Aquila Children's Magazine AQUILA Magazine Best Bits | Page 37

Before attempting any
tricks just get as comfortable
as possible riding your board
everywhere!
Here are some classic skateboarding tricks.
Skaters need to think about the forces in play
and, like all good mathematicians and scientists,
they have to keep practising until the move
becomes as natural as walking – remember, you
couldn’t do that either when you first tried!
● Ollie – make the board fly – stand with your front foot over
the front bolts and your back foot at the centre of the tail.
Crouch. Take the weight off your front foot and slam your back
foot down hard on the tail. Hop off your back foot, slide your
front foot forward and ride the board as it flies up in the air. A
good skateboard jump will carry you up with twice the force of
your own weight. Aim high.
● Frontside 180 – When you’ve mastered the ollie (that alone can
take a lot of patience), you can turn it into a frontside 180. 180
swing your arm behind you, twisting your upper body. As you hop
your back foot up, slide your front foot to the nose and swing your
arm around, guide the board 180 degrees from your start position,
Once you have nailed
the ollie and the frontside
180, why not attempt the
frontside 360
or a kickflip?
so you end up facing the opposite direction. Getting better
– jump higher and swing your shoulders around further.
what? 180 degrees – half a circle – a semicircle. While you crouch,