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Julius Halle: To keep progressing is my obsession

We had a talk with our team rider Julius Halle on how he learns new tricks and how he gets the trick on lock. Wanna learn Julius's secret? Then keep reading.

“And we’re filming,” the photographer’s loud yell echoes through the empty warehouse. Julius Halle is standing on the top of a quarter pipe, looking anxiously across the hip (trapeze shaped box) in the middle of the skate park.

This is his third attempt at doing a Frontside Flip, and you can begin to see the frustration on his face. He puts down his board, steps on it and leans forward. We’ll come back to Julius attempt to do a Frontside Flip later.

We took a talk with Julius about how he finds his inspiration for new tricks, and what goes on in the process of learning a new trick.

No surrender

Even though the Frontside Flip took its toll on Julius, he’s calm as the night as he's sitting on his skateboard having a breather on the green mini ramp in the skate park after he has finished the shoot. When I ask him why he didn't just do another trick, his answer is clear.

“If you have a vision about a certain line or trick, it’s no problem to keep skating until you’ve nailed it perfectly. You might get mad and throw your board, but when you succeed -wow that feeling is just the best”, says Julius.

He points out that especially when he’s dealing with new tricks, it can become an obsession to master them.

“I remember when I learned to do the No-Comply Flip - I saw it on YouTube, but I couldn't get my head around it. I thought about it around the clock. I was sitting at school thinking to myself. Why am I here doing math, I need to nail that trick. It took 14 days of skating every day to get it, but man it was worth it”, says Julius and let it slip, that it’s one of those flips he can nail every time now.

A recipe for progressing

Julius Halle might only be 13 years old, but his trick bag is already fully loaded thanks to a mixture of talent, hard work, and an unstoppable desire to skate.

“A vital part of getting better is to skate with someone who is far better than you. You’ll not only get inspired to do new tricks, but you’ll also automatically push yourself further,” he says.

But Julius also has another move up his sleeve, when it comes to learning new tricks or getting even better at the tricks he already masters.

“I often film myself while I’m skating, so I can analyze things such as toe drag, wrong placement of my feet or weird landings and then adjust. It’s a great tool to be able to watch yourself again and again”, says Julius.

A setup that fits

It goes without a saying that your style of skating has an impact on your performance. In Julius's case, speed and low weight are key to him.

“I don’t like a board that’s too bulky and heavy. I ride an 8-inch board. I especially like decks from Jart, Baker, Deathwish. To keep the weight down, I use a set of Iron White Low Trucks. This makes the board easier to pop. Furthermore, they're perfect to grind on rails curbs and ledges”, he states.

When it comes to wheels, Julius prefers to use a pair of soft wheels, and currently, he rides a set of Tempish Beige Skateboard wheels with a durometer of 92A.

“I tend to use wheels with a soft durometer because the town where I live has a lot of bad asphalt, and soft wheels are more forgiving on rough surfaces with cracks and pebbles,” says Julius.

Back to the quarter pipe, where Julius is leaning forward and accelerates as he’s skating down the ramp towards the hip. He rides up the hip, pops, flips and lands clean. “ And cut, it’s a wrap", the loud yell of the photographer once again echoes through the empty warehouse.

You can see the relief on Julius's face at he's skating away from the hip towards the mini ramp to talk to us.