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From Beginner to Advanced: 5 Key Steps to Improve Your Skateboarding Skills
Jan
Skateboarding isn’t just an exciting sport; it’s also a way to challenge yourself and continually progress. Whether you’re a complete beginner or someone with some experience, improving your skateboarding skills requires a step-by-step approach. Each stage is crucial to advancing in the sport. Today, we’ll share 5 key steps to improve your skateboarding skills, helping you transition from a novice to an advanced rider.
1. Master Basic Balance and Control
Before diving into tricks, it’s essential to ensure you can ride your skateboard smoothly and maintain basic control. The first step for any beginner is learning how to balance on the board and control your speed and stopping.
- Stance: Your stance is critical. Place your feet parallel on the board, with your front foot pointing slightly forward and your back foot naturally positioned on the tail.
- Riding and Stopping: Once you’re rolling, practice stopping by dragging the tail of the skateboard against the ground or using your back foot to push against the pavement. Learning to control your speed and come to a smooth stop is essential for safety and stability.
With continued practice, you’ll feel more confident, and your ability to control the board will improve. Mastering basic balance and control is the foundation for progressing to more advanced tricks.
2. Learn the Basics: Ollie (The Jump)
After mastering balance and control, the next essential skill is learning the Ollie—the foundational trick for most other skateboarding maneuvers. The Ollie allows you to jump and lift the skateboard into the air, making it the key to many other advanced tricks.
- Foot Position: Place your back foot on the tail and your front foot in the middle of the board, slightly bent at the knees.
- Movement: Push down on the tail with your back foot to pop the board off the ground, while quickly dragging your front foot upwards to lift the board into the air. This requires a combination of force and precision to get the skateboard to lift and level out.
At first, you might struggle with jumping or keeping your balance. Don’t get discouraged—keep practicing, and you’ll gradually increase the height and stability of your Ollie.
3. Challenge Obstacles: Grind
Once you’ve nailed the Ollie, the next step is to start trying Grinds, a classic advanced skill. Grinds involve sliding your skateboard along the edge of an obstacle, such as a rail or ledge. Mastering this trick adds a whole new dimension to your skateboarding skills.
- Grind Basics: The key to grinding is positioning the skateboard’s metal trucks (the parts that connect the wheels to the board) on an obstacle. Approach the rail or ledge at the right angle and use your foot to guide the board onto the edge.
- Control and Stability: Grinding requires excellent balance and control. Start by practicing on lower rails or curbs to build confidence and gradually increase the difficulty as you improve.
While grinds are tricky, they are incredibly rewarding. Once you’ve mastered them, your skateboarding skills will have leveled up significantly.
4. Practice Turning Techniques: Shuvit and Kickflip
Turning and spinning techniques are critical in skateboarding. Once you’re comfortable with basic tricks like Ollie and Grind, it’s time to try more complex maneuvers like the Shuvit and Kickflip.
- Shuvit: In this trick, you use your back foot to spin the skateboard 180 or 360 degrees without the board flipping. This is an excellent trick for building your board control and learning to spin the deck.
- Kickflip: The Kickflip is one of the most iconic skateboarding tricks. As you approach the jump, use the outer edge of your front foot to “kick” the board into a flip. The board rotates 360 degrees in the air before landing back on the ground.
Both Shuvit and Kickflip require significant coordination and precise control over your skateboard. These tricks are more challenging, so it’s best to practice them once you’ve mastered the Ollie.
5. Increase the Challenge: Combine Tricks and Street Skating
Once you’re comfortable with individual tricks like Ollie, Grind, Shuvit, and Kickflip, it’s time to take things up a notch. Begin combining these tricks and testing them in real-world street settings. Combining tricks adds a new level of creativity and complexity to your skating.
- Combo Tricks: For example, try following an Ollie with a Shuvit or executing a Grind and then adding a Kickflip afterward. These combos are what give your skateboarding style its unique flair.
- Street Skating: Practice performing tricks in real street environments. Look for rails, stairs, or curbs in your area to challenge your skills. By skating in real-world conditions, you’ll adapt to different obstacles and develop your street skating style.
These combinations and challenges not only improve your technical skills but also enhance your creativity and confidence on the board.
Conclusion
The journey from beginner to advanced skateboarder is gradual, with each step building on the last. By mastering the basics, learning the Ollie, conquering grinds, practicing turning techniques, and eventually combining tricks, you’ll move from a novice to a seasoned skateboarder. The most important things are patience and perseverance—don’t get discouraged by falls, and keep pushing yourself to improve.
At CLZJ Skateboard Store, we offer high-quality skateboards to help you at every stage of your journey. Whether you’re just starting out or ready to level up your skills, we’ve got the perfect board for you.
Join us and take your skateboarding to the next level—let’s push the limits together!