Category: Snow

No matter how you look at it, skateboards are cool. If you want to pick up the sport, you are not alone. At least 11 million Americans say they skateboard often. There are about 500 skateboarding parks in the United States alone. Skateboarding is for everyone. Whether you are a girl or a boy, you can learn how to have fun on a skateboard.

5 Tips to Start Skateboarding

Get the right gear. You will fall off of your board at some point so you need to acknowledge that fact and prepare for it. Your best bet is to have all of the protective gear such as pads for your elbows, wrists, knees and head. A helmet is absolutely necessary to riding a skateboard. If you are starting this sport to impress a boy or a girl, nothing screams “I?m cool” less than a concussion.
Practice your balance first. Standing on a skateboard takes some getting used to. Take some time to get the hang of balancing on your board before you take it on concrete. Place it on something soft at first. This can be some carpet in your home or grass in your yard. It is perfectly fine to practice this in the privacy of your bedroom if you do not want people to see your first attempts at this.
Make small pushes at first. A little really does go a long way when you are on a skateboard. Your speed will come but you need to start somewhere. Think of this like you think about walking. Keep everything simple. Push off a little at first. Make the motion as similar to your walking gait as you can. That way you will learn to move forward without falling off of the board.
Brake with your back foot. The way you can slow down and stop is to press your back foot onto the ground. Basically, you drag your foot until you get to a totally stopped position. Practice this different ways until you are comfortable. The best thing is to start on a flat surface. Save the hills for later when you have practiced more.
Start slow. You will want to do tricks and the like, you know to impress that boy or girl you like so much, but you need to really master the basics of skating first. Get great at stopping, for example, and build up to stunts and tricks. Remember that all of the fancy moves on a skateboard rely heavily on the basics so you need to master them anyway.

Skateboarding is a lot of fun and can be a great way to workout. It is a great form of exercise for either a girl or a boy and can be a decent way to get around town. Skateboards are easy to take with you, do not require a lot to keep safe and do not have a gas tank so they are also a cheap way to get around.

You can customize your skateboard or buy one from a specialty store, almost 80% of all skateboarders buy from smaller stores. They can also create something really special for you to ride. Most of all, the important thing is to have fun while you are skateboarding. That is the point, right?