I’d always wanted to ride a skateboard. I kind of had one as a kid, but not a proper board. It was this chunky plastic thing that used to belong to my cousin, and I used to ride it up and down the street opposite my house, the only place my mum would let me ride it. My brother and I would take it in turns riding up the street… Not sure what happened to that board in the end. Whilst I have lots of fond memories of it, it was hardly an exciting skating experience. So when I had the opportunity to learn as an adult, I jumped at the chance. But is skating easy to learn?
Truth be told, I was in for a shock. A few years previously, I’d tried a scooter again for the first time since I was a kid. That had been super easy, and so part of me assumed that a skateboard would be equally achievable. But nope. Instead I was wobbling all over the place, barely able to even stand on the thing. I was so close to giving up after that first day, but I’m really glad that I pushed through.
Now, over a year later, I love my skateboard, and I ride it every opportunity that I get. I feel so much more comfortable on it than I did at first, and once you get past that initial learning curve, there’s a lot of joy to be found. However, I won’t pretend that it’s smooth sailing right from the off. Instead, I want to help you figure out what to expect when you start skating. Also, please make sure you’re riding the right board for you. You want something decent quality that suits your riding style.
Figure out if you’re Goofy or Regular
Whilst skating already isn’t the easiest thing to learn, it becomes a lot harder if you don’t work towards your natural stance. Pretty much everyone will have a natural preference for either goofy or regular. These are two different ways of standing on the board to start with.
If you’re regular, you’ll have your left foot forward and your right foot will be your pushing foot. If you’re goofy, it will be the opposite. Surprisingly, there’s not really a link between your dominant hand and your dominant foot. In fact, this is much closer to 50/50.
To figure out which stance is natural for you, there are a few different things you can try. The first is to stand with your feet together and lean forwards until you fall. Whichever foot you naturally put out to stop yourself is your dominant foot. Another option you can try is to pretend there’s a vast swathe of ice in front of you. Imagine you’re about to run and jump on it to slide across. Run forward and visualise sliding across that ice and see which leg you naturally put forwards. This will be your dominant fit for skating, too.
When you start learning you want to start with your natural stance to get comfortable on the board. However, once you can move around a bit, it’s good to start learning switch. Switch is basically riding with your non-dominant foot forward. It can feel uncomfortable but it’s good to adapt to it early on. I left it way too late because I hated how it felt, and now even a year later, I’m really bad at riding switch.
Your First Day of Skating
This will be the hardest part of your skating journey, simply because of how demoralising it can be. Nobody likes to fail, but the reality is that you probably will fall off a lot of times during your first day of skating. The trick is to get straight back on again.
This first day will be all about finding your balance. You’ll need to get comfortable standing on the board with both feet whilst it’s moving. Depending on your progress, you may even start practising pushing whilst you’re moving. It’s an awkward process and it’s not going to feel great at first. I promise that it gets better.
The important thing to remember is that your first day is not a reflection of what you can expect going forwards. You’re learning a brand new skill and your body is not used to these sensations. It’s going to take time to find that balance, but you will find it. You just need to be patient. Even if it feels like the first day has been a waste of time, it hasn’t. Your body will learn from it, and when you come back the next time you’ll have made progress, even if you don’t realise it.
Your First Week of Skating
Once you get past the first day awkwardness, you’ll start to feel a little bit more comfortable on your board. That first week is going to be all about building confidence. You should get more and more confident with just standing on your board and pushing. It should get to a point where riding the board feels smooth and natural. This may take several days so don’t try to rush the process. Everyone learns at a different pace and it’s okay for you to struggle.
Focus on understanding the way your body balances. You want to be looking ahead at the path, not down at your feet. When you push, you want to be keeping almost all of your weights on your front foot, and your back foot should just be connecting with the ground enough to give you momentum, without shifting weight onto it. You also want to have that back foot pushing quite close to your board, rather than wide out from it.
A good way to really grow accustomed to your sense of balance is to practice standing up and crouching down. When you’re skating, it’s good to have your knees slightly bent, and the amount of bend will depend on what your trying to do. Getting comfortable with going up and down will help you feel more natural in various stages of a crouch. Whilst moving, bend down to touch the nose of your board and then stand back up again. Try to do this without your board wobbling. This is quite difficult at first, but will become easier the more you do it. It can be a bit scary getting your face closer to the ground, but try not to think about it.
Learning to Turn on a Skateboard
You’ll also want to get more comfortable with turning during your first week. The way you turn on a skateboard is by leaning in the direction you want to go. The harder you lean, the more tight the curve will be. Just make sure not to lean too far or you’ll overbalance and fall off your board. Finding that sweet spot is a key part of the learning process.
Another way to turn is with kickturns. This is where you very briefly lift your front wheels off of the floor by putting weight onto your back foot on the tail. Then you shift your body weight in the direction you want to go, driving with the shoulders. Finally you put the board back down on the ground, and your momentum will have changed direction. The whole process should take a fraction of a second. Spend too long on it, and you’re likely to fall off.
Turning actually comes surprisingly naturally. It’s one of the easier parts of the learning process because it feels very intuitive. You lean left to go left, you lean right to go right. It makes a lot of sense and your body will probably pick it up quickly. The only tricky part is doing so with a smooth motion. The first few times it may feel a little awkward, and you may not get the angle you’re going for.
Your First Month of Skating
This is when you’re going to start seeing real improvement. It’s also when you’ll be able to make an informed decision about whether skating is right for you. The first week can be tough because it’s such a learning experience. But during your first month it should slowly start to make more sense to you. Your body should feel more comfortable on the board, and it should feel less like learning and more like playing. If you’re still not enjoying skating after a month, you probably won’t enjoy it.
The first month is also when you’ll probably start just using your board without deliberately going out to practice. So instead of scheduling a proper skating session for yourself, you might just ride it to the shops or something. For example, I started using my board to go to and from work after a few weeks.
Depending on how confident you feel, you might even start learning tricks within your first month. However, this isn’t necessarily something to aim towards, the most important thing is to get comfortable with balancing, steering, and pushing. For me, the first month was my favourite part of learning to skate. I was finally seeing everything click after all my efforts, and it felt incredibly satisfying. Every new thing that I learn to do felt so exciting whereas now I take it for granted. I still remember the rush. I felt the first time I did a kick turn, whereas now it’s second nature. Try and enjoy your first month, really focus on those special moments!
When Should You Start Learning Skateboard Tricks?
This one will vary per person, but the likelihood is that it’ll be later than you might expect. You don’t really want to start adding tricks into the mix until you feel a lot more confident on your board. You should be able to comfortably cruise and balance, and feel at one with your board. Pushing should be second nature, and should easily be able to regain your balance from a wobble. Most importantly, you should be able to fall safely. When you do start trying tricks, make sure to wear a helmet.
Too many people try to go straight into learning an ollie. Not only do they neglect to learn the fundamentals of skating, but they’re also trying the wrong trick. Contrary to popular belief, an ollie is not a beginner trick. It requires a lot of skill and balance and understanding of the way your board moves that you simply won’t have early on. To do a proper ollie you need to be rolling, but most people who start learning it do so stationary, which is almost pointless. If you don’t feel comfortable learning it while moving, then you’re not ready to learn it.
Instead, when you’re ready to start learning to tricks, here are some others that you should consider:
- Tic-tacs
- Drop-in
- Hippie jump
- Shuvit
- Fakie shuvit
- Boneless
- Body varial
- Manual
- Revert
- Caveman
Once you’ve got those nailed down, you can start looking at pop tricks. You’ll be in a much better position than you would if you’d jumped straight into learning an ollie.
Conclusion
So, is skating easy to learn? No, but it’s definitely worthwhile. If you put in the time and effort, you’ll see the rewards. It’s also not as difficult as you might think. Once you’ve nailed down the basics, a lot of the rest comes more naturally.
As wheeled sports go, skating is a pretty middling difficulty. The initial few sessions are challenging, but after that you’ll start to feel a lot more natural. Then it’s up to you how difficult it becomes. Learning tricks is hard. Cruising around is simple. It’s your choice whether you want skating to be a continuous learning journey, or whether you just want to learn the basics and then enjoy cruising.
Do you like the experience of learning a new skill or do you prefer knowing what you’re doing? Let me know in the comments! You can also follow our Instagram to see cool content in a variety of hobbies, including skating!
