How to Slow Down on A Skateboard? – Beginner’s Guide

In this article, I will teach you one of the basic skills that looks pretty simple but actually it is one of the most difficult steps for most beginners. How to Slow down on a skateboard.

There are few things as satisfying and freeing as the feeling of gliding on your skateboard. It’s also super easy to pick up at a young age, especially if you have a sibling or friend who already knows how to do it.

But before long, many people find themselves frustrated with skating because they can’t get any better at it. With some good advice and practice, though, you’ll learn all about the basics of slaloming downhills in no time!

Here’s what we’ll cover…  How to slow down on a skateboard: Slaloming, which is turning left and right with complete control. And Skating in a straight line, so you can keep going at your own pace. You’ll learn how to stop fast or slow down for tricky road situations like driveways.

Summary of the Article

The Foot Dragging Method: Involves dragging your pushing foot on the road until you slow down

The Tail Dragging Method: This involves shifting your weight to the back of the board until its tail starts to drag on the road. It will help you reduce speed.

The Slaloming Method: This involves turning left and right continuously on your skateboard until your speed reduces.

How to Slow Down on A Skateboard?

I will teach you three different techniques of how to slow down on a skateboard. You need to apply each technique according to the situation carefully or you can get yourself seriously injured.

Video Guide

 

The Foot Drag Method

The first method of slowing down and stopping on a skateboard is the foot-dragging method. In this method, you put your pushing leg behind the back and drag it on the floor.

The friction of your foot against the board will slow you down quickly. In order to stop, you can simply plant your foot firmly on the ground or slide your foot backward until it’s no longer behind you.

The downside to this method is that you have to balance yourself while going slow. There is a chance of falling off your skateboard when doing this, but it can be worth the risk because sometimes going fast can make you lose control.

You should use this technique only under controlled conditions where an accident cannot cause any harm to yourself or others too close to you.

The Tail Drag Method

The next effective method which can help you slow down on your skateboard is the tail dragging method. Again this is also a very dangerous technique and shouldn’t be used when the roads are slippery or busy.

In this method, you put your pushing leg and your front leg on the tail of your skateboard. You need to shift all of your weight to the back of the board so that its tail starts dragging on the road.

The friction caused by the drag will reduce your speed and will help you slow down on your skateboard. However, if you are moving at a faster speed then you should never use this method. The problem is it will ruin your balance and you may fall down.

Apart from that, it will also ruin your skateboard because dragging your tail on the road is not good for the board.

The Slaloming Method

The most useful and effective way of how to slow down on a skateboard is the slaloming method. In this technique, you turn your body while going forward and when you are about to fall over or move in a direction opposite to which you want to go, then you start turning your board again.

This will take some getting used to but it is worth practicing because if done correctly, it can help you slow down much faster than using any other techniques.

During slaloming you turn your skateboard from left to right continuously but in a fluid motion so that your skateboard moves with a uniform velocity. During the turning motion momentum of the skateboard is lost which helps to reduce the speed and eventually you will slow down and be able to stop on your skateboard.

This method requires a lot of practice but it is the safest way of how to slow down on a skateboard.

Safety Tips for Beginners

The most important thing you should always remember while using any of the techniques mentioned above is to always stay in control. If you lose your balance or if you upset the equilibrium of your skateboard then there is a chance that you will fall down and injure yourself.

Also, it’s not good for beginners to try out advanced techniques like tail dragging because they may end up hurting themselves by falling off their skateboards. The best way to prevent this is simply causing as much friction between yourself and the board as possible.

You can cause friction between your shoes and the board by bending your knees and moving them closer towards each other. This will increase the grip between both parts and will help you slow down on your skateboard naturally.

Another good way of how to slow down on a skateboard is to wear pants or some form of clothing that will not create too much drag between you and your board. This can prevent the friction between your body and the board from decreasing significantly, making it easier for you to slow down fast.

It’s always good if you start learning skateboarding by going at low speeds first so that you can get used to the motions before moving faster.

This may seem like a boring way but it’s actually beneficial because when we go too fast and lose control, we usually fall off our boards. It’s important that if you want to learn how to skateboard then not only do you practice but also be safe about doing it.

Final Words

The next time you are on your skateboard and want to slow down, I would recommend trying out the slaloming method if you haven’t already. This is the most effective way of how to slow down on a skateboard and it will also help you improve your riding skills significantly.

You can try these techniques in empty parking lots or somewhere where there isn’t much traffic around. If not, then use them only when you are completely sure about yourself and when the road conditions allow it.

As mentioned above, this technique should be used only by longboards as they have larger wheels that can tolerate high speeds more easily than shortboards do.

I hope that this article was able to provide you with enough information about how to slow down on a skateboard. If you found this article to be useful, then please share it with your friends and family.

If you have anything to say about this topic or if you have any questions regarding this post, then feel free to leave them in the comments section below!

Thank You for Reading! I hope that you will use this information wisely and stay safe while riding on your boards. Happy Sliding!

GOOD LUCK!