Skateboarding is a widespread hobby and an unforgettable extreme sport. This activity is quite popular, particularly among the youth. It can give you an adrenaline rush because it implicates riding and performing stunts. Can you ride a skateboard backwards? Let’s find out more details below?
Some people don’t consider skateboarding a sport. It can be a replacement for a vehicle. Or perhaps some merely enjoy riding it, appreciating a peaceful and cozy cruise along the passages.
If you are new to skateboarding and are learning new stunts, one of the things that you want to learn is riding your skateboard backward. Yet, is that even doable?
Can you ride a skateboard backward? Just like ice skating, you are able to skateboard backward, for sure. With the right technique, it will be quite easy to get familiar with this method of riding. Riding fakie is no rocket science, by all means!
Table of Contents
Let’s Cover Some Basics
Riding a skateboard takes a lot of skill, time, and practice. Every beginner in this sport should learn the basics before attempting new tricks. One of those tricks is trying to ride the skateboard backward.
Like any other extreme sport, skateboarding can be a challenging activity. It does not matter how skilled you are. You can learn a lot of basic stuff just by watching other skateboarders in the skatepark or on the street.
Before you hit the skatepark, you have to think about some safety measures. First and foremost, think about getting essential skateboarding equipment.
- Helmet: multi-sport or skateboarding helmet must fit your head perfectly. A helmet is not supposed to move when you shake your head. It is a sign that it’s not tight enough. A helmet must be hard and capable of taking many hits.
- Wrist guards: wrist guards decrease the possibility of twisting or breaking your wrists when you fall. If you’re a beginner and you don’t know how to fall properly this will be the right protection for you.
- Knee and elbow pads: these pads prevent or reduce the severity of cuts, scrapes, bruises, and burns when you fall.
- Skate shoes: a good skate shoe has closed toes and flat, thick, durable, slip-resistant rubber soles that hold on to grip tape. It saves your feet from injuries. Padded tongues and thick midsoles protect your ankles from obstacles.
Tip: Did you know that there are numerous reasons why skateboarding is good for you. This sport has a unique character to it!
How to Ride a Skateboard? – A Beginners Guide
Skateboarding should be a fun sport, but it can be pretty dangerous if you are a beginner. If you decide to learn skateboarding, you must arm yourself with patience and courage.
We are giving you some basic tips on how to learn to ride a skateboard. You’ll need to do the following from the list:
- Place the skateboard on a patch of grass.
- Put your feet in the right position.
- Jump on and off, lean onward and rearward.
- Start learning how to push.
- Learn how to curve.
- Also, learn to ride fakie.
At the very beginning, just practice balance and take maybe a short ride. Do not forget to wear proper protective quality skateboard gear to stay safe. It can be discouraging if you fall and injure yourselves at the beginning.
Choose a quality skateboard but don’t spend too much money on it. You can get a complete pro skateboard for approximately $90-$100. All complete skateboards include a skateboard deck, wheels, trucks, hardware, and grip tape, and they are all pre-assembled direct from the manufacturer.
Once you’ve got everything you need, all you have to do is start learning and mastering your skateboarding skills. This won’t be easy at all.
Tip: Would you consider yourself a street or a park skateboarding type, per se? There is a slight difference between the two.
Can You Ride a Skateboard Backward?
In skateboarding, the laws are relatively easy. If you are motivated enough and have the right equipment, you can do wonders.
Riding a skateboard backward is no wonder at all. There are many pros as well as beginners who skate backward. It is just a matter of the personal choice of every individual, his/her preferences, and his/her driving skills.
- The most important thing in skateboarding is socializing and having as much fun as possible.
Tip: Do you know what the main differences between skateboard and bike helmets are? The Skating helmet has a slightly softer shell, by all means.
What Is a Fakie?
Let’s see what the term fakie actually represents. A fakie is when a skateboarder swings backward with their feet in their regular stance. In this case, the board’s tail is fronting forwards in the direction of the track. When riding backward, the skateboarder still concentrates their lookout on the angle they’re moving.
To conduct a fakie skateboarding stunt is to execute the trick while riding rearward, e.g., a “fakie ollie” or a “fakie kickflip.” Whenever a skateboarder starts a stunt in their usual viewpoint and lands a slide in their sway stance or does a revert, the term “to fakie” is then counted to the stunt expression, e.g., a “frontside boardslide to fakie.”
Tip: It is essential to know how to properly fall off a skateboard, to reduce any harm. Your security is vitally important!
The Difference Between Fakie, Switch, and Goofy?
The words “fakie,” “switch,” and “goofy” are effortless to confound. Yet, they all have their own particular purpose.
- A common posture is when your left foot is the front foot. Now, a goofy posture is when your right foot is the front foot, and a switch stance suggests you’re utilizing the opposing footing than what you often use (a typical skater’s switch stance is goofy-foot and a goofy skater’s switch stance is regular-foot).
- A fakie is when someone rides rearwards with your feet in a certain stance. Speaking of riding goofy and switch, the nose of your skateboard is in front, yet when doing fakie, the skateboard’s tail is in front.
How to Ride Fakie on Flat Ground
The riding fakie is reasonably clear. It is quite effortless to master with a bit of practice.
- Put your skateboard on the floor with the rear end fronting onwards.
- Position your regular back foot on top of the forward-facing tailback of the skateboard and push off the floor with your other foot.
- After you’ve acquired some speed, set your pushing foot on the backward-fronting nose of the skateboard and carefully move your main foot to the tip of the forward-facing tail end of the skateboard.
- Glance ahead in the direction you’re touring. You should now be riding in the very same posture as you typically ride, but you’re guiding with the rear end of your skateboard.
Tip: If you love a particular sport, you are never too old to start it. You are never too old to start skateboarding. Just follow your passion!
How to Swing Fakie With a Vert Ramp
Learning to ride a fakie is crucial for conquering stunts on vert ramps—like halfpipes or even quarterpipes. As you must repeatedly switch from a forward-riding place to a backward-riding place.
- Begin riding in your normal stance.
- As you’re going up a shifting wall, lean forward.
- Also, as your board stops, shift your weight to your back foot, which evolves to be your lead foot as you roll back down the metamorphosis. This allows you to change directions without diverting.
Tip: If you are a beginner, you should consider getting skate wheels suitable for beginners. Be mindful of this!
How to Do a Rock to Fakie Skateboard Trick
Once you’re comfortable riding fakie, rock to fakie is a basic lip trick you can learn that will help you link together with other tricks on a mini ramp. The rock to fakie involves setting the front truck above the lip of the ramp and then rocking the board firmly before you skate back down the ramp riding fakie.
- Approach the coping going straight up, so you’re vertical to it.
- As you near the coping, apply slight pressure to your tail to lift your front truck, so it clears the coping.
- Shift your weight forward, so the center of your board arrives to rest on the coping.
- Once you’ve rocked on the coping, shift your weight back into the bowl—yet not so far that you fall backward.
- As you start to reverse direction, put weight on your tail to assure your front truck removes the coping once more and doesn’t get dangled up on it.
Practice riding a fakie first on flat pavement, by all means. Do that until you get acquainted with the stance. Similar to any other maneuver, you may probe and fall, but it’s all part of growing.
When you feel comfy, you can practice in a much larger venue or time to hit the nearby skate park. So, take small steps toward your goals. You will certainly see the progress. That is for sure!
