Skate Like A Girl

As the days are endlessly passing us by during quarantine, a lot of you may be running out of activities to keep yourself busy.

That is why this week I wanted to provide my readers with a step-by-step tutorial on some beginner friendly skate tricks for anyone who might be interested. The best part? These can be accomplished within the comfort of your own homes if the weather does not permit it.

I usually recommend a driveway or empty parking lot to ensure the maximum amount of space while skating, but your garage or basement will work perfectly in the meantime.

The two tricks I am mainly focussing on today are called an “Ollie” and a “Shuvit.” These two tricks are fairly simple, but can serve as springboards for more complicated tricks in the future.

Let’s Begin with the “Ollie.”

You are first going to establish your stance. This will either be “regular” or “goofy.” Regular means that you typically have a tendency to lead with your left foot, and goofy, leading with your right.

You will want your foot placement to look something like this. Your back foot should be on the end of the tail, while your front foot should be just below the bolts, towards the center of the board. (Take into account that my stance is goofy, so it will be the opposite for someone who is regular)

You will then want to practice popping the tail (back of the board) by putting your weight down. This is the motion that will elevate your board.

Once you get this movement, you will want to practice dragging your front foot up the board. This is what will level your board out while it’s in the air.

Your finished product should be an ollie!!!

Now for a “Shuvit!“

Your foot placement should look something like this! Your back foot will be in the “pocket” of your tail close to the outer edge. Therefore, not on the end of your tail, but rather in the part that dips before it raises. Your front foot will be below the bolts, but with your heel hanging off slightly.

Although hard to show through pictures, your back foot will be doing most of the work. You will want to master a scoop motion. With your toes, practice scooping the tail of your board backwards. This should result in the board doing a 180 degree rotation.

Your front foot does a hop to essentially catch the board after it rotates.

After that, you should have a shuvit!!

I put together a YouTube Video tutorial which may be more beneficial for some viewers.

I hope that this has been helpful to anyone who has been looking for a starting point! This post is not only geared towards my girl readers who may just be getting into skating, but for anyone who wants to start skating and learn a couple of tricks.

If anything, my goal is to at least spark some inspiration for those of you who just want something new to try while isolated during the pandemic.

So have fun! Let me know if anyone decides to try and learn these tricks, or whether or not the picture guides and YouTube video were helpful. For anyone wanting to learn more than just these two tricks, I highly recommend watching Aaron Kyro’s Braille Skateboarding videos on YouTube. Those tutorials have helmed me tremendously.

Just remember, new tricks may take time, but the end result is always worth the struggle! And although these tricks may seem scary and hard to achieve at first, as long as you put in effort and have a positive mindset, you’ll succeed!

Believe me, I thought it was impossible at one point. It’s NOT!