Learning to ride a skateboard might look easy, but just making sure you stay on the board and go forward can take a lot of practice. This is even more difficult when it comes to learning tricks. We’re here to help you with our guide on the easy beginner skateboard tricks.
Many people use skateboards simply as a mode of transport, but they are also regularly used as a fun sport.
Unlike other sports, you don’t improve in skateboarding by skating further or faster, but by learning new and more complicated tricks.
When you’re first learning, it can be tempting to try and learn complicated and difficult tricks. But, until you’ve mastered the basics, you won’t be able to get any better.
You might be looking to learn tricks just for the fun of it or you might want to be able to show off your skills down at the skate park.
So, to help out with both, here are some easy skateboard tricks that can be mastered by a beginner, but still, look impressive.
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Just one thing…
Before we get started, the first thing you need to do is learn the basics. Before you start trying to learn any tricks – even the simplest – it’s important to learn how to move properly and safely on your board.
Don’t try any of these tricks until you can move smoothly and confidently and feel stable on your board.
There’s no point in trying to learn tricks before you feel safe and stable as you won’t be able to do it properly and might end up hurting yourself (which definitely won’t look impressive).
The 4 Easy Beginner Skateboard Tricks
Okay, now we’ve got that out of the way, on to the tricks!
1. The Caveman
This is a great one to start off with as it looks impressive but is actually super simple. The caveman involves holding your board by the nose, running up, and then jumping on it.
This sounds way more difficult than it is, but just in case, make sure you still wear your protective gear.
The steps for the actual trick aren’t very complicated, but we’ll put them here anyway.
- Hold the nose of the board
- Angle the board towards your feet
- Run and jump towards the board
- As you jump, release the board and land on the deck.
See? Simple. But, before you head straight to jumping through the air, there are a few ways to practice this safely.
- Before you can land mid-air, you need to practice aiming at your board. So try just jumping on your board while it’s stationary. Once you’ve mastered this, you can try it at speed and then from the air.
- Practice your timing. It will eventually become second nature, but making sure you release the board at the right time can take some practice. So, just take a few swings and get used to the weight and aerodynamics of the board.
- Then just combine! Now you’re ready to try the actual caveman.
2. Nose Pick Up
Even if you’ve never been near a skateboard before, you know this trick. This is the way skaters like to pick up their boards because they think it looks cool – and they’re not wrong.
This trick involves stepping down on the tail of your board and then grabbing the nose as it goes up in the air.
This is a super smooth move, so make sure you practice it beforehand, otherwise you might miss and completely ruin the cool vibe you were going for.
This trick will make you look like you’ve been skating for ages and know exactly what you’re doing (even if you don’t). This is one of the easiest tricks to learn and should only take a few tries before you get it.
3. Nollie Shove It
Despite its strange name, this is still a really cool trick. The Nollie Shove It involves spinning your board while it’s beneath you. Not flipping the whole thing around, but just flipping the tail from the back to the front.
This trick doesn’t require much movement so you can achieve it with a quick flick of your foot and a slight jump in the air. This trick makes you look experienced and confident and like it’s not taking any effort at all.
Here’s how to achieve it:
- Skate along as you normally would
- When you want to, jump up slightly and use your front foot to flip the nose back, and use your back foot to flip the tail forward.
- Land!
And that’s it. This one might take some getting used to, but it’s easy to master and will make you look like a pro who doesn’t even need to try.
4. Firecracker
Now, we’ve saved the coolest for last but it’s still not too difficult. The firecracker is another trick that you have definitely seen before and have definitely been impressed by.
The firecracker involves leaning back on your board and going down a set of stairs, off a curb, or any kind of raised area.
The steps are pretty simple,
- Head to a curb (make sure you start off with something low down and then work your way up to a proper set of stairs) and stand at the top.
- Start a good distance away so that you have the momentum and move forward.
- When you reach the curb, lean back so that the tail is close to the ground and the nose is raised.
- Bend your needs slightly as you head down and raise your arms to maintain your balance.
Once you have mastered something small like a curb, you can move on to two steps and then gradually increase the height and number of stairs.
Be careful with this trick as it can (like all tricks) lead to injuries so make sure you wear protective gear and don’t try anything you’re not ready for.
Just because it’s a simple trick, doesn’t mean you can do the most difficult version straight away. Take your time and have fun.
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