24 Easy skateboard tricks you can learn in your first month

A hard part of learning to skate is deciding which tricks to learn. For today’s article, I’m going to recommend a list of basic skateboard tricks for you to learn. They also serve as a good foundation for the harder tricks you’ll learn in the future.

1. The Ollie

This skateboarding trick is the key to almost everything else. It will lay down the foundation for almost every other trick you will learn, which is no exaggeration.

The trick is done by popping the tail, jumping at the same time and dragging your front foot up. Sounds simple right?

Here is the step by step process to get it down:
Practice setting your board on its tail and dragging your foot up. This will help your body get used to this motion and make it natural to you.
Practice jumping up as you pop the board. This also helps the motion of jumping as you pop the board natural to you.

Practice, practice, practice! No shortcuts, you’re gonna have to work to try to get it down.

This trick will take a bit of time to learn because it needs a bit of coordination between your muscles and legs. Check out the tutorial above for a more visual guide.

2. Fakie frontside 180

This trick isn’t too hard to learn and is nice to try out once you get your ollie down.

You ride your skateboard backward as it goes forwards (this is called fakie) and you do an ollie and rotate your body and board 180 degrees with your frontside (when your toes face forward). Really simple.

Let’s break it down with a step by step process:

You first compress and start rotating your body from your shoulders as you decompress.
You then do an ollie.
The momentum from the rotation should carry you through and turn you.

This trick requires a bit of trial and error. Everyone rotates differently and some people need more momentum than others to complete the turn. Some people don’t like starting the turn with their shoulders. You have to find what works for you.

Check out the video above for a bit of instruction and visual look at the trick.

3. Hippie jump

Super easy to learn. This trick can be taken to extremes and people jump over tall things, it’s also super silly and fun to do. Here is how it is done:

Place your feet on directly over your trucks. You want to avoid putting weight on the tail or nose of your board.
As you approach the thing you wanna jump, get ready and crouch.
Jump up lightly and make sure you bend your knees, bending your knees is critical and is just as important as the jump. It helps keep you in control.
As you come down try not to panic and stomp down, this can make you lose control and land badly on your board.
Come down lightly and bend your knees as you land on your board.

There are some nuances on how to perform it and requires a bit of confidence. You’ll definitely have to learn to control your power as you jump and as you land. Check out the video above for more tips.

4. Fs shuvit (without a pop)

Another simple but a bit harder trick. This requires you to spin your board 180 degrees anti-clockwise and you simply jump up and land down on it.

You start by placing a foot on the tail and one on the bolt of the front truck.
As you lightly jump back, push out/forwards with your back foot and pull back with your front.
Try to keep your board flat through this motion and as you push and pull.
Your board should turn and you should be in the air.
Land lightly on your board and roll away.

It’s a bit tricky to get down, you’ll have to spend some time learning how to time the push, the jump and landing on your board. It will feel super intuitive once you land it though, haha.

5. Boneless

So, this trick is what people used to jump over stuff before the ollie was invented.

It’s easier to understand how it’s done if you watch it lol, check out the video below. Here is how you do the trick anyway:

You bend down and take your front foot off the board. Put your foot on the backside of the board.
Simultaneously, grab the front side of your board with your hand.
Shift most of your weight to the foot on the ground and lift your back leg (which is on the tail of the board).
Jump with the leg on the ground and bend your leg that’s on the board.
You should be airborne now.
Time it and place your front leg back on the board and release your grip on it with your hand.
You should land and roll away.

This requires you to learn how to time it; when to shift your weight to the other foot when to let go of your board as you put your leg back on it etc. Just requires TRIAL AND EFFORT.

6. Pop shuvit

Super easy to learn and fun to do, this trick is the brother of the Fs shuvit.

Let me break it down step by step:

You stand with your back foot on the tail and the front on the front truck.
Push your back leg backward and your front leg forwards and jump lightly.
Your board should do a 180 clockwise and you should be able to land on it easy.

You can realistically learn this trick in 20minutes. It’s easy and simple to get down. Above you can see Aaron Kyro again making it look easy.

7. Kickflip

Possible the second coolest looking flip in skateboarding? This flip needs some determination to learn it. You should have your ollie down and be comfortable with it.

You start by doing an ollie.
As your front foot comes up, it starts going towards the backside of the front tail.
You then flick your foot out from the base of the backside of the front tail. Make sure you flip upwards and out. Not only either but both.
Jump simultaneously as you flick out.
You should see the board to a 360-degree flip.
Start putting your feet down as it almost completes it flip.
You should catch it and land down safely.

Definitely the hardest trick on my list, but the most satisfying to learn. This trick is definitely easier with narrower skateboards, though I don’t recommend really narrow boards if you’re a beginner looking for a skateboard for an adult.

8. Fakie FS Shuv it

This one is similar to the FS Shuv it above, but you do it ‘fakie’. Fakie in skateboarding is riding backward. A better way to understand it would be riding with the tail of your skateboard in front, in a different stance. So if you’re goofy, you now ride regular with your tail leading.

Let’s break down the trick:

Have your back foot on the tail and your front foot just behind the front bolts
Pop the board.
As you pop the board, simultaneously push your back foot forward and jump up.
As you’re up in the air, allow the board to do a 180 before catching it and landing.
You want your front foot to leave the board first and to also be the first to catch it.

9. Revert

A revert is one of those easy tricks that can add a lot of flair and style to your skating. People often do them after landing big tricks just for a bit of spice.

A revert is rotating 180* with your board with at least one truck/set of wheels touching the ground. Kind of a quick 180* powerslide.

Let’s break the frontside version down:

As you’re traveling straight, make sure you have decent speed.
Bend your knees.
As you start the revert, use your shoulders to lead the motion.
Unbend your knees and throw your body in the other direction. This should make your wheels break traction.
After fully rotating, catch yourself by bending your knees.

10. Fakie Ollie

This is the same as a normal Ollie, but you’ll be riding backward. What makes it difficult is getting used to riding backward and landing the ollie with your back foot leading.

It will take some practice to get it down. Make sure your ollie basics are good too.

Since you’re just riding backward, I’ll give some tips to make it easier:

Bend your knees more than usual and don’t fully extend your legs when you pop.
Have a moderate speed when going, not too fast, not too slow.
When you land, try to bend your knees to absorb the impact.
Try to have more weight on the middle of the deck when you land.

11. Rock to Fakie

This trick requires a mini-ramp. It also requires that you be comfortable riding backward and have some decent board control. If you can comfortably do these two things, this trick should be very easy to do. The trick is, you go up on the coping and stick your deck on it. You then bring your deck back (with a mini-manual) and roll down the ramp.

Here are some tips to get it down:

You want to overcommit and get your back wheels/truck as close to the ledge as comfortable. This gives you the best chance to not get stuck when getting back to rolling.
When you’re doing the mini-manual to get back on to the ramp, don’t overdo it. Shifting your weight a tiny bit usually does the trick.

12. Tail Stall on a mini ramp

This trick again requires a mini-ramp. It might feel a bit tricky to get down, but it is easy to do. You just need to commit.

Here is the trick:

You roll up and down the ramp
When you roll back (rolling fakie), you stall your tail on the coping.
By stalling I mean standing on your tail.
You can hold this position easily.
You then put weight on the front trucks and you should drop in and roll away ok.

The real trick here is dropping back into the ramp. If you practice dropping in and get it down, this trick will be easy for you to do.

13. Drop-in

Dropping in is a fundamental trick that every rider needs to know. It’s a trick you’ll be using when skating vert, skating in parks, ramps, etc. If you don’t know it, you’re limiting the things you’d be able to skate.

The trick is quite simple – you stand with your tail on the coping and put enough weight on the front truck so you can drop in. Confidence and committing to the drop is key here.

Here are some tips:

Stay planted on your deck – back foot on the tail, front foot on the front bolts.
Start leaning forward and bend your knees – as though you’re falling forward.
At the right moment (when you’ve leaned/fallen forward enough), push your front leg out and make contact with the ramp.
Keep weight/pressure on your front foot to stay over your deck.

14. Ollie Pick up

This is just a cool way of picking up your board. Make sure you have your Ollies down before you try this out.

What’s gonna be difficult about this one is timing your ollie and grabbing your board. It will take some practice and you’ll mess up if you don’t have good hand-eye coordination.

Here are some tips to get it down:

After the flick to raise and level out your board, you’re going to want to raise your front foot straight up – so it doesn’t get in the way of the board going up.
You also want to ollie as though you’re throwing the skateboard upwards.

15. Manual

Another fundamental trick, the manual is quite simple. That said, it requires a lot of skill to hold it out.

To do a manual, you stand on your tail and allow the board to roll on the back wheels only. You also make sure the tail doesn’t scrape the ground. The key here is balancing and finding the sweet spot where you’re comfortable.

Here are some tips to get the manual right:

Practice while holding on to something.
Practice whilst stationary.
Practice them whilst rolling.

There’s no secret formula to this trick, you just have to build up your balancing skills.

16. Fakie Big Spin

To learn this trick, you should have the half-cab and fakie shuv-its down. This trick is kind of a combination of the two.

The trick is your board doing a 360 turn, whilst you do a 180 turn and land on it. It looks flashy and difficult but it is quite beginner-friendly.

To get this trick down you need to pay attention to:

Your foot positioning on deck.
How you rotate your body.
Allowing the board to fully rotate.
Catching the deck with your front foot.

If you practice these things, this trick shouldn’t be too hard to get down.

17. Frontside FS 180

This is a surprisingly easy trick to get down – that said, some skaters find it difficult to do. If you wanna get this down, you should make sure you’re comfortable riding switch and can do ollies easily.

The key to getting this trick down is turning your whole body – leading with your shoulders to help transfer the rotation to your eck Here’s how to do it:

You pop up as you do with the ollie.
Just before you pop, you turn your head and shoulders.
The rest of your body and legs should naturally follow the rotation.
When you land, bend your knees to absorb the impact and roll away.

18. Ollie on a curb

This is another essential trick. If you get this right, it should make it easier for you to do tricks that need you to jump on to a ledge or rail.

The trick is ollie’ ing high enough and committing. I often see people not make these because they get scared. They also tend to slam down too quickly when landing.

A good way to increase your confidence is to do ollie’s next to the curb, or approach the curb and do the ollies at an angle to get on to it.

The last thing to get right is timing – making sure you’re jumping at the right time.

19. Footplant

This is a good beginner trick to know. Once you get it, it becomes really easy to do things like boneless and other footplants.

A footplant requires you to take one foot off and plant it on the ground, leave one foot on the deck, and then get back on and keep riding away. They are quite fun to do.

To do this trick you need to be able to:

Ollie comfortably.
Be comfortable leaving one foot on the ground after an ollie.
Be able to quickly get back on your deck and roll away.

The video below should help you if you have trouble with this trick.

20. Cigar Flip

The Cigar flip is one of the easiest tricks in skateboarding. You could even learn it on your first day of skating.

To get it down, you just need to be comfortable getting on your deck and rolling away.

How do you do it?

From laying on its side, you kind of push and pull your deck this way and that way.
It should naturally come to a standing position.
You then time this and jump on the deck at the right moment.
The video below illustrates this more effectively.

It’s a very easy trick that shouldn’t take anyone too long to learn.

21. Staple gun on a curb

You only need to know how to ollie to be able to do this trick. You also just need a little bit of confidence.

The trick is quite similar to a foot plant:

You approach the curb and ollie.
As you ollie, you leave one foot behind and plant it on the below the curb- most of your weight should be here.
You let the deck keep going, past the curb with your other leg still on it.
You then pull it back, get on at the right moment and ride away.

Try not to go too fast. The board can end up far away and you could do a (very painful) split.

You can also do this trick on a ramp.

22. Nose stall on a curb

This trick requires you to have a curb or a ramp with coping available. It is similar to the tail stall above. This time, though, you stall with the nose.

Here is how to do it:

Roll with moderate speed towards the curb.
As you get close, shift your front foot to the nose.
If the curb is too high shift your weight to the back to raise the nose a bit.
When you get to the curb and make contact, shift your weight to your front so you can stall.
You can also ollie on to a curb to do a stall.

23. FS Shuv it (with pop)

I’ve mentioned the FS Shuv it without the pop on my list already. This time, I’m gonna be showing you how to do it with the pop. I find this trick challenging. Here is how you do it:

When you pop your board, you scoop and push it out with your back leg.
Your front leg doesn’t do much but helps in control.
You jump up and jump backwards to land on the board.
You catch it with your front foot and land on it.

What makes the trick challenging is getting the scoop and jump right. Catching it is also difficult as you can’t always see the board.

24. Fakie Kickflip

The fakie kickflip is the same as a normal kickflip. You’re just riding backward now and that adds a layer of trickiness. This trick is slightly harder because of the pop, landing and the feeling of moving backward. Here are some things you can practice to make it more comfortable to do:

Make sure your normal kickflips are good.
Practicing getting comfortable with fakie ollies.
Make sure you have your landing on lock.
Get comfortable riding backward and cruising.
Practice the flick to make the board flip – it feels different when doing it backward.

Once the above feel comfortable, doing a fakie kickflip shouldn’t be an issue at all.

Learning these tricks will help you take your skills to the next level

So this basic skateboard tricks for beginners list should set you up perfectly to learn harder tricks like the tre flip, hard-flip etc. They also help you get super familiar and comfortable with your board. You should make it your goal to learn all the tricks above.

If you manage to get all these easy skateboard tricks down perfect you’ll have a good arsenal of things to perform for videos, at the skate park etc. The list isn’t really from easiest to hardest and different people will struggle with different tricks.

If you’re having trouble getting them down, I recommend finding more experienced people at the skatepark to help you or going to a skate camp.