Most people who are interested in learning how to skateboard are afraid to try it because they are worried about falling and getting injured. Skateboarding can be a lot of fun for both kids and adults, but it is important to learn how to do it safely if you want to overcome your fear.
This article will change your life if you’re one of those who are searching for how to get over the fear of skateboarding. The following are some easy yet effective tips that will help you gain confidence and open the door to learning and riding like a pro.
Let’s dig into it!
How To Get Over The Fear Of Skateboarding
You can use these tips if you have a fear of falling, riding in public, learning new tricks, starting skateboarding again after a long time, or anything else that stops you from becoming a pro skater. You will find tips below that are relevant to both new skateboarders and intermediate riders. Read them all and apply what fits your situation the best to get over the fear of skateboarding.
1. Try To identify The Reason For Your Fear
The first thing you should do is take your time and find out why you are afraid of skateboarding. Is it because you don’t know how to skateboard? Or maybe you think you’ll fall off the board? Whatever the reason, try to figure out what is causing this fear. After identifying the problem, you’ll be able to overcome it more easily.
You will realize that there is nothing wrong with your fear in this way. It’s just a natural reaction that you have to overcome.
2. Talk To Someone About Your Fear Of Skateboarding
Once you’ve identified the reason behind your skateboarding fear, you should talk to someone about it. It can be a family member, friend, skateboarding expert, or therapist. Speaking about your fear will help you understand it better and hopefully reduce its intensity.
3. Visualize Yourself As A Skateboarder
Visualization is a great way to increase your confidence and believe that you are going to get better at skateboarding. Also, by constantly reminding yourself of these thoughts, you will slowly overcome your fear and feel more confident.
4. Master the basics
According to our study, most people are afraid of skateboarding because they have not mastered the basics. Until and unless you master the skateboarding basics, you will feel less confident while riding.
The basics include standing on a skateboard correctly, balancing, turning, and kicking. Despite the fact that it takes time to master the basics before you can learn new tricks, once you have mastered the basics, you will be able to learn new tricks quickly and easily with full confidence.
5. Learn To Fall Safely
Falling is one of a beginner skateboarder’s biggest fears, so why not learn how to do it safely? Once you learn how to fall off a skateboard safely, you won’t have fear while riding and learning new tricks.
You can practice falling from a skateboard on the grass by wearing safety equipment like knee pads and wrist guards. You just need to practice falling with the help of safety gears on the ground. Furthermore, if you are not wearing safety gear, you can fall and roll with little or no injury.
6. Wear Protective Gears
Wearing protective gear will keep you safe while skating and boost your self-confidence and reduce your fear of skateboarding. The wearing of safety gear sends a message to the subconscious mind that you’re in control and that you can handle any situation.
The protective gear for skateboarding includes a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards.
7. Get The Right Size And Type of Board
It is very important to have the right size and type of skateboard as it determines your riding comfort, stability, and control. Once you have a skateboard that fits your riding style, you’ll be able to feel more confident and overcome your fear of skateboarding.
However, if you are a beginner and don’t know your riding style, you can get a skateboard that is 26 inches long and 8 inches wide instead. With this, you can learn the basics as well as determine your personal riding style interest. For example if you’re 10 year old you should look for the best skateboard for 10 year old.
8. Start Practicing On Grass or Carpet
As you get comfortable with the basics, begin practicing on grass or carpet to build your skills and confidence. You should never start practicing or riding on streets or ramps until you have mastered the basics.
9. Start slowly and be patience
Don’t try to do too much too soon. You should keep patience if you’ve just started skateboarding, and don’t attempt difficult tricks right away, as it will take time and practice. You should start by learning the basics, then move on to simple tricks such as ollies as you gain experience. By doing so, you will gain confidence and make skateboarding less intimidating.
10. Get someone’s support
When you have difficulty overcoming your skateboarding fear, you can ask a friend, family member, or another skateboarder for help. With someone supporting you from the back, you will feel more confident and focused.
11. Watch Youtube Videos
If you have fewer people around you riding a skateboard, you can watch videos of people skating in different ways on YouTube. You will feel more confident and may find it easier to learn how to skateboard.
In addition, you can watch skateboarding videos on YouTube free of charge to learn skateboarding tricks. There are a lot of great videos on YouTube featuring professional skaters which could be beneficial to you.
12. Add fun to learning
As long as you just keep learning every move perfectly, you will quickly get bored and feel fear. Hence, adding some fun and excitement to the learning process is essential.
You can practice with other skaters and add some unique and funny techniques to your practice to make it more fun. Finally, skateboarding is meant to be fun, so don’t take it too seriously, and you’ll easily get over the fear of skateboarding and stick with it for longer periods of time.
13. Stay Positive
It’s normal to fall, get hurt, and make mistakes while learning skateboarding. As a result, don’t focus on the things that go wrong, instead focus on the things that go right and celebrate your successes instead. You need to be positive if you want to become a professional skateboarder.
14. Learn to skateboard in public
You’re likely to have skateboarding fear in public places like gardens, skateparks, and streets if you’re just starting out. You may be right if you think other skaters will laugh at you if you fall or make mistakes. But remember, laughter is the best way to break the ice and start building trust with new skaters. Also, it’s always fun to laugh when you’re skateboarding! After all, every skater is once a beginner.
Shortly put, if you take it easy and have fun, you’ll easily overcome your fear of skateboarding in public.
15. Learn new Tricks Slowly
Once you’ve mastered the basics of skateboarding, don’t try to learn new tricks too quickly. You’ll need time and practice to master and build confidence for any trick. So, learn slowly, and if it seems impossible or too time-consuming, you can jump that and learn other tricks at the moment.
16. Exercise And Be Fit
Being physically unfit can also make you fear skateboarding and be unconfident while skateboarding because you feel unbalanced. You can overcome your fear of skateboarding by exercising regularly and maintaining your body as needed.
Even skateboarding itself is a great way to be fit and get into shape, so you can do that in nearby areas as well.
17. Celebrate Your Newly Learned Trick
The moment you master any new trick, celebrate with something fun and exciting, like showing your friends and making videos for social media.
By doing so, you can build confidence and overcome your fear of learning more tricks.
18. Learn One Trick At A Time
Learning one trick at a time is one of the best ways to overcome your fear of skateboarding. When you attempt to master multiple tricks simultaneously, you won’t be able to master any single trick and will lose your confidence, which later turns into fear.
Thus, you should avoid learning multiple tricks at one time and concentrate on one until you master it.
19. Accept Failure And Learn The Correct Form
If you failed to perform any tricks in front of your friends or others don’t be too hard on yourself. Recognize that you made a mistake by not practicing enough and learn the correct technique for doing that trick. Having this knowledge will help you avoid making the same mistake again in the future and overcome fear of skateboarding. Accept failure as a learning experience and turn it into a positive experience.
20. Practice, practice, and practice
Last but not least, practicing as often as you can will help you overcome your fear of skateboarding. If you practice regularly, you’ll learn the tricks, develop muscle memory and gain confidence on the board.
If you’re not perfect at skateboarding, remember that skateboarding is a skill that can be improved by practicing it regularly. The more you practice, the better you become at skateboarding.
There are a number of reasons for this, such as that you haven’t mastered the basics of skateboarding, haven’t practiced well, don’t wear safety gear, etc. The only thing you need to do is figure out why you’re scared of skateboarding and take the necessary steps to overcome it.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this guide has helped you know how to get over the fear of skateboarding. Practice regularly, wear safety gear, and don’t be afraid to show off your new skills to your friends once you’ve mastered them. You will eventually overcome your fear of skateboarding if you implement all these tips into your practice. Happy Skateboarding!
I am James Buckridge, the founder of skateboardidea.com. Skateboarding is my passion, and I have years of teaching experience in this field. Our vision and mission is to provide you with accurate information on everything related to skateboarding. Catch me on Twitter & Pinterest.