Nothing beats the feeling of standing on your skateboard, moving in a straight, smooth direction. It makes you relaxed while enjoying the windy and scenic places.
And while it may look so easy for some, achieving this motion in skateboarding takes a lot of practice and body coordination. It becomes more challenging if you’re riding on a less friendly road.
But don’t worry, let me teach you how to keep momentum on a skateboard. In this tutorial, we’ll brace you with the fundamentals of pushing your skateboard down to perform different ways to maintain it in motion.
Table of Contents
What You Need
Your skateboard – It need not be a cruiser board. But if you want to ensure an efficient execution, take note of the following specs.
- Wheels – The wheels should ideally be at 99a hardness level. Rollers at this scale are responsive and are more suited to smooth surfaces and fast-paced rides.
- Deck – If you look at several professional skaters dodging the streets, you’ll see popsicle double kicktail decks dominating. And to move on a skateboard with sufficient momentum on the road, this deck type will suit the occasion best.
Safety gear – We don’t want any street mishaps. However, we still need to wear safety equipment to protect us from potential injuries. These gears include a helmet, wrist guards, elbow pads, and knee protectors.
A less busy street – Doing this skill on a skate park may not yield the best results as these places do not have much space to keep the skateboard moving straight. So, it’ll be best to find a less busy road to keep us from moving vehicles or bumping any object even if we push faster.
Steps to Maintaining Momentum on the Skateboard
Step 1: Pushing
The best way to build up speed on a skateboard is through a strong start. So, begin by positioning your skateboard with the nose pointed in an open, straight direction.
Next, do the pushing skateboard foot placement. Specifically, put your dominant foot on the middle front of the deck. Note that your shoe’s tip should point in the same direction as the deck’s nose.
Using your dominant foot on the deck, push your skateboard forward. But as mentioned, your other foot needs to coordinate to help you drive farther.
So, while forcing your deck forward, you also have to kick your rear foot backward. It’s like a walking motion, only that your feet are not the same height.
To help you visualize better, kicking with your back foot starts with the heel. Transfer the force from the back of your foot down to the tip, where the ground makes contact last.
Step 2: Keeping your momentum
In this step, we’ll discuss two fundamental methods for beginners. So, to know which one suits you most, it’s best to perform all these methods.
- Method 1: Cross-step
This style is otherwise known as the Dancing way of skateboarding. But before doing this on your skateboard, let’s perform it on the ground first.
Start by aligning your left and right foot with the arches facing each other. Next, do an “X” movement with your legs as you move your left foot to the right. At this point, your pinky toes are now adjacent.
You can do this step starting with your right foot moving, whichever makes you more comfortable.
But note that you will have to do it by routing your feet in front. Doing otherwise will contradict the forward motion of the skateboard.
So, after pushing your skateboard to some speed, put your back foot on the deck. Perform the cross-step while keeping your balance on the deck.
Expect your skateboard to change directions slightly. Nonetheless, these are normal, and continually performing this trick will put the skateboard back on its original path overall.
- Method 2: Tick Tack
This method doesn’t require skateboard pushing and might be one of the safest ways to drive a skateboard because of its low speed.
Start by positioning your dominant foot on the deck’s tail and perpendicular to the board’s length.
Place your other foot with the pinky toe on the inner front truck bolts. Your foot arches will face each other as you do this step.
Before finally doing the Tick Tack, try pressing on the skateboard’s tail slightly with your dominant foot. Your front wheels should get a lift of about a few inches. Repeat this step until you master the ideal height.
It’s time to perform some pivot motions. So, immediately after pressing the tail, drag the front part of your skateboard using your front foot. You can start from either the left or right or front and backside, as skateboarders call it.
You can begin at slight angles to help maintain your balance. Once you’re more confident, you can pivot at broader angles.
Note that doing these steps will make you lean on either the left or right wheels of the skateboard. This aspect, combined with the pressing of the tail, gives the skateboard’s wheels a rolling motion. And this is where your board obtains momentum.
Pro tips:
- Like most skateboarders on Reddit say, it’s best to bend your knees when doing tricks or when your skateboard is in motion. It’ll help you balance and control your board better.
- Try learning how to kick-turn as a mode of stopping the skateboard. This trick will keep you from doing a complete stop before moving again with your skateboard.
- Push better in full force with your toes. You’ll get enough momentum before doing a cross-step or any trick on the skateboard.
- Learn different ways of controlling the direction of your skateboard, such as leaning slightly on the deck.
Conclusion
These skills are only an excerpt of what you can do once you master the basics. All you need is to learn and practice patiently.
Now that you know how to keep momentum on a skateboard, you can finally enjoy long rides without working too much with your legs. Keep the concepts and tips I have shared with you, and you won’t be far from mastering all these quickly.
Where do you plan to do your next long ride? Drop your thoughts in the comments section.
Hi, I am Charles Harris. I opened this site to write as much as I can about my biggest passion – skateboarding!
I started as a clumsy yet passionate rookie 10 years ago to now a still passionate yet much better skateboarder! But I have to tell you, the whole journey has always been fun and rewarding, indeed not without hardship.