When you’ve nailed the basics such as pushing off with your foot and balancing atop your board, you are ready to start work on more technical moves. Want to learn skateboard tricks that require higher skills such as how to ollie or drop in on a ramp? Now’s the time to experiment with different skateboard trucks or skateboard wheels. The impact on your skating will soon become apparent. Expert skaters who have moved beyond foundational skills to even bigger tricks want to customize a perfect set-up right down to the exact hardware, bearings and grip.
The style of tricks you are learning will determine the best skateboards for tricks you need. Most street tricks, such as nosegrinds, 50-50s and kickflips, are technical and precise. You’ll find street skaters usually choose a standard “popsicle” shaped skateboard for their rounded nose and tail, which help the board flip during those flip tricks.
Pool and bowl skaters look for transition features such as ramps and vertical structures in skate parks so that they can perform spin tricks and grabs. You’ll see transition skaters who are doing vert skateboard tricks on boards with unique nose and tail shapes to add a little more sick style as they go for big air and high speed. They usually prefer a wider skateboard deck size to give them a feeling of stability at higher speeds.
All-Around Skaters Find Best Skateboards for Tricks Offer Versatility
Most skaters fall into the category of all-around skaters who skate transition and street. They’re happy to skate whatever terrain they can find. Living life on a skateboard is both challenge and freedom, and personalizing their choice of best skateboards for tricks is one of the freedoms they enjoy most. A versatile, standard shape skateboard is a starting point they can use to express their individual preferences for board and hardware as they learn more skills. Skaters can find a range of both standard skateboards and custom designs by searching a buyer’s guide (http://www.tactics.com/info/skateboard-buyers-guide).
Longboards come in a wide variety of shapes and size that give you a more fluid ride, but they’re not designed for the tricks typical of transition or street skating. These are not the best skateboards for tricks. Longboards are great for transportation and cruising around town. You’ll see their riders making wide turns that look like freeride snowboarding or surfing.
