subject: Longboarding Tips for Beginners [print this page] Longboarding Tips for Beginners Longboarding Tips for Beginners
Longboarding, how difficult is it? Basically you're only standing, yeah? Is it true the board does all the work? You may have similar questions if you're just starting out with the sport. You'll find out in a hurry there's a lot more to it than standing on a board that's rolling along. For more information, visit You'll have to practice to gain the skills you'll need to longboard well.
You need to practice a lot. It's really a good idea to have some skills with the basics before moving on to more advanced skating. Next up, some really important things you'll want to know if you're new to longboarding.
Ok, first - there's a bit more to just pushing yourself off and moving. It's a fluid, smooth motion with strength in it. Remember that you don't want to pushoff too rapidly with a lot of short strokes.
First, you want a technique that you can recover from if you lose your balance. So try to use a strong, long movement each time. It won't take long to be moving fast with this technique. How you push off will depend quite a bit on your stance. If you're a beginner, mainly stay on level surface and use a board that's strong and well-built. It'll just help if you can plant your foot firmly on the ground without feeling unsteady from an uneven surface. But this won't be as important if you practice and improve.
When you turn, you're keeping your balance while you shift your body weight.
This does not mean that you have to lean your entire body frontwards or backwards. The goal is to simply shift your weight from the flat of your foot to the balls of your feet, or to the heels of your feet. Avoid swaying in any direction, and maintain your body in the upright position. If you sway or lean too much you could fall. Practice turning on a flat, even and uncrowded surface. Then practice with wide/gentle turns first before trying sharp turns. Once you get that mastered, you can practice lifting the front of your board a little bit to allow you to turn more sharply.
Stopping is actually pretty complicated. To practice, it's probably easiest to drag a foot to slow and stop. You can also stop by using a foot to lightly touch the ground, like a short step, and this will stop you, too. What this does is take small steps in the reverse direction.
It can be a little tough on your feet, but it's effective. When you're better, you can stop yourself quite smoothly by dragging the tail-end of the board. Important note: tail grinding is not a good idea if you are going fast.
However, longboarding basics can seem tough if you aren't willing to practice. No person ever became a pro fast. Be patient and learn how to control that board. You control the board, if not - the board controls you, and that's a recipe for getting hurt.
