Everything you need to know about freestyle longboarding is in its name. There are no steadfast rules to abide by because you’re free as a bird. Freestyle longboarding is adaptable, allowing you to explore the various forms of longboarding interchangeably. To enjoy what freeride, cruising, dancing, and downhill longboarding have to offer, consider these freestyle longboarding tips for beginners.
Find Your Board
Considering there isn’t one style of longboarding you want to do when you’re freestyling, you need a versatile board. First and foremost, a freestyle board needs to be rigid with minimal flex, allowing you to freeride. You also don’t want a board that’s too heavy. A hefty longboard isn’t conducive to doing tricks, which is something freestylers enjoy.
Weight isn’t the only concern for the tricksters, either, considering they prefer boards with a high nose and tail. Also, you want a board that has lateral concavity, letting you do tricks like flips.
Start Off Easy
Now that you have the perfect freestyle board, it’s time to test your skills with some simple tricks for beginners. The four tricks you should pick up on quickly are:
- Nose manual
- Pivot
- Shuvit
- Tiger claw
Usually, a nose manual is the first trick a newbie will learn. The trick will have you riding on the front two wheels as the back of the board rises off the ground. The key is to find the perfect balance between shifting your shoulders and hips without putting too much weight on the front wheels and causing them to topple.
The pivot is a nose manual combined with a 180-degree twist of your longboard’s front wheels. Starting from your typical riding posture, move your front foot up near the nose of the deck and your back foot toward the middle of the board. By shifting your body weight to your front foot, you can elevate the wheels off the ground, allowing you to swing the board and pivot.
The shuvit is a pivot with an added flip that will have you landing on your board in the same position as your initial stance. Since this trick has more layers, it may take many tries before you nail it. On the other hand, the tiger claw trick isn’t complex regarding balancing and shifting weight. The stunt is more about a continuous fluid motion. If you pull it off correctly, it looks smooth as silk.
Follow the Proper Etiquette
As a freestyler, you’ll regularly be on the streets, sidewalks, parks, and trails. Therefore, don’t be a nuisance to your peers by not following proper etiquette. Try to ride cautiously on roadways, anticipating worst-case scenarios from vehicles, loose animals, cyclists, and so forth. When traveling on sidewalks, give pedestrians the right of way and verbally announce your intentions.
Keep noise to a minimum in residential areas, particularly late at night. When traveling in a group, avoid yelling and sliding at night since those are highly loud actions.
Following the freestyle longboarding tips for beginners ensures that everything will go smoothly. Not only will you enjoy your riding experience, but you won’t make anyone angry while doing it. The Longboard Store is the spot for all your longboarding needs. You can find the best boards and accessories when you peruse our online longboard shop, and you can take advantage of our free US shipping on complete boards.