Everything you Need to Know about Longboarding for Beginners

If you don’t know, there are numerous types of boards available in the market, like a skateboard, longboard, hoverboard, and snowboard. All these boards lie in the same category called outdoor sport. But longboards are always the best way to enter this riding journey. In other words, longboards are the best choice for beginners. That’s the reason, people these days want to know everything about longboarding for beginners.

No worries, BoardsOnTop is here to clarify all your consequences regarding Longboarding for beginners. I (Andrew Norris) joined the skating community almost 6 years ago with no longboarding basics. So, you should neither worry about this if you are a newbie.

Buy a Beginner-Friendly Longboard

First of all, you need to buy the best longboard for beginners. A suitable and supportive deck and other accessories minimize your learning effort. Also, it keeps you safe from mishaps and injuries as longboards allow you to stand on a deck with good length and width.

Once you have a beginner-friendly longboard under your feet, now is the time to learn and implement some basic techniques to learn how to longboard. We have enlisted some of the most beneficial beginner tips for you after a deep research. These tricks will are super easy to understand and for practicing purposes. Let’s skate into the main topic of this debate.



Longboarding for Beginners | Tips To Follow in 2023

Senior skateboard and longboard riders in our community have approved multiple longboarding tricks and tips for the beginners. Here we will be only defining those methods that we found easy and helpful for the newcomers in the longboarding world. So, go through each point and analyze which one will be easier for you to perform.


1. Choosing the Right Longboard

As guided above, the first step is the most essential one that minimizes the effort for those who are new to longboarding. If you are a newcomer and obtain a perfect beginner’s longboard, the only thing left behind is to learn and practice some basic initial step. Here, we will quickly give you the most valuable instructions on how to choose a beginner-friendly longboard for beginners.

Deck Length and Width:

The deck is called a piece of wood, Bamboo, or some other materials where you can stand firmly and balance yourself. There are many important things that matter on quality of deck such as, weight-bearing ability, riding style, etc. For beginners, we recommend having a 42 inches long deck and 10 inches wide deck. You will find some decks with a length above 42″, which are also acceptable and suitable for beginner riders.

Longboarding for beginners

Wheels and Trucks:

Two major accessories, wheels and trucks are attached below the longboard deck. Soft and hard are the two major types that are available in wheels. If you are about to buy your first-ever board, make sure to have harder wheels as they grasp the ground very well. However, stiff rollers generate less speed than the softer ones but are highly recommended for newcomers.

Trucks make your rides more responsive and allow you to make sharper turns under critical situations. For the trucks, make sure to have a sturdy material, and they take turns very quickly to benefit the new riders.

longboarding for beginners trucks and wheels

2. Wear the Safety Equipment

We can not let any newbie go for their initial longboard rides with the longboard protective gear. The community of BoardsOnTop suggests wearing all the essential longboarding equipment, especially if you are riding for the first time. Suppose you have not read the instructions very well regarding how to longboard for beginners. You can face any mishap that can be prevented by using longboard helmets, gloves, and knee pads.


3. Clarify your Pose

That’s it. We are done with the buying guide for beginner longboards and have clarified the importance of safety apparatus. Now is the time to move toward our first practical step which you need to practice on a regular basis.

In the longboarding world, Regular and Goofy are the two poses that are widely preferred and well known. No one can choose one Pose among these 2 because it is natural. Let’s see what a Goofy stance is and what is a regular stance.

Regular Stance:

Both goofy and regular stances are easy to understand. So, if you place your left foot in the front and back foot behind, this is called the regular riding pose.

Goofy Pose:

This Pose is opposite to the regular one. You place your right foot in front and your back foot in the back in this position. The image is given below for differentiating Goofy stance to the regular one.

Goofy vs Regular Stance to understand longboarding for beginners

How to Understand if you are Regular or Goofy?

People (especially newbies) get confused when asked what is their riding stance. On the other hand, stance is the most important part when learning longboarding for beginners. Well, your stance is simple to know and understand. When you place your feet onto the deck, see what foot you have naturally placed forward, right, or left. This is how you understand if you are a regular or goofy rider.

What is the importance of stance in Longboarding?

It is an essential step to understanding the stance before Longboarding as it helps in different ways while you’re riding the board. Firstly, it helps you know and learn how to stop on a longboard when required. Secondly, it allows you to take sharp turns more easily. A rider with a regular pose turns right whenever he uses his toes and goes left when using his heels. On the other hand, the goofy pose makers are opposite to regular ones.


4. Learn to Balance Yourself on Longboard

Balancing yourself during the rides is one of the most important steps of longboarding basics. No doubt, you can practice this method any time, but the place should be suitable to perform this step.

Where Should Beginners Practice Longboarding?

In the beginning, you can try to balance yourself while rolling your longboard over a grassy surface. Moreover, you can also practice balancing your rides on a carpet. The position matters a lot while practicing this specific step. The width between your feet should not be either too wide or too close. This is where the width of your longboard will play its role.

Beginner Guide to Longboarding

Let’s have a look at the positioning of your feet while you ride a longboard for the first time (keep in mind if you are a regular or goofy rider). Keep your back foot vertical to the deck of your longboard and angle your front foot around 45 degrees angle. Once you find yourself in the position discussed above, bend your knees a little and make a comfortable pose that helps you balance yourself during the rides.


5. Turns and Turning Position

There are no straight rides while riding a longboard or any other vehicle. As there are some turns on the roads. Turning on a longboard has been a critical issue for beginner riders. According to the experienced longboard riders, if you learn and practice to keep your momentum accurate while turning, you can learn how to turn on a longboard within a short time. So let’s have a look at what position would be great in this scenario.

How to turn on a longboard for a beginner?

First of all, make sure you are still on a grassy or thick surface like a carpet. In the step of learning how to turn, the ankles will be a major part of your body that will help you practice taking turns. Execute the plan of rolling your longboard backward and forward with the help of your ankles. It will result in helping your deck perform better on both edges. If you don’t have access to thick surface like grass, watch the video below.

Secondly, your longboard needs to be leaned forward and backward with the help of your weight distribution. You will still be using your heels and toes to perform this action. If you learn this step of Longboarding properly as a newbie, the upcoming steps will be much easier. Lastly, clean the grip tape regularly and avoid riding longboard when its dirty.


6. Pushing Position

We all know that we keep it rolling at the same speed throughout a longboard ride with the help of pushes. Moreover, you have to stop the longboard whenever needed in a way that does not result in a mishap. So, both of these tasks need practice and comfortable positions. Let’s see in which position it would be easy to execute the plan of pushing and braking.

The first move regarding the pushing technique is to keep your various body parts forward even after rotating your front foot. In simple words, you have to keep your shoulders and toes as forward as possible. As soon as you get into this position, make your back foot leave the deck and place it on the road. You will start balancing your complete body on the front foot within a few tries only. First, try to stay stable and then bend yourself a little while your hips stay in their original form.

Feet Positioning while pushing

When you find yourself good in this position after a few tries, now you can start pushing with your back foot to generate the pace. This step seems a bit difficult to apply because your spot does not remain the same. Let us make it more simple for you,

  1. When you have generated a suitable pace, you can return to your original standing position from the bending mode.
  2. Notice the longboard’s speed slows down? Go back to that position you had while you were pushing to generate pace.

This is how you practice the steps of pushing as a beginner.


7. Towards Comfortable Rides

The previous techniques were completely for beginner longboard riders. If you have learned all the stances of pushing, braking and turning perfectly, now you are one step ahead. This step will let you know how a longboard can cover longer distances with smaller pushes. This is what pro longboard or skateboard riders do when they get used to it.

Pick your longboard up and leave the grassy surface as we are taking you to the road now to perform Longboarding. Gravity keeps you rolling on a flat surface without any inconvenience in this step. Make sure there are no bumps and cracks on the road you choose to longboard. Here are a few easier steps you will have to implement,

  1. Stand on the deck as you stand on the floor (no need to bend yourself). 
  2. Give your shoulders and front foot a straightforward angle.
  3. Place the back foot on the ground and give a little push for rolling. 
  4. After the push, place your back foot to the deck as well and keep going.

Doing these four easy steps will allow you to see how smooth your longboard is moving and provide you with more comfortability and momentum during the ride. As the speed slows down, give a little push again and keep practicing unless you ride like a pro. Most importantly, this longboarding tip for beginners will only be applicable on flat surfaces. For the roads that have cracks, you need to put less pressure on your front foot for smooth rolling.


Longboard Stopping Practice

Last but not least, stopping a longboard is one of the most essential for beginners to understand and implement. Unluckily, there are no braking modes in the traditional longboards. Therefore, you need to learn the process of slowing the wheels with your feet. In case you find it difficult to implement, you can invest a bit more in an electric longboard that provides you with different braking modes on the device.

There are multiple ways to stop your longboard, but foot braking is the most beneficial and easy to apply. In simple words, you need to put your back foot on the ground and put some pressure on it for an instant stoppage. There is nothing that can make you worried about it. Learn the steps, understand them, and apply for some days.

  1. If you are riding at a slower speed, you can stop the board by placing your back foot on the ground, no matter what position you are standing in. 
  2. When longboards need to be stopped during speedy rides, you have to put a lot of pressure on the ground. Moreover, you may also need to use your hands (only recommended when wearing sliding gloves) to decrease the speed.

The tip for beginners here is to have a suitable pair of shoes for Longboarding.


How to Get Good at Longboarding

Once you believe in yourself that you have passed the test of Longboarding for beginners, you can now explore more riding styles. There are almost 7-8 riding styles that can be performed at longboard.

  • Dancing
  • Cruising
  • Carving
  • Commuting
  • Pumping
  • Downhill Riding

Most of all, all these riding styles can not be enjoyed on the same design of longboard. You will struggle in learning these techniques unless you have a suitable deck under your feet. Go check out the longboard’s category at BoardsOnTop to understand all the types.

Choosing a perfect longboard that suits your riding style will automatically minimize your effort of getting better at longboarding. In addition, a satisfactory deck and other gadgets help you implement the steps more easily.


People Also Ask

What to know about Longboards?

There are a few important accessories that you need to know of before you invest in a longboard. First of all, the dimensions and the deck’s design need to be understood. Secondly, the trucks under them play a huge role in defining your longboard’s performance of bearing weight and taking turns. Moreover, wheels and bushing come in two types, soft and hard. Softer ones allow you to roll faster, whereas stiff rollers make you feel secure and grip any surface well.

Should a Beginner buy a Longboard?

You will not get a better option than a longboard to enter the skating world because skateboards have narrower designs and shorter lengths compared to longboards. Longboard provides you around 40 inches to stand, whereas a skateboard has a length of 30-32 inches. But yes, you can go for the board with a shorter length once you know the basics of Longboarding for beginners.

Are longboards difficult to ride?

Skateboards are comparatively harder to ride than longboards due to their length. There are strong chances for everyone to ride a longboard without facing any injury. You will have to practice a few steps regularly, and you are good to enter the adventure of Longboarding.

What size of the longboard is best for beginners?

As new riders, we always want a peaceful ride on the longboard. To achieve this goal, we will need a length of around 42 inches which provides enough space to stand and helps you pose in any way you want to.


Conclusion

Recently, BoardsOnTop noticed that many people are trying to enter the longboarding era. So we decided to help all of them with an extensive debate on “longboarding for beginners”. There are multiple steps for novices to learn and implement. For example, different stances for different tasks like pushing, stopping, turning, and how to choose a beginner longboard. You can go through each point and implement them on your new longboard. Thus, you will need a suitable deck, pair of wheels, and trucks to begin your skating journey. Have fun!

Written by: Andrew Norris

Hello, I am Andrew, and I am an experienced longboard rider since my early boyhood days. I have had multiple longboards throughout my life and has gained an invaluable experience about the build quality, structure, and performance.

Leave a Comment