It’s exciting to start longboarding, but like any new skill, there are common pitfalls beginners often encounter. This article isn’t about criticizing those missteps, but rather highlighting them to guide you toward a safer and more enjoyable longboarding experience. Let’s dive into some typical beginner mistakes and, more importantly, how to correct them.
Beginner Longboard Errors
Bombing Hills Before Mastering Stopping Techniques
One of the most dangerous mistakes a beginner can make is attempting to ride down a hill without knowing how to stop or control speed. It’s a risky move that can lead to severe consequences. Without speed control, you’re at the mercy of the road, and the results can be painful.
It’s baffling to see some beginners, fresh off picking up their first boards, immediately head to the steepest hills. Perhaps there’s a misconception about simply running off the speed, but longboards accelerate very rapidly down hills. The speed gain can be surprisingly quick, and the resulting injuries can range from minor scrapes and bruises to severe head trauma, and even fatalities in the worst cases. It’s not something to take lightly.
The Correct Approach
Before tackling any hills, you absolutely must learn how to footbrake. Foot braking is a fundamental skill that allows you to control your speed effectively. While it’s essential, it’s not a guarantee of safety, as sometimes speeds can exceed what foot braking can handle.
If downhill riding is your goal, delve into the techniques and equipment used in downhill skateboarding. Learning proper slowing methods and investing in appropriate gear is the safest and most sustainable path to conquering hills.
Neglecting to Learn Footbraking
Another common and critical mistake is not learning how to footbrake. If you lack this fundamental skill, you’re holding back your progression as a rider and limiting your ability to navigate varied environments.
Foot braking is crucial for speed control and controlled stops. It opens up many more possibilities for where you can ride safely, such as busy streets and sidewalks, allowing you to weave through objects and crowds while maintaining control.
Learning to footbrake will expand the range of places where you can confidently ride your board and make your longboarding sessions much safer and enjoyable.
beginner longboard mistakes – not footbraking
What to Do Instead
Prioritize learning how to footbrake! This is non-negotiable for any serious longboarder.
Standing Too Far Back on the Board
Many beginners tend to stand too far back on their boards. This positioning puts too much weight on the rear truck, leading to excessive input on the rear truck when leaning and turning.
Excessive input into the rear truck can result in a twitchy, unstable ride that feels like a shopping cart. At higher speeds, this instability can even lead to speed wobbles. Correcting your stance by positioning your front foot closer to the front truck improves stability and control.
What You Should Do
Ideally, position your front foot over the front truck. Depending on your board size, this may mean your foot is in the middle or slightly over the back truck. Avoid placing your rear foot behind the back truck if possible, though shorter boards may require this stance.
Riding with your weight properly distributed will provide superior balance, control, and smoother turns, as well as make the board more stable as you pick up speed.
Over-Tightening the Bushings
Some beginners try to achieve more stability by over-tightening the bushings on their trucks. This isn’t an effective solution and actually limits the performance of the trucks.
When bushings are overly tight, they restrict the truck’s ability to lean and turn smoothly, resulting in a rigid and less responsive ride.
over tightening truck- beginner longboard mistakes
The Right Solution
The proper solution is to invest in aftermarket bushings that are suited to your weight. These bushings will allow you to have a stable ride while maintaining smooth and controlled turns.
Prioritizing Expensive Bearings as a First Upgrade
Bearings have a minimal impact on overall performance and are often a waste of money for beginners.
Investing in high-end bearings or those made with exotic materials won’t drastically improve your longboard’s acceleration, roll distance, or top speed. While some bearings may feel smoother than others, performance differences are minimal. The biggest performance difference is between new/well-maintained bearings and old/poorly maintained bearings.
fireball dragon bearings
Spending $50 on Swiss or ceramic bearings isn’t the best use of your funds. Most $15 bearings will do the job just fine. And no, ceramic bearings aren’t worth the extra cost. They can still rust because the inner and outer races are made of steel.
The most impactful upgrade for speed and acceleration is a set of high-quality wheels.
A Better Investment
Instead of expensive bearings, invest in high-quality wheels if you want to improve speed and acceleration. If you bought your longboard as a complete from a reputable brand, you likely already have good wheels, but you can always upgrade.
Low-quality wheels are made from a urethane that doesn’t hold speed well. High-quality urethane, on the other hand, is denser, accelerates quickly, maintains speed, and rolls further and for longer.
Other factors affect wheel performance too (different wheel shapes, sizes, etc. – you can learn more here), but let’s focus on urethane quality for now.
A great example of high-quality wheels is the Seismic 73mm Speed Vents. These wheels use Seismic’s Defcon urethane. Defcon urethane was used to set the world speed longboarding record of over 90mph.
The 73mm Speed Vents are known for their superior speed compared to 95% of other longboard wheels. They’re a true upgrade for any cruiser.
Exceeding Your Stopping Abilities
Similar to the first point, going faster than your ability to stop is a recipe for disaster and potential injury, as the road is the only thing that will slow you down.
The Simple Solution
The solution is straightforward: don’t go faster than you can safely stop.
Final Thoughts
This list, while not exhaustive, covers many common errors that beginners often make. Hopefully, you’ve gained some new insights. If you found this list helpful, or you would like to see more like it, let us know in the comments below and feel free to share with a friend.
Thank you for your support.
