HOW TO SKATEBOARD *Beginners Tutorial to Pushing, Stance, & Safety: 20 years of Teaching

I started skating at 49 a couple of months ago, and I've found these three channels useful for the basics: [VIDEO] [VIDEO] [VIDEO] As others have suggested, go to a local skateshop and ask to stand on different boards of different sizes until you find one that feels right to you. I couldn't get to a shop and bought an 8.25 complete online, and it always felt too big - I've got an 8 now and it's perfect. Wear a helmet and pads, and keep your knees bent for balance, and you're also closer to the ground so less far to fall. The best thing I've done is simple repetition of the basics because building up muscle memory makes skating so much easier and less scary. When you get your board, put it on grass or a carpet and go through the motions of stepping on the board and getting your feet in the right stance for pushing and riding: front foot facing forward; pretend push with back foot; back foot on board; pivot front foot to be parallel to the back foot. Do it over and over, so when you try it for real on tarmac, your brain doesn't even need to think about what your feet are doing, they do it automatically. Practice as much as you can, and remember that you will make progress every time …

Totally second this advice. Skatepark lessons on YouTube has a great lesson on pushing if you need a visual for this movement: [VIDEO] (1:05)

They are a bit, yeah. You can tell you're trying to balance with your arches and heel more than the front of your foot (The ball). Check this vid out (this dude is so good at teaching all levels) as it is a good example of normal foot placement for pushing and kick turns. (and I by no means you're an absolute beginner by sending this. Just a good example). [VIDEO] Getting used to standing on the balls of your feet will help when you go to learn to set up for a trick. Some tricks do use other parts of your foot eventually but Ollie, kick flip, heel flip, BS 180s etc etc it is all in the balls of your feet. You'll get much better pop. Try jumping up and down - you get like zero air if you jump with your heels and tons with the front of your feet. You can rest your whole back and front foot down when you kick turn but the balls of your feet should be on the board too.

No, that's a great question! Have you discovered Skate Park Lessons yet? Here is one of his at least three videos on pushing: [VIDEO] At first it's easier to ride with your front foot pointing towards the nose (or slightly angled for a bit more control), but pretty soon you will want to point both feet frontside once you have done your push -- it's much more comfortable and you have more control. As JB says in the video the best way of changing stance (I call them "pushing" and "riding" stances, I don't think anyone else does) is with a little hop, but shuffling the front foot round works too (although it's slower, more wear on your shoe's sole, not so accurate). Have fun!

Bailing. Now that you can get on the board, time to learn how to run out. Skatepark lessons on YouTube covers this. [VIDEO] [VIDEO]