How To Ride A Skateboard
- Ed Riley
- November 24, 2022
Skateboarding is a worldwide popular sport when it comes to board games. Surfing through the sidewalks and blowing dust under your wheels, skateboarders gather an immense appraisal. Whether to ride as a street sport or to be an experienced skaters, you can skateboard through the right instructions and skateboarding guides.
Thus, we made sure to help you with all the assistance about Skateboarding basics in one article here. From determining your stance to nailing a skating trick, you will have a Skating beginner’s guide under one click.
Equipment You Will Need
Shop well & gear up as you decide to learn this game. Here’s all you need to buy to get started:
Skating Footwear
Regular sneakers can be used for skating as well but make sure the bottom is flat. Never use flip-flops or summer sandals for skating as you might hurt your ankle badly.
Unlike other pumped soles, skating needs shoes with solid sides & a flat bottom to have more surface for a better grip. Brands like Airwalk, Adidas, Converse, Vans or other skate shop have easy availability of skating shoes to shop from.
Consider wearing runner socks as well if you are an extreme sweater. It’s normal to get nervous in the beginning and get sweaty palms. Runner socks absorb the sweat real quick and prevent blisters or sogginess.
The Appropriate Safety Gears
Safety Gears are a must if you are a learner. You don’t want to get demotivated on the very first week because of injuries & bruises. protective gear will save you from all sorts of collateral damage, both physical & psychological.
A Helmet, wrist guards,grip tape, knee pads & elbow pads will keep you safe from falls and accidents. Make sure your helmet fits you properly. Don’t be shy to use pads for protection.
Complete Skateboard
The most important part is choosing your plaything. It can be cheap or expensive, stylish or sustainable. Do not go for Walmart boards as they are easily breakable. Go to a real sports shop to choose your sports mate from. You don’t have to spend too much on your first board, one for $85-$100 works fine!
There are two types of boards available to choose from- Classic Skateboard & the Longboard.
The Classic Skateboard usually is for professional skaters, who want to ride in a skatepark or the streets & perform spectacular tricks. The nose & the tail of this skateboard is curved as well as the posture is concave for a better stance. With a variety of sizes, the usual is a length of 30” and width of 8”.
Conversely, the longboard is manufactured double the length of a classic skateboard and an equivalent width. It’s ideal for learners who want to skateboard as a way to go around and have no intentions to elevate to tricks.Check our best skateboard for beginners list to chose yours fist skate.
How To Ride A Skateboard For Beginners
For beginners, our article is going to be an outstanding skateboarding guide if you can follow through step by step.
Learn How To Stand
The stepping stone is learning how to stand on your board properly so that you don’t fall off. This way you can also find your stance.
Put your board on flat grass and stand on it. Be fearless. Start with rocking back & forth to understand how much the wheels wiggle so that you catch balance.
The Stance
Knowing your stance helps you select your stronger side while learning to skateboard.
You can ride Goofy or Regular. Goofy foot is when you place your right foot forward near the front truck screw and push with your left foot.
Regular foot riders use their right foot to push so the left foot is forwarded.
Try both and find out which one is your core stance. You should be more comfortable riding once you find it.
Learning To Brake
As a learner, if you’re always fearing a fall or injury, know when to stop. That doesn’t mean you’ll keep on breaking your voyage.
You should practice jumping on and off even before learning to ride it. Then try it with the board at speed. There are several ways to stop your board such as dragging your feet, dragging the tail of the board or dragging your heel.
When at high speed, do not drag too hard. Rather try to slow down first and then drag your feet harder to reduce momentum. Another way is to tilt the tail end of your board and touch the ground with it. You can use tail pads to prevent scraping at this point. Usually, the longboards have plastic bodies for braking.
Learn How To Fall
To ride confidently, you must be fearless from your core. I won’t say you can’t get hurt. Rather trust the process. Bruises and scrapes are Skaters’ calling card, but to keep yourself from any serious injuries you must wear proper safety gear. Early or later you will fall but here are a few skateboarding trick to not let your falls baffle you.
Use your arms to cushion your fall. Put them out loose and not rigid for if you do, you might end up breaking your ankles or wrists. If you feel you are too fast onboard and losing control, jump out of the situation. If you’re falling flat, try rolling out of the fall to save any serious damage.
Basic Skateboarding Skills
The basics of riding a skateboard is more than the above four beginning skills.
Pushing off
Once you know how to balance yourself on the board and stand up properly, start with learning to push off. Position your front foot more straightly with the board and use your rear foot to push. Start with gentle pushes and process speeding. Bend your knees, place the back foot around the tail curl & pick up momentum.
Turn Tricking
Once you except pushing and riding, another basic is to learn turning on your board. In a word, you flex your ankles and shift your body weight forward and angled to whichever side you want to turn to.
If you tend to get imbalanced on the turns, shift your upper body weight to the opposite direction your feet are turning. This will bring you back the necessary balance.
Staying Fit
A basic necessity to learn skateboarding is to stay in shape. You don’t have to have gym muscles to learn the skills. But you must be flexible enough to face the fear of falls and trying. Whether you’re just about to start or you skate regularly.
How To Ride A Skateboard: Tips & Tricks
Before you get to action, you must choose who is going to be your skating guide. Sure you can watch internet videos and tutorials, there are several skateboard guides for beginners. For practical tips & tricks, our article is a plus. Let’s describe it all word to word to you.
- Experiment & try out everything your heart desires. That higher Ollie or a new trick. Read about it. Watch videos. Do not limit yourself.
- Watching and observing can be a very useful trick to learn the basics more practically. You can watch senior skaters performing tricks or take assistance from YouTube videos and tutorials.
- Be friends with other skaters. Talk to them and ask for guidance. Mostly they are helpful.
- If you don’t have skater friends, step up and join people from your local skating park.
- Nothing can replace practicing until you get the tricks right. Even for beginners, you can excel in riding through more and more practice. Don’t be discouraged by the failures.
- Do not skate in the rain. The decks get soggy causing you to lose grip and fall easily. It’s not only dangerous but also harmful for the bearings and wheels to pop hard. The metallic parts turn rusty if not properly serviced afterwards.
Remember to have fun. Trust the process. Practice and have fun. You will learn it eventually.
How To Ride A Skateboard On The Street
Skating in your local skate park can be easier than skating in a state ramp, for obvious familiarity. But all these ramps are pieces of cakes if it is the streets we are talking about. Here’s how to win the streets on a board.
Safety First
If you skate as a way of going around, you must have skate through neighborhood streets or busy roads. Vehicles are dangerous. Avoid going in the opposite direction of an oncoming vehicle. Always skate closer to the sidewalk and possibly in the bicycle lane.
Avoid Crowd
Avoid the sidewalks if there is a crowd hustling to work or schools in the busy hours. You don’t want people to frown upon yourself as you take up much space then necessary. Simply pave down to the roads.
Mind The Turns
Neighborhood turning can be the palm of your hand to you but it can turn into a nightmare while you’re skating. Remember to mind oncoming cars or vans as you take turns on the skateboard.
Speeding Limit
Good that the sergeants won’t cut you a speeding ticket but while riding amongst the traffic, you must ride at a controlled speed. Things might turn bad if you don’t know when to stop or slow down. Do not be too confident on the streets.
Rules & Regulations
As we welcome you to the skater’s world, there are some skating etiquettes you must learn.
Never have I ever heard of any skater being a bully. They are helpful by nature, whether you match their level or not. Be nice to your fellow skaters so you can get all the help and support you need for a new trick you want to learn. Similarly, help out the newbies and kids who are new to your skate park.
In a skate park, it is basic etiquette to applaud someone who performed advanced skateboarding tricks perfectly. Skaters applaud each other by banging the board twice on the ground. More than two bangs mean you performed a sick trick.
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Is riding a skateboard easy?
Honestly, the answer may differ from person to person. Some find it tough to learn the sport and eventually give up. Some wrap their heads around the game way early and continue learning new tricks with passion. However, with proper guidance and practice, anything can become your piece of cake over time.
Is 18 too old to start skateboarding?
The best age to start learning skateboarding is 5-10 years. Below this age, the kids won’t be competent enough to survive the balancing game. And beyond 10 years old, any age is perfect to start as long as the learner is dedicated not to give up. So it 18 years of age.
How do you skate without getting hurt?
To avoid any or all sorts of injury while on the board, wear your safety gear properly. This is one of the most common mistake skaters do.
The helmet must fit your head perfectly, so it doesn’t fall off by accidental bumps. Do not be shy to wear pads, there’s nothing childish about it.
Moreover, the tightness of trucks and wheels prevents mishaps where you might get hurt. So if is important to regularly service your wheels and trucks.
Is it illegal to ride skateboards?
Skateboarding laws vary from city to town. It might not be declared illegal to ride it on the streets but you surely don’t want to get into any fatal accident while riding on busy roads. Again, some places such as important pavements, hallways of schools, or hospital corridors might have bylaws against the entrance of skateboarders.
Final Words....
Remember that you should be having fun while learning to skateboard. If you’re enjoying the sport, it’ll always come easy. Whether you’re trying to learn the stances or the tricks, never let it get mundane.
To learn new how to ollie or how to check your truck tightness up-to-date, check out our relevant articles.
