It has been thirty six years since Rodney Mullen’s freestyle board was focused in World Industries’, Rubbish Heap.

Twenty two years since Anthony Van Engelen did everything he humanly could to obliterate his board in the introduction to his part in The DC Video. Nineteen years since Caswell Berry, jumped ass first onto his board at full force to focus it in the intro for his part in Enjoi’s Bag of Suck.

Focusing your board is a tired and old way of letting your rage out, it’s played out. Even if it wasn’t played out, think about how much a board costs now… it’s like $80USD, buddy I know you can’t afford to buy another one a week after you just got one. Here are some new ideas of letting your anger out, that cost less money than buying a new board, and still allow you to skate home and not walk home hanging your head down low in shame, carrying your board which is now in two halves. 

Flip your shoe inside out

Take your shoe off and flip it inside out, I promise you this is possible, I have seen it happen. It is hilarious, and you and your friends will be laughing about it every time it is brought up for years to come. No one will care or remember that you focused your board in an hour. Do it for the enjoyment of your friends.

Climb the nearest tree and jump off it

Leave your board exactly where it is, run as fast as you can to the nearest tree and without even planning a route to the top, start climbing. By the time you climb to the first branch, I bet you’re going to feel pretty stupid and just laugh while you look down at the seven-foot-tall drop below you, being like ‘Why the fuck did I do this’. 

Focus your phone

They could never have focused Rodney Mullen’s phone; it was 1989 and they would’ve had to get in the car, wait in LA traffic to get to his house to smash his landline, there is absolutely no fun in that. Your phone is in your pocket, and you are addicted to it, like I am. I am addicted to Instagram reels. Break it. Reject modernity, embrace tradition.

Skate stop the spot you are skating

It’s 2025, the spot you are skating probably needed a lot of work to get skating. I'm sure you rub bricked it, lacquered it, and put a ledge filler into the cracks. Get that ledge filler, shape it now into knobs and put it on the spot you are skating, skate stop it, so not even you can try the trick again.

Call the cops on yourself

If you don’t have anything to skate stop the spot with and you haven’t focused your phone yet, it is a great idea to call the cops on yourself. Depending on where you are and the laws in the zone, the likelihood is they’ll just tell you to move on, forcing you to stop torturing yourself with the trick. It is a win. 

Text your boss and ask for more shifts

You’re already in a self-loathing mood, you may as well make yourself feel even worse for not being able to land your silly little manual trick. You’ll be at work, waiting tables or gripping boards, while your mind runs around in circles replaying every try from your three hour battle, over and over, thinking about what you could’ve done differently, where you could’ve put your feet, how you could’ve popped, you’re absolutely hating life knowing this was supposed to be your day off. 

Rip the griptape off your board 

Instead of focusing your board, dig your fingernails under a bit of your griptape and try to rip it off your board. Look how shit this is, your fingers feel funny, the top of your board is no longer a clean black sled, it is just weird uncomfortable patches of griptape, half of the top ply is exposed to the world and covered in sticky residue ready to collect all the worst things from the street. How inconvenient. At least you can regrip it. You can’t regrip a broken board.

Loosen your trucks

When I was a kid, my friends and I would play pranks on each other, by loosening each other's trucks when one of us left their board, while we went to the store or the bathroom. A harmless, but incredibly annoying prank when you are stuck trying to crank your trucks back to how they were perfectly before. Keep a T-tool in your back pocket while you try your trick so you can pull it out in your fit of rage, scrambling to loosen up your trucks to the point your kingpin bolt is about to fall off.

Place your board primo and try jump onto it as hard as you can

Instead of focusing your board, focus yourself.

Do either the cinnamon challenge or two litres of milk challenge

Self-explanatory. Bring your own cinnamon or milk.

Throw out all your weed

Go into your bag, take all the weed that you have in there and throw it into the bin. 

Take some deep breaths, sit down and count your loses

Chances are you’re out skating with your friends, it’s everyone’s day off, one of only a few a week. Don’t sour the mood, have some water, take some deep breaths, sit under a tree, get some shade, light that cigarette if you smoke, huff that vape if you vape and calm yourself down. I promise you you’ll feel better for it later, even if it doesn’t feel like it in the moment. You might even get the courage to try the trick again, maybe even landing it. Everyone will be so hyped, even you.