How To Ride A Longboard For Beginners: 13 Tips Will Help You Solve The Problem

“How to ride a longboard for beginners” is a key that the one who wants to play it searched on the internet.

When you follow the right learning steps in the right order, you don’t have to be intimidated by longboarding if you want to get started.  In fact, most riders just take to the hills straight away without even having a basic understanding.  There are many longboarding tips for beginners that can be helpful for you to get started while hopefully reducing the pain and suffering one experiences while learning to skateboard.

Here is where we are going to start.

Tip 1: Get The Right Longboarding Board As Your

Choosing a longboard for the first time can be challenging for a longboarder who is new to longboarding. Taking into account so many factors is a difficult task, especially since there are so many brands and models available.

This short article, based on my personal experience with a large number of longboards marketed today, will assist you in making a well informed choice as to what board is best for you.

In this article, we have mentioned all the boards we had researched (no knockoffs) that are high quality and from reputable brands. There is no doubt that they will last beyond your initial learning stage and should still be relevant beyond that.

Tip 2: Taking A Stance On Longboarding

It is almost as if every individual has their own way of riding boards (for some people, this can even vary wildly from one sport to another). It makes no difference how you stand on a longboard. As long as you put your left foot forward and your right foot back, then you’re “regular”, whereas if you put your right foot forward, then you’re “goofy”.

If you are just beginning to learn how to code, this is the very first thing you must do. To do this technique, you need to stand with your feet together and have someone push you from behind as you stand on the ground. As a result you will be able to identify which foot you naturally put forward to avoid stumbling.

What is the significance of posture? If you have your longboard in front of you and you are riding it, you can pick up your toes or your heels, as you would normally, to turn in one direction or the other while you are riding. The opposite will happen if you are goofy.  Try to remember this as you learn new ways to improve your skills.

Tip 3: Finding Your Balance In Static Mode For Longboarding

Before you start moving on your longboard, you will need to become familiar with how to balance on your longboard, especially if you are new to it.

Putting your longboard on grass or a thick carpet is a great way to practice safely. If the board is sliding, the friction will hold the board from rolling.

As soon as you step on your still longboard, you will be in your natural stance with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-distance apart or slightly closer – depending on how long your board is, your feet will be close to, or on top of, the bolts of the trucks.

There should be an angle of about 45o between your front foot and the deck while the back foot should be parallel with the deck (right foot for regular right-handed players, left for left-handed players). Lie down on your back while bending your knees a little bit if you want to feel comfortable.

It should be possible for you to stand comfortably without needing to step down.

Tip 4: Practice Your Turning Stance

In this case, the deck of your longboard will tilt to the sides if your weight is shifted to both sides when you stand on it. The wheels are not going to roll.

When riding, you’ll turn your deck by rolling your ankles back and forth to cause your deck to lean on each edge – that’s how you’ll do it. Taking the deck as an example in mind, you can lean the deck just by shifting your weight forward (toes) and back (heels) by locking your ankles.

Before your first try out on the streets, you may want to consider a balance board to take your static training one step further. If you’re serious about taking up board sports, then this is the perfect tool for you if you’re looking to strengthen your balance.

Tip 5: Practice Your Brake And Push Stance

There is a key skill that all aspiring longboarders are going to need to master for longboarding, and that’s how to balance one leg while using the other leg to steer or brake.

In the grass or on the carpet, while standing on your longboard, rotate your front foot so that your toes are pointing forward towards the nose. While doing this, simultaneously rotate your shoulders and hips so that they are facing forward as well.

At the same time, raise your back foot off the deck and balance yourself on your front foot as you do so. This assists in stabilizing your body whilst you raise your back foot.  If you were to shift your weight onto your front leg and bend your front knee in order to lower your back foot to the ground, you wouldn’t need to move your hips.

It will just take a few seconds for your back foot to touch the floor as you lean forward with your other leg.  In the next step, begin to raise the foot of your front foot back into the initial position on the deck, as well as your shoulders, hips, and front foot to their initial positions.

The first time you do this exercise, you may find it difficult, since the deck keeps leaning left and right, so it’s hard to balance on one foot – to increase the challenge, you can try it on a balance board.

Tip 6: Get Comfortable Rolling

Now that you’ve got your stance and turns down, we’ll look at push brake and basic stance in static mode. The moment has finally arrived. You are going to want to park your longboard in a driveway or parking lot which has a slight incline and let gravity do the work.

In order to practice your push stance, you will rotate your front foot and shoulders forward, drop your back foot to the floor, and push your board just a bit so that it gains some momentum. With a little speed, you will find that you will be able to balance better and provide some stability.

Ideally, you should make sure that you don’t put too much pressure on your front foot and even shift your weight slightly back to allow your front wheels to roll over cracks or pebbles easier if the ground is uneven.

Additionally, you will feel less fatigue if you unload your front foot a bit.

After you get accustomed to pushing, you can kick a little harder for a little extra speed once you get used to pushing. At this point, you should not go beyond what you are capable of running without getting injured.

Tip 7: Learn How To Brake

It’s obvious that knowing the fundamentals of how to brake effectively is a prerequisite to going around on your longboard as a beginner. You’ll have to learn how to use your feet as your primary braking mechanism first. 

In order to slow yourself with friction on the ground, after lowering your back foot to the ground you brush the bottom of the foot with the sole of your foot instead of kicking to make the friction slow you down.

In order to avoid catching your toes on any cracks or bumps in the floor while you scrub it to stop, ensure that you approach the ground with your foot flat, even with your toes slightly raised.

When using this technique at low speed, it works well, and as you speed up, the technique becomes challenging.  Practicing squatting while rolling while standing on one foot is one way in which to become better at this

Tip 8: Starting On A Mild Hill 

If you have mastered foot braking on flat ground, then you are ready to begin learning to brake on a small slope. It is recommended that you choose a route that is either uphill or flat, and preferably one that doesn’t cross any streets.

When you get to this stage, you will want to wear some protective clothing. It is highly recommended that you wear a helmet that fit snugly on your head and is firmly strapped under your chin.

I recommend getting a pair of gloves with plastic pucks to wear with your helmet. Getting knee pads is also recommended if you can afford it. The second thing you should look for is elbow pads.

You should wear sports shoes with strong soles so that you can brake your feet effectively – skate shoes are better for braking than running shoes for this purpose.

If you are not sure that you are able to deal with it, DO NOT go on a hill. Find a hill that is not so steep and go up after you have ridden down. When running off your board, make sure that you can do so at any time.

In some cases, when climbing up a mountain it may be too steep for you to do each time. Just begin at the bottom and start climbing it a little bit at a time until you get the hang of it. I know you’ve experienced it, but there’s nothing worse than losing control on a slope and crashing because you weren’t prepared.

Tip 9: Practicing Turning 

It is a good idea to practice turning on your longboard with a rolling motion this time. I recommend first practicing on flat ground and then moving onto a slight slope. In order to make the board less turn, you might want to tighten the trucks a bit before going uphill.

The bottom of the board will turn right and left just like on the grass earlier if you simply roll your ankles and push down onto the edges with your toes and heels.

You might prefer to try locking your ankles on your board and instead lean your whole body against the board’s rails when you’re comfortable with that. You will be able to move your board as you move your upper body. With your arms balanced, rotate your head, shoulders, and hips toward the direction you want to turn.  

Tip 10: Learn To Carve To Slow Down 

The word carving simply means that you move your longboard in a pattern similar to an S shape while performing successive turns.  In order to moderate the speed of your descent down a slope, it is necessary to turn as sharply as possible (carve).  You will slow down if you keep on carving back and forth. 

Taking a turn at a high speed uses a lot of lean-to scrub your wheels on the road and slow you down.

In order to reduce your center of gravity while carving, you should bend your knees.  To carve toeside you should push your knees forward (weight on your toes) and to carve heelside you should pull your butt out backwards (weight on your heels).

Tip 11: Learn How To Fall

There is a strong possibility that you will fall sooner or later, and I know that sounds scary and strange. It is okay not to be scared, though. To avoid injury, it is important to avoid tripping on stiff arms or hands, as this could result in broken arms or wrists.

In order to avoid putting your hands out once you fall, instead of doing so (which is a natural reflex), you should be able to tuck your arms across your torso, land on your forearm, and roll sideways on your shoulder before landing.  

There is definitely a learning curve associated with this style of “tucking and rolling”. If you are doing it on an exercise mat or on a pile of pillows on the ground, you may find it easier.

In order to keep your balance on your skateboard, if you feel you are going to fall, get low on it. I advise you always to try not to fall backwards—but if this is not possible, then you should try not to lock your elbows when you hit the ground.

Wearing gloves and knee or elbow pads can make it easier to slide the package out if you’re wearing gloves and elbow or knee pads.

Tip 12: Taking A Slide To The Next Level

As you are aware, this is a very important issue. I think it could have been easier to just add it to this bullet list than to actually do it. However, until I learn to slide, the true exploration of longboarding has not begun. There is truth to the statement that it is cool to slide (it certainly is), but mostly because it is the most effective way for a faster person to slow down.

The sliding process can be performed in many different ways, some easier than others (and some easier for you than others). There are two ways to slide on your board: either holding on to your board with one hand or holding a hand on the ground.

Standing up to a slide can be pretty easy to learn if you practice for a while and do not go too fast. In this instance, however, it is probably safer to use hand-down slides, especially at higher speeds.

It is possible to do a hand-down slide by getting very low on your board and putting your gloved hand on the ground so that you can take some of the weight off the wheels. As you work to bring the board sideways across the slope using your other hand, you grab the board’s edge and pull it hard in a tight corner.

As a beginner longboarder, sliding is an important step in your progress as a longboarder since it will help you take your riding to the next level. Although we won’t go into the details of sliding in this post, just know it’s an important step in your progress.

Tip 13: Follow The Unwritten Rules When Longboarding

Finally, I want to share with you some simple tips I learned along the way on longboarding etiquette, as well as courtesy and safety behaviors you should adopt when skating.

In the event that you ride among other cars on an open road, be sure to maintain your lane, and follow traffic signs (stop signs, pedestrian crossings, traffic lights, speed limits, etc.) just as you would do when driving your own vehicle.

If you must ride on the sidewalks, give pedestrians the right of way, using your voice to let them know you’re about to pass by them, even if you are at a slower speed. Be prepared for worst-case scenario behavior from cars (e.g. loud turning), dogs, bikes, etc.

As you ride along, be courteous and kind to pedestrians and neighbors so that you maintain a good vibe and impart a positive image of longboarding – as opposed to the anti-social image associated with skateboarding generally.

In residential areas, noise should be kept to a minimum, especially after 10 p.m. In a group, you should avoid screaming and cursing if possible and slide during the night instead of making a lot of noise.

Video About Riding A Longboard For Beginners

FAQs

Final Thoughts

It is hoped that these beginner longboarding tips will prove useful to you if you are just getting started. As I was getting started myself, I tried to reflect the actual steps I went through and the approaches I learned along the way.

In order to get the most out of your learning experience, you should go through these steps in some order, depending on the way you are, your previous experience, and your learning pace.

If you do anything, just ensure that you enjoy the fact that you are part of such an exciting sport and that the people around you are having a positive experience as well when they are watching or riding with you.