a hoverboard if you were on a electromagnetic is

that the worst thing chuck could have ever said to you no that's an excellent question you know and i think uh i'll take a shot at it you know when you're when you're dropping in on a half pipe or some kind of um you know steep angle like in a pool or something like that, the things that you're really dealing with first off is this idea of potential energy and kinetic energy. And so as you're at the top and you're stationary, you have all this potential energy. You drop in. You're on the face of the wall. And that is also called mechanical energy, those two sum together kinetic and potential and so as you're going down the wall you're at some diminishing potential energy and increasing kinetic energy when you hit the bottom at the transition you're completely into kinetic energy so your energy is

at its highest when you're there and as chuck was uh mentioning that's a point where so you're going to use your legs to kind of manage to absorb that a little bit. And then you're going to, in a sense, throw yourself forward to propel that energy through the transition. So it's kind of like pumping the transition. Then as you come up to the other, so you gain speed there. Then as you come up to the other side of the wall, you do almost the opposite. You're going to move backwards, if you will. You're going to elongate yourself. to move backwards, if you will. You're going to elongate yourself. You're going to go from full kinetic energy and then increase your potential energy as you move up to the top.

So being able to manage that and stay in the bowl is a big deal. And that's another reason why, you know, you use the trucks to grind or you go through the air, you know, by grabbing your board or ollieing to keep that momentum or that energy moving. So you're really moving between areas of, you know, high potential energy to full kinetic energy, and then managing the mechanical energy in between. Lexus, I don't know if you're familiar with this, Doc. You are familiar with it. Okay. So Lexus created a true electromagnetic hoverboard. Okay. And... um, leather seats, leather seats. But, but the cool thing about, um, is, you know, uh, you had to stay on their little

track that they created. Okay. So let's say you had a whole half pipe that allowed you to do that. What would this thing look like? What was skateboarding do? And, and is that the future of skateboarding? Well, you know, to me, it was one of the things I watched that video as well. And when I was watching the riders trying to learn how to do it, you just saw them slamming on the ramp over and over and over. Because first off, the way you

move on that with less, so much less resistance requires so much less effort, if you will. And so so a rider who's really good is usually used to like, you know, pushing really hard and, you know, grinding on the coping. And then this takes all that resistance, all that friction out of it. So you, I think, have to learn how to ride in a much more gentle way. To me, you know, it's like moving from skateboarding to snowboarding. You know, when you, you know, when I started snowboarding, people said, oh, you're going to be good at it because you're a skateboarder. You know, when I got on the hill, it was very different because you had to, you were just slipping and sliding the whole time.

You know, when I got in the air, I could do all these skateboarding grabs. And then when I landed on the ground, it was like, you know, nothing I'd ever done before. It was very different because you're managing this increased, you know, speed and lack of friction. And so how would that look in the future? You know, I think people could have fun with it. You know, it'd be almost to me like a wave park for surfing. But I don't know that it would displace the idea that, you you know and it's certainly the accessibility of the sport the way it is you know living here I see hundreds of kids out riding their skateboards and skateboards are affordable I would imagine a hoverboard is going to be a little cost prohibitive but you know maybe in the future it will be something for everybody but I think it would be

ultimately easier than it is skateboarding with urethane wheels. And I think people who ride urethane wheels like being in contact with the concrete, with their wheels and managing that tension, if you will, all the time. Well, you just set us up for an awesome segue to our next segment, because know, are going to be talking to a skateboarder turned snowboarder turned actor. So LA, so very LA. Dr. Skateboard just told us it's all about the big G. It's all about the big G, baby. G is what gives the real kicker to skateboarding. There's some science. There you go. All right. We'll take that break. We cannot go without saying so many thank yous to Dr. Skateboard, a.k.a. Bill Robertson. Yeah, man. Who hasn't just unlocked the science, but he's given us the tech behind skateboarding.

We are so privileged to have had him. Thank you so much, sir. You really have shown us that when you play with fire, you get burned. When you play with science, you get learned. Absolutely. Thank you both so very much. You are welcome. Right. With those words of wisdom, we'll take that break. On the other side, Mr. Othello Clark, DJ, actor, snowboarder. Oh, yeah. The bold and the beautiful. That's just Chuck and I. Stick around.

Welcome back. I'm Gary O'Reilly. And I'm Chuck Nice. And this is Playing With Science. Today we have been talking the science and technology behind skateboards. And I think we're going to take it to a different direction. And up a notch, joining us to give us the pros perspective is Othello Clark. Yes, that Othello Clark, the bold and the beautiful athlete turned TV host, soap opera star.

What hasn't this man done? It's amazing. He hasn't been on our show yet, but we're about to rectify that. We're going to rectify that right now. Welcome to the show. Othello, what's happening? Oh, I'm great. How are you guys?

How, how, how do you find yourself gravitating towards skateboarding? Skateboarding came first to me, first and foremost. My whole background comes from skateboarding. I grew up in Virginia Beach in Norfolk, Virginia area. And when we moved to this neighborhood, you know, parents always trying to get you in neighborhoods that they really can't afford, but they want you to have a better life. It was one of those stories with me. So we moved to this little neighborhood and everybody out front were these little white kids skateboarding. And I didn't have any friends. So I would just sit out there. And after I sat there, finally, a couple of days, a dude comes up to me and was like, would you like to skateboard?

Would you like to try it? And next thing you know, I was having fun and the kids were starting to like me. So I knew that I had to be really good at skateboarding if I was going to get along in this neighborhood. So then from there, I decided to start practicing every day, all day. And I did get good. And I knew that I had to be able to get good to be able to afford all the skateboards and all the equipment so all right motivation yeah i knew my family wasn't going to buy me another skateboard every two or three weeks that we need it so right that i need it so i knew the only way to get them for free was to become a sponsored skateboarder so i practiced in the rain day and night every day after school till it got dark like that's all i did so then i finally got picked up and everything was great. I had a couple sponsors. Let's take you back a couple of steps. That young man who fell in love with skateboarding,

who then got very competitive and wanted to buy, you know, get himself boards, couldn't afford to buy them himself. How much of the science involved in skateboarding did you have consciously in your mind and then bring to the development of new tricks well you know it's tricks it's not development of new tricks you're on a next level when you start developing your own tricks what it is is mastering the tricks that are already out there and then mastering the tricks that that are a one and five chance of landing the trick every time. So you work on those tricks and you master them to the point where you can get them on command. It's not, in our sport, it's not about if you can do the trick or not, because everybody can do the trick.

It's about whether or not you can do it when the time comes. And were you cognizant of any of the physics involved? And we just had Dr. Bill Robinson, Dr. Skateboard on. And he was we were talking about the physics of many of the moves in skateboarding, which, of course, translates not seamlessly, but does translate to snowboarding. Were you aware either skateboarding or snowboarding of any of the physics and the science involved in what you were doing? Well, I mean, that kind of question, let me think about this. I was aware of it in a sense that I knew what the board had to do because when I learn tricks, what I do is I sit down and I stare at how it works and what it takes to make it happen. So for instance, a kickflip, you know, I knew that you had to ollie first and get to your highest point. And then I know you had to take your foot and then flip it really quick. And then the board flip and then you land. So I would watch that for a while and then I would study where it was to at the proper time I needed to flip the board to land it.

Or I would. So once that you got that down, then you understood the next thing is to get your footing right. So now I know how to flip the board. Now I need to figure out where my feet were going to be when I landed on the board, when the board was coming down and I was about to land away. landed on the board when the board was coming down and I was about to land away. So then the next step into learning that trick was flipping, done, now landing. And even if the board didn't land, making your feet land in a way that when the board finally does get to you, you were ready for it. So then that was the next step. And then you put them together. And that's how I always learned tricks was in steps.

So that's the appliance of science. And that is the application of science. I mean, absolutely. That is critical thinking married to trial and error and until you get the desired outcome. So, yeah. Exactly. A lot of trial and error. A lot, a lot of trial and error.

You know, you're not supposed to skateboard in the rain or water, but that didn't stop me. I just changed my wheels and I was out there nonstop in the rain or or water but i mean that didn't stop me i just changed my wheels and i was out there non-stop in the rain trial and error learning new tricks every day do you still skateboard every day you still get the time but it's still in your blood you still have to have that that piece of you on a board my whole life is skateboarding man um i that's fantastic if it's not skateboarding i'm right i'm across the street from the skate park so i stare at it and and i watch it oh good see that that's where i'm a viking staring at it yeah i am awesome at that i i enjoy i enjoy watching

kids learn new tricks right because i remember when I was learning that trick and I think to myself, okay, he's about to do it. Three more tricks, three more tries. He's not bringing it. And then he lands it. And it's almost as if I learned to do it again by watching. So, yeah, I'm always around the skate park. Do you still get the same buzz now that you had when you were sat on the porch watching the other kids and then getting involved uh you know that's a great question i do but it's from like unbelievable tricks that are

coming of age these days yeah you know i'll be scrolling through instagram or something you know on my feet there's all skateboards and i'm like and then i'll see a trick that just makes me go wow and put my phone down. I'm like, oh, my gosh, skateboarding is on the next level right now. It really is. It really is. So when I was skateboarding back in the day, man, so, you know, it went from flat surface tricks. Like, you know, you were just learning how to, you know, kickflip.

You're trying to ollie, you know. And then, you know, we had a neighbor who had a pool. So we started dropping in. You know, I didn't. I'm going to be very honest. Full disclosure. Full disclosure. I did skate the pool.

I skated the bowl. I skated the bowl. I never dropped in. I'm going to be honest. I'm going to be honest because I don't want to sit here and be a poser. Okay. Yeah, yeah. But.

That's the policy. And but then you look and you see the progression from that back when I was a kid to like the X Games today. And where do you think this is going, man? I mean, it's and what you just said about you look at Instagram now. Where do you see this going? It's really insane. Well, you know, again, another great question. insane. Well, you know, again, another great question. I don't, I can't tell you where it's going because I just can't imagine, which is silly for me to say, but I just can't imagine the tricks getting more technical than they already are. You know, I see some of the craziest tricks that just

straight blow my mind every day. And I go, wow, what else? Uh, I think that what, what the next progression of this sport is to have every trick that's being done now done bigger, right. Okay. Or done at a different level. So you see their half pipe behind you. The next trick will be done at a 10 foot half pipe in the woods, you know, floating on a barge. They, they try to take things in skateboarding to uh artistic level nowadays you know what i mean uh i got there's a there's a skater everybody should look up called daewon sung okay and daewon sung is probably is probably he's an old school skater but he had to redefine or rebuild himself to continue to remain current.

And so now his videos and all the stuff that he does, he adds all the hottest tricks in with a little like magic, like he'll ollie a trash can and then do a spin on the lid and then down. You know what I mean? Oh. So he's taking it to Vegas. Yeah, that's very cool, man. Exactly. he's taking it to Vegas

yeah that's very cool man he's taking it to Vegas that's a great way to say it that's a great way to say it let me ask you this Othello so speaking of tricks what's your favorite trick either that you do or that you've seen somebody do oh man I don't know you know

I'm more I'm not a technical I'm more on a fast smooth pretty side than I am a technical side. I like I like to go around really fast and grind and do little airs and come around and do another trick. And rather than do one trick and that trick be the most technical abort flying around. I like it to just be smooth. I might do a kid might do a backside 360 over the table, a backside 540 over the table on his skateboard and land. But he barely made it, but he landed. It was cool. But then I'll come and do like this slow 360 that just glides and then it's smooth.

So it's not more of the technical tricks I like. I like the more smoothness aspects of being able to land tricks. I got you. I like to flow like water. Technical execution. Right. Exactly. I like to flow like water.

All right. Othello, it's been a pleasure, sir. Hey, guys. Thank you so much. Have a great afternoon. We will do. Off to the skate park for me. There you go, my friend.

Dude, this was a great show. What a great show. I mean, we've been trying to get a show like this put together for some time. So pleased we did. Dr. Skateboard. I love that name. I'm probably just going to dub. I'm just going to use it for the rest of the day for myself.

Bill Robertson, Dr. Skateboard. But the way he uses the whole skateboard thing to bring science forward and just bring it alive. To think and just thinking, can other sports do that? Can they bring science forward and take the staleness out of it that sometimes can come from a classroom? I hope they can because if they don't, we're going to be out of a job. No, I'm joking. No matter what, we'll always be here because it's sports and science.

It's the Reese's peanut butter cup of sports and science. You got sports in my science. I got deliciousness. That's ruined that one, hasn't it? But go back to Othello, right? His sport has taken him to a whole new direction but what he learned from being that kid not having any friends to being this really competitive dedicated skateboarder has put him into an unbelievable scenario so it can you know sport can take you to different sorts of places but if you understand the science in there it can really max out what you get from your sport and you know the

funny thing is my son has been begging me for a skateboard for about a year now and since i finally got insurance i might just get it for him does the neighbor have a pool all right that's it for today's show i hope you've enjoyed our little skateboarding adventure as much as Chuck and I. It's been Playing With Science. We'll see you all soon.