Basic Skateboard Skills

Underpinning all those amazing tricks you see there are some basic skills. If you practice them, the harder tricks become easier….

Balance

• Balance is achieved by using the following skills:

  • Pressure

  • Rotation

  • Agility and posture

Pressure

• Moving pressure from nose to tail

  • board walks

  • shuffling feet

  • Hippy jumps

  • think ollie

• Moving pressure from side to side

  • carving

  • posture

  • leaning

  • pressure on heels or toes

Rotation

• Kick turns & pivots (8 ways - natural and switch stances rotating off nose or tail)

• Body varials (4 ways)

• Reverts (like kickturns but don’t lift wheels off ground)

• In the air (Ollies and other tricks)

Agility & posture

• Speed

  • combos of rotation and pressure drills

  • Skipping

  • Foot work

• Control / precision / consistency

  • Foot placement

  • “Stacked” - shoulders over knees, knees over toes, balanced centre foot

  • Repetition - “practice makes permanent”