Watching the World Freestyle Skateboarding Championships live was a trick in itself. The time difference between Australia and Brandenburg an der Havel meant that the pros were competing at times palatable only to possums and shift workers. There was also the added drama of Twitch channels being cancelled due to copyright infringement; you had to know somebody who knew somebody who was hosting the live stream.
One of the few divisions that was held at a workable time was the Amateurs. There were 39 entrants in total. I watched every run at least once; after a while, they started to merge into one continuous stream of rail flips, wheelies, truck transfers, and unintended step-offs.
But there was one run that was as memorable as the tune it flowed to, and it was the second run by Paolo Virgilio Demurtas.
Hailing from the port city of Livorno, Demurtas is a skateboarder with 20 years’ experience in street. The Italian converted to freestyle 4 to 5 years ago, and started competing in 2022. Euro Freestyle, Amateur Division, was his first contest, where he placed a respectable 5th.
Fast forward to 2024: Demurtas is DFSO and World Freestyle Ams champion, Paderborn Masters champion and a team rider for Never Enough.
I congratulated him on his World Freestyle win, gushing something along the lines of ‘magical’, ‘so much variety’, and ‘a well-deserved first place’.
To which he responded, ‘I worked a lot on this routine’. He started divulging his planning process, which became the inspiration for Flatlandia’s series of posts on freestyle contest advice.
So how do you prepare for a freestyle contest the Demurtas way? Some of the Italian’s method is much like what we’ve seen before, and some of it matches the lyrics of the song from his 2024 season.
‘Plan each charted course’
It’s been mentioned before by the likes of Tony Gale: if you don’t plan, ‘you will forget some tricks and repeat others’.
You’ll also risk doing the same category of tricks, according to Paolo Virgilio Demurtas. ‘Variety’, he notes,’ is what makes a run more interesting.’ The Italian skater’s routines are diverse, not just for the points, but also because he gets bored doing the same stuff.
Also, it’s never too early to start training. Half of every one of Demurtas’ skate sessions is dedicated to contest routine, the other half is for learning new tricks and skills.
Work on weaknesses
In August’s post about contest advice, we wrote about reflecting upon failed sections of a run. Good contest prep should include improving on such elements.
After reviewing his performance and the judges’ feedback, Demurtas admits that work needed to be done on two areas: ‘I will for sure add more footwork between tricks next year, and smooth out my nose spacewalk that is still inconsistent.’
Don’t step off
In Demurtas’ mind, too many mistakes can destroy a performance. He’s okay with seeing super technical tricks on Instagram or in a practice session. ‘But during [a] contest I enjoy seeing clean runs with maximum one touchdown’, even if that means downgrading the difficulty level of a trick. ‘I really get bored when I see contest runs with lot[s] of bails, even if the skater is trying crazy difficult tricks…Relying on luck is not good during a performance!’
Prepare a ‘base routine’
Using the same basic structure for every run is Demurtas’ recipe for success. Not only is it easier to build upon an existing structure than to build something from scratch, its familiarity lends comfort during the inevitable stresses of competition.
To prevent his routine from going stale, he tries to push every element with each new season:
‘[L]ast year I had a stationary spacewalk, that…became [this year’s] fakie spacewalk. The heel underflip became [the] heel underflip crossfoot. And frontside g-turn became backside g-turn.
For next year I would like for example to evolve my 360 shuvit to a 540 shuvit, my casper to become 360 casper, my g-turn to become tuck-knee g-turn, and stuff like that.’
His ambition is tempered by his need for consistency. ‘A trick is contest ready only when you can do it 6 times in a row.’ If a trick is not contest ready, the Italian skater will revert back to the simpler version. This adjustment never happens last minute: runs are tweaked 6 weeks ahead of competition to avoid disturbing the muscle memory. ‘I risk to mess up stuff if I make last-minute changes.’
Make the song fit the run (and not the other way round)
Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), Demurtas does not pick a song first and choreograph after. He usually keeps a short list of songs that he likes. 3 to 4 months before the contest, he goes through the list and selects something that fits the routine best. If warranted, the trick order gets rejigged to better match the music.
Currently, he’s selecting songs with a relaxed vibe. ‘Fast songs gave me too much anxiety during contests. 🙂 Also I’m trying to push my style in the direction of smooth and flowing.’
‘I did it my way’
In last month’s post on contest advice, World Freestyle judge Denham Hill emphasised his preference for originality: ‘I love to see skaters add their own personal touch to certain tricks or even add something I’ve never seen’.
Demurtas shares Hill’s mindset:
‘I just have fun and try to think out of the box. I always try to put my style even on standard tricks. Too many skaters fall into the trap of copying the style of a particular skater: it’s okay to be inspired but trying to imitate perfectly is like copying art, no good. It’s okay to learn solid basics, but as soon as possible…try to put your style in and experiment a lot!’
Here concludes the third part of our series on freestyle contest advice. The fourth part, which will feature thoughts from Josh Dunstone, will be posted on October 20, 2024.