My name is Justin Lauria, and today we're going to break down the 10 easiest tricks
that you can learn when you first start skateboarding.
Alright, so the first trick at the top of the list is the bunny hop.
While you're riding, crouch down and grab the nose and the tail of the board with your
hands.
Now, while holding on, jump as high as you can and pull the board up with you so that
it never leaves your feet.
You probably won't be able to get as high as an ollie, but this version is sure to get
you jumping off the ground in as little time as possible.
Ok, so now for the second trick, which is called a revert.
For this trick, you're going to be doing a 180, or half rotation, but you're going to
leave the wheels on the ground the whole time.
To accomplish this, first you're going to rotate your upper body, focusing on bringing
your shoulders around to face forward.
Then, using the momentum from your upper body, engage your core and push your back wheels
around until they're riding in front.
If you do this properly, the wheels should skid along the concrete and make a really
cool screeching noise.
The third trick we're going to learn is the board pickup.
Nothing tells the world that you haven't been skating for very long like bending down and
picking up the board off of the ground like this.
Instead of doing it that way, pop the tail of the board down with your foot so that it
jumps off of the ground and then catch it by the nose while it's still in the air.
I've personally found that the easiest way to do this is to start with your hand positioned
so that your palm is facing away from your body, then catch your board so that your thumb
is on the bottom part of the deck.
A variation of this move would be to kick the board up and then try to get the board
to balance on the top of your foot for a moment as you bring the board up into your hand.
The fourth trick on the list is called the caveman.
To do the easiest version of a caveman, you're going to start with the board in your leading
hand with your thumb on the grip tape.
Swing the board away from you and then as it starts to swing back toward you, jump as
high as you can off of the ground and try to land on the board with one foot over top
of each set of wheels.
Now there are a bunch of really fun variations to this trick, so be sure to check out my
trick tip on cavemans, which I will put a link to right at the end of the video.
The fifth trick is another stylish and very useful way of etting back on your board, and
I call it the throw down.
You can use this maneuver as a way to get up to speed on your board in a hurry or when
you have a really short run up.
Just like for the caveman, you're going to start by holding the board in your leading
hand with your thumb on top of the grip tape.
Facing the way you want to start riding, and with the board at your side, start to take
a few steps forward as you drag the tail on the ground beside you.
When you're ready to hop on, let go of the board with your leading hand and jump off
of the foot you normally ride with in back, and place your front foot on the board directly
over the front set of wheels.
Follow that up by placing your back foot on the tail, and now you're instantly up to full
speed, and you didn't even have to push one time.
If you want to get a little fancier with this one, you can start with the board upside down
like this, and when you drop it, tilt it a little bit to one side as you jump on top
of it, causing it to flip over perfectly for you to land on top of the grip tape.
Now the sixth trick on the list is what you might think of as a wheelie if you have ever
ridden a bicycle, but on a skateboard, this trick is called a manual.
To do a manual, you're going to lift your front wheels into the air by bending your
front knee rather than just leaning your whole body backwards.
As you do this, try to find the balance point and hold yourself in that position, with the
front wheels off of the ground for as long as possible.
This one takes a bit of practice to hold for more than a few seconds, but if you keep at
it, you'll eventually be able to hold a manual for as long as you want.
Trick number 7 is called the hippy jump, which essentially just involves jumping off of the
board while it stays on the ground.
To perform this trick, you're going to start with your feet positioned a little more towards
the center of the board, making sure that neither of them is on the nose or the tail.
When you first start trying, you can practice just jumping off of the board without rolling,
to help you get a feel for the maneuver.
Once you progress to trying it while moving, take care not to lean toward the nose or toward
the tail too much as you jump off the board and as you land back on it, because if you
do the board can shoot out from underneath you and you can end up taking a slam.
After you master the rolling hippy jump, you can try landing some of these variations.
OK, so let's move on to trick number 8, which I call the standing rail flip.
For this trick, you're going to start with the board resting on the ground on its side,
while you're standing on the ground next to it, with your toes pointed at the grip tape.
Using your usual back foot, kick the edge of the tail of the board down while pulling
your foot back slightly to cause the board to start flipping.
As you do this, simultaneously jump off of your leading foot and try to land on top of
the board after it has completed whatever amount of flips feels most comfortable for
you.
I've found that allowing the board to flip almost two times while rotating 180 degrees
has been the most consistent motion for me.
Alright, so the ninth trick on the list is the nose stall.
This trick is as easy as positioning your front foot over top of the nose of your board,
riding onto a curb or a short ledge, and then lifting up your back foot so that the back
wheels come off the ground.
From this position, you can push off of the curb and ride away in fakie stance, or pull
the board up into your hand with your back foot and do a fakie caveman.
Ok, so now the 10th and final trick on our list is called the Wraparound.
For this trick, you're going to start with the board resting on the ground on its side
again, but this time you're going to stand facing away from the board with the heel of
your back foot positioned directly in front of the back wheels.
Simultaneously kick your foot back in a circular motion to cause the board to wrap around your
back foot and jump off of your front foot, to try to land on the board as it lands on
its wheels in front of you, with one foot over each set of wheels.
For a much more thorough breakdown of how to perform this trick, again, you can click
the link that I'll put right at the end of the video.
Alright guys, so I hope this video gave you some ideas for some tricks you can work on
when you're getting started, and also showed you that there's really no good reason to
have to start with the ollie as your first trick.
Once you get some of these moves down, you'll have a lot more control over your board, and
it'll make learning the ollie that much easier.
If you enjoyed this video, make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date with weekly skateboarding
tutorials, and as usual, never stop improving.