Skateboard is not easy as it seems. It requires good balancing and skateboard maneuvering skills. You will need a lot of practice and patience to master skateboarding.
Accidents are inevitable when practicing skateboarding. Once you conquer the skateboard, you can perform impressive tricks like kickflips, rail grind, etc.
Skateboard is a relatively hard sport to learn, so it’s understandable that beginners may find it difficult to get started. In this article, we’ll show you how to skateboard and practice it efficiently.
Contents
Before Skateboarding
Pick the right board
Here is what you need to look for when picking the best skateboard for beginner like you.
Type of board
Standard skateboards should be good for most beginner skaters. If you are more into transportation using the skateboard, then pick a cruiser skateboard. If you have trouble balancing on the board at first, use a longboard.
Deck size
The skateboard’s deck is what you stand on when skateboarding. You should pick the deck’s width that is proportional to the size of your shoes.
Pre-built skateboard
We recommend beginners pick pre-built skateboards since they are cheaper and you got the complete board to practice right away.
Protect yourself
Since you will likely fall a lot while practicing, it’s best to wear gloves, helmets, elbow protectors, and knee protectors.
How To Practice Skateboarding for Beginners
Get familiar with the board
First, determine your dominant foot for pushing the board forward. You can ask someone to gently push you from behind while you are standing on the board. Whichever foot you use to stabilize yourself is your dominant foot and should be at the back.
Once you know your dominant foot, you need to practice standing on the board.
Place your feet parallel to the width of the deck, and bend your knee slightly. Lean forward and backward a bit to find your balance point and pay attention to how the board reacts to your movements.
Then, practice how you switch from the standing position to the position where your foot is ready for pushing. Turn your foot parallel to the length of the deck and place your dominant foot to the ground. Reverse the process, and then repeat.
Key skills to practice
Pushing
Try to push of the ground using your back foot and step on the board. Bend your knee and use the full foot to push for maximum momentum. You can practice pushing without getting on the board.
If the skateboard heads in the wrong direction, bend your knee to the direction you want to go to put the board on the right track again.
Carving
Start by leaning in your desired direction. Push forward with your toes and upper body for inward turn and lean back on your heel and tilt slightly backward to turn outward.
You can use your arm to point toward the direction you want to head to if you are struggling since it helps balance your weight.
Kickturn
Kickturn helps you change direction much faster than carving.
Start by practicing the basic motion: place your foot on the board’s tail and shift your weight to the tail the raise up the nose, then lean forward on your foot to slam the board down.
Once you are familiar with the motion, do the process again, but this time try to turn the board while the nose is up, shift your weight forward or upward to turn to your desired direction.
Tic-Tacs
This can be done after you have mastered kickturns. Tic-Tacs are multiple kickturns going back and forth. It can help you move forward without pushing and build speed easily.
Don’t afraid of falling
As mentioned, falling is inevitable when learning to skateboard. In fact, you will fall a lot. So don’t let the falls out you off. Get up after you fall as fast as possible since you will be more hesitant the longer you wait.
While learning, try to see what action causes you to fall, correct yourself and try again.
Also, remember to not push yourself too hard or you may end up with serious injuries. Just take it slow, focus on what you did right and wrong. That’s how you make progress in learning skateboarding.
Conclusion
By this time, you should know the basics of how to skateboard to get started. Nail the basics, and practice with focus and patience so that you can master the skills of skateboarding.
Thank you for reading.