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How To Ride on A Longboard - Essential Tips For Getting Started

ride on a longboard

To ride on a longboard seems a bit hectic for beginners, but not to worry about it anymore, as this step-by-step guide will surely ease your process and help you prepare yourself for an exciting ride.

Most people compare longboard and skateboard and their riding styles and get confused about which one is easier to ride.

But to clear things out, there’s not a big difference between the riding style of both of these boards.

The only difference between these two boards is actually the size of the board.

Some people prefer skateboarding because of the smaller and grippier board, while others prefer longboard because of its extra space.

So, to learn the skill to step on the board for the first time, you will require some basics to learn and, most importantly, patience.

Without patience, nothing good can be achieved.

Getting Started to Ride on a Longboard

We’ll Further Explain Ways To Ride On A Longboard With A Detailed Guide.

Choosing The Right Longboard To Start With:

The first and the foremost thing to start with longboard riding is choosing the right longboard.

For this, you should get a board that is a beginner-friendly board.

Also, a board that can justify your stance and makes you comfortable.

So, it would help if you got a low rider board with a stable wheelbase for safety and precision.

To make it easier for you, you can get drop-through boards.

The main feature of these boards is that they are suitable and beginner-friendly, with many other abilities.

Getting Safety Gear:

The most important part is getting yourself reliable safety gear so that you can prevent and bruises and damages while practicing.

This includes a pair of gloves, some good knee, and shoulder pads.

A single helmet that is of solid material.

All of the safety and protection gear is essential at the beginning before your first ride.

There is also risk involved for practicing stance, foot, and movement on the board. To ease that risk, you need these special safety measures.

Finding Your Stance:

The beginners might not be aware of the fact that the stance plays a vital role in learning to ride on a longboard.

A natural stance is essential to start off with riding on the longboard.

Now, what exactly is a natural stance?

Natural stance means either putting your left foot forward or right foot forward, depending on your preference and ease.

To find out your own stance, just simply stand on the ground with your feet near each other and have someone to push you slightly forward until you lose your balance a bit.

You will automatically and naturally use one of your feet to balance yourself without losing balance.

This is how you can figure out your natural stance.

Standing Still On Your Longboard:

Now, this part is also a crucial one. To get comfortable on your board, you firstly need to stand still on the board.

An ideal way to do this is to place the board on a flatter and a stable surface where the board can not move itself—for example, grass or carpeted floor.

Then it would be best if you step yourself onto the board to adjust your stance further.

To perfectly balance while you stand still on the board, you must keep your feet adjacent to your shoulders.

Now you may not feel comfortable at first because even with the stable surface below your board, it still leans towards the side you move.

And it moves because of the wheels.

To have a perfect grip, you must practice bending your knees a bit and using your arms to balance and move until you completely balance yourself on the board.

Now, Here Are Some Basics Of Riding On Longboards:

Learning To Step On Your Longboard

Learning to step onto the board is also not as easy as it seems.

But hopefully, with the above information, you will for sure gain some confidence to do so.

Start off by putting one of your feet to the front of the deck, depending on your stance preference.

With that, you will instantly find you which one works the best for you.

Rolling On The Longboard:

After learning to step on the longboard, you’re now ready to start rolling your board.

Try to find an empty place nearby pavement or something that you can hold onto, like a rail or wall, before you start rolling.

Start by moving along the wall or the railing slowly. Focus on maintaining your balance while you keep the momentum building.

Avoid putting pressure on the sides of the board and moving the board in any other direction except straight.

Now, as you feel that the momentum gradually decreases, you should let it lose until it stops and then step off the longboard.

Pushing Your Longboard:

You need a flatter area with a smooth surface to start with pushing.

Then you will take your rear foot from the deck off by lowering it down to the surface. After this, you must bend your knees by balancing on your front foot.

Once your back or rear foot touches the ground or the pavement, you must push towards the back to start your wheels rolling.

Now, with a few kicks to push yourself, you will be able to move forward on your longboard.

Learning To Stop:

With push speeding, you may roll as fast as you kick backward. So, to stop the board, you’re going to find the best possible way.

The easiest way to stop the longboard is simply getting off from it.

But this only works if you’re not pushing yourself and the board at a faster pace.

While an alternate way to stop the board for beginners is to roll off it on a grassy or smoother surface which is safe from getting any injuries.

Making Turns On The Board:

After you have learned to stay stable and maintain your balance on the board, it’s about time you know and understand how to make turns on t tohe board.

As you already know, in the process of kick pushing, it’s better to start with that.

As you’re rolling after the kick push, you may now put a slight pressure with your front feet to the edge of the deck where you want it to turn.

This will apply the pressure on the wheels and make the board turn slowly towards the right or left, whichever side the pressure is being applied at.

This isn’t as easy as it seems. You will need constant practice and patience to achieve the desired outcome.

You will need to control the amount of weight you put while shifting pressure from one side to the other. Adding too much weight could result in falling off or tilting the board.

Conclusion

Learning how to ride on a longboard can be a bit exhausting in the start when you’re trying to master the skills of being stable on the board, plus moving and keeping a controlled pressure on board.

But all of this requires patience and practice. With proper training, you can achieve and master the art of riding on a longboard.

We hope that you will perfectly learn the art of riding on a longboard with the basics and guidelines provided in this article.