how do you speed up on a skateboard (nothing i do makes me go faster)?

Question

I have an airwalk skateboard. nothing special. I am a beginner, and 5' 3".
I read that you need to lift your knee up higher to speed up, but I keep having a feeling I can't raise my knee that high without losing balance because I am so short.
My skateboard also turns sharply to the right or left sometimes. I don't think it's my stance since I use the same stance in various locations of the playground, and the skateboard sometimes go left or right regardless of my stance. Is it possible that the ground is uneven causing my skateboard to turn on its own at certain locations?

How do you shift your feet on the skateboard to a different position while on the board? When I start to push off with my left foot, my right foot at the front of the board is pointed straight. After I put my left foot on my board, my right foot points perpendicular to the direction I am going. If I want to push off again when my board slows down, I have trouble shifting my right foot back to pointing in the direction I am going again. Any tips on how to maintain balance while shifting your foot position on the board?

Thanks.

Do all skateboards trip over very small rocks in the road, or are there different types of tires out there that can handle rolling over small things better than others? just wondering

Any other advice you would give a beginner would be very much appreciated.
I really want to ride this thing properly. I can turn a bit, but cannot do sharp turns. The playground I practice on has a slight uphill and downhill, so I always feel my skateboard turning towards the direction of the hill... or sometimes on its own when I don't feel a hill, and it goes straight sometimes but not often.

Answer 1

best thing you could do is upgrade your bearings, that is a cheap skateboard there for your bearings are cheap and you could jsut try out some speed cream on them it may help you out but a new set of bones reds would really help you out. Not all skateboards trip over rocks, your wheels are to small, you'll want at least a 53mm wheel, my guess is it came with a 50-52mm size. It is very possible the ground is turning your skateboard but you should also be able to control any turns. You may want to adjust your trucks if they;re to loose or to tight they may be making it hard to turn or to easy to turn or when you turn they may not be adjusting back like they should be. spraying a lil wd-40 on the rubber bushings can helpa bit. Don't use wd-40 on your bearings it's not a lube it'll collect more dirt and dust and make them worse.

Answer 2

Just practising it will help you balance easier. I used to barely be able to do that sort of p ush either, but now it's not a problem. Oh and when you push, make sure you put your pushing foot RIGHT next to the board, and not far out. I used to do this and it made me off balance. And of course when you push aim to push from the front of the board, not the middle or back so you don't end up doing the splits



As for the sharp turns, it may be that you're skateboard trucks (bit between the wheels and the board) are too loose and need to be tightened.



Yes all skateboards trip over small rocks. Ignore the other answerer about bigger wheels... nothing can roll over a single stone in front of you. Be careful skating near gravelly areas.



For turning your foot, again, practice. You don't even need to go out and practice this specifically.. just skate. You'll become more comfortable. I didn't realise how much I'd improved in general until I tried skating goofy (i'm normally regular).

Answer 3

You lean to turn

You keep one foot on the board that suites you personally and kick with the other foot

I'd recommend FTC

or Krown Elements skateboards.

( I know from experience)

By the way I'm 10 and I'm 5"2 I come from a tall family.

If you want to go right then ride to the right. It will take you to the left instead. I started skateboarding 2 days ago and

I know the works of it. To go straight, after putting up to your speed limit put both feet 10 inches towards the nose of the board.

Keep your blance

Once the board starts to go slower boost up your speed.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Skateboarding takes a lot of time and effort to get used to. It's hard to get used to balancing on it at first. When you begin to slow and need to push to increase your speed, you kind of have to jump slightly to make yourself weightless allowing you to turn your foot quickly (making sure its in the center of the board so you don't veer off to the left or right) and then land with your foot parallel to your board. If you are having trouble going the same direction then I suggest tightening the king-pin of your trucks so they don't turn your direction as much when you put weight on one side or the other.



It would be a good idea to find a flat, clear area to practice riding your skateboard. Make sure there are no rocks that can suddenly stop your board too. Most nowadays skateboards can easily pass over small pebbles (although causing a slight bump). If you are skateboarding around small pebbles I suggest putting most of your weight on your back foot, because that decreases the chances of your board stopping, and if it does stop the board from moving you will be less likely to fall straight forward and you will probably be able to land on your feet.



As for wheels, there are better wheels you can buy, but if you are having trouble with rocks I suggest you buy larger wheels because they pass over larger rocks. The best thing to do would be to just find a clear area to skateboard.



For sharp turns, you will need to put your weight on the back tail of the skateboard and lift the front so you can rotate it to the direction you wish to go, but you should definitely first get the hang of pushing!





V

"Yes all skateboards trip over small rocks. Ignore the other answerer about bigger wheels... nothing can roll over a single stone in front of you. Be careful skating near gravelly areas. "



I didn't say it can pass over big rocks, I said bigger as in larger pebbles. Of course no skateboard can pass over a large stone right in front of you. I'm talking about pebbles.

Answer 5

buy new trucks and wheels

http://www.skatewarehouse.com/Independent_Stage_10_Low_Trucks/descpage-INTRSTL.html

http://www.skatewarehouse.com/Bones_ATF_Bombs_80a_Wheels/descpage-BSABMWH.html

that will help all your problems cause skateboards should never turn on its own



wheel size - 52mm

truck size gos by deck's width