Skateboarding is fun, challenging, and exciting. A skateboard is usually made up of wood mounted on wheels. It is the most popular form of recreation and sport among youths. Learning skateboarding is not tricky but hard to master. If you start with the basics, then it is easy to learn. Many beginners go for harder tricks in the initial stages, which is not the right thing to start with. Basics are the key to success.

If you are a beginner and want to learn skateboarding, this guide is for you.

Table of Contents

.Things you should know as a Beginner

.Skateboard Parts

.Select the Right Skateboard

.Wear the Right Socks and Shoes

.Find the Right Place to Skate

.Find a Skateboarding Partner

.Skateboard Learning Tips and Tricks

.Practice Balancing

.Learn Pushing

.Learn How to Turn your Skateboard

.Carving Turns

.Turning Inwards (Frontside Carve)

.Turning Outwards (Backside Carve)

.Practice Kick Turns

.Learn How to Stop the Skateboard

.Falling off your Skateboard

.Skateboard Safety Gear

.Skateboarding Helmets

.Skateboarding Pads

.Skateboarding Gloves

First, it is essential to know about the different parts of the skateboard.

.Deck ( A board made up of wood upon which you stand)

.Grip tape (Adhesive-backed sandpaper fixed on the top of your skateboard to provide physical resistance)

.Trucks (Front and back axle assemblies allow the skateboard to turn)

.Wheels (Helps move the skateboard)

.Bearings (Fit inside the wheels used to mount wheels to the axle)

.Hardware (Includes bolts, nuts, and screws)

.Risers (Helps raise the overall height of the board)

.Shock pads (Used to absorb shocks)

To start your first skateboarding session, you need the right skateboard. You must have a good pair of shoes and socks and have a helmet too. These are the basic requirements for your safety and comfort.

Selecting the right skateboard is the most important thing in starting your skating journey. You will find different styles of skateboards in the market, which may confuse you. So, it is ideal to start with a slower skateboard than those meant for high speeds.

As a beginner, it is best to go for a board that will help you in learning the art. And after learning and practicing much on a normal board, you can go for one designed for high speeds.

If you are not going to select a high-end skateboard at the start, it doesn’t mean that you should buy a cheaper one. There are many good quality skateboards available at affordable prices so always focus on the quality.

Always select a long and flat board in the beginning to have much room for your feet. Longboards are not designed to do fancy tricks; they are designed to help beginners learn skateboarding as they are easy to move and ride.

Also, you need to focus on wheels. Try to buy a skateboard with smaller or softer wheels to get a good grip and shock-absorbing feature.

For the safety and comfort of your feet, wearing the right pair of socks and shoes is quite important. Always buy thick socks to protect your ankles. Also, they must be long enough to cover your shins.

Your footwear must be a pair of skate shoes to keep you comfortable while you ride. Or if you have a new pair of shoes with flat soles, you can wear them. You can’t wear any sports shoes for skateboarding because it is a matter of balance and feel. Other shoes might not help you in feeling the board or maintaining balance.

Skate Park is not a suitable place for beginners to practice skateboarding. It is a matter of your own safety as well as the safety of others. So, always find a place with fewer people around.

You can practice balancing in your own backyard or park, and for skating, go to the parking lots, empty grounds, tennis courts, or any other suitable place.

In the beginning, avoid those places where you find different obstacles. You will need a flat and even surface to practice skateboarding. Also, never try to go skating in the rain or immediately after heavy rain. Water can damage the wooden board, bearings, and hardware.

Finding a skateboarding partner will help you a lot in the beginning. You can ask any of your friends to skate with you. Or you can ask any experienced person to help you as many skateboarders like to help beginners. At some point, everybody was a beginner, so don’t be shy and ask any professional to help you improve your style and technique.

Find someone that can go slow or at your pace. Learn the basics right. Let the person teach you in his own way. Never lose your patience because patience is the key to learning any sports.

Finding the right helping hand will help you avoid serious mistakes that most beginners make when learning alone.

Your stance is the first and the most important thing in skateboarding. You can either go with goofy or a regular stance but first, try to ride both ways and then select the natural one. Knowing your natural stance is essential in learning skateboarding.

In simple words, decide which foot you will be going to put in front and which one to push with.

Goofy — Putting a right foot in front

Regular — Putting a left foot in front

Balance is the key in skateboarding. So, first, start with balancing and then pushing your skateboard forward.

You can learn how to balance on the grass. Stand on your board and try to lean sideways and forward and backward. This will give you an idea how your board will respond when you will do these movements while riding your board.

Practice balancing as much as you can, and then try to give your board a small push to start your first ride. At the start, you may fall, but falling is the part of skateboarding. Always have a low and relaxed stance while pushing so that you can immediately adjust your balance.

When pushing your skateboard, your front foot, either right or left, must be on the front hardware at an angle of 3⁰⁰. And the weight of your body must be centered over your front foot. Now, use your back foot and push it back along the ground to move your skateboard forward. Practice this as many times as possible.

To increase your speed, you need to apply more power. While riding, move your back foot towards the front of your skateboard to gain speed. While doing this, you have to keep your body balanced. Once you are okay with speed, put your back foot on the skateboard on the back hardware. This will evenly distribute your weight between your back and front foot. Soon after, push off your back foot again to accelerate.

Learning how to turn your board comes naturally. Spend more time on your board, and you will learn both carving and kick turns.

Trucks are responsible for turning your deck. For more stability, tight trucks are used, but these trucks limit your turning ability. So, keep your trucks loose to turn easily, but here stability will be an issue.

First, practice with tight trucks and then loose them to turn your skateboard more easily.

How to turn by leaning is the most useful skill to learn. When you need to skate quickly on the streets or down the hill, this skill comes handy. To practice this skill, you need to skate on a smooth surface having no obstacles.

To turn when skating, focus on these three steps.

Balancing when your skateboard is in a stationary position

Turning inwards

Turning outwards

Before practicing carving, you need to find your balance when your board is in the stationary position. Place your board on grass or carpet so that the wheels remain in place.

If you have practiced how to balance your board before, then focus on frontside and backside carves.

To learn how to do a frontside carve; push your board forward to gain some speed. Now, you are required to use your toes, chest, and arms to turn inwards. Use your toes to push down the board, lean your chest slightly forward and keep your arms straight to your sides. After finishing the frontside carve, stand straight on the board.

To do a backside curve, again push your board forward. Before doing a carve, use your heels to push down the board while bending your knees, lean your chest slightly backward and extend your arms out to the sides. Now return back to the straight position after doing a backside carve.

Practice both these carvings to become a good skateboarder.

After practicing carving turns, now it is time to learn kick turns so that you can avoid obstacles by taking a sharp turn at a slow speed.

Pick any flat surface having some obstacles in the beginning. In this technique, you need to use your back foot and put it on the kick tail of your skateboard. Also, you need to lean back slightly. This will allow the front wheels to come off the ground, and you will be able to move the front of your board in any particular direction. To learn this skill, use your head, shoulders, and hips and point them in the direction in which you want to turn the board. After doing a successful kick turn, put your weight again on the front foot.

Stopping the skateboard is easy, but you need to practice it many times to learn how to stop the board timely and how much pressure you need to exert with your back foot on the ground.

First of all, balancing the weight on your front foot is important because without doing this, you may go off balance. Just like pushing, the weight of your body must be centered over your front foot. Now, use your back foot and drag it on the ground. First, apply little pressure and then more to stop your board quickly.

Or, if you only need to reduce your board’s speed, make your back foot in contact with the ground and apply the required amount of pressure to reach a certain speed.

In the beginning, you may fall many times, but this should not affect your concentration and determination to learn skateboarding.

Learning how to fall safely is important in skateboarding. This will help you in avoiding serious injuries. Sliding and rolling both come in handy when you hit the ground. If you wear knee pads, then sliding is the best option; otherwise, rolling is the second option if you don’t wear knee pads.

Safety must be your top priority while doing skating. When buying the deck, purchase a skateboarding helmet, pads, and gloves to save yourself from serious injuries.

When we talk about protective gear, helmets come first. They protect the head and its surrounding areas. You will find a variety of helmets in the market having different sizes and shapes.

For beginners, full cut helmets are the best. They provide full protection to the neck, head, and ears. They are a little bit heavier but provide ultimate protection.

You can also go for classic helmets, but they don’t fully cover your neck. Also, they come with cutouts for ears. But they are lighter in weight and more comfortable than full-cut helmets.

Moreover, as a beginner, you should go for a certified helmet rather than the uncertified one. The advantage of having certified helmets is that their interior is made up of harder foam that provides great protection to your head. Always buy a multi-impact helmet to protect your head from multiple blows. On the other hand, uncertified helmets are also used by many skateboarders, but they have a soft interior that can only give you protection against minor falls. For solid and complete protection of your head, ears, and neck, always buy a certified helmet.

Skateboarding pads are used for the protection of your knees, elbow, and wrist. When you fall on the ground while skateboarding; knees, elbows, and wrists commonly get hurt. So, covering these areas is necessary, especially when you are a beginner and learning how to skate.

Always go for good quality and long-lasting skateboarding pads to save yourself from painful injuries.

Along with helmets and pads, gloves are also necessary to wear if you are an aggressive skateboarder. You will find a variety of gloves in the market. Some are equipped with plastic pucks to protect your palm and fingertips while sliding on the ground. Some skateboarding gloves come with thick padding to provide complete safety and comfort to your hands. Also, there are gloves made with abrasion-resistant materials to protect your gloves and skin from shredding caused by rubbing or friction.