11 Simple and Easy Longboard Tricks

By Ryan Barnes

Longboarding is a great way to get around campus or downtown. It’s also a lot of fun! But what if you want to make it more challenging? The good news is that you can do some easy longboard tricks to keep your longboard experience fresh and exciting.

This blog post will cover 11 simple and easy longboard tricks for beginners looking to spice up their ride. So, let’s dive in!

11 Easy Longboard Tricks for Beginners

1. Walking the Plank

Walking The Plank requires you to balance yourself on bended knees with your arms and feet together. This fundamental trick of longboarding can be accomplished by placing your front foot on the edge of one side and bringing it back to the center.

Next, you need to place your back foot near the other outside edge with as much weight as possible without falling off. Now lean over towards that direction until you can feel yourself being pulled forward from gravity. From here, bend both knees and push with your feet to stand up.

2. Footbrake

Before you dive deeper into the world of longboarding, it’s essential to get yourself introduced to the art of stopping and balancing your speed.

Even the best longboards doesn’t have a dedicated brake to help you down the speed and stop. The only thing you have is at your disposal is stopping by pressing the top of your front foot down.

This isn’t very effective when the ground underneath you is wet and slippery from rain or snow, so use it sparingly if possible to avoid accidents.

3. Dancing

One of the most basic but exciting tricks of the longboard is dancing. This involves balancing your back foot on the board’s edge as you move to go forward or backward.

The balance is usually maintained for a few seconds before stepping off and regaining control over the longboard. Your board should sway as you move and make a graceful turn.

To master this skill, you must practice this longboard trick regularly. You will also need to think about your feet and hands to become more comfortable with the movements.

4. Pogo

This is the most straightforward trick of all and can be performed by anyone who has mastered balance on a longboard. It involves jumping up off your board while it’s still in motion and then landing back onto the deck again as you’re coming down from the jump.

If done correctly, it will feel like you’re bouncing on your board. The Pogo is a great way to get up hills, but it won’t allow for much speed or momentum since gravity will be slowing you down the whole time.

To execute this trick with minimal effort, stay low and bend your knees while simultaneously leaning back slightly from the waist to give yourself a bit more momentum.

5. Slalom

If you’ve already heard about skiing, this movement is exactly like it.[1] Slalom basically means to twist your hips and body left and right or up and down to maneuver around an obstacle.

For this trick, you’ll want to imagine a series of gates that are on the ground; these gates will be wide apart at first but gradually get closer together. You have to use your knees and turn motions with your hands (if you have them) to slalom through the gates.

6. Pivot

Once you have mastered controlling your longboard on any downward slopes, it’s time to step up your game and work on flipping the board. That’s what Pivot is all about.

For this trick, you’ll want to start off by standing on your board with one foot and leaning forward. Once the rim of the board is at a 45-degree angle, use that weight distribution to lift the board up onto your toes and push yourself down so that you flip over it.

You can also perform Pivot using two feet by lifting up with your toes and pushing down on them to flip the board.

7. Shove It

Once you’ve mastered Pivot, it’s time to try rotating yourself 180-degrees. All you have to do is lean forward and then push yourself back off the board. This trick’s name comes from its natural motion, which mimics shoving something away with the force of your hand.

Although it is considered to be a more challenging move, you can flip the board 360-degrees by leaning too far forward or back.

You’ll want to start off standing on one foot, then lean over 45 degrees, and use weight distribution to lift up onto toes and pusher down so that you flip over it (Pivot).

You can also perform Pivot using both feet when lifting up with toes, pushing on them to flip board 180° Shoving Board – by leaning too far forward or back, the board will do a complete 360 degree turn around rider’s body.

8. No Comply 180

This trick falls something between basic and advance. It’s a stricter trick but still easy enough to learn.

Start off sitting on the board with hands in front of you, then lean back and lift board up onto toes so that your weight is over heels; this will make it easier for you to push down as hard as possible, flipping the board 180 degrees (No-Comply).

Push Down – by pushing down on one foot or both feet while leaning forward at a 45-degree angle or more; the rider can flip their longboard around 360 degrees in either direction.

Frontside Pushdown – when balancing on one foot and lifting another leg high into the air, the rider leans toward the free side of the body, so they are balanced across the centerline of the board before pushing themselves towards the center line and flipping the deck.

9. Drop-In

Since you have learned the flat movements of longboarding, it’s time to step up the level and try something more complex. Drop-In, which is done by riding to the top of a hill and then dropping your board so that it slides down into place on the other side.

To do this, you’ll want to start off at the bottom of a steep hill with only one foot near the front edge of your skateboard deck. Then lean back until both feet are flat against the ground, push up onto toes, and drop straight back down with weight distribution just before reaching the crest.

The momentum from gravity will propel you forward after landing in the center position on a downhill slope. This move can be performed even when there’s no visible slope or incline if the rider has mastered balance skills level enough for increased control over speed and momentum.

10. Frontside Kickturn

Before you introduce the advanced tactics of longboarding, it is essential to master the basics.
The frontside kickturn is a common maneuver that you can use when going down steep hills to turn around and go back up the mountain in the opposite direction.

To do this, first stand at the top of your skateboard deck with one foot in the middle of it while leaning forward slightly on both feet to provide stability for movements. Then step off onto your back foot and push down hard enough for momentum before pushing off again with your right foot, using toes if possible.

After doing so, lean backward and move hands from side to side until they reach either end of the board, then place them back where they were initially standing (in the center). This will enable you not to lose balance while turning and will allow you to control the speed of your skateboard.

11. Backside Kickturn

The backside kickturn is another common maneuver that can be used when going down steep hills to turn around and go back up the mountain in the opposite direction, similar to a frontside kickturn.

To do this, stand at the top of your board with one foot near either end, then lean forward on both feet to provide stability for movements. Next step off onto back foot before pushing hard enough for momentum and cross stepping again on the right foot. But this time, leaning backward more than what was done during the first push.

Then move hands from side to side until they reach either end of the deck or place them originally standing (in front of the board). Lean backward again and push hard enough for momentum to propel you toward your starting position, but this time with hands in front.

Conclusion

Practice is the key to master the longboard tricks. Even professional longboarders have to practice a lot of time to do the longboard tricks quickly. That is why they have gained so much respect from their peers and followers because it takes a lot of courage, patience, skillful mastery over one’s longboard burning lots of calories, and being athletic enough for all that.

By practicing the beginner longboard tricks mentioned above regularly, you will be able to do them with ease and feel the satisfaction of conquering each one.

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