Snowboarding is an exciting sport for all levels, whether your a seasoned pro or a beginner the mountain is endless fun. In this article we have comprised a list of 15 tricks for beginner snowboarders to learn and push their snowboarding. Read on to find some easy tricks to introduce you to freestyle snowboarding or to add a little flavor to your existing snowboarding.
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Beginner Snowboard Tricks
Not all of these tricks are easy. I also added a few tricks that require some experience and a lot of confidence to keep yourself challenged. We’ll start with very basic tricks for beginners and move on to more challenging stuff. Remember, the key to any trick is repetition.
First you have to learn the trick trying it countless times, then you have to do it another 100 times before your body knows the trick, and a 1000 more to master it.
1. Ollie
An Ollie is how snowboarders jump on their snowboard. The snowboarder uses the flex from the snowboard to help spring them into the air. This is the fundamental trick, that is the basis for all tricks.
For anyone that has learnt this on a skateboard you will be aware this can take some time, weeks or even months on a skateboard. Luckily as we are attached to our snowboard this is a lot easier, however this can still take along time before the movement starts to feel natural.
2. Sliding 360
Sliding 360s are rotating while sliding on the snow. Once you get to 360 it is easy to carry on to 540, 720 and beyond. This is a fun way to start moving around the mountain a little different than traditional turns.
It will help improve your snowboarding a lot and start to open up the possibility for more advanced tricks. Once you are comfortable spinning in one direction, make sure to try out the other direction.
3. Tail Press and Nose press
A tail press is where you are balanced on the tail, with the nose raised in the air. And vice versa for the nose press. This is a great starting point to get into freestyle, it can be carried out on the piste, on boxes or on rails.
The tail press is often regarded as easier to learn, with the nose press being a little more intimidating as you need to lean down the hill. Be sure to try both and find what works for you.
4. 180
A 180 is half of a spin, the first rotation to learn. There are two different directions you can spin, clockwise and anticlockwise, however there are many variations to this. In total there are 8 different ways to do a 180 as you can do each one off either your toe edge or heel edge and you can do each of these wither regular or switch.
180’s are the best way to learn the mechanics to spinning any direction, so once the 180 is mastered the 360 should follow closely. Be sure to try each one to find out which you personally find more natural. While one or two of these are traditionally “easier” or “harder” everybody is different and will have the own preferred rotation.
5. Grabs
Grabs are a great way to add personal style and flavour to your tricks. Adding a grab, or two to a spin can transform how the spin will feel, and look. From the classic timeless method to the weird and and awkward bloody Dracula there are endless grabs to learn and master. Start with the basics, find and define your own style.
6. Euro Carve
Euro Carve is an old school classic, while carving you lean on your arm and lay as close to flat on the ground as possible. It can be difficult to learn to carve and it can for sure be challenging to initially figure out the euro carve, however once you have this dialled in, it is a relatively simpletrick to execute.
Euro carves are super fun and will for sure impress your friends. Once you have learnt a traditional euro carve there are many variations and unique twists you can put on this to bring your own style. So like all snowboarding, learn the basics then start to add your own style.
7. 50/50
A 50/50 is generally the first rail trick people will learn, some will like to start with a board slide however the majority will want to start with a 50/50. A 50/50 is when you keep your board pointing down the slope and ride the rail, or box in a straight line. You are best to learn this on a box.
If done on a ride on box, that does not require a jump onto, this is a very simpletrick to learn. Taking this to a tube and a rail will require a lot more skill and attempts. Get the feeling dialled in on the box and slowly progress to the tubes and then rails.
Remember when on boxes or rails you always need to keep the base of your board flat. So after spending many hours learning to use your edges on the piste, for boxes and rails we now need to re learn how not to use them.
8. Board Slide
After dialling in your 50/50, a board slide is the next rail trick to learn. A board slide is when you slide the rail with the board side ways across the rail. It can be done facing down the hill, or facing up the hill.
If you are facing down the hill, this is called a back side board slide, this is referred to as backside as the rail is behind you on your approach. The second way is a front side board slide, this is when you face up the hill and is referred to as frontside as the rail is in front of you as you approach.
A 50/50 and a board slide are the two basic ways to slide rails and are the fundamentals to any rail trick, once you have these on lock these will open up many other trick variations.
9. MFM Butter
MFM butter named after pro snowboarder Mark Frank Montoya is a little technical to learn but will for sure turn some heads once mastered. The MFM is when you nollie, shifty to your tail and do a fs 180 out.
While it may take some time to break down the movements and get your body to naturally do these movements, once learnt it is a relatively simpletrick to do an super fun, satisfying and stylish.
10. Shifty
A shifty is when you keep your upper body facing the same direction but you twist your lower body/ board. Everyone will find one direction easier than the other, be sure to try both and see what works best for you.
A shifty is a satisfying trick in the air and great way to add personal style to jumps, spins or flips. It is also the same movement your body does when performing a board slide, so shifty will help with your board slides and vice verse. Practice the moment on snow before taking it to the air.
131 Tripod
A tripod is one of the more fun and playful tricks we have on our list here. While keeping your board pointing down the hill turn your upper body to face up the hill and put both your hands on the snow, lifting up the nose.
This is called a tripod as we are now ballancing on 3 points, once in your tripod it is quite easy to stay in this for along as you want. This is a relative easy trick to learn and allows for many variations to be added on once mastered.
12. Nollie backside 180
A nollie bs 180 is a fun flat land trick to add your flat land/butter tricks. This is a little more of an advanced trick as you need to have your 180’s relatively comfortable and you need a solid nollie. If you have both of these tricks it shouldn’t take so long to figure this out.
Start off at low speed on a relatively flat patch and work your way up. Once mastered why not try a 360, or add some butters after the 180. Flat land tricks are all about creativity and once you have one or two things they can often be linked or merged with other tricks.
13. Muller flip
A Muller flip is more of a hand drag than a flip, it is effectively a corked 360 however you drag your hand on the snow as you carry this out. Although this is a little more advanced than other tricks listed it is a relatively safe trick to learn as you are in contact with the snow for the majority of the trick.
It is generally done off of knuckles or rollers. As you put your hand down on the knuckle the idea is then get your air time flying past the knuckle and into the landing.
It is also safe way to learn how to get off axis as you are using your hand to steady your self and there isn’t much airtime required, it makes it a low consequence trick. Once mastered this will for sure impress your friends, although it may take many attempts of rolling around on the ground before your flying through the air .
14. Backflip
A backflip is when the rider does a backward somersault rotating 360 degrees backwards. It is a fun trick and always a crowd pleaser. This is more of a ballsy trick than technical, if you can do a flip on a trampoline and can straight air a jump comfortably you can do a backflip.
Best find some nice powder to learn this in, or with the rise of airbags why not try it out in a safe environment. Although not the hardest trick to execute it is for sure a little scary to learn.
15. Tamedog
A Tamedog is a front flip on a snowboard. Unlike the backflip which can be done a couple of different ways, the Tamedog it is always done on the axes like a cartwheel. Rather than a forward roll axes.
Like the backflip, a tamedog is always a crowd pleaser and a lot easier to execute than most think. This can be learnt off cat tracks or on very small jumps, so it can be less scary and little easier to learn than the backflip.
Final Words
So we’ve been through a bunch of tricks that are ‘easy’. Remember the get the basics down first before you wreck yourself. Control and confidence will get you far but mindlessly committing is not a good idea. You know, don’t pizza when you should have French fried. Just leave the sick stuff to the pros, like these insane snowboard tricks I handpicked to get you stoked.
At 21, I left Scotland to travel but ended up becoming a snowboard instructor instead. For 4-5 years, I worked internationally in many countries. As my passion for park riding grew, I transitioned into building snowboard parks. I’ve gained sponsors for my snowboarding, won rail jams and small competitions, and contributed to building X Games courses. I’ve also been involved in significant park events like The Stomping Grounds project.