If you don’t know how to start practicing this sport, the best thing you can do is go outside with your board and start practicing on smooth ground. With this practice, you will begin to have balance and to know which of the two feet is the dominant one. This will be necessary to be able to do the tricks and stunts later.
We will explain some of the basic tricks and some of the easier ones. It is important that before practicing them, you should know how to move correctly on top of the board since only then can you begin to practice and perform the most basic tricks.
If you have already managed to keep your balance on your deck, you can start practicing with the Ollie since it is one of the simplest and easiest tricks to learn at a basic level. The objective of this trick is to perform a jump while the board remains glued to our feet. To be able to perform this trick, you must put your front foot on the middle of the board and your rear foot will have to be a little further behind. Once you have placed your feet correctly, you must bend down to gain momentum and hit the back of the board, or better known as popping the tail, with your foot. After gaining momentum, you should be able to stabilize yourself in the air and to do this, help yourself by using your front foot and bending your knees to make a good fall. If you have just started practicing this sport, it is recommended to do it first on a ready surface and gradually increase the difficulty of jumping obstacles when you master it.
If you have already mastered the Ollie, the following tricks that you can continue practicing are known as the Flip tricks: the most common are Flip and Heelflip, they are very similar tricks. In order to perform the Flip, the tips must be facing outwards and on the Heelflip, they will be facing what is known as the nose of the board. In this case, the jump is done backward or diagonally and it is advisable not to get too high since you will have to release your leg early and land on the board. In these tricks, unlike the Ollie, you will use your foot to turn the board and not to stabilize yourself.
The next trick that we want to discuss is not properly a trick but we wanted to include it in this small list as it is a way to progress in this sport. This movement is what is done in skateparks on-ramps and inclined planes. To start, we recommend doing it on the smallest ramp and starting to lower it. To do this, it is recommended to start with the weight on the back feet and move it quickly to the front.
The next tricks are the Frontside and Backside, these refer to the varieties of the 180º tricks. Normally, the Frontside is usually easier to do although this depends entirely on each person so we suggest you practice both. To perform these tricks we must have a position similar to that of the Ollie. If we want to do a Backside we will have to move the front foot back. On the other hand, if we want to do a Frontside we will have to place the foot forward. Once you gain momentum, it is essential to accompany the turn by also moving your shoulders and gaze to accompany the whole body.
The last trick we want to mention is the Kickflip, or better known also as flip, this consists of the complete turn of the table, 360 degrees spin. Again, we will have to place the feet in a similar way to the Ollie, although in this case, we will leave the tips of the fingers under the table screws. The movement that we will have to perform is also very similar to that made in the Ollie, although we will have to slide the lateral foot to complete the turn.
