Before You Move Too Fast, Learn to Stop!
Skateboard Stopping
Skateboard stopping is easy once you get the hang of it but it takes a bit of practise to nail it. Learn
to stop your board before you need to. If you wait until you're hurtling towards something big and hard to try foot
braking for the first time you will do damage!
We're going to learn a couple of skateboard stopping methods in this beginner's section.
Foot BrakingFoot braking involves gently lowering your back foot and letting it skim the ground
to slow you down.
To perform a foot brake, turn your front foot and upper body to face forward. Now transfer your weight forward
so you're balanced with all your weight on your front leg. Don't lean forwards or backwards.
Keeping your back leg straight, lower your foot until just it skims the ground. Using too much pressure at this
time will make your foot skip like a manic kangaroo and pitch you off your board.
The faster you're travelling the more your foot will try to skip so learn to stop at low speeds first. Once
you've slowed down a bit you can apply more pressure.
The Tail StopIf you don't have a tail saver on your board, tail stops will scrape your board up a bit.
This is more cosmetic damage than anything and some skaters like their boards to look well used, so it's up to you.
However, if you use the tail stop a lot, tail stop from high speeds, or ride on rough ground you will eventually
wear your board down enough for it to break.
As with foot braking, learn your tail stops at slow speeds first.
Push off and ride a little way then, when your ready to try the stop, transfer your weight to your back foot and
push the back of the board firmly downwards until it hits the ground.
Your front leg should naturally bend as the front of the board comes up in the air. This will grind the tail
along the ground and bring you to a stop.
Learning tail stops will improve your balance as well as stop the skateboard.
A word of Caution
When you first try a tail stop you may find your balance isn't as great as you thought it was. Be careful or the
board could shoot out in front of you and you may end up flat on your back.
BailingBailing simply means abandoning your board.
Okay, so bailing is not technically a skateboard stopping technique but if it's a toss up between you or the
board, do it!
If you feel you're in danger of a collision, or if you just think you're going to fall, forget about stopping
and jump off. The board will stop eventually and if it gets damaged you can replace it.
Don't risk hurting yourself to save your board.
If you do bail, try to jump in the direction of movement and run off the momentum.
Go to more Skateboarding Lessons
Go to Know How to Skateboard from Skateboard
Stopping
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