Get Yourself the Right Gear
When it comes to skateboarding, selecting a right gear is the most crucial part. You cannot enjoy this sport unless you have got your hands on the most appropriate unit. Being beginners, it’s necessary to consult someone experienced or professional to end up buying a right piece for a great start. With a good skateboard you will be also be able to perform tricks harmlessly. Here are some important factors that you must consider when buying a skateboard:
- Style of the board: Skateboarding is done in different styles such as downhill, freestyle and cruising. All skateboarding styles require certain specifications in the board so that boarders may enjoy the true taste of every style. Being a beginner, you have to decide your skateboarding style and find a board that suits that particular style the most. For example, freestyle skateboarding is usually best done with cruisers because they are easy to handle and roll pretty smoothly. For tricks, it’s widely recommended to buy a board with a kicktail or pintail as they keep the right balance and allow better speed.
- Quality and price: the next thing to consider while buying a skateboard for tricks is its quality and price. Being a beginner, you might aim for a low priced unit and compromise on its quality. Well if you do that, you make the biggest mistake ever. When it comes to performing tricks, quality of the board is what matters the most. It has to be durable and robust enough to bear the jump shocks and quick flip overs. During the learning procedure, you will fall many times as well so it’s essential that the board is finely laminated to withstand unexpected scratches. Check the flexibility and durability of the skateboard to ensure its maneuverability.
- Size: the last most important thing you should be considering is the size of the skateboard. This factor depends on your height and weight. If you are just a kid with short height, aim for a small board to ensure more control over the unit while performing tricks. Heavy and long skateboards are only recommended for adult beginners who can handle more weight. As tricks involve jumping, flipping and skipping, you have to get a skateboard which is easy to work with.
Check the Setup of the Board
Once you have got yourself a right skateboard, it’s time to check whether its installation is done rightly or not. It is highly recommended to loosen the board a little when it comes to performing tricks but for beginners, it’s strictly forbidden. With loosely installed board, there are higher chances to lose your balance as well and fall down. Being a beginner, it’s necessary that trucks and bearings are tight enough to let maintain balance on the board. Once you have learned to keep your balance in motion, it’s time to lose the trucks a little but not too much. Gradually you will be able to ride with loose trucks without falling, and it would be the right time to perform tricks.
Buy a Good Pair of Skate Shoes
Comfort is very much important to perform skateboard tricks. Get yourself a good pair of shoes that don’t bite your toes or heels at all. The shoes must also have the right kind of sole as extra flat or extra high sole make balance maintenance pretty challenging. Also ensure the quality of the shoes because tricks involve jumping which means that you will land on the board every now and then with a great shock. As you cannot do skateboarding barefooted, make sure your shoes serve you in the best way possible throughout the ride.
Get Used to Protective Gears
Many skateboarders don’t give a damn about protective gears and end up breaking a few bones or getting severe injuries. Protective gears are not only crucial for beginners but every skateboarder. As there is a lot of jumping and flipping, there are higher chances for learners to fall badly. Therefore, you must get yourself durable, comfortable and high-quality helmet and knee and elbow pads. These will prevent external injuries and broken bones that you might get while performing tricks. With protective gears, you also experience great confidence and attempt new tricks more impressively.
Take It Slow
As soon as you have gathered all the essential gears for skateboard tricks, it’s time for you to begin the fun. Beginners are usually excited to perform tricks and try to start with high-end drills such as Ollie and heelflip. You don’t want to jump into such risky tricks too soon. Take it slow and learn gradually your way to advanced skills. Begin with low jumps and short flips. You might lose balance or find landing on the board difficult in the beginning but eventually, you will learn it with regular practice. Once you have mastered the basics of trick performing, you are all ready to move onto one level up.
Find an Appropriate Place
Skating in home is not recommended to kids or adults. Whether you are a professional or an amateur, you must find an appropriate place for this sport. As long as you are looking forward to performing tricks, skateboard parks are highly recommended. They are well designed and maintained while keeping the beginners and experts in the mind. There you can find low heightened railings and small bridges to attempt early stage flipping and downhill skating. Other than that, street stairs and park terrain are also suitable to learn tricks. Don’t opt for malls or crowded places as you need some personal space to learn from your mistakes by attempting again and again.
Master Basic Skills
Using a right place for skateboarding, you are to master the basics of this sport. From maintaining balance to pushing and rolling, you have to learn all the skills and master them with regular practice. You should be able to make quick turns and control the speed because these basics are the key to performing thrilling tricks.
Begin With Basic Tricks
Once you have mastered all the basics of skateboarding, it’s time for you to start attempting simple tricks. Now here is you step by step guide to performing basic tricks:
Learn Kickturn
The right way to finally playing the skills on the skateboard is, to begin with, kickturn. It is basically a way of changing your face and body direction without stopping the board or changing your path. While going in a particular direction, you will do a 180 degree turn and bring the back wheels of the board to the front. While performing this kickturn, your foot position on the board won’t change. It can be done on concrete and understandable ground like the parking lot.
An Ollie
After kickturn, you can perform an Ollie as well. All you need to ensure for this trick is your balance maintenance skill and foot placement. For this trick, you have to place your back foot at the curve up the tail and front foot right at the flat level where the first curve ends. The bend your knees a little and put pressure on the back foot to let the front part of the board to rise and allow the tail to pop up as well. While the jury is in the air, your feet will remain in contact with the deck and land back along with it. Make sure you bend your knees again on landing to absorb the shock. Begin with a low Ollie and move your way up to higher Ollie.
Do a Nollie
Nollie is much similar to Ollie, but the way of performing it is a little different. Comparing both, Ollie is difficult than a Nollie and mastering Ollie makes this trick a piece of cake even for the beginners. In this trick, you will pop up the front of the board by placing your front foot on the nose of the deck and back foot in the middle of the back trucks. Now crouch down and allow the front foot to put pressure on the nose so the tail may rise in the air taking the entire board along. Bend a little again when land back on the ground.
Learn Wheeling
Another trick beginners can perform wheeling. It’s similar to the one performed on a bike. You lift the front wheels and lean back to maintain balance while still rolling. You can roll in this way for longer depending on your balance maintenance skill. Foot placement is also essential for this trick. Place your back foot on the tail and front foot just behind the front trucks. While wheeling, make sure that body is leaned back in a particular angle that neither you drop back nor crouch. You may use your arms to maintain balance by keeping full straight.
180 Degree Ollie
180 degree Ollie is a combination of an Ollie and 180-degree flip. In this trick, you will lose contact with the board in the air to allow it a spin. You may spin the board clockwise or anticlockwise depending on your feasibility. This trick requires the riders to jump with such power that they remain in the air the board so that the board may spin to an exact 180 degree and land back on the surface. You will land following a few seconds after the board will land.
Railing Trick
Another trick beginners can try railing trick. You might have seen riders jumping over the top of the rail stairs and slipping all the way down to the end of it. This trick can be done by adding more power to the ride. You have to roll speedily and bend a little just before you get near to the railing to allow the board jump along with you and land on the railing instead of ground. The moment it will land on the stair railing, stop investing your energy and let the gravity do its work. You have to lean back a little because you are already going downwards and crouch position will only disturb your balance. Railing trick is handy when you have to go down by skipping disturbing stairs.
Grinding
Grinding is also same as railing technique. This trick is to use the deck bottom to slide the surface. It requires you to avoid too much pressure over the board as it will cause damage to it. Grinding has to be done very smoothly so that the gears don’t break. While grinding, you may put pressure on the nose, to one side or at the back. It depends on the direction of your movement that in which particular course you want to ride. Grinding also has to be done with bent knees because it always involves rails, fledges and spots higher than ground level so you may want to maintain the balance by staying a little low.
Best Cheap Skateboards for Beginners
Conclusion
Skateboarding is a great sport that also serves as a fun source of traveling. What makes this sport even more thrilling is performing tricks on the board. Beginners are much attracted to skateboard tricks and try to attempt them but end up getting injuries or gear breakage. The best way to do skateboard tricks as a beginner is to keep it slow and work step by step. Start from getting the right gear and begin learning necessary skills. Once you are a smooth rider, you can learn tricks basics to jump into high-end tricks finally.
