If you’ve ever seen any videos on YouTube or in real life, you know how cool it must be to ride a skateboard. If you think it’s too hard to learn, don’t. Every skateboarder was a beginner trying to learn the ropes. Even Tony Hawk, the greatest skateboarder in history, had his highs and lows learning how to skateboard. With that out of the way, I’ll be teaching you how to skateboard.
The most important things you can have with you when learning how to skateboard are a skateboard, a helmet, knee pads, shin pads, elbow pads, and last but not least, bravery. You will fail and kiss the pavement when learning, and that is completely okay. No one ever got any better without having to fail. Now that you have all these necessities, without further ado, let’s get to learning!
Step 1: Finding Your Stance
Before you do anything, I want you to lean forward, like you’re going to fall, and see which foot automatically catches you before you fall. This will help you find the stance. Stances are important because they help you find the footing you will be most comfortable with when riding a skateboard. That same foot you caught yourself with will be the foot that you put on the Nose(Front of the skateboard) and the one you did not catch yourself with will be the foot you put on the Tail(Back of the skateboard). If you catch yourself with your left foot, you will nine times out of ten be comfortable with the Regular Stance, with your left foot on the Nose and the right on the Tail. If you catch yourself with your right foot, you will feel most comfortable with the Goofy Stance, with the right foot on the Nose and the left on the Tail. If you caught yourself with your left foot but don’t feel comfortable with the Regular Stance, try the Goofy Stance. This stage is about experimentation and finding what’s most comfortable for you.
Step 2: Controlling Your Balance
Balance is the one thing you will need to maneuver the skateboard. To practice balancing, stand on top of the skateboard and stay still for five minutes. If you completed this practice with flying colors, you’re a natural! If you don’t, that’s okay. The one tip I have for you is to stay consistent with your practice until you manage to complete this practice.
Step 3: Ride, Forest, Ride!
Believe it or not, you’ve come a long way from finding the stance most comfortable for you to ride the skateboard, because more people would quit before this step than you’d think. Now that you’ve adopted your very own stance, step on top of your board with your stance, and push against the ground using the foot that goes on the Tail of the skateboard. The euphoria of having the wind pushed against your face in the form of a gentle breeze is unlike any other. If you want a little more speed, push using the foot on the tail against the ground three times to build up speed.
Step 4: Finding Your Skate-Paradise (Optional)
If there is one thing about skateboarding that I know, it’s that the terrain that you skate on matters more than you would think. I dislike skating on sidewalks because of the cracks in the pavement, making it a bumpy ride. The road is where I shine. The smooth pavement provides a less bumpy skating experience including the benefit of generating more speed without cracks in the pavement to put a halt to it. If you’re a bit of a daredevil and are looking for some thrill, I would suggest skating in places that are angled downwards. I heavily discourage doing this as an amateur, as you could very easily lose control of your speed and hurt yourself.
Step 5: Repetitive and Rigorous Training
You should give yourself a round of applause, you officially understand the fundamental basics of skateboarding! I cannot teach you anything else, all that is left for you to do is to test yourself, experiment, meet other people, and learn tricks. Meeting other skateboarders can help you compare your flaws with other people’s flaws. The most satisfying thing you can do when skateboarding is nothing as advanced as grinding a rail, it’s learning a new trick, such as the Kickflip and the Ollie. Reader, I wish you the best of luck on your skateboarding journey and always remember to take whatever failures that may come your way and transform them into lessons on what to and what not to do. Never give up.
Daniel Palomino – DeLaSalle Institute – DMSF Class of 2027
Image by Pexels from Pixabay