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Skateboarding is very fun and sporty to ride. It is one of the most favorite action rides for sports lovers since the early 19’s.
Riding a skateboard is quite different from any kind of bi-cycle or car riding. It is kind of tricky and difficult for some people. So it is better to know the proper ways of riding it. Those who have a fear of riding a skateboard don’t worry much.
Skateboarding is so fun that many students use a skateboard as their transportation to school or university. You may be one of them who is willing to learn the way to ride a skateboard. Have a smile, because, in this article, I will describe “how to ride a skateboard?”
What is a skateboard?
These days, there are almost zero people who don’t know about a skateboard. It is one kind of ride usually made with maple wood and has polyurethane coating on it. It has a very simple look and very simple mechanics.
It usually has a longboard (usually 18 to 28 cm wide and 70 to 85 cm long), four longboard wheels. Some mechanical elements are hidden under board.
How to ride a skateboard?
Skateboard is very popular among kids and youngsters. Most western peoples are fond of it. But without proper riding knowledge, you can’t ride it.
How to best skateboard for beginners?
To learn how to ride a skateboard, you must start by choosing the right size of a skateboard and choosing a smooth surface for riding first as a beginner. Soft skateboard wheels are best for beginners because they roll smoothly and are less likely to get hung up on cracks and rocky roads.
Skateboard riding for beginners can be separated into three-part: how to turn on a skateboard, how to ride it and how to stop it.
Turning on a skateboard
For the beginners, place the skateboard on a smooth road or surface. Place your front foot at about 45° angle on little behind your front tail of the skateboard and try to move it by pushing the ground with the other foot.
Pushing skateboard is the first and most important skill to learn as a beginner. You might need to bend the front knee to reach the ground by the back leg. After pushing, place your back leg slightly in front of the back tail of the board.
You can also turn on a skateboard by standing on the board while on a downward slope. The gravity will do the rest. However, if you are an absolute beginner who doesn’t how to stop the board, you better avoid this technique.
Riding a skateboard
This is the most pleasuring and fun part of skateboarding. But it is also a little bit tricky. You must have a full focus on it. A perfect balance is also needed for riding it. While balancing, shift your weight on your front foot, reach down the ground and push off with your back foot again for accelerate.
Turnings are very important for any skateboarder. Especially for beginners. Turn can be separated into 2 parts.
Normal or long curvy turn
It is not very difficult. You have to slow your skateboard, look for other vehicles or objects and push the board sidewise with you two foot on the side you want to turn. Your skateboard has a simple spring and trucks loaded mechanism which made the turns by pushing sidewise the board. Balancing might hard at the beginning of practice.
Sudden or short curvy turns
This is the turn you need in sudden moments or too curvy roads. For this, you have to slow your board suddenly. A power slide (a braking system) helps here a lot. Then you need to kick-turn the board.
For kick-turn, you have to push the back-tail of your board halfway by the back leg and shift your body weight on the back. Then slide the skateboard’s front by your front foot in your desired direction. Balancing and weight shifting is very hard for it. A strong focus is needed here.
There are two types of how people ride
Regular some people feel more comfortable with left foot in front. They push skateboard by back foot or the right foot. This is called the regular technique.
Goofy It is the alternate of regular. Some people who feel comfortable with the right foot in front and left foot to push is the goofy technique.
Normally A skater uses to push skateboard with his right foot. But if anyone feels comfortable by pushing skateboard with his front foot, it is called the ‘Mongo technique’.
The skateboard board riding has no such rule to follow. So ride the way you feel comfortable.
Stopping skateboard
You can’t have safe skateboarding if you don’t know about stopping the skateboard. It might give you a bad ending with injuries. So it very important to have a clear concept about stopping the board. Some basic and common stopping techniques are:
Tail scraping or pushing
In this system, you had to push the back-curve or tail of the skateboard to the surface. It is a very easy braking method. As a beginner, you should practice and learn this brake system first.
Side friction
In this term, you had to push your back foot by side groud. This is a very simple and effective way of stopping the skateboard. Your skate shoes, however, might not last long.
Heel scraping
In this method, you try to stop the skateboard by half pushing the back-tail of the skateboard and try to make friction by your back foot’s shoe. However, it is less effective for beginners. And it is also not good for your shoes at all.
Power slide
This is a little difficult method for stopping the board. You just had to turn the board 90 degrees with the way the board going. This technique widely used because you can also slow the speed of the skateboard without fully stopping it. It also doesn’t harm your skateboard or shoe.
Skateboard riding for adults
Skateboard riding for adults is almost the same as younger’s. But for beginners, you might consider your age. If you are older than 50, it is recommended not to skateboarding. However, if you are older and very eager to skateboarding, please wear a helmet and knee gourds for safety issues.
Try to follow the basic riding methods. It will be easier for you to learn quickly as a beginner. But focusing and balancing might little difficult for you too. Practicing will overcome these.
Skateboard riding for advance
For advance level skateboarding, you must wear your safety equipment. Riding Goggles might need for fast skateboarding.
Sharp focus and full domain on balancing is a must. Knee bending, weight shifting in back, front, left, right must be acknowledged.
Electric skateboard
Electric skateboard or e-skateboard is very popular nowadays. It is a motorized skateboard, you didn’t need to push by foot to run the e-skateboard. However, It runs on battery, so you had to charge it.
Electric skateboards appeared in the early of 2000. From that moment, it becomes popular between kids and made a permanent place between skateboard lovers. However, for newcomers, it would be better to choose the best budget electric skateboard.
Riding an e-skateboard is quite different from a normal skateboard. Some rules for riding an electronic skateboard are below:
Starting or turning on an e-skateboard:
For riding an e-skateboard, you have to find your right front and back of your e-skateboard. Secondly, you should get familiar with your skateboard’s remote control system. The user manual and instruction book can help you with this purpose.
Adjustment of trucks might need for your comfort. Sometimes, you need to accelerate the e-board to start it.
Riding an e-skateboard
Riding is very comfortable on e-skateboard since you don’t need to push the board with your foot. But because of motorized control, balancing on the board might very hard for beginners.
Sometimes you might have to struggle to keep the center of mass of your body in the middle of the skateboard.
Turning and speed controls are on your skateboard’s remote. So you have to keep a sharp eye and calculate the time when you need to push the turning buttons.
However, this remote-controlled turning can’t make a close or sudden turn. Your physical kick-turning and braking might need in this case.
Braking or stopping the e-skateboard:
Remote-controlled skateboards mostly don’t have any braking system. you have to stop the board physically. The braking rules are the same as normal skateboard ones.
However, there are some new and latest models of electronic skateboards which allow you to brake the board. But it is not quite dependable. Sudden brake might imbalance you and cause falling. So, knowing proper braking skateboard in recommend.
You should remotely turn off or neutral the skateboard before stopping. Otherwise, the motorized mechanism might damage or affected inside the board.
Tips and tricks:
In one word, skateboard riding is all about focusing, timing, balancing and weight shifting. These are some tricks which might help you with riding.
- The first and most important thing is practice. It helps the most.
- Use high-quality grip tape so you have a better grip with the board and don’t have problems with slippy or muddy shoes.
- Customize your skateboards Trucks at your comfort.
- Take guidance from pro skateboarders. YouTube has lots of videos about skateboarding which might help you a lot.
- Try to skateboarding on a smooth and well- known road. Already known cracks and turns will minimize the possibility of an accident.
- Try to learn from Your mistakes. Be ready and accept to falling and minor injuries.
- Maintain your skateboard. It will help your board to last long.
- Push your limits. Break the boundaries.
Warning
Always keep these things in mind before riding.
Safety equipment:- Always wear your best skateboard helmet and knee gourds before riding.
Checkup:- Always check your skateboard for and damage or cracks before riding. For e-skateboard, check the remote working properly on not.
Roads:- Never ride a skateboard on a busy, curvy or damaged road.
Focus:- Never loses focus while riding the skateboard. Pay more attention when turning.
Speed:- Always try to ride in a proper speed limit. It is recommended not to drive to fast.
Conclusion
Skateboarding is a good exercise for adults and fun for the kids. In this article, I have described the way to ride it. Once again I am mentioning some factors. First choose the right size board for you. Learn how to turn, push and stop. I have also mentioned some tricks and tips.
For the question “how to ride a skateboard for the first time?” the answer is practice! You should do a lot of practice. Without practice, you can’t acknowledge the focusing or balancing or weight shifting. You can’t learn them by only ready and watching videos about skateboarding. Practical apply is very important. I have already mentioned the way to ride. Read them again and apply them practically.
Always try to overcome your fears and misconception that you can’t do that. You can’t enjoy enough until you overcome these. Hope this article helps you to fulfill your dream of learning to ride a skateboard.
