Skateboard Tricks for Beginners

Interested in skateboarding, but out of tricks and tips? This can be a usual scenario for beginners and it is nothing to be perplexed about. For seasoned campaigners, skateboard tricks are just a matter of routine and honing their skills. For amateurs and beginners though, learning new tricks is what forms a major chunk of their skateboarding stint. Basically these tricks are maneuvers and antics performed by skateboarders on skateboard. Obviously then, for most skateboarders, learning new tricks is what adds to their skills.

Skateboard Tricks for Amateurs

Ollie: Yes, I know it is a huge cliche! Ollie is supposedly the trick of the tricks and if you ask any skateboarder about skateboarding tricks, this will be amongst the first few ones that will be mentioned to you. To do this, bend your knees considerably while you are on the go. Then slam your foot as hard as you can on your skateboard tail. Now while you do that, ideally you would want to jump off your back foot. This will need a bit of practice, which will give you the idea as to how to get the timing right. As the skateboard hits the ground, leap off that foot. At the end, make sure that your back foot has been pulled high into the air. It has to be quick and snappy. Once you jump in the air, roll your front foot slightly inwards. What you need to do is roll and drag the skateboard. Finally, just pull both your knees up or rather as high as you can and land on the ground. As you land, again bend your knees as you did before you did the Ollie. This is crucial because this will reduce the intensity of the shock of the landing.

Kickflip
Kickflip somewhat resembles Ollie, but is a bit more complicated. What is done here is you flick the board below your feet and make it spin in mid air. A flawless kickflip is achieved when a skateboarder kicks the board with the ball of the front foot. As a result the skateboard spins or flips minimum once and the landing by the skateboarder is smooth, with wheels down. Kickflip is much jazzier than the Ollie. This is one of the elementary skateboard tricks for beginners.

50-50 Grind
Here is where the trucks come in. Trucks are t-shaped metal parts that are mounted on the underside of the skateboard deck. There are 2 such trucks in a regular skateboard, facing each other. Face the ledge or any platform you want to skate on, keeping a fair distance between you and the ledge or rail. Start skateboarding on a comfortable speed. Have your feet in the ollie position while going towards the ledge - the ball of the back foot should be on the tail and the front foot above the front trucks. Just before the start of the ledge, ollie up on the object meant for 50 - 50 grinding. Make sure you land with trucks uniformly on the ledge, that is the ledge or rail in the center of the trucks. As you land, remember to bend your knees. Keeping your knees them bent while grinding, will help you balance. At the end of the rail have a small pop up and land on the ground. This is quite a thrilling skateboard trick for beginners.

Heel Flip
Start with the Ollie position and then pop similar to what is done in an ollie. The only difference is that as soon as you pop the board in the air, you have to kick the heel of your front foot forwards. Immediately after your front foot leaves the skateboard, point your toes in the air and kick it forward, in front of you. You have to flip and flick the skateboard using your heel, as the name goes! Pull your front foot underneath you to give room for the board to flip. Stay balanced and keep your weight above the skateboard. Once you flip the board, catch it by putting your back foot on it. Putting your front foot down on the board is a natural following in this step. Now simply land with knees bent and roll off.

Eventually balancing and perfect timing, is the key to these and many other tricks. Apart from these there are quite a few more, but these skateboard tricks for beginners are the most common and also the easiest! So now, who's game for skateboarding tricks? Have a great time skating!