Top 10 Longboarding tips

All right, so the most basic trick on this list is the Pivot. This is the first trick that most longboarder begins with. It is just a basic 180 with your body. When you do this, your board will do a 180-degree turn as well. I’ll be giving key points with every trick to make your learning process faster. So, the key point for this trick is that you wind up your body in the opposite direction that you are going to turn before doing the trick. The second key point is, and this is important for every single trick in longboarding. You should bend your knees before you do the trick. So, you bend your knees; you do the 180, you shift your weights to your front foot. That will make your board go up. So, to sum it up, you do the 180 with your body and your boards will do the 180 as well. And then you bend your knees again when landing and it will make you stylishly do this Pivot.

This is also a beginner trick which falls under the basic categories. A primary fundamental exercise each learner should learn which will make one learn how to brake. First of all, place the driving foot in front of the dashboard. Push a little and try balancing on one leg. Remember, your driving leg needs to hang parallel to your balanced leg and not too high from the base. While working on the trick, keep increasing your distance. The main focus of this move is to ride on one leg. Do not push your leg too far from the leading leg, if you want to avoid falling from the board, which also helps you to balance better. Move your body a little forward, to prevent your board from going away from you and hurting yourself landing on the road. Better learn on both feet as later on, other tricks will require both legs.

If you own a longboard then learning to footbrake is necessary. This happens to be a basic skill. It is known that without doing a brake with your foot, you cannot slow down and stop. A common question from riders is, “How to stop a board?” It is an easy trick to be done. Just same as the pushing, lift your back foot bending your knee a little. Just do not hurry, keep calm and smooth. Turn your dominant foot a little forward keeping your weight on the foot, bring the back foot down. Just keep it skimming along the street and feel for a strong contact appropriate over your foot. Make your body lean back once you have a contact on the road. Try applying more weight, and it will help you to slow down a lot faster. Use your arms too to do the balancing. Make this attempt faster and try stopping harder. Practice more and more so that you can do this correctly when you want to.

A dancing trick with a primary freestyle riding. Once you become a pro in this trick, you are going to heat up the roads. It will make you more confident and steadier as a freestyle rider. If you love dancing, this is the one you should learn. It is the most fundamental piece of footwork, which will lead your load forward to keep your board in straight-line speed. The risk of injury of this trick is really low and pretty easy to learn. A flat straight and empty road are worthy of this trick. Get rolling at a low speed. But cross-stepping is harder at low rates. So, make sure you gather some momentum for stability on the board. Use your arms to balance, while moving your front foot at the end of the board. After this, slowly and smoothly try lifting your back foot from the board pushing your weight forward. Concentrate and take some time. It is going to be harder now. Try to put your weight on the new front foot while swinging the other one. Don’t rush this process or panic. The reason this is harder is that you are not used to skating with your back foot. While pushing the board, keep trying to walk on the board balancing your body with the arms. You will have to struggle a little but once you are done with this, it will be much more comfortable than before.

Does not the name give you a horror vibe? GHOST RIDE!!!!!! No worries, this is just a trick that falls under the dancing categories. A simple trick that is done by jumping off the deck and back on while running. Keep your feet between the bars at shoulder range. Keep your front foot steady at the center of the board, near to the edge, and 90 degrees to the back foot. The back foot then comes around the front foot and off the deck. Now, this is the time to use your front leg to jump from the board. Make sure to push the board so that it runs along with you while moving. Then your back foot will hit the ground when your front leg goes around it and back on the deck. Keep your speed steady and smooth so that your board does not go far away from you.

Another beginner trick under the dancing categories. One of the easiest methods can be performed with your back leg while the other leg stands on the ground. Almost like the ghost ride trick. While maintaining the shoulder width, keep the leg in the center of the board and in between the jolts. Then jump from the deck onto your front foot. While doing this, you will notice that your back leg is in the air slightly bent. The leap you take should be a little forward so that gravity pulls you back on the board. After that, bend your knee and hip perpendicularly dragging the board with your back legs toe and also jumping from the board at the same time. And that’s how you complete the flip.

In this trick, riders ride down the slope as quickly as they can and attempt to control the board. They use their knees to manage and avoid any type of circumstances. The body position lies on the front foot which is totally placed on the board while the back leg stands on your toes. Bend the knees and hold the hands in the back. Once you are done with the setup, it is time to learn the tricks now. Tucking reduces the air resistance making you smaller, and you will be faster. It will be hard at the start. So, let’s start with the trick then. The main reason for this trick is to reduce the air resistance while gaining your body flexibility. Your front leg should be positioned in the front of the deck, and your back foot should lean on the edge of its toe. This one will result in a frontside turn. Curve your back placing the chest against your leg. This position will help you to turn quickly. Start slow to gain perfection.

A freestyle form of tricks for intermediate riders. Complete a 360-rotation while moving forward. This is really tough for beginners. So, I would suggest them to perform these tricks once they are an expert on the other methods. While performing this trick, the front foot should be placed in the middle of the deck and the bolt. And, the back foot positioned at 45 degrees on the rear of the board. While your toe is hanging from the board, you should grip your board with your foot. Bring your shoulders away from the board and prepare your body to let the spin happen. Remember, while rotating the board, do it quickly by using your shoulders. It will do most of the work. At the same time, use your leading foot to grab the board back. With practice, you will be doing this trick like an expert.

Well, you are almost done with a lot of tricks. So, let’s go for this one too. This trick goes on the slide categories and intermediate level. To complete this trick, you need to slide and switch your position while standing on the board. In this one, the distance between both the legs should be the same. Both the foot should be reflected like a mirror image. The closer your feet are, the more stability you will gain. Gradually gain your speed, bend slightly, and turn your body while pushing the board with your back foot. Remember to keep your weight in the middle. Now, turn your shoulder, and you will see your board will follow you itself.

After you learn the front side 180 stand up, this will look so easy to you. This is done standing on your board. You can master them on plain roads with a low speed although they are easier on steeper trails. Keep your weight in the middle, which is almost necessary for all the tricks. Bend your knees to get yourself down, and have a slight curve along with your board. This is nearly the same as the FS 180 stand up. Put your back leg parallel to the end of the board while the front foot in a relaxed position. If you are riding regularly with your regular foot, then remember to have a curve in the left first and then to the right. Push your back leg a little forward and lean back. Now, bend your front knee a little and then pull back your back foot. And yes, you are now done with your trick.