How To Learn Skateboarding As An Adult

Skateboarding is considered one of the most popular recreational sports, with a tradition dating back several decades. While the sport has been associated with youths in the past, the industry has seen a surge of adults learning how to skate as beginners or relearning it from their younger years.

The health benefits of outdoor exercise, the development of new skills, and increased community involvement are the motivations for adult skateboarding. Nevertheless, there are several stages and goals involved that are attainable for any adult who chooses to pick up the sport at any age.

Here’s how to learn skateboarding as an adult:

Get The Right Equipment

Like any sport or hobby, the first step in learning to skateboard is getting the right equipment. This includes acquiring protective gear as well as a high-quality skateboard that will enhance your learning experience. They will provide you with the necessary structural support that will assist in improving your skills while keeping you safe. The protective gear for skateboarding must consist of a set that cushions your head and all the joints of your limbs.

Thus, you’ll need to be wearing a helmet when riding along with wrist guards, knee and elbow pads, and ankle braces. These should be high quality and made from hardened plastics such as polycarbonate for greater impact absorption. Furthermore, as an adult skateboarder, you should choose standard popsicle-shaped boards that are 7.7 inches wide. These can be found at local or online skateboard shops that offer the best quality boards.

Find The Right Location

The next step in learning to skateboard is finding a suitable practice area. This should ideally be somewhere with a flat or smooth, dry surface. Furthermore, it should be a place that gets little to no vehicular or pedestrian traffic, has plenty of open space, and without obstacles or objects that could get in your way.

Thus, you can choose places such as your driveway, an empty parking lot or back road, a tennis court or any place with concrete flooring. Practicing at skateparks isn’t recommended for beginners or re-learning adults because they get crowded with pro skaters, which can be intimidating. But you can train at skateparks early in the morning because they’re usually empty at that time.

Learn The Basics

Once you have the right equipment and have found the best place to practice, you can begin learning the basics of skateboarding. There are a few skateboarding skills that you’ll need to master first. These are designed to train your mind and body for better balance, control, and maneuvering.

Remember that as an adult with more work and life responsibilities than your younger counterparts, your progress will be determined by the amount of time you can devote to practice. The basics consist of the following:

Stance: This is how you will stand and position your feet on the board. Depending on what’s most comfortable, one foot will go on the nose while the other by the tail while you turn your legs horizontally.
Pushing: When your stance is well-balanced, you will learn to take one foot off the board and use it to push yourself forward and stop.
Turning: To gain greater control on speed and steering, you’ll need to learn how to turn your board around corners and objects, and change direction.
Falling: In the midst of this, you’ll learn how to fall properly to minimize potential injury and keep your board safe from impact damage.

These basic steps can be learned alone by watching online video tutorials and learning through trial and error. However, if you prefer learning with an instructor, you can opt for lessons from a pro skater near you.

Try A Few Tricks

After several weeks to a few months of training, when you’re proficient at the basics and have the confidence to control your board and balance, you can try a few tricks. You should ideally begin with low-impact exercises as a warm-up and then attempt beginner and adult-friendly tricks such as:

- Manuals: This involves stepping on the nose or tail of the board to lift the opposite side up and do a spin on two wheels.
- Kick Turns: This involves riding up a shallow bank ramp to turn the board and ride back down.

Basic Ollie: This involves jumping a few inches in the air while your skateboard stays under your feet.

To get a better grasp of the basic tricks and how to execute them, try joining an adult skateboarding community or find a skating buddy you can practice with at a skatepark.

Conclusion

Learning how to skateboard as an adult begins with equipping yourself with the right protective gear and a high-quality standard skateboard. Then, you’ll need to find a suitable place where you can practice without distractions and hazards in your way.

From there, you can begin with the five basic stages of skateboarding that teach you how to move, balance, and control your board until it becomes instinctive. Once you’ve mastered the basics you can keep practicing until you’re an ace at performing tricks. All these are necessary and achievable for adults who want to become skateboarders.