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There’s too much made of methods to find out if you’re goofy or regular, and what the pros and cons are of riding one way or the other. Just don’t think about it, jump on a board and see which leg is up front and which is balanced on the tail. If it feels right, go with it; if not, don’t be afraid to change. You’ll soon know which leg’s happier taking the weight as opposed to pushing. As for position, your front foot, as a guideline, should be just below the bolts of the front truck. That’s the ideal place for balance, while the back leg needs to be right on the tail for turning quickly.
Lateral, not vertical
Don’t see ramps action on the TV or in mags and think you can start on that straight away. You’ll just hurt yourself. Learn to skate before you start with ramps or even tricks. Just standing up as you go down the street then things like learning how to scrub speed off by turning. These are the foundations to good skating. If that sounds a bit dull, there are always hills to make things a lot more challenging. That’s the way I learnt to control the board and my body years ago. You could just go straight to the quarter pipe with loads of protection and try, but even if you start to get a few tricks where do you go from there? There is no progression.
Boldly Go
Skating has a reputation of being a closed, underground sport. That’s just not true. If someone comes up to me, young or old, asking even the simplest stuff, I’m happy to help. And I don’t know anyone who isn’t the same as that. You just need to be bold and ask advice if you’re struggling with somethi ng on the street or in the skatepark. I have plenty of friends who are not good skaters and I really enjoy being out with them and seeing them improve after I give them tips and ideas. Teaching is not a one-way street ‐ everyone learns from everyone.
Square Eyes
Watching is a really good way to get better at skating and just like the time you spend on the street, the brain seems to be running in the background intuitively learning how to do things and where to position itself during tricks as you watch TV. With things like the Extreme Channel showing lots of skating, and loads of decent DVDs out there, you should have no trouble seeing good, inspiring stuff. While in terms of breaking down the moves, most skate mags have trick tips, broken down into easy-to-learn sections, which is a really good way to build up your skills.
Fast Forward
Get really keen over the years (you’re looking at six months plus just get basic balance and odd trick) and you’ll eventually be looking at trying to get sponsorship. Most of this comes from skate shops, so start as you mean to continue by building a good relationship from the moment you buy your first board. I run Fifty Fifty in Bristol (see www.5050store.com for details) with my business partner and we not only make sure people buy kit that’s decent and will last (a decent starter set up, with deck and trucks is anywhere from £50-120), but we also try and be a place were they can just come and hang out.
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