Skateboarding Basics

• It is important to use the right equipment for skateboarding, both to prevent injuries and maximize your fun. Start out with a good pair of skateboarding shoes with wide soles that can grip the skateboard deck; lots of skateboarders choose gum-soled shoes for their ability to hold onto grip tape. Although you probably will not see them in popular skating videos, protective pads keep you from injuring yourself when you fall, whether it would have been a couples scrapes or a broken wrist.
  
  Now you need to figure out your stance, either goofy or regular. Step onto the skateboard with either foot in front, bend your knees slightly and push yourself a short distance; then follow with the other foot in front. One of these two stances should feel more comfortable, and this is your skateboarding stance. Regular stance indicates that your left foot is in the front, and you are kicking with your dominant right leg; if you felt more comfortable with your right foot in front then you will skate with what is called a goofy stance.
  
  

Tips and Tricks

• The ollie is the most simple trick and most other tricks are variations of the ollie. During an ollie the board is elevated off the ground by pushing down on the back tail and catching the front tail with your leading foot. Once you have the ollie down, a pop shove-it is a good trick to try. Instead of immediately bringing your right leg up after pushing down on the tail, drag your back foot left or right to spin the board 180 degrees (so the front trucks wind up under your back foot).
  
  While attempting skateboard tricks, you need to commit to the trick; this means that once you begin a trick, stay focused on following it through to the end. Another important move that you will have to learn through experience is the 'stomp'. When landing a trick you have to catch the deck with the soles of your shoes and firmly push down on the board as it is hitting the ground. This gives you control of the board as you land and also minimizes the chances that the board will fly out from underneath you.