How to Skateboard
Are you completely fascinated with the amazing tricks you watch skateboarders perform? Have you always wanted to learn how to ollie, kickflip or nollie? Then grab a helmet, buy some skate shoes, and get ready to have loads of fun.
Required Equipment
- Helmet
- Skate shoes
- Elbow pads (optional)
- Skateboard
- Concrete or wooden skateboarding surface
Getting started
- Get used to the feel of standing on your skateboard and moving your feet around. Balance your feet so that the wheels of first the front of the board, then the back, are in the air. Turn your feet sideways. Balance while trying to turn around on the board.
- Decide which stance you will use
- The regular stance means you will stand with your left foot forward on the board.
- The goofy stance means you will stand with your right foot forward.
- How do you choose? Typically, the foot that you depend on most for balance is the foot with which you would kick a soccer ball or start off walking. Note: Most people are most comfortable standing with their left foot forward.
- Place the board on the concrete. Stand with the toes of your left foot just slightly forward of the wheels.
- Take your back foot off the board. Pushing against the concrete with your back foot, propel yourself forward. When you are going at a good speed, place your back foot on the board and coast.
- To steer, balance with your back foot. Take your front foot off the board, and lean so that the front wheels come up. Push the front wheels in the direction you desire to turn with your left foot. Push the front wheels back down to the ground. Practice this until you have it mastered before you try any fancy tricks.
- Learn to stop: Practice one of these techniques:
- Footbreak: Remove your back foot from the board and drag it along the ground.
- Heel Drag: Let the heel of your back foot rest off the side of the skateboard. Lean back slightly, until the board’s front wheels are up in the air. While stepping down onto your heel, keep the front part of your foot on the skateboard. Allow the heel to drag for a short distance, and your board will stop.
- Bail: If you cannot get stopped any other way, and you are going to crash, jump off the front end of your skateboard.
- Practice Carving: Carving is the art of moving your body to the left or right in the direction you want the skateboard to move. If you bend your knees and crouch down, you will carve more sharply than if you are standing straight.
- When you have mastered all of these techniques, you still have not become an expert. There are many more tricks and variations to learn. Skateboarding is a skill that takes only a short time to learn, but years to master!
Tips
- Always wear a helmet when skateboarding. Elbow and kneepads are also good protection.
- Wear skate shoes for better balance and traction.
- Don’t try advanced tricks before you have mastered the basics.