(This is the first in a series of Tips for younger Kids just learning to Skateboard)
The basic question is, will your son or daughter feel more comfortable with their right or left foot on the front of the board?
Goofy - Right foot forward, left foot back
Regular - Left foot forward, right foot back
Here's the catch.. Neither is better or worse. Skaters tend to be about 50/50 and it has nothing to do with whether they are right or left handed!
Some Goofy Skaters include: Tony Hawk, P-Rod and Greg Lutzka
Some Regular Skaters include: Danny Way, Ryan Sheckler and Chaz Ortiz
Thankfully there are some pretty reliable ways to help your child figure out which way might be most natural, before they even step on the board.
I'm listing these in general by the order in which I think they work, results may vary!
1) The Slide Test
This one is the most reliable and the most fun! Wearing socks on a smooth floor have you child run and slide. Generally the foot they put forward during that slide is the one they should have forward on the board.
2) The Lean Test
This one is pretty reliable and fun as long as you do it carefully! Have your child stand up and start leaning over till they have to put out a leg to catch themselves. The leg they use to catch themselves should generally be their front foot.
3) The Stair Test
Have them stand at the bottom of a set of stairs with both feet on the ground. Say "go" and see which foot they step up with first. That should be the front foot.
4) The Tug of War Test
This one seems a little more questionable, but it seemed to work ok for us. Play a quick Tug of War game with rope or towel and see which foot they put forward, that should be the front foot again.
5) The Roll Test
This is the only one done on the board itself. Have them stand on the board while you stand in front of them and hold their hands. Just roll them one way and then the other and see if they can tell you which feels more natural.
You could always just "let them skate" and figure it out, but especially for younger kids I'd recommend at least trying some of these ideas. Riding the board at first can be so awkward, you just don't know what feels right or wrong. A younger skater may also be more tempted to follow an older sibling or more experienced friend and try to copy their stance instead of finding their own.
Please let me know how this works out for you! If you have any other tips or ideas, let us know we'd be happy to share them.
7 comments
This one is very helpful! A complete guide to teaching kids how to skateboard in a very fun way. I love the slide test with socks, I bet this one is the most fun part of learning. Thank you for sharing!
Another tried and true method for determining foot placement is ‘The Ball Test’. Simply roll a larger ball (kickball sized or thereabouts) towards your child; whichever foot they use to kick the ball is likely their front foot. Tried it with my 6 year old son and he is regular. His old man is goofy. I told him it doesn’t matter that we’re different. He doesn’t need to emulate me in order to skate well; he needs to listen to his own body and do what feels right and he’ll pick it up eventually. He’s only recently started skating at a local indoor private ramp that on Saturday mornings has a Panskate session (Pancake breakfast and skating) where only kids 10 and younger can use the ramp (along with parents assistance when needed of course). He’s been using my board which is admittedly too big for him, but if he still likes it after a few more tries I’ll likely be back to pick up one of your boards for him. As an older parent that’s been skating on and off since the early ’80’s I can attest that your site and setups are a great idea. The big companies are really missing out on the growing demographic of sub teenage skaters. When I started skating kids usually started at 12 at the earliest, but today that just isn’t true in many cases. The big companies don’t seem to have caught on to this and continue to make only full sized boards so kudos to you guys for providing a quality option for young skaters. Those boards you can buy at big box stores aren’t even worth the packaging they come in. Glad I came across your site. Keep up the good work and keep skating!
Love the sliding in socks idea. Deff the best one. My son is four and skates goofy. Not sure if that’s just because I skate goofy so I tried the sock sliding idea. Worked like a charm.
Excellent website. A lot of helpful information here. These tips are helpful to me when my child learning a Skateboard. He is now 4 years old. I found here how to choose skateboard for Kids.
http://myskateboards.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/skateboard-for-kids
Sheila and Sophie,
We will be shipping again starting about June 18th.
Sophie, you’ll want to order pretty quickly if we are shipping to Australia.
Sheila, we should be all set for an August birthday no problem.
Best,
Bryan