Skateboarding is one of the favorite sports of extreme sport lovers. It is a sport or pastime of riding a skateboard. Skateboard is a wheeled board for riding or a short narrow board to which a set of small wheels is fitted on the underside, used to move rapidly or to perform jumps and stunts. They say that it can be a good alternative for surfing.

Next thing we will discuss are the things you should use or you will need before learning how to skateboard. First and the most important is of course the skateboard, the others will simply be for your safety like those protection gears for your elbows and knees, and of course you have the helmet for your head. As much as possible you should also be wearing your proper attire for the activity. There are things to consider when choosing the right skateboard that will fit you, may it be in size or in style.

Check out the following Gears:
(1) Length and width of the deck (deck is the actual board), it should have a space big enough so that when you step on it, your feet can relax on both sides, and according to studies 7.5’ deck is better
(2) concave or the slope of the board
(3) wheel size
(4) hardness,
(5) truck height and
(6) skate shoes just to name some. Skate shoes will help you a lot so that it will not be that hard for you to land on the side of your foot and eventually injure your ankle. And for your protective gears, you should look for those that will be more comfortable for you especially when you are already skateboarding and doing some tricks.

Let’s get started, learning how to skate especially for beginners is really difficult and challenging but when you get into the habit, it is very fulfilling. Because of the sudden skateboard outbreak, there are a lot of tips and advices not to mention formal education that other people give just to teach other aspiring skateboarders so as to widen their present population.

After making sure that you already have all the necessary paraphernalia with you and that you are already dressed up with the proper protection gears that you need, the next thing you have do is to follow the following instructions. But first, keep in mind that you are still starting to learn and you should start from the basic.

ABC’s of Skateboarding
So now let us do the ABC’s of skateboarding and learn how to skateboard.

First, is you have to have a good camaraderie with your skateboard, you should be at ease with it, the length, the width and so on, feel your skateboard and be comfortable in doing your basics like standing on it or even jumping.

Second, is choosing a position that suits your style, in some studies it says that there are 3 kinds of stance you can choose from and for some only 2. Those are:
(1) Regular or skating with your left foot forward,
(2) Goofy or skating with your right foot forward.
(3)And for others they have mongo foot pusher.
There are a lot of ways to know the best position for you, but the best way to find it is by knowing if you are right-handed or left-handed.

Third, is pushing. Beginners are having some trouble in doing this, because the tendency is that the skateboard gets away when they try to push the skateboard away. The proper way to do it is imagine that you are just walking, you are just making a step forward and the foot stepping forward is the foot pushing in front of the skateboard. Another trick is that you have to make a powerful push and not a lot of less-powerful pushes.

Fourth, is stopping. There are several ways or techniques in stopping a skateboard, there is

(1) foot breaking, this is the easiest way because you will just take off your back foot and drag it on the ground,

(2) heel drag, skateboarders who has been skating for a while is the ones who usually do this. You have to step down on your heel but you have to make sure that the front half of your foot is still on the board, your heel should drag a short ways and you should stop.

(3) Power slide, this is the advanced way to halt and since it is for advanced it will be better if we will not discuss it yet,

(4) lastly is, when you don’t have any other choice but to jump off and just buy a new skateboard.

LASTLY, after knowing the basics, and being familiar with all of them then I guess making your own style and having some exhibitions is just appropriate. Good luck!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 at 4:59 pm and is filed under Skateboarding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.