easiest to hardest skateboard tricks

Top 10 Skateboard Tricks List Easiest to Hardest

Most of the aspiring riders out there get into skateboarding with the dream of learning skateboarding tricks all day. Not only does a skateboarding skill look good, but it feels incredible to yourself when you pull a trick off and impress your fellow skaters.

Now, skateboarding has been around for quite a long time. Throughout history, there have been hundreds of tricks that have been invented by skateboarders. While some are pretty basic, some of them can also require some serious skill to pull off.

skateboard tricks list easiest to hardest

If you are thinking about getting into skateboard tricks, I will help you out with my ears of experience in the field. Here I have compiled the easiest to hardest skateboard tricks list (5 of each) and break them down in a step-by-step guide. So, without wasting your time, let’s dive right into the world of skateboard tricks.

What are the Easiest Skateboard Tricks?

In this part, I’ll talk about some of the most basic tricks that every beginner should learn to move on to more advanced tricks. If you have some prior knowledge in the field, you’ll probably be familiar with these tricks, or at least their names.

Additionally, I am not saying you’ll learn them right away, but they are way easier to master than some advanced tricks. These tricks will set the foundation for the advanced tricks I’ll discuss later in the article. One thing keep in mind. Before doing tricks try to do research on which skateboard is suitable for tricks and get the best one.

Ollie

Originally invented in 1978 by Alan Gelfand, Ollie is considered to be the stepping stone of skateboarding tricks. In simpler words, Ollie is just jumping with the skateboard. As a large portion of skateboard tricks involves jumping, it’s a significant yet easy trick to learn. So let’s see how you can do it.

  • Step 1: Start by putting your front feet in the middle of the board. Next, put the back leg on the truck. Keep both feet parallel to each other.
  • Step 2: When you are ready to do the ollie, stomp the board’s tail to fit it up in the air. The harder you stomp, the higher the board will rise.
  • Step 3: When the board starts to rise, slide your front foot towards the nose of the skateboard. When your front foot reaches the nose are, and you are at the peak of the jump. Kick the top part of the board to level it out.
  • Step 4: When you are landing, keep your feet straight and land with your back foot first.
Easiest skateboard tricks

Shuvit

A Shuvit (or Shove-it) is another simple trick done by skateboarders, which again involves jumping. But instead of a 360-degree kickflip, it involves a spin of 180 to alternate between the nose and tail of the board. This trick alone has quite a few variations of its own. But here, I’ll show you the basic 180-degree shuvit.

  • Step 1: The foot position is pretty similar to Ollie or kickflip. Position the back foot on the tail while getting your front foot at the middle of the board.
  • Step 2: When you start moving, pop the tail hard. While the board goes up, use the front foot to push the toe side of the board to create a rotation beneath your feet.
  • Step 3: While the 180-degree rotation is happening, you have to guide and assist the board with your feet to complete the rotation.
  • Step 4: When the rotation is complete, use your front foot to stop the rotation and catch the board. Then land on your back foot.
how to do kickflip

Kickflip

Flip tricks have been around since the invention of skateboarding. But, if we talk about the variations a regular flip trick can have, kickflip is the easiest one for sure. For this trick, the rider launches the board in the air and makes a 360-degree flip before landing on the board again. Here’s how you can do a kickflip easily.

  • Step 1: Start by positioning your feet correctly. Place your front foot at the middle of the board, just below the truck bolts at a 45-degree angle. For the back foot, place it on the tail of the board.
  • Step 2: Bend your knee and pop the tail with your back foot. It’ll allow the board to lift and therefore jumps off the ground. Try to lift the board as high as possible, as it’ll give you more time for the flip afterward.
  • Step 3: When the lift is happening, slide your front foot towards the nose of the board. This slide will make the board do the 360-degree flip.
  • Step 4: Now, it’s time for landing. When landing, catch the board with your feet on the bolts of the front and back trucks. Catch with the back foot first, then with the front foot, land with your knees bent.

Powerslide

It’s not exactly a trick like others in this list, but this one looks pretty cool if done with perfection. Powerslide is just a fashionable way of stopping and slowing down your skateboard instead of regular braking. For this trick, skateboarders turn the board sideways so the wheels skid and reduce the speed. The steps mentioned below can help you do a powerslide easily.

  • Step 1: Start by placing your front foot on the front trucks while keeping the back foot on the tail of the skateboard. This position will help you get the speed needed for a powerslide.
  • Step 2: Before you perform the powerslide, gain as much speed as possible. As the purpose of this trick is to slow down the board, a higher speed will help you do it properly.
  • Step 3: As mentioned in step one, keep the stance as wide as possible for maximum balance. When you feel like you’ve reached the necessary speed, slide the board with your back foot and body weight at 90 degrees.
  • Step 4: When doing powerslide, it’s advised to jump a little to prevent using the whole body weight and reduce the friction of the wheels and the ground.
  • Step 5: Once you lift a little, push the back wheels sideways with your back foot. This way, the wheels will stay at a perpendicular position, creating a brake-like effect.
  • Step 6: When the speed is reduced, get your body weight back on the board and reverse the rotation to come back to the normal position.

Manual

A manual is very similar to the two-wheeler wheelie we do, but this time it’s with a skateboard, either with the front or back wheels. In this part, I’ll talk about the standard variant of the manual, which is lifting the front wheels up. Let me show you how to do a standard manual properly.

  • Step 1: Start by slowly going forward at a constant speed with your back foot on the tail. There is no particular foot placement you’ll require for this trick.
  • Step 2: Before doing the manual, make sure your knees are slightly bent. This will help you keep the weight at the center of the board. Some people also find leaning forward helpful so that you can try that too.
  • Step 3: Now, start to shift your weight to your back foot, therefore the board’s tail. This weight shift will life the nose of the board automatically.
  • Step 4: If everything goes perfectly, you should be rolling with the board’s nose lifted in the air. Try to go as far as possible in this position by maintaining balance. Then move the weight back to your front foot to get back to normal position.
list of skateboard tricks easiest to hardest

What are the Hardest Skateboard Tricks?

Now that we are done with the basic tricks let’s move on to something advanced for more experienced skateboarders reading my article. Additionally, you can also get back to this part after you have mastered the beginner tricks. Let’s have a look at some of the hardest skateboard tricks you can do to impress everyone in a skate park.

Hardflip

Remember I mentioned earlier that lots of tricks would be similar to each other moving forward? Hardflip is a prime example of that as it’s a blend of front-side shuvit and kickflip simultaneously. Just like the name suggests, it’s one of the trickiest ones to pull off. Let’s show it to you step by step to make the process easier.

  • Step 1: Start by speeding up a little as this trick will require some speed to pull off. Then place the balls of both feet just at the midpoint of the skateboard to create a V shape.
  • Step 2: Before you do the trick, bring your front feet forward and stomp with the back foot to lift the board from the ground.
  • Step 3: Do it like you did for the shuvit trick I mentioned earlier to complete a vertical 90-degree spin.
  • Step 4: Just when the vertical spin is complete, move your front foot off the side of the skateboard to complete the kickflip.
  • Step 5: When to kickflip part is complete, jump down on the board and catch it. You can jump with any foot first, but it’s a bit easier to land with the front foot first.

Heelflip

Another trick that originates from kickflip. To put it simply, it’s a variant of kickflip where the board flips in the opposite direction of a kickflip if executed properly; this trick can be an absolute treat to the eyes. Below I have broken down the tricks step by step.

  • Step 1: Place your front for on the truck bolts on the front while the back foot at the rear edge of the skateboard.
  • Step 2: Maintain a bent knee and pop the tail of the skateboard with your back foot. Launch the skateboard in the air.
  • Step 3: When the board is up in the air, move your front foot towards to nose of the skateboard. Until now, it’s pretty much similar to a normal kickflip.
  • Step 4: When the front foot reaches the skateboard’s nose, kick the front of the skateboard forward and upward with your front foot. This kick and its timing are an important aspect of successfully pulling this trick off.
  • Step 5: Then comes the most crucial part of all, which is clipping the board’s edge with your front heel to rotate the board, hence the name heelflip.
  • Step 6: When the rotation is complete, catch the board by jumping down on it.
Hardest skateboard tricks

Blunt Fakie

Blunt fakie is a variant of the regular fakie we are used to doing. Unlike the regular fakie, it’s more of an advanced-level trick, which requires mastering the regular one first. This is the first trick on my list, which will need a quarter pipe to pull off. Let’s see how to do this trick.

  • Step 1: Position your feet as you do for an ollie. Approach the quarter pipe by maintaining a moderate speed, just enough to keep the momentum going.
  • Step 2: Just before you reach the coping of the quarter pipe, shift all your weight back to the tail of the board.
  • Step 3: When your back wheels cross the coping, shift the body weight to back to lock the wheels on the coping.
  • Step 4: Try to lean as behind as possible, maintaining a vertical position. Otherwise, you can slip off the board easily.
  • Step 5: Now we come to the most challenging part of all, getting out of the wheel lock from the coping. To get out of the lock, stomp the board’s tail as hard as possible, which will create a jump-like effect. This way, the wheels will pop off the coping.
  • Step 6: After the wheels get off, get back to your normal position with both trucks on the quarter pipe.

Laser flip

Laser flip is a variant of the heelflip I mentioned earlier with a combination of shuvit. For this trick, you’ll basically do a heelflip, where the flip will be 360 degrees. This is one of the hardest tricks ever invented, so mastering it may require a lot of practice. Additionally, I will show you how to do it step by step to make the process easier.

  • Step 1: Start by positioning your front foot just in the idle of the front truck bolts and the midpoint of the skateboard. For the back foot place it on the tail of the board.
  • Step 2: After you start moving, stomp the board’s tail with your back foot to lift the board. When the board rises, flick the board outward and upward with your front foot.
  • Step 3: When the board starts to spin, again flick the board. This time use your heel and do the flick in an outwards and downward direction, following the direction of the spin.
  • Step 4: When the board comes back to normal position after the flick, land on both feet positioned on the bolt.

Impossible

Though the name might imply it’s the hardest skateboard trick, it’s not actually as impossible as the name suggests. Invented by skateboarding legend Rodney Mullen, it’s considered as one of the most complex tricks in skateboarding. The steps may seem easier at first, but it’s challenging only because there is always a lot going on with your back foot in a very short time. So let’s see how you can do it.

  • Step 1: Proper foot positioning plays an essential role in this trick. Place your back foot on the tail of the board. For the front foot, place half of your foot at the middle part of the board and leave the other half out of the board. 
  • Step 2: Like any other trick, this one starts too with stomping on the tail of the board. So stomp on the tail as hard as possible to launch the board in the air.
  • Step 3: After the lift, you’ll scoop the skateboard and wrap it up with your back foot all the way to do two complete spins of the skateboard.
  • Step 4: When the spin is complete, put your front foot first on the board, then land on with the back foot.
skateboard trick list

FAQs

Q: What is the most difficult skateboard trick?

A: If I have to pick one from the list of easiest to hardest skateboard tricks mentioned above, Laser flip is the most challenging trick out there to pull off. As you need to balance out between lots of things at a time, it takes a lot of practice and dedication to master this trick.

Flicking and stomping the board requires a lot of strength. Additionally, you’ll need a second flick, as mentioned in step 3, and mastering the direction of this flick is one of the toughest things to learn. The timing flicks, and stomping combined make laser flip one of the most challenging skateboard tricks.

Q: What is the easiest skateboard trick?

A: The answer to this question will vary from person to person. For me, as a beginner, kickflip was an actual trick I found easiest to pull off. Some might say it’s ollie or shuvit, but for me, it was kickflip as it opened the doors for many advanced tricks afterward.

There are only two main parts, one is launching the board, and the second is sliding the board with your feet and making the 360-degree flip.  Because of the simplicity of this trick, it’s the easiest skateboard tricks for me, yet looks super cool to me every time I see someone doing it.

Q: What is the most impressive skateboard trick?

A: Again, it’s a debatable question as everyone will have a different opinion here. If I have to choose one from the list, it has to be the blunt fakie. As a trick done on the quarter pipe, this might not be the hardest trick.

But when the rear wheels lock in at the top of the quarter pipe and then pop off after some time, it looks really impressive. As an honorable mention, I would also like to include ollie impossible too here. It’s another absolute beauty that looks super impressive if you can pull it off properly.

Q: What is the best position for practicing between stationary and moving?

A: I have seen different opinions among different pro skaters and skating forums about this matter. Though it totally depends on the individual, I think you should try to practice a trick while moving. Because actually, you’ll be doing every trick while moving after the practice.

The problem with stationary position is that it can get tricky to adapt to the movement after you practice and learn a trick. However, some parts of a particular trick can be done in a stationary position to reduce the chance of falling off the board.

For example, you can try the scoop movement of the board of ollie impossible at a stationary position. But for the whole trick, stationary position practice is not recommended.

Last Word

There you have my skateboard tricks list easiest to hardest. When I was a beginner a decade ago, I started with the basic ones which helped me a lot to learn the advanced ones afterwards. If you find the guide a little hard to understand, you can also search on YouTube with their name to have a better understanding.

Additionally, I tried to make the list of skateboard tricks easiest to hardest with tricks that have similarities with one another for ease of learning. Lastly, I hope my article will be a great help for you to become a pro skater one day. Till then, just keep practicing and have all the fun skateboarding has to offer.

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