As a beginner learning skateboard tricks starts with the basics. In order to advance to being considered a decent skateboarder skipping steps will take you longer. Start with the easy tricks and work your way to the real tricks.
I know it’s tempting to start with ollies and kickflips, but it won’t help you progress faster. You’re gonna do it anyway, but let’s pretend you don’t.
This guide is to help you understand what exactly is needed to skate in a skatepark or street with confidence.
Instead of listing a huge list of tricks, I picked a few that will help you progress faster. I added related tricks which gradually will make you a decent skateboarder.
- The basics: This will help you to ride in skateparks with confidence.
- Easiest tricks: Learning the beginner tricks will help you to progress to the ollie
- Intermediate tricks: Guiding you to master the ollie, kickflips, 50-30’s
- Transition tricks: Get more out of your park sessions.
Contents
Master The Absolute Basics of Skateboarding First
Before you even attempt a trick you really need to get to know your skateboard. You need to be able to push, stop, and turn. After that, practice the following tricks:
- Flip on: Helps you gain confidence and board control.
- Nose and tail pick up: pop the nose and tail and catch it. Great for learning the acid drop and varials.
- Jump and ride: run and jump with booth feet on your skateboard. Great getting speed in closed spaces and learning the Caveman.
Now it’s time to hit the park and practice some transition skateboarding. Learning kickturns, pumping, fakie, and manuals manuals will greatly benefit your progression to a beginner level. These are essential trick to learn before the ollie.
Skill Multiplier: Learn everything riding switch!
1. Riding Fakie
Learing to ride fakie has huge benefits. Not only is it your first step to learn to ride switch, many tricks and up you riding backwards. Learning to ride fakie will benefit you in the long run.
The easiest way to learn riding fakie is approaching a transition like a quarter or mini ramp. The first few tries will feel awkward and you’ll likely have to bail.
Remember to bend your knees and not put to much weight on your front foot. Push yourself to get higher each time.
Once you feel comfortable, practice riding fakie on flatground. You’re used to the feeling now and are ready to start pushing fakie without the help of a transition.
Recommended related skills to practice:
- Fakie backside kickturn
- Fakie frontside kickturn
- Pumping a mini ramp
- Riding up and down a quarter
2. Manual
The manual or ‘manny’ is another trick that will greatly benefit you once you progress. it will make kickturns easier and is often used to combine tricks like ollie to manual on a manny pad.
Try to practice on slick concrete to keep the wear the tail at a minimum. On rougher surface you will be introduced to razor tail.
Basically you need to lean back, slightly put pressure on your tail and try to keep your balance centered. Your back foot placement is important here. It’s easier to learn a manual is you place your back foot not too far on the end of the tail.
Recommended related skills to practice:
- Combine with funboxes
- Manny while hopping from a curb
- Staple gun
- Fakie manual
- Noe manual
3. Kickturns
Learning kickturns gives you a massive advantage in skate parks. Combined with riding fakie you will be able to learn to ride mini ramps and bowls without having to drop in.
You can practice this risk free on flatground before moving on to transition. position your feet as you would for a manual and shift your weight to the back foot.
Turn your head and shoulders first, and your board will follow. Center your balance once you turn.
Recommended related tricks/skills to practice:
- Kickturns on a angled object like a funbox
- Kickturns on a quarter pipe
- Kickturns in a mini ramp before moving into a bowl
- front side kickturn to be able to turn in all directions
4. Drop in
The drop in is a mindf*k and you have to commit. I’m not gonna tell you how to drop in, you’re ready when you’re ready. Just keep in mind that you need to lean forward, put the weight in fron when you drop!
Tip: grab your nose while dropping in, it helps to put your weight in front. Ask a buddy to help out and don’t drop in from a huge quarter and start on small park obstacles like a funbox or anything with a slight angle.
Wear some pads to boost confidence, most people fall the first time without help. Make sure that the surface you’re going to hit is smooth to soften the blow. And when you fall, often it’s a case of ‘that wasn’t that bad, let’s try again’. It only goes south when you doubt yourself.
Another way of learning to drop in is by practicing the tail stall. This way you get used to dropping in gradually. The drop in will still be scary the first time but it makes it a little easier.
Recommended related tricks/skills to practice:
- Tail stall in a mini ramp will make it easier to learn how to drop in with less risk involved.
- Powerslides to quickly break or avoid collisions.
The Easiest Skateboard Tricks For Beginners
After the mastering the basics, you know how your board feels and behaves. Congrats! You’re now a beginner ready to advance.
We’re gonna gradually build op your skills so you can move on to intermediate tricks. Nothing spectacular just yet, but learning the easy tricks will make it a lot easier to nail some real tricks.
I picked a few tricks that get you closer to ollies and kickflips, but also check out these tricks:
- Hippie Jump
- Rail stand (free style trick)
- Tic Tac to learn to correct your board when landing sketch.
Skill Multiplier: Learn everything switch.
1. Nosebleed or Nose Stall
A nose stall involves an obstacle like a curb with an edge and applying pressure on your nose while leaning backward. To make it easier to lock your nose on, start on a low obstacle and work your way up. You’ll need to push a little bit first and roll up to it.
Once you run into the curb lift your deck a bit by applying a little pressure to your tail and set your nose on the curb. Lean on your forward foot to stay in position. You’ll also need to roll off, I’ll leave that up to you to figure out. Once you get the hang of it, move to taller objects. Eventually, you can work your way up to nose slides.
- Roll towards an object with a ledge.
- Gently press your tail.
- lock your noise on the obstacle.
- Lean on your front foot.
- Either gently push your nose, or just lean on your tail and roll back.
Recommended related tricks/skills to practice:
- Tail stall
- Rock to fakie
- Nose slide (maybe a bit challenging)
2. Ollie Pick Up
Really easy and great to get used to popping your deck a little, you’ll get a bit closer to your first moving ollie.
Ride in a forward direction and pop your tail a bit. Put your back and front foot to the ground right after the pop the board.
Start by just letting go off your deck and see how it responds. After that just grab it and nail the trick. Just pop it and your board will fly upwards and it should be fairly easy to pick it up. Check the related tricks to see what you’ll unlock.
Recommended related tricks/skills to practice:
- Acid Drop
- Caveman
- Bean Plant
- No Comply
- Boneless
3. Fakie Shovit
This is the easiest shovit to learn and you’ll get used to this type of movement allowing you to move on to more variations. It requires commitment to land successfully.
Start by positioning yourself in a fakie stance, which means you’ll be riding backward. Your back foot should rest on the tail and your front foot near the board’s middle.
As you set in motion, use your back foot to scoop the tail, initiating a 180° spin of the board in front of you. Simultaneously, jump slightly while allowing your front foot to gently guide the spin.
Once the board completes its rotation, land confidently with both feet.
Recommended related tricks/skills to practice:
Intermediate Skateboard Tricks
So by now you must feel pretty comfortable on your board and are ready for the next level. We’ll cover some flatground tricks and transition tricks. And yeah, it’s about time to learn to ollie, while moving of course.
While the ollie is a beginner trick, I ranked it intermediate so you don’t skip the basics.
Skill Multiplier: Learn everything frontside, and backside when applicable!
1. Ollie
A great way to learn the ollie is to:
- Practice Ollie Position: Familiarize yourself with the ollie stance by riding in this position regularly. It may feel unnatural at first, so get comfortable with moving in and out of it.
- Master Hippie Jumps: Hippy jumps are fundamental to ollies. Get adept at jumping on your skateboard, especially while moving, as it forms a crucial part of the ollie technique.
- Snap and Slide Technique: Work on snapping your ankle down on the tail while lifting the front of the board. Combine this with a front foot slide. Before attempting ollies, warm up with hippie jumps and practice this ankle snap and slide motion.
- Stay Relaxed: A relaxed stance is key. Tension can hinder your progress and lead to subconsciously bailing out of the move. Focus on staying calm and relaxed during your practice.
Put it simply, the Ollie is the action of jumping with your board stuck to your feet. Performed by snapping your tail on the ground and rolling your front foot on the grip tape towards the nose, it’s the most important trick in skateboarding.
It’s the base for every street skateboard trick. From flip tricks to grinds, from gaps to rails, it opens the door to every aspect of skateboarding.
Begin with the right foot placement: your back foot on the skateboard’s tail and the front foot halfway up, typically right behind the board’s bolts.
With your feet positioned, bend your knees in preparation. When ready, execute a sharp downward press with your back foot, causing the tail to hit the ground, known as the “pop.” As the tail pops, leap upward, simultaneously dragging the side of your front foot towards the board’s nose. This action not only elevates the board but also levels it in mid-air.
At your jump’s peak, the skateboard should be horizontal, with both its tail and nose at equal heights. As you descend, aim to land with your feet over the board’s bolts, bending your knees slightly to cushion the impact. Once grounded, maintain your balance and roll away with confidence.
Recommended related tricks/skills to practice:
2. FS & BS 180 Ollie
Frontside and Backside 180s are the first skateboard rotation you’re going to learn. They have a similar motion to the Ollie, except you want to wind up your shoulders and hips to make the board follow you.
These two tricks help to build the feet, hips, and shoulders coordination required for a lot of more advanced tricks. If you have difficulty learning them on flat, you can start on a pyramid to have less rotation to make; or a kicker to get more hang time.
3. FS 50-50 Grind
Now that you have your Ollies down, time to tackle ledges and curbs. The most basic trick to start with is the Frontside 50-50 grind. It’s when you grind with both of your trucks onto the edge of a curb.
The secret here is to lock in the wheels on your toe side against the coping. As you come at an angle, you want to shift slightly your hips at a to do the 10° rotation required to lock in perfectly. Focus on locking your back truck, the front one should follow.
4. BS Boardslide
The Backside Boardslide consists of sliding onto the rail with your deck centered while your body face the end of the rail. It is by far the easiest and safest rail trick. Thus, it’s the first trick 99% of riders learn.
Boardslides require having some basics down. You’ll need a solid ollie and a semi-decent Frontside 180. Stay above your board and bend your knees to avoid slipping out. There is no secret to it, you’ve got to practice it until you find the right balance point.
5. Kickflip & Heelflip
The Kickflip is performed by flicking with your front foot toes towards the back corner of the nose (right corner for goofy footed, left corner for regular) causing the board to do 360° rotation on its horizontal axis.
The Heelflip is basically the same trick, but going in the other direction. As its name shows it, the heel makes the board spin by flicking towards the top corner of the nose.
No matter kickflip or heelflip, the first flip trick is a huge milestone in a skater journey. It requires tens of hours of trial and error. Hitting your shins, landing primo and slippling out hundreds of times in the process.
Some learn it in days, some in years. Don’t give up and you’ll get there!
Recommended related tricks/skills to practice:
- Varial flips
- Tre-flips
6. Backside Feeble Grind
Feeble Grind is usually the first grind skaters learn on flat-bars. Even though 50-50 sounds easier on paper, in practice locking both trucks on a rail is a guaranteed slam. Especially on round rails.
The trick is performed by grinding with your back truck locked onto the rail heel side, while your front truck hangs out. It’s one of the first trick you’ll encounter that requires a proper pinch of the truck. The secret is to stand with all your body weight on your back heel. As long as you have your boardslides and 50-50s (on curbs) down, you can learn backside feeble.
7. Nose Manual
Like its name suggests it, the nose manual is a manual performed with the nose. It isn’t a difficult trick per se, but it’s an intimidating one. Much harder to bail safely than a manual!
For foot placement, position your front foot in the nose’s pocket, your back foot close to the back bolts. You want to lean with most of your body weight over your front truck while balancing with your hips. Keep your upper body straight.
Nose manuals also build your front leg strength and equilibrium. It opens the door to many grinds and slides front leg-heavy
Recommended related tricks/skills to practice:
- Nosegrinds
- Noseslides
- Krooked Grinds
- Nose Blunts
Transition Tricks
Ok, if this isn’t what you’re looking for and want to skate transition, here’s a shortlist of tricks that are fun and rewarding.
This list of tricks is if you’re not much of a street skateboarder and want to focus on transition. Assuming you already know how to ride and push I’d suggest learning skate tricks in this order.
- Tail stall
- Rock to fakie
- Axle stall
- Fakie rock & roll
- Rock & roll
- 360 rock & roll
- hang up
- 50-50 grinds
- Nose stall
- Revert
Transition is very rewarding and in my opinion a lot safer when you’re an older skater. If you know these basics tricks you can ride all day long and just work on your style and form. Skateboarding is about fun and skating to your ability. I would have given up already if it was all about competition.
That’s It!
I can keep going but this is enough to get you going for a while. Want more beginner tricks? Check out The Shred Tactic.
Skateboarding is about fun and progression, when you learn something new the adrenaline kicks in and endorphins release and you get stoked, ready to do the next trick.
As you know, you won’t get muscle memory from reading and watching but it helps you to think about what requires you to do a trick.
Once you got a few of these tricks you’ll know all the basics which makes it much easier to move on to more difficult tricks.
I’m an aged skateboarder and still shred responsibly. Started skateboarding 25 years ago, peaked in the 2000’s, and still ride to this day. I am a total geek when it comes to skateboard gear, love test to stuff and share my findings.