Introduction
In this article you will learn exactly how to ride a skateboard.
Maybe you have already bought one or you are planning to buy a skate. In any case, your 1st step will be to learn how to ride a skateboard.
In this article, you will not only learn how to ride on your board but also how to keep a good balance, how to stop and turn with your skateboard.
You will find all the information you need in order to master the basics in this area.
You will learn the different positions that exist on a skateboard and your posture which will be a very important aspect to take into account.
Towards the end, once you have understood everything and you’ll know how to ride your board, you will learn your 1st trick that you can learn in order to start practicing skateboarding.
The last section is only for people who are interested in street skateboarding. For people who want to learn cruising, this will be an additional section for you.
How to ride a skateboard for beginners
You probably already know this but riding a skateboard is really the basic foundation that you need to learn.
Without these skills you simply won’t be able to ride your skateboard and you won’t be able to learn tricks if that’s what you want.
First of all you need to know that any beginner should protect himself at the beginning.
It is important that you have a helmet with you in order to avoid falling and hurting yourself.
The goal is that you enjoy this new activity as much as possible and not that you keep a bad memory of it.
It may not seem useful but once you are on the road and you’ve learned to go fast and maybe you want to do slopes, it will be important to protect yourself because the asphalt can quickly injure you.
Now that you know how important it is to protect yourself, it’s time for you to learn how to ride a skateboard.
Your position
The first thing you need to take into account is your position.
You may have already seen videos online and you may have already noticed that not everyone rides with the same foot.
Otherwise you will know now that in skateboarding there are two positions that you can have on your board.
The first one is called regular and the second one is called goofy.
So rest assured because it’s nothing complicated and you will quickly understand what the differences are.
The regular position consists of having your left foot on the nose of your skateboard.
The role of your left foot is to be the supporting foot. While the right foot is on the floor when you are not riding.
It will be this foot that will propel your skateboard.
Regarding the goofy position your right foot is the supporting foot.
Your propulsion foot is your left foot.
So it’s just the other way around.
Now that you know what is goofy and what is regular it remains for you to know what you are.
The best way to find out is to practice.
Which position are you most comfortable in?
Do you feel more comfortable pushing with your right foot or your left foot?
So to answer this question, ride with your skateboard following the steps learned on this post and you will find out who you are.
Your posture
Now that you know the 2 positions in skateboarding, it’s time to know the right posture to adopt.
First of all, your feet should be perpendicular to the length of your board when you are riding.
In this way you will have good stability. If you are about to roll, position your foot as you wish. But, when you are riding, they must be perpendicular to your skate.
In addition, it is necessary that each of your feet is approximately at the same level as the screws.
You can see that on your skateboard you have 8 screws that hold the board to your trucks.
So base yourself on these screws to place your feet well and from that, replace them in relation to your balance and comfort.
As for your legs when you are rolling, bend them just a little to keep a good balance and a good control.
This will be especially useful for you when you want to make turns.
Also you should definitely keep your back straight and your shoulders aligned with your feet.
If you follow all these steps, you will have a very good balance on your board.
How to ride on a skateboard
Now that you know how to choose the right position for you and how to get the right posture on your skateboard, it remains for you to learn how to ride on it.
Your 1st position is to have your main foot on the nose (the front screws of the board) of the skateboard and the second foot on the floor.
Subsequently bend your knee a little from the foot that is on the skateboard. From this moment on, you give a small push with your foot that is on the floor.
This will make your skateboard move. At the beginning, don’t put your secondary foot on your skateboard. Leave it on the floor.
The reason is that you need to control your skateboard first before you start controlling your balance.
So make small pushes and let your skateboard roll by lifting your foot off the ground and putting it back when your skate stops.
Once you’ve practiced a small push by small push you can make bigger ones and at that moment add your secondary foot on your skateboard.
Always go in a smooth and slow way so that you gain confidence and feel that you have mastered the speed.
So once you are at the stage of making a push harder and putting your secondary foot on your skateboard let your board roll until it stops by itself.
Practice this way several times before moving on to the next step until you feel that you have mastered this one well.
how to stop on a skateboard
You know how to ride a skateboard but you have to know how to stop it as well.
Know that there are very nice techniques that allow you to stop your skateboard but this concerns people who have more experience.
In your case, you are going to learn the simplest possible method that exists to stop your skateboard.
So once your board is rolling, the method to stop your skate is simply to take your secondary foot and put it on the ground.
The friction that there will be between your foot and the ground will make your skateboard stop.
It may seem weird and silly at first but it’s actually a way for a lot of skateboarders to stop their skateboarding.
So start with this method and later you can even evolve and stop your skateboard with the tail.
how to turn on a skateboard
As it was said above you must have your feet parallel to your board so that you have a good posture.
In order for you to turn your skateboard you need to take things into account including the positioning of your feet and your speed.
For your feet you leave them as they are when the skateboard rolls so perpendicular to the board.
For speed, if you go too slow, your skateboard will not turn the way you want and if you go too fast you will easily lose control due to lack of experience.
So make a good push and put your foot on your skateboard.
When you feel that it’s a good speed and you control your skateboard, you are in a position where you can turn.
To turn, you will only need to put strength on your feet and let your body follow. For example, if you want to turn to the right, you need to put pressure on your heels.
By forcing on the heel of your foot you will feel that your skate is turning to the right.
To turn left, this time you put force on your toes by pressing with your toes on your skateboard.
Note that this concerns people who have the goofy position.
For regulars, it’s exactly the other way around.
Also, remember that the more force you put the more your skateboard will turn especially if you are at a good speed.
The first trick you should learn in skateboarding
Even when you are a beginner and you barely know how to ride a skateboard, you are immediately interested in tricks. There are a lot of tricks that you can learn over time.
This is what makes skateboarding very interesting and even addictive.
The more you progress the more you have this desire to learn more which is totally normal in skateboarding.
There are a lot of tricks that you can learn but start with a simple one.
Not only will you be proud of yourself if you succeed in learning it but it will be a very good start for you.
Shuvit 180
This is a trick that you can learn with or without the wheels (carpet board). So this one is to flip your board sideways 180 degrees.
To do this, you need to place your secondary foot on the tail and the main foot towards the screws of the front.
Subsequently, adjust according to your comfort and bend your legs a little.
Once you have this posture you must at the same time jump and emit a force on the tail so that it makes a 180.
You have to push the tail of your skateboard backwards with a good enough force so that your skate turns and you land on it.
In a few tries, you will be totally capable.
Conclusion
Now you know exactly how to ride on a skateboard properly. You know what is the best position for you, the posture you need to have, how to stop and how to turn on your skateboard. You have all the information so the next step is to practice.
