Tips

Hello again! I hope you can all relate when I talk about that extremely satisfying feeling you get after teaching a friend something new. They’re wearing an extremely big smile across their face while you bask in the “I Did That” feeling. Of course, once your friend gets better at it than you, it becomes a completely different story…

Today, I feel like doing a tutorial on how to skateboard!

Here is a little bit about myself: I go to college. Stay tuned for more!
On the campus of the University I go to, I see a lot of people riding skateboards and I think I can tell who has been skateboarding longer than others. I look for the awkward moment when a person is pushing the board. As they lean over to put their foot on the ground, it looks as if they are losing balance.

Dr. Huangmo is here to fix this problem!
The problem here is that the rider has yet to “become one” with his skateboard. He/she simply needs to skateboard more and get used to it. The best way to learn how to skateboard is to go out and skateboard up and down your street until you feel pro. Unfortunately, not many college students have the time or self-esteem for that. We’re just way too busy doing homework or we don’t want to ruin our image and let everyone know that we are trying a new sport.

Here are a few pointers and tips that I would like to share with the beginners who just received their board-in-a-box within the past few months. Reading these tips won’t magically make you a better rider, but if you try them out, I think it will help speed up your learning process. 

Tip #1: The Slow-Mo game.

Life seems to pass by faster on the board, people whizz past you and it’s hard to pick who you run into. One of the things I find fun while riding a skateboard with my friends is to pretend I am moving in slow motion. I don’t know if it is fun for my friends, but it is fun for me. Pretend that all your movements have to be slowed. You push slowly. You turn slowly. You fall slowly.  

NO SUDDEN MOVEMENTS!

To your dismay, playing this game won’t actually slow down time, but I find this exercise extremely useful because moving slowly gives you a great core workout and these are the muscles you need to maintain balance.

Tip #2: The Ballerina Game.

For this game, the goal is to stand on your skateboard with one foot. The foot you stand on is the foot you don’t use to push the skateboard. This trick is much easier said than done. If you can’t stand on one foot while rolling, I suggest starting off on a carpet or somewhere where the skateboard won’t be shooting out from under you. I don’t really know the purpose of this tip, but my friends tell me it helps and it definitely makes you look cool.

Tip #3: That is all the tips I have to offer.

I know it’s only two tips, but while I was learning, if I had known about the Ballerina Game, I would have had a much easier time progressing. Plus, girls would have been all over me. “Look at that beautiful man!”

Hopefully these tips will help you guys out and make your day better.