How to Get Better At Skateboarding

Step 1

Use the right equipment. The investment in a board from your local skate shop is well worth it. Skateboards can be purchased from many different places such as Walmart but the quality and performance of these boards is far inferior to boards purchased from skate shops. It may be intimidating to choose the right set up with so many options but most people that work at such shops are skateboarders themselves. This means that they will be very knowledgeable about the equipment and helpful in choosing the right board.

Step 2

Learn to skate the correct way. Start small and work your way up. Start with the most basic tricks, such as ollies, manuals, shuv-its, kickflips and heelflips. Theses are the most basic tricks to which all skateboarding tricks build off of. Mastery of these five tricks is essential to becoming a great skater. Once you are able to do all these tricks perfectly, you can start to learn more advanced tricks.

Step 3

Skate with people that are better at skateboarding than you! This may be intimidating at first but it truly is the best way to get better. Skating with better people will make you push your limits. I've found this to be very helpful in my own skateboarding. Most skaters are super friendly and always happy to help a more novice skateboarder. They will know how to do tricks you are unable to do and will be able to instruct you on the proper execution of the trick.

Step 4

Watch Skateboarding movies! Although the professionals in these videos may be doing tricks way beyond your ability, it is a great way to check their techniques. Be sure to watch out for things such as foot placement, speed at which they approach obstacles, and different styles of skateboarding. Watching a skate movie is also a great way to get pumped up to go skateboarding.

Step 5

Practice, practice, practice. The only real way to get better at anything is through practice. The more you practice, the better you will get.