Basics: Tips for Beginners

Dateline: 23 August 2000

If you've never set foot on a board, here are some tips to get you started.

First off, you should stay on the ground! Anything you do airborne will eventually end in some kind of landing. So, if you don't already feel completely secure in just riding your board around you shouldn't be attempting any other kinds of tricks --at all. Period.

How do you get from here to where you wanna be? By taking a look back. Old school and a progression thereof is what got us where we are today. The best way to commence, therefore, is to first investigate your history. Here is some basic knowledge that's been around longer than forever.

How to Cruise Start out by placing the front foot (that's whichever foot feels best for you) over the front trucks (front axle) and the back foot a bit over the tail (the upturned end of the board that is nearest your back foot). Now, lift the rear foot and push the ground, thereby propelling yourself in a forward direction. Ah ha! We have motion. Once you're moving, it is possible to steer the board by way of using your body in a back and forth lean. You can really also just pivot your feet via a slight pressure toward your toes or your heels. This should take very little effort and will tend to vary a bit depending on the tightness of your trucks (which should be tight if you're just beginning.) It'll be obvious once you stand on the board how this is supposed to go, and if you have any sense of balance at all you should be able to pick it up fairly quickly.

Placing the rear foot over the back trucks and pushing with the front foot is called skating mongo. Some people skate this way but I wouldn't recommend it. Anything you do with your weight over the rear end of the board is a great deal less stable than the other way around so stick to the front end with your weight up over the middle.

How to Kickturn

A kickturn is a way to turn the board by lifting one set of wheels and pivoting over the other end's trucks. By lifting and pushing the end of the board around you can effect a turn of any angle in either a frontside or a backside direction.

Kickturns can lead to Tic Tacs, which are simply a series of these that, done in succession, will cause you to advance in a forward direction. These are maybe not the best way to go forward but are, in fact, a really good way to get a feel for the ride.

How to 180

By 180 we are of course referring to that of the old school class. An old school 180 is just executing a 180 degree kickturn without your board coming off the ground. Pivot over your back truck, swivel your hips and make sure you end up facing the opposite direction. For you young folks out there that haven't had much math yet note that that is exactly what 180 degrees is, a turn that lands you in the opposite direction from whence you came.

How to 360

360s are exactly the same as 180s only instead of stopping half way around you continue the turn until you end up in your original position. Once you can complete this trick, try doing it without setting down at all and see how many Multiple 360s you're able to pull. In the old days (ahem) when there was no ollie, multiple 360s were a measure of a skater's knack for the sport. They remain a good measure of control. Do lots. That's it for now though there is of course more. Practice this stuff then join us next week for Basics Part II and we'll continue to progress. Thanks.