Learn to Longboard: A Beginner's Guide

Longboarding is easier to start than skateboarding and easier to get hurt on, and both facts come from the same place: you carry more speed. Bigger soft wheels roll over everything, which is why you are moving quickly ten minutes in.

So the order of learning matters more here than on a skateboard. Stopping comes before speed. Everything else follows.

The short version

• Learn to foot brake before anything else. There is no brake on a longboard.
• Helmet from day one. More important than on a skateboard, because more speed.
• Order: stance, standing, pushing, carving, foot braking, then hills.
• Somewhere flat, smooth and empty to start. Not a hill, not a bike path at peak hour.
• Speed wobbles are a setup problem plus tense legs, not a you problem.
• Timeline: rolling in a session, carving in a week or two, reliable braking in two to three weeks.
• Sliding is a separate sport. Months, and it needs gloves and a helmet.

What we cover

Regular or goofy · Standing and balance · Pushing · Carving · Stopping · Speed wobbles · Hills · Falling · Timeline · FAQ

Are you regular or goofy?

Regular is left foot forward, goofy is right foot forward. Around two thirds of people are regular and neither is better.

Quickest test: stand still and have someone give you a gentle shove from behind. Whichever foot steps out to catch you is usually your back foot. Alternatively, run at a slippery floor in socks and slide, and see which foot leads.

If you surf or snowboard, you already know. Use the same stance.

Getting comfortable on the board

Start on grass or carpet so it cannot roll away from you.

Feet roughly over or just inside the trucks, shoulder width or a little wider. Front foot angled slightly forward, back foot closer to across the board. Knees bent. Straight legs is the single most common beginner mistake and it causes most of the problems on this page, including speed wobbles.

Rock side to side to feel the trucks lean. On a longboard the turn is a lean rather than a twist, and it takes more commitment than people expect. Get used to putting weight through your heels and toes deliberately.

How to push

Front foot on the board angled forward, back foot on the ground. Push off, bring the back foot up, then rotate your front foot across as you settle into your riding stance.

Longboards reward a longer, smoother push than a skateboard. You are not doing quick little kicks, you are taking a proper stride and letting the board roll.

Two things to avoid:

• Mongo pushing, where the front foot pushes and the back foot stays on. It works, and it makes foot braking and everything else more awkward later. Learn it the standard way.
• Standing up straight once rolling. Stay low, knees soft.

A drop-through deck sits lower and makes pushing noticeably less tiring over distance, which is why it is the shape most commuters end up on.

How to carve

Carving is the point of a longboard. It is also how you control speed on a gentle hill without braking.

Lean through your heels to turn one way, through your toes to turn the other. Not a foot twist, a whole-body lean from the ankles up. Link the turns into an S pattern down the road and you are carving.

Carving scrubs speed. Each turn takes you across the slope rather than down it, so a wide carve on a gentle incline keeps you at a manageable pace without ever putting a foot down. It is the first real speed control you will learn.

If the board will not turn no matter how you lean, that is your trucks or bushings, not your technique. Loosen the kingpin a quarter turn at a time.

How to stop

The most important section on this page. Learn this on flat ground, at walking pace, before you go near an incline.

Foot braking. Shift your weight fully over your front foot, take the back foot off the board and lower the sole flat onto the road, then increase pressure gradually. Flat sole, not the toe. Keep your front knee bent and your weight forward. It wears the shoe, which is what shoes are for.

The mistake is putting the foot down tentatively while your weight is still central, which lifts the board and pitches you forward. Commit your weight to the front foot first.

Carving to a stop works on a gentle slope. Wide linked turns across the fall line until you run out of speed.

Running it out is the last resort at low speed. Step off the front and run. Better a controlled exit than a fall.

Sliding is the advanced answer and a genuinely separate skill. It needs slide gloves, a helmet, and months of practice. Do not treat it as a braking method until it is reliable.

Why do you get speed wobbles?

Speed wobbles are an oscillation that builds as the board over-corrects. They feel like the board is failing. Usually it is the setup.

• Trucks too loose for your speed. Tighten the kingpin a quarter turn at a time and retest.
• Bushings too soft for your weight. Riders over about 80kg overpower stock bushings. Firmer bushings are $6 to $20 and are the real fix.
• Tense legs. Rigid legs transmit every correction straight back into the board. Bend your knees, drop your weight, look ahead rather than down.
• Weight too far back. Shift forward over the front truck.

The instinct when wobbles start is to stiffen up, which makes it worse. Getting low and relaxed is counter-intuitive and it works.

When are you ready for hills?

When you can foot brake reliably, at speed, without thinking about it. Not before.

A longboard accelerates faster than almost every beginner expects, and there is no brake. The common accident is not a trick gone wrong, it is someone on a hill they cannot stop on.

When you do start:

• Pick a hill you can see the bottom of, with no intersections and no traffic.
• Walk it first. Look for gravel, cracks, drain covers and driveways.
• Start partway down and work up the hill over several runs.
• Carve rather than bomb. Wide turns across the slope from the first run.
• Helmet, and slide gloves if it is steep enough to matter.

How to fall

• Do not put a straight arm out. Go down onto forearms, or roll along the ground.
• Roll rather than absorb. Spreading the impact over distance beats taking it in one place.
• Wrist guards while learning. Wrists are the most commonly injured part for beginners.
• Knee pads and slide gloves once you are on hills. Gloves let you put a hand down deliberately.

See our protective gear guide for what to buy and how it should fit.

How long does it take?

Stage	Roughly	What it looks like
Standing comfortably	First session	Balanced, knees bent, weight centred
Pushing and rolling	First session	Long smooth push, riding it out
Carving	1 to 2 weeks	Linked S turns, controlling speed by turning
Reliable foot braking	2 to 3 weeks	Stopping from speed without thinking
Comfortable on gentle hills	1 to 2 months	Carving down, stopping when you choose to
Sliding	Several months	Breaking traction deliberately and hooking back up

Frequency beats duration. Twenty minutes four times a week will get you further than a long session each weekend.

Learning to longboard FAQ

Is longboarding easier than skateboarding?

To start, yes. Bigger softer wheels and a longer wheelbase make a longboard far more stable at low speed, and it rolls over cracks that stop a skateboard dead. Tricks are harder, but simply riding one is easier to pick up.

How do you stop on a longboard?

Foot braking is the method to learn first. Keep your weight over your front foot, lower your back foot and drag the sole flat along the ground until you slow to a stop. Learn it on flat ground before you go anywhere near a hill.

How long does it take to learn to longboard?

Most people can push and roll in a single session and carve confidently within a week or two. Reliable foot braking takes two to three weeks. Sliding is a separate skill that takes months and needs slide gloves and a helmet.

What causes speed wobbles on a longboard and how do you stop them?

Trucks too loose for your speed, bushings too soft for your weight, and tense legs. Tighten the kingpin a quarter turn at a time, fit firmer bushings if you are over about 80kg, and bend your knees. Stiffening up makes it worse.

Should beginners longboard down hills?

Not until you can foot brake reliably at speed. A longboard accelerates faster than most people expect and there is no brake. Learn to stop on flat ground first, then work up gradually on gentle inclines you can see the bottom of.

What safety gear do you need for longboarding?

A helmet always, and it matters more than on a skateboard because you carry more speed. Add wrist guards while learning. If you are riding hills or learning to slide, slide gloves and knee pads become essential rather than optional.

Come and talk to someone who rides

Everyone on our floor rides. Come to 435A Bridge Road, Richmond, tell us what you are actually trying to do, and we will set a board up to suit it. If your current board will not turn or wobbles, bring it in and we will sort the bushings.

Free shipping Australia wide on orders over $90. Call 03 9421 2293.

Keep reading: How to Choose a Longboard, Cruiser or Surf Skate · What Size Longboard Do I Need? · Trucks, Wheels and Bushings · Protective Gear · Learn to Skateboard

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