Skateboarding is a great pastime and sport and can actually be both physically strenuous as well as quite the adrenaline ride. Here are some tips to get started.
1. Get The Right Gear
When you are just getting started with your skateboarding, you can expect to fall off the board fairly frequently. Because of this, you want to go into the process knowing that. This means prepping yourself to fall without getting hurt. The best way to do this is by outfitting your self with everything from elbow pads to kneepads and even wrist pads. Likewise, you want a good-quality helmet to protect your head from those bad falls. Decent skate shoes are also a must – remember your feet are the only thing keeping you on the board – so good kicks are a must. These Nike SB Dunks should do the trick. All of these things can help you not only learn how to skateboard, but how to ride with full confidence knowing you won’t get seriously injured.
2. Begin With The Basics
Before taking your learning experience to the streets, you will want to give yourself some practice while standing still. You want to focus on learning how to balance. The best way to do this is by standing still on the skateboard. You can even do this on a patch of grass to ensure you won’t have a hard impact on the pavement when you inevitably fall. The first time you step on a skateboard, you can expect it to provide you with an uneven and shaky experience. Thus, it would be very likely you end up losing your balance and falling almost right away. By doing this on a soft surface, you can sustain your confidence that you won’t get hurt even if you fall. Try to practice the basic balancing technique. You want to figure out if you are more comfortable standing with your left foot in the front or the right roof in the front. From there, you should attempt to bend and straighten your legs while on it to simulate riding. As soon as you feel as you have mastered your stance and your balance, you will want to begin moving on to riding the skateboard.
3. Keep Your Movements Natural
To avoid having the skateboard completely slip off your feet, you want to keep your movements as natural and as simple as possible. You will be able to maintain a steady pace by pushing while walking naturally. Use simple steps when you are getting started to keep your skateboard going forward but slowly. Rather than pushing hard with your feet, just edge yourself along until you get the feel for it. You will be able to sustain greater control by making smaller movements and pushes rather than much larger ones.
4. Using Your Back Foot As A Braking Mechanism
One of the easiest ways you can learn to brake would be to drag your back foot along the pavement. Take your back foot off the board drag it to curb your speed and eventually stop all momentum. You will want to continue practicing at lower speeds until it becomes instinctual.
5. Don’t Get Fancy Right Away
While you will certainly want to begin learning tricks and things of that nature once you’ve mastered the basics, don’t push yourself forward too fast. First, you want to completely master all of the fundamentals of skateboarding. That way, you have a solid foundation that you can build upon. Before taking your leap into the deep end of learning new tricks and tips, you want to ensure you can get from point A to point B without constantly falling and injuring yourself.
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