Longboards are made with traveling in mind so they are a lot more comfortable, long, have bigger wheels, and are smoother than skateboards. But when people jump from a skateboard to a longboard, they miss that they cannot do those tricks they used to do with their skateboards.
But can you do skateboard tricks on a longboard, yes, you can do many tricks even with longboards. This is very easy and you only need to be comfortable with your longboard and then try the tricks that we are mentioning here.
Contents
Can You Do Skateboard Tricks On A Longboard?
Longboarding is a great sport even though it was not meant to be. The main purpose of longboards coming into existence was to enable people to travel for short and long distances. But then its riders found potential for doing much more with it and the purpose of longboarding died.
Fortunately, the other purpose was also not bad either for the longboard or the people. This is because people started asking can you do skateboard tricks on a longboard because they started missing their skateboards.
Yes, you can do skateboard tricks on longboards and enjoy double with one longboard. Looking at its size and shape, you may get confused that it is not meant for skateboard tricks but for downhill cruising or rolling. But thankfully, it has even added some more tricks that people didn’t know before this came into their approach.
Are longboards meant for tricks?
Actually no. Longboards were not initially made for doing tricks because the main purpose of their coming into life was to help people travel. But then it became a thing and now most people buy longboards to perform tricks rather than transportation. Even the manufacturers have also started launching special-purpose longboards just for performing the tricks to cater to the need of people.
But you should know that there are some tricks that you still cannot do because those are only made for doing with the skateboards. This is because of their construction as some longboarding tricks can also not be performed with the skateboards. The problem can also include the factor that you may be a newbie to performing tricks so it is better to get comfortable with the longboard and learn some basic tricks first.
The tricks you can do with longboards
As we told you that there are many tricks you can perform with both; longboards and skateboards. But longboards have also been added to the tricks list of skating sports so all the tricks that you can perform with a longboard are given below:
Footbrake:
Footbrake is the basic and the most important trick that, according to the experts, all beginners have to learn first. This trick is basically stopping the board with your foot and reducing the speed of the board while the board is using.
You know that longboards do not have any gear shifters or a braking system. Therefore, you will need to do it by yourself relying on yourself, your longboard, and the stability of yourself on the board. It requires you to put pressure on your feet while the board is moving, which reduces the speed of the board gradually, and eventually it stops.
Please mind that this requires a lot of stability from your body on the board. Hence, only do this trick when you are comfortable with the board or don’t get it to high speed.
Walking the Plank:
Walking the plank is almost exactly like you walk on a plank. You need to balance yourself on the longboard with your feet and arms and add more stability to it by bending your knees.
In this trick, you have to push slowly on the ground after stepping on the board and move forward. It also includes changing the foot with which you push against the ground. Also, if you change your feet’s orientation from one side to the other, it is called cross-stepping which also falls into the category of walking the plank.
Dancing:
Longboarding dancing is a very basic and the most essential trick to learn for all longboard riders. This is because, in this trick, you just stand on the longboard and control its speed by pushing with your feet. Sometimes you move slowly and sometimes faster.
But that requires a lot of practice and mastering the skill to perform this trick. Actually, you cannot even move if you don’t know this trick. When you get full control over your longboard, you can let it sway for you and make it stop wherever you want.
Slalom:
This trick is very risky and you should be a pro to do this trick. It is basically moving downhill and cruising and turning through all the sharp twists and turns of the road. You must avoid all the obstacles and keep moving down the road or you will fall if you don’t stop properly. It requires a lot of balancing skills from anyone who is doing this trick.
To perform this trick perfectly, you need to use your arms and feet with your knees bent at a certain angle. Also, the feet must be placed at a certain angle and at the appropriate place on the longboard to give you the required balance you need.
Pivot:
Pivot is turning at 180 – a degree angle by placing your front foot right at the front nose of your longboard. You should keep the hindfoot at the center of the board which will allow the board to go downwards from the front and lift from the hind side. Then you will need to use your hindfoot and turn the board backward. When the pivot is achieved, the goal is to keep moving by using the same momentum.
Shove-it:
Shove-it is also almost the same as the pivot trick but the fact that you jump with the board while doing a pivot makes it interesting. Also, the jump is not that high, you just need to allow the board to take a turn in the air and you will be doing shove-it.
Drop-in:
Drop-in is another very famous trick that even beginners can do but only if you have passed all the previous stages of longboarding tricks. Once you are able to maintain your balance on the board, control your speed, and do some basic tricks, you will be able to do this. This trick requires you to go to a skatepark because you drop into the skatepark ramps with this trick.
To perfectly perform this trick, you need to keep your front foot at the nose of the board and bend your front knee a little bit. You should do this with a confident positive attitude that you can do this and you will be able to easily drip in.
These are just a few tricks that we wrote here to tell you how you can do wonders with a longboard. There are a lot more tricks always waiting for you. Also, you can even innovate old tricks and invent new tricks as these current tricks came into existence. Opportunities are endless in leisure and recreational sports.
Yes, you can do several tricks with the longboards. At first, it was only made for commuting but then people started missing their skateboards and the skateboard tricks. Therefore, they started inventing new tricks and trying old skateboard tricks on their longboards. Finally, after falling countless times now we have a whole catalog of certain enjoyable tricks.
Doing tricks on the longboard always depends on your skill level and the comfort level that you have with the longboards. We know that longboard is easy to ride even for beginners and you can learn its basics very easily. But when it comes to doing tricks, you will see that a skateboard is a lot easier to learn the tricks. Also performing tricks requires the skateboard to be lighters and smaller but the longboards have bigger wheels and weigh more than the skateboards.
Stopping on a longboard is very easy and the next step in the longboarding guide is to learn after getting over with moving on the longboard. Stopping the longboard requires the rider to stand at a proper angle and then put pressure on their ankles and feet. This pressure transfers to the ground and your longboard wheels will start rubbing on the ground. Although you won’t feel any rubbing of the wheels it happens because of friction and eventually your board stops.
Yes, you can easily go uphill on the longboard by pushing it with your feet. This is because skateboards have smaller wheels but longboards have bigger wheels. Therefore, when you push once the wheels of longboards cover more distance and that’s why they need less push force to move forward. If the uphill is not that steep, you can easily go uphill, also downhill with one push of course.
What tricks can you do on a longboard?
The possibilities are endless with the invention of tricks of longboards. But you can perform the current tricks if you aren’t able to figure out the new trick for longboards. The current common tricks of longboarding are as follows:
- Drop-in
- Shove-it
- Pivot
- Slalom
- Dancing
- Walking the plank
- Footbrake
Read More:
