Ryan Sheckler is getting ready to celebrate a big milestone -- six years of sobriety -- and he tells TMZ Sports things have gotten so much better for him since he swore off booze.

The skateboarding legend gave us a life update while at LAX this week ... and he raved about the sober lifestyle. Getty

He said it's helped him in all areas -- including on his board.

"I'm headed to Paris right now to go skate," he told us. "I thought I was done competing. And I'm skating better than ever right now."

Sheckler -- who's now a husband and a father of two -- explained he decided to ditch alcohol back on March 30, 2020 ... after he says it was affecting his loved ones.

"I wasn't just hurting myself," he told us. "I was hurting the people around me. I think once I took a grasp to, like, I'm

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