Stance Variations and What They Mean

In skating there are a number of different stances which affect not only the name of the trick being performed but the difficulty of that trick.  The two fundamental stances of skate boarding include whether or not you ride regular or goofy.  These different preferences in stance do not have any effect on the difficulty of tricks but it does classify you as a goofy stance rider or regular.   The goofy stance simply means that naturally you are more comfortable skating with your back foot as your left foot, while regular stance skaters find it more comfortable to have their back foot as their right foot.  For the rest of this article I will be explaining the different stances which affect the difficulty and names of tricks form the goofy stance perspective.  I personally ride goofy so it will be easier for me to explain the differences.  The stance variations which do have an effect on the tricks include switch, fakie, and nollie, first we will discuss the switch stance.  Skating switch simply means that as a goofy skater I am performing tricks and or riding with my back foot as my right foot.  A regular skater would be skating switch if he or she was riding in the goofy stance.  Switch tricks are much harder than normal tricks, it can be compared to writing an essay with your non dominate hand.  Fakie tricks are essentially tricks that are done riding backwards.   An example of this would be a fakie Ollie.  A fakie Ollie from the perspective of a goofy skater would mean that his left foot would be on the nose of the board when he pops the Ollie.  The last position which is typically considered the hardest stance is the nollie position.  A nollie would be doing a fakie switch Ollie.   This is hard to envision so just picture riding the board how you normally would ride but popping ticks with your front foot.  These are the stances of skateboarding which affect the difficulty and technicality of tricks.

How to Ollie

The Ollie is the primary foundation of skateboarding.  The Ollie is the gateway to all of skating tricks, except for a select few including things such as power slides and no complies.  You should begin to learn the Ollie as soon as you are comfortable riding the skateboard.  A common mistake that most skaters make is trying to rush this process.  Rushing the process in order to try and catch up to your friend’s ability levels will inevitably lead to injury.  My advice is to first get coasting and simple riding down then move onto this tutorial.  If you are comfortable riding your board let me say congratulations and good luck while trying to learn this trick.  This trick is very difficult to master at first but as soon as you have it, it will be yours for life.  Like other skateboarding tricks the keys to success include your foot placement and timing.  Your back foot should be placed upon the top of the tail, while staying on the ball of your foot.  Your front foot will want to be just past the middle of the board, almost three quarters.  Like the back foot you will want to be on the ball of your foot in order to get the most successful "pop".  The term "pop" in skateboarding refers to the height of the jump and the noise your skateboard will make when done successfully.  Now that your feet are in the right position you will want to kick your back down firmly on the tail which will give your board its pop.  Right after popping the tail your front foot is going to want to slide up the middle of the board towards the nose of your skateboard.  This process if done correctly will put your board at a 45 degree angle, which we will correct in just a moment.  While in the air at this 45 degree angle you will need to level the board out by bringing your front foot down towards the ground.  If done correctly your board will level out and your feet will be above each set of bolts on the skateboard.  The key to this trick really though is trial and error.  Everyone does this trick slightly different just based on their own personal preference, so keep at it and good luck.

About Me

My name is Dan and I have been skateboarding for about six years.  I have a passion for the sport and would like to provide information on the sport and answer any questions which are in my realm of expertise.  I currently live in IL and know allot about the states skate spots and parks.  If anyone needs help regarding tricks or which parks are worth visiting I would be more than happy to respond.  I can be reached at whoisdanadams@yahoo.com.  Through skateboarding I have made many friends and have had many great experiences which I would like to share with whoever is willing.  I have created this blog to share my love of this sport and to hopefully get some individuals interested in trying to skateboard.  In this blog I want to stress how anyone can learn to skateboard and that size, gender, ethnicity, has no standing in regards to skateboarding.  Out of my friends I am the one who is known to be extremely clumsy and uncoordinated, this has not stopped me from learning how to skate and actually becoming pretty good.  This blog will consist of basic skating knowledge, trick tips, where to purchase materials, how to get started skating, and the joys it has brought me and can bring you.  My email which I linked to above is available to anyone reading my blog who has questions, needs clarification on anything I write about, if you just want to say hi, or if you have an idea of another topic.  I just want to stress that I am here for the sport and for its community and will try to get back to any emails which I receive.