Skateboarding is a popular sport today that people of all ages can enjoy. When learning to skate, you’re eventually going to learn the different stances, even if you don’t know just what they are called when you do them. When I first started skating as a kid, I didn’t even know about all of these. Once I started to learn them, it made tricks and stunts much easier and I found a new confidence on the board.
Fakie, Nollie, Switch and Normal are some of the skateboarding stances that confuse many people. If you take some time to learn the basics, you’ll be skating (and talking) like a pro in no time!
Fakie
Fakie is a kind of skateboarding where you travel backward while in your natural stance. A natural stance is a stance where you are feeling very comfortable while tricking and riding. In natural stance, the foot you chose to put forward will determine whether you are regular-footed or goofy.
Fakie is slightly more difficult than normal riding. The backward travel is awkward for most people and can require different concentration levels. Your feet don’t really perform the way they would naturally with normal formal skating so it can be more challenging. It can be a lot of fun once you really master it, however.
Nollie
In Nollie, you just make a forward shuffle from a natural stance. You have to ensure that the front foot gets on the nose of the board. After this, you perform all the tricks away from the nose. Nollie can still be a comfortable stance to ride on. This is because your stance is essentially similar to a normal stance. However, ensure that you swap the roles of your feet when you perform tricks. This is what makes Nollie one of the advanced stances but it’s still pretty easy to learn.
Switch stance
Switch stance is just the opposite of a natural stance. In this, you switch the foot that is on the forward side of the board. Most riders find this stance to be more difficult to ride and do tricks in. Switch stance basically combines the difficulty of both switch and fakie styles of skating.
Normal stance
Normal stance comes in two kinds. Right-handed people should have their right foot forward. Whereas, left-handed people should have their left foot forward on the board. With normal stance, you choose the best way you are comfortable. If you are comfortable with your left foot being forward, then you are a regular skater. If you are more comfortable with the right foot being forward, then you are a goofy skater.
Knowing the skateboarding stance you prefer is very important, especially for beginner skaters. This is because the role played by your feet determines how good you become in skateboarding. Your balance is caught by the foot that you put back and is the one that you should let go to the skateboard’s tail when riding. This will help you in trying many skateboarding styles that are evolving every day.
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Lisa has been skateboarding since she was a young girl and now skates with her husband and four children. She believes that you are never too young- or too old- to love skateboarding.