How To Ride a Skateboard

How To Ride a Skateboard? Beginner Guide

One of the most enjoyable street activities practiced worldwide is skateboarding. You must be intrigued about learning how to ride a skateboard if you consider giving it a try. Skateboarding may seem simple to start, but mastering it requires various skills.

But you’ll find it more engaging and hilarious after a while!

Consider going skating with buddies or by yourself anytime you like.

Isn’t it exciting?

I recommend you read this article if you answer yes to that question. 

You will find all the information you need to know in this post on learning how to ride a skateboard as a beginner

So, without further ado, let’s get into it.

How To Ride A Skateboard – Skateboarding Tips & Tricks

Before going into how to ride a skateboard beginner guide, you must consider these things first. 

Which Skateboard Type Is Best for Beginners?

Find a skateboard as your first step. Skateboards can come in various styles depending on the components and characteristics used in construction. However, for smooth performance as a starter, you should go for a longboard or an electric skateboard. For senior folks, an electronic one will be a preferable option. Less expensive skateboards have a tendency to break very easily, so make sure you examine them before buying.

Also, try to choose a compact skateboard truck so you can easily ride it. The price of the skateboard is also crucial because you shouldn’t overspend on your first skateboard. Skateboarding requires a lot of experience before being used on the street. Therefore, it is preferable to get an inexpensive one and begin exercising with it.

You shouldn’t spend more than $500 on your initial buy if you’re a beginner skateboarder. To reduce the likelihood of failure, you should also pick one that is flat and straightforward.

For instance, you can buy MEKETEC Skateboard from Amazon (Buy on Amazon) which is best for beginners. 

Choose Quality Pieces Of Equipment

Skateboarding is enjoyable, but it may also be risky. Skateboarders of all skill levels need to maintain basic safety precautions. There is always a danger that you will trip or fall when racing with a board balanced on your body. Wearing a suitable skateboarding suit, however, will protect you from danger.

Make careful to set up all the safety gear after purchasing the skateboard. Get the following equipment and accessories from an area skate shop or online for a safer skating experience:

  • Wrist guards – When you fall or quit a trick, wrist protectors lessen the possibility that you may twist or shatter your wrists. Everyone does not wear them, but they make sense if you’re just starting out and don’t know how to fall correctly or if you frequently land on your hands instead of your knees.
  • Helmet – Always wear a skateboarding or multi-sport helmet that is tightly fitted to your head (search for one that has installable cushions; it shouldn’t move when you turn your head). A helmet should fit snugly under your chin, sit low on your forehead, and have side straps that make a “V” shape around each of your ears. It’s not tight enough if there are more than two fingers between the belt and your chin. Make sure your helmet can take more than one blow and is multipurpose.
  • Knee and elbow pads – Pads help to avoid or reduce the intensity of cuts, scratches, bruises, and burns when you fall. Knee pads can also be employed in a knee slide move to help you slide safely through a vert transformation. Make sure you have enough cushioning and a durable plastic cover on the outside.
  • Skate shoes – Regardless of your aesthetic preferences, a good skate shoe features closed toes and flat, thick, sturdy, slip-resistant rubber bottoms that hang on to grip tape and stop shocks from rising up your feet. Your ankles must be protected against obstacles like spinning boards by wearing shoes with padded tongues and sturdy midsoles.

It is likely that you will fall when you are a beginner. Your safety when falling down would be ensured by having this safety equipment. Do not omit any of these gear. Always buy comfy skateboards since you need to be at ease while riding one.

Select a Good Place for Skating

The first skating guideline is to choose a good location to try out your skateboard. Generally speaking, the greatest skating site is on a concrete platform or flat surface free of cracks and bumps. But it also makes it more likely that someone may be hurt. So, to become comfortable with it, practice on a carpet or a field of wild grass.

By doing so, you can maintain balance while controlling both your body’s and the skateboard’s motion. To maintain balance, place your left foot backward and your right foot forward. Continue to the following stage when you’re at ease.

Take Help From Someone Who Knows Skating

It is not necessary to hire a skateboarding expert, but it is advantageous. During your skateboarding journey, you’ll find a wealth of information on skateboarding, even the early challenges that beginners encounter. You’ll benefit greatly from these tips. However, a lesson is available on YouTube.

How to Ride a Skateboard – 10 Steps Guide

Now, it’s time to learn how to ride a skateboard through a step by step guide. 

1 – Stepping On The Skateboard

Put one foot over one set of bolts with the board on the ground in front of you, then put the other foot over the different set of bolts. This creates a sturdy posture since your legs form a triangle with each other. Practice shifting from standing to kneeling on the deck once you are comfortable standing there. Repeat this as often as needed.

2- Jumping On And Off A Skateboard

The following stage entails attempting to leap onto the skateboard with both feet at once, keeping in mind to land with both feet covering the bolts. Keep your entire weight in the middle, and your knees bent to absorb the shock. To ensure that a person is completely at ease using a skateboard, combine the previous two workouts by stepping on and off and leaping on and off.

3- How to Ride a Skateboard? Variable Body

Start out by placing your feet over the bolts in the standard riding posture. Jump upwards, rotate your body 180 °, controlling your shoulders, and then bounce back on the board with your feet crossing the bolts in the other direction. This one should be learned gently at first, then the speed and difficulty should be increased.

4 – Balance

The finest skill you can acquire is to master your balance on a board; with enough practice, everything will come more naturally. Keep in mind the expression “Bolts for Balance,” which means that in order to have the proper posture for balancing, your feet ought to be over the top of the bolts.

5 – How to Push on a Skateboard?

Put one foot on the board of your skateboard, just in front of the first two bolts, and the other foot on the floor adjacent to the board, approximately midway down its length. The leg that is on the board should have its knee bent.

This position must be pleasant; thus, it has to be verified twice. It doesn’t matter which leg is on the deck and which is on the ground, but make sure everyone knows that the leg that is on the floor is the one you will push with (most people will place their left foot forward and move with their right).

Push the skateboard ahead while rocking it by lifting your feet off the ground. Turn to the side as you go, then position the foot you used to push over the skateboard’s tail, just over the bolts. Once moving, pivot with the ball of your front foot. By doing this, your feet and body are in alignment.

6 – How to Turn on a Skateboard?

You won’t find it difficult to take a turn because you’ve previously practiced standing and pushing. Turning is often an easy process. There are two methods to take a turn, though. Both carving and kick arches are being used here.

The trucks are purposefully left a touch slack for carving turns. You should stand on the board with your shoulders parallel to it and your legs bent to reduce your center of gravity. I’m assuming you’ll make a left turn. Simply twist to the left, put a little weight forward, and rotate your ankles back. The board will also turn left as a result of these maneuvers.

You must concentrate on using your feet to rotate the deck in order for the trucks to execute the turn. On the other hand, a kick entails moving the body’s weight to the back so that the forward wheel is raised slightly off the ground. The turn will begin with a movement of the shoulders.

7 – How to Stop on a Skateboard?

Stopping the skateboard is not that difficult. You can continue to circle the skateboard without moving forward to stop it. The board will slow down in this manner, forcing you to finish. If you find this method difficult, you can try another approach. Simply maintain your toes on the board and plant your back foot’s heel on the ground. Your skateboard will start to slump.

However, the brake pads on certain boards allow you to stop the board by shifting your weight back and causing friction. 

8 – How to Ride a Skateboard? Tic Tac Turning

This is how you guide a skateboard when it’s moving. Leaning back and putting pressure on the tail is how it is done. By leaning forward once more and relieving pressure on the bottom, you may raise the front wheels off the ground and set them down anywhere you choose.

Put your front foot over the closest two bolts and your rear foot on the board’s tail as you ride along so that your vehicle has room to maneuver. Now push down on the skateboard’s tail while leaning back a little.

As you elevate your front wheels, keep your front foot firmly planted on the deck and use it to turn the deck in either direction. One side is frequently simpler than the other, so switch directions once you’re comfortable moving in one direction. When relaxed, combine this with pushing to practice movement.

9 – Manual

Start by placing your front foot over the front bolts and your rear foot on the tail, and begin in the standard riding posture. Pushing helps you increase your speed. Lean back and press down on the bottom once you are at ease on the board. The front wheels will lift off the ground as a result of this.

So that your tail doesn’t scuff against the ground, practice balance. A helpful hint is to bend your front leg and avoid pushing too hard on the deck’s nose. To get the front wheels back on the ground, lean forward once more.

10 – How to Ride a Skateboard? – Hippy Jump

Try moving along, jumping off your board with both feet, and landing back in the same position before learning to ollie and perform other tricks. Try the same maneuver by leaping over a horizontal pole, letting the board slide beneath the bar, then jumping over the top to land back on the board.

Final Words – How to Ride A Skateboard?

If you adhere to the fundamentals, learning to skateboard is not difficult. Despite how enticing it may seem, mastering balance and riding techniques should come first. Later on, you’ll profit from it and advance much more quickly.

The right tools are really important. Using a cheap skateboard may be risky and irritating. Such a waste that so many novices give up because they utilize a cheap, subpar skateboard. Don’t be ashamed; ride with others; seek counsel online and in person. There is nothing improper about the fact that everyone has been a beginner at some point. Also, you can follow our guide on how to ride a skateboard and I’m sure this really helps you in learning to skateboard if you’re a beginner.