The Basics of Skateboarding – A Guide For Novices
Some people make riding a skateboard seem amazingly easy. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple to ride a skateboard – those people that make it seem easy have usually been skating for years. If you are interested in learning how to skate, follow this guide and you will be cruising down the the streets on your skateboard in no time! Please take into account that this guide won’t be getting in to the more advanced sides of skating, such as doing tricks. Rather, it will cover just the basics of getting on a skateboard and propelling it forward.
Some new skaters want to know, “Which foot goes on the front of the skateboard?” A great method to find out which foot goes on the front is to set your skateboard down on an area of grass or in your house on some thick carpet, so it can’t move around. If you run and jump onto the skateboard, your feet should naturally arrange themselves on the board. If this doesn’t work, then you can simply choose which foot you want to go first. Choosing a foot position is very similar to picking the hand that you write with, simply choose what feels good to you.
Now you’ll have to learn the name of the way that you’re skating. Skaters split the styles up into two groups: the ‘regular’ skater, and also the ‘goofy’ skater. Skaters who skate ‘regular’ place their left foot first. Skateboarders that skate ‘goofy’ place their right foot first. There isn’t an incorrect way to skate, and ‘goofy’ isn’t a derogatory term, that’s just the way it is in the skating world.
Make sure to wear all safety equipment before actually attempting to ride a skateboard. As a newb, you are very likely to fall while skating. At the very least, you will need to obtain a helmet to keep your head safe. Preferably this is a skateboarding helmet and not a bicycling helmet. Although a biking helmet is much better than no helmet, it doesn’t provide nearly as much safety as a skating helmet will. After you’ve made yourself a bit safer, you’re ready to continue.
Now that you can identify yourself as goofy or regular, and also have some safety equipment, you are ready to do some skateboarding practice. The best way to practice is to hop on the skateboard and go for it. Get on the board, and do your best to keep your balance. Hold your arms out if you have to. If you’re still getting a little trouble balancing on the board, try crouching. Crouching gives you a lower center of gravity and will help you balance better.
Some people have difficulties staying on the board because their trucks are very loose. The trucks on a skateboard are the pieces of metal that are bolted to the bottom of the deck to keep the wheels in place. Loose trucks will allow you to turn more easily, but will make balancing more difficult for a novice skater. If you are having difficulty balancing, tighten up your trucks. Simply turn the skateboard over, and rotate the big lugnut to the right four or five turns. Don’t turn that nut to the left, or you will loosen the trucks! Experiment with the trucks, and adjust the trucks to your preferred position.
Once you have mastered balancing yourself on the skateboard, try going down slight slopes or inclines to get a feel for what it’s like to have momentum whilst on the board. If you are practicing on a sidewalk, make sure to keep an eye out for cracks where the concrete meets the asphalt. A novice skateboarder will sometimes get tossed off the board by these cracks, and could get seriously hurt. After mastering the small hills, take the show out to the street and integrate a few small pushes into your routine. Some people have troubles pushing, but this is just another issue of practice. The more you practice, the easier it gets.
Keep practicing those small pushes until they get larger and larger. Eventually, you’ll be a skating professional! Until then, however, you will need to get ready for many disappointments, failures, and embarrassments. You will probably wipe out quite a bit as a novice skateboarder, but don’t let that stop you. Just get back on the board, and try again.
The author has been skating for a very long time. He loves longboarding, trickboarding, and everything in between. If you’re looking for an online skateboard shop after reading this article, feel free to check out http://www.the-skateboard-shop.com/
