Skateboarding basics

All forms of skateboarding share some common terminology as there are a few fundamental skateboards tricks. Most other skate tricks are simply variations of these and combinations of each other. In order to understand skateboarding, you must first know what each of the following means:

• The Ollie is a no-handed jump where the skateboarder is able to jump with his board into the air. He may Ollie over obstacles, onto them and/or off them again. Depending on the height gained, he may grab the board and/or twist it in a variety of ways these are known as grab and flip tricks respectively. A ramp skater ollies out of a ramp to gain extra height, while street and freestyle skaters Ollie on flat ground.
• A grind. Skateboarding trucks today are specially designed to be ground along hard-edged surfaces. Vert skaters simply turn up onto the top of the ramp to grind along it while street skaters must Ollie onto a piece of street furniture.
• A slide. By moving onto a hard-edge, making contact with his board and sliding along it, a skateboarder is performing a slide trick. Skateboarding slide tricks are defined by the part of the board which is in contact with the surface and the position of the skaters body.

There are other categories of tricks such as airs, inverts and manuals, but many of these are limited more or less to one particular style of skating and so will be covered in detail in the relevant section.

Skating Gear

One of the best things about skating is the freedom it gives you. You really don't need much expensive equipment and you can skate outside your own front door learning loads of tricks for absolutely nothing. You will need some safety equipment if you are going to be doing dangerous tricks though. You may want to wear protection when you are starting out and especially if you are going to skate at a skatepark (otherwise you will probably not be allowed on the ramps):

Skateboard

Yes it’s obvious really, but there are many options here. You can buy a complete set up (best for beginners) and then as time goes on upgrade or swap different components. Let’s take a look at just what those components are:

1. Deck. Today’s skateboard deck is made of multiple strips of wood, laminated for flexibility and durability. Different shapes are suited to different types of skating such as ramp, freestyle and street.
2. Griptape. A rough material to enable your feet to grip onto the deck. Rough like sandpaper on one side and adhesive on the other. If buying a deck separately it may not come with griptape, which is available in varying levels of coarseness and colours.
3. Trucks. Individual wheel mountings, each one housing two wheels. One skateboard has two trucks, each with two wheels and therefore equalling four wheels. Usually made from metal, trucks have tough adjustable rubber bushings, allowing you to steer your skateboard by applying more weight to either side of the deck.
4. Wheels. Made of advanced polymers for maximum lightness and speed, skateboard wheels come in many types to suit the surface you will be riding. Softer wheels give a better grip and so are suited to beginners, while harder wheels give more speed.
5. Bearings. These go inside your wheels, enabling them to rotate freely at high speed and need to be replaced once ever so often. A good way to ruin bearings (and delaminate your board) is to skate in the wet, something an experienced skater will simply never do.

Skate Helmet

A helmet is compulsory in most UK skate parks, as it makes the difference between a fall being painful and a fall being life changing.

Kneepads

A fantastic invention allowing you to skid safely onto your knees upon an aborted trick. No ramp should be skated without them.

Wrist guards

If you fall backwards then your natural reaction is to put your hands out behind you. This can result in broken wrists if you fall at speed unless you are wearing good wrist guards, as well as knowing how to fall correctly.

Elbow pads

A cracked elbow is unthinkably painful. Wearing elbow guards, however, gives you that extra bit of security in backwards slams.