Unit 6 · First Tricks

Before any trick, put on a helmet. It should sit low on your forehead, not tipped back. Buckle the strap every time. Only about one finger should fit between the strap and your chin. A helmet that wobbles cannot do its job.

Next come wrist guards. When people fall, they often reach out with their hands. That is why wrist injuries are among the most common skateboarding injuries. Wrist guards have hard plastic pieces that help keep the wrist from bending too far.

Knee pads and elbow pads let you slide when you fall instead of scraping. Wear flat shoes with flat rubber bottoms. Flat soles grip the board. Open sandals, boots with heels, and bare feet are not safe on a board.

Small wheels stop fast when they hit a pebble or a crack. A smooth, flat surface lets the wheels roll evenly. Good spots include an empty blacktop, a quiet basketball court, or the flat part of a skatepark. Sweep away sticks and stones first.

Water makes the ground slippery and can ruin the small metal parts inside the wheels. So skate only when the ground is dry. Stay far from streets, driveways and parking lots, where cars move. A hill is never a place to learn.

Doctors say children ages 6 to 10 should have a grown-up watching when they skate. Children under 5 should not ride skateboards at all. A grown-up can help you choose a safe spot and can help if you fall.

Every skater falls, even the best ones. Falling is part of learning. What matters is falling small. When you feel the board slipping, bend your knees and get low. A low fall is a short fall.

Next, land on the parts with pads. Drop to your knee pads and slide forward. Or tuck your chin and roll onto your shoulder and side. Keep your arms bent and close to your body. Never catch yourself with stiff, straight arms. Locked arms send the whole force into your wrists.

Practice falling on grass before you need it. Stand up, crouch, and drop to your knees. Then try rolling sideways. If a fall makes you scared, that is normal. Take a breath and try a smaller step next.

Skateboards come in different widths. Width is measured across the middle of the board. Small riders often use a narrow deck. Grown-ups often use a wider one. A deck that fits lets your feet sit across it over the bolts.

Skate shops use names for kid sizes. A mini deck is about 7 inches wide. A mid deck is about 7.5 inches wide. A full-size deck is about 7.75 inches or wider. These are typical sizes, not rules. Your feet matter more than your age.

The trucks must fit the deck too. The truck’s axle should be about as wide as the deck. Then the wheels sit right under the edges. Ask a grown-up or a skate shop to help you choose. Stand on the board on carpet first and see how it feels.

The flat board you stand on is the deck. The back end curves up. That end is the tail. The front end curves up too. That end is the nose. On many boards the nose is a little longer than the tail.

Look at the top of the deck. You will see four small screw heads near each end. These are the bolts. They hold the trucks and wheels to the deck. Bolts show you where to put your feet.

Some riders stand with the left foot forward. That is called regular. Others put the right foot forward. That is called goofy. Both are normal. So trick steps say front foot and back foot. Your back foot works the tail.

A kickturn is a turn on the back wheels. Start on grass or carpet so the board cannot roll. First, put the ball of your back foot on the tail. Put your front foot just behind the front bolts. Bend your knees.

Next, press the tail down gently. The front wheels lift off the ground. Lift them only a little, about the height of your shoe sole. Then turn your head and shoulders the way you want to go. Your hips and feet follow, and the board pivots on its back wheels.

Last, let the front wheels down softly. Your weight goes back to the middle of the board. Try a small quarter turn first. Then turn a little farther each time. Practice turning both toward your toes and toward your heels.

When kickturns feel easy on grass, move to smooth, flat ground. Have a grown-up nearby. Give one small push and roll slowly. Place your feet the same way as before. Then press, turn and set down.

One common problem is pressing the tail too hard. The front wheels fly up and the board shoots out. The fix is a softer press, just enough to lift the wheels a little. Another problem is the front foot too far forward. Then the tail will not go down. Slide the front foot back toward the middle.

Moving makes a kickturn feel different. The board wants to keep rolling straight. So keep your knees bent and your weight centered over the board. Start with quarter turns. Later try a half turn, so you roll back the other way.

A tic-tac uses small kickturns to move forward. Stand with your feet in kickturn position on flat ground. Press the tail just enough to lift the front wheels a little. Swing the nose a small way toward your toes. Set it down.

Next, lift the front wheels again. Swing the nose a small way toward your heels. Set it down. Then go back toward your toes. Each small swing moves the board forward a bit. The name comes from the tick-tock sound and motion.

Your shoulders and arms do a lot of the work. Twist your upper body one way, and the board swings the other way. Keep the swings small and even. Big swings make the board zigzag. Tic-tacs help you learn to control the tail.

A manual is like a wheelie on a bike. You roll on only the back wheels. First, practice on grass. Put your back foot on the tail and your front foot behind the front bolts. Shift your weight back slowly until the front wheels lift. Find the spot where they stay up without the tail touching.

That spot is the balance point. Hold your arms out to the sides. Bend your knees a little. Small moves of your hips keep you there. Then let your weight move forward again, and the nose drops back down.

Next, try it rolling slowly on flat ground. If the tail scrapes the ground, you leaned too far back. Ease your weight forward a little. If the front wheels drop fast, you need a bit more weight on the back. Count how long you hold it.

A lever is a bar that turns around a point. A seesaw is a lever. When you press down on the tail, the board turns around its back wheels. That turning point is called the fulcrum. The tail goes down, and the nose goes up.

The tail is short. The rest of the board is long. So a small drop of the tail moves the nose up much farther than the tail moves down. That is why a small, gentle press is all the movement you need. A big stomp lifts the nose much too far.

Early boards were flat, with no tail. Larry Stevenson got a patent for a kicktail in 1971. A kicktail is a tail bent up. It gives your foot a place to press and lifts the nose more easily. Almost every board now has a kicktail and a bent nose.

Your body learns a trick by doing it many times. Each try teaches your muscles and brain a little more. Short practice on many days works better than one very long day. Ten or fifteen minutes is a good start.

Plan each practice. First, warm up by rolling slowly and doing easy kickturns. Next, work on one new skill, like the manual. Then end with something you already do well. Ending on a good try helps you feel ready for next time.

Rest is part of practice too. Tired legs wobble, and wobbly legs fall more. Stop when you feel tired or upset. Sleep also helps your brain store what you practiced. Tomorrow the trick may feel easier.

A quarter pipe is a ramp shaped like one side of a U. At the top is a flat platform where you stand. Skaters call it the deck, just like the top of a board. Along its front edge runs a metal pipe or bar. That edge is the coping.

Below the coping the wall curves down to the ground. The curved part is the transition. Skaters often shorten it to tranny. The curve is what lets a board roll smoothly from going down to going across.

At the bottom is the flat ground, called the flat bottom. A halfpipe is two quarter pipes facing each other, joined by flat bottom. On a halfpipe you can ride back and forth from one wall to the other.

Ramps add height, and height adds speed. So the first ramp should be small and low. Many skateparks have a little quarter pipe for beginners. Choose a ramp with a smooth curve and no cracks.

Wear your helmet, wrist guards, knee pads and elbow pads. On a ramp, knee pads are extra important. If you fall, you can drop to your knees and slide down the curve. This is called a knee slide. Practice it on the ramp before you try anything else.

Have a coach or a grown-up with you. They can hold your hand for your first tries. Watch which way other skaters are going. Wait your turn so no one rolls into you. Skateparks run on taking turns.

Before dropping in from the top, learn the ramp from the bottom. Roll slowly toward the ramp across the flat bottom. Keep your knees bent and your weight over the middle of the board. Let the board roll a little way up the curve.

Near the top of your roll, the board slows and stops for a moment. Then gravity pulls it back down. Stay in the same stance and roll down backward. Riding backward in your normal stance is called fakie. Keep your eyes looking down the ramp.

Each time, roll a little higher. Your body learns how the curve pushes up on the wheels. If you feel the board wobble, bend your knees more. Rolling fakie on a small ramp is a step toward dropping in.

A drop-in is starting a ramp from the top. First, stand on the deck of the ramp, back from the edge. Set the board so the tail rests on top of the coping. The back wheels sit on the deck side of the coping. The front of the board sticks out over the curve.

Next, put your back foot on the tail. Press down to hold the board still. Now the front wheels float in the air over the ramp. Your front foot stays on the deck for now. You are in the setup.

Check the ramp below you. Wait until no one is rolling there. Ask your coach to stand on the ramp and hold out a hand. Take a breath. Your back foot keeps the board locked in place until you are ready.

From the setup, place your front foot on the front bolts. Keep your back foot on the tail. Now comes the key move. Lean forward and push your weight onto your front foot. The front wheels drop onto the ramp.

Lean your chest out over your front foot, toward the bottom of the ramp. It will feel like too much. That is right. Keep both knees bent so you can soak up the curve. Let both feet press the board flat onto the ramp. Look ahead at the flat bottom, not at your feet.

To commit means to go all the way once you start. Halfway leaning is what causes falls. Ride down the curve and across the flat bottom. Then stop or roll up the other side. With a coach’s hand, the first tries feel much safer.

Many new riders lean back on their first drop-in. It feels safer to keep your body away from the slope. But the board does not wait. Gravity pulls it down the ramp right away. If your weight is back, the board rolls out ahead of you.

Then your feet go forward and your body falls back. You land on your back or bottom. This is a very common drop-in fall. It happens because your weight was not over the board.

The fix is to lean forward, with your chest over your front foot. Your body should stay at a right angle to the ramp, like a pole stuck straight into it. Then your weight stays over the wheels and rides down with the board. If you do fall, try to drop to your knees and slide.

Most skaters feel scared before their first drop-in. Your heart beats fast. Your legs may shake. This is your body telling you to pay attention. It does not mean you cannot do it.

Break the trick into smaller steps. Practice the setup without dropping in. Practice knee slides on the ramp. Roll fakie higher and higher. Try your first drop-in on the smallest ramp you can find, with a coach holding your hand.

Take slow, deep breaths before you go. Say the steps out loud: front foot, lean, knees bent. It is fine to wait, and it is fine to come back another day. Every skater learns at their own pace.

You can steer a board without lifting any wheels. Press down with your toes, and the deck tilts. The board turns toward your toe side. Press down with your heels, and the board turns toward your heel side.

This works because of the trucks. When the deck tilts, the trucks tip and point the wheels in a new direction. Inside each truck are rubber rings called bushings. They squish when you lean, then push the board back to level.

Soft wheels grip the ground well in turns. Wheel softness is measured on a scale called durometer A. Lower numbers are softer. Soft wheels are good for cruising and carving on rough ground.

A carve is a long, curving turn. It looks like the letter S drawn on the ground. Start on smooth, flat ground with a grown-up nearby. Push to a slow, steady speed. Put your feet over the bolts with your knees bent.

First, look where you want to go. Turn your head and shoulders that way. Then press gently on your toes for a toe side carve. Hold the lean through the whole turn. Next, shift to your heels for a heel side carve. Linking them makes the S.

A common problem is leaning too hard and too fast. The board turns sharply and you may tip. Lean a little at a time instead. Another problem is stiff legs. Keep your knees soft so your body can move with the board.

On a halfpipe you cannot push with your foot. Instead, you pump. Pumping means bending and straightening your legs at the right times. Start by rolling back and forth on a small halfpipe, going a little way up each wall.

Near the top of each wall, bend low in a crouch. As you roll down into the curve, push your legs down and stand up tall. Press into the ramp through the bottom of the curve. Then crouch again as you roll up the next wall.

Crouch high, stand in the curve, crouch high again. Each time you do it right, you roll a little higher. If you stand up too early or too late, nothing changes. Watch a skilled rider and notice when their knees bend and straighten.

When you roll up a ramp, you slow down. Your motion energy turns into stored energy, because you are higher. When you roll back down, the stored energy turns back into motion energy. On a halfpipe, the two keep trading back and forth.

If that were all, you would roll back and forth forever. But friction takes a little energy away on every trip. The wheels rub the ramp, and the bearings rub inside. Some energy becomes heat and sound. So without pumping, each trip goes a little lower.

Pumping puts energy back. When you stand up in the curve, your legs push hard against the ramp. That push comes from your muscles. It adds a little energy each time. Add more than friction takes, and you roll higher and faster.