Tips for Becoming a Better Skateboarder
Although it looks easy, dropping in on a ramp in a skateboard park is not a very easy thing to do. If you haven't done drop ins before, try attempting them and you will see how difficult they are to do and there is a high chance that you will just end up with your body sprawling down below with your skateboard flying off across the ramp.
So, if you don't want to make a fool out of yourself or worse, spend time in the hospital, you will want to know about the basics for doing drop ins properly.
First of all, you need to remember that safety is everything. Always wear your safety equipment whenever you are skateboarding. Even pros wear safety equipment.
The drop in doesn't necessarily take a lot of skill. However, beginner skateboarders will tend to get nervous whenever they attempt to drop in on the ramp. This means that their body will tense up which will force them to shift their weight and eventually fall.
Drop ins are basically what skateboarders do to enter bowls or the vert ramp. This will allow the skateboarder to instantly gain a lot of speed and get big air to perform their tricks.
If you are just a beginner, you first need to get comfortable riding your skateboard by riding on the ground around the park.
Dropping in won't necessarily mean that you need to know a few skateboard tricks, but it just means that you should know how to ride your skateboard comfortably and with proper balance.
You have to remember that once you've dropped in, there is no turning back. You will gain a lot of speed at a very fast rate. So, you will need to know how to be comfortable riding your skateboard.
To drop in, the first thing that you need to do is check out the ramp. If it's too big, start off with mini ramps. This will not necessarily give you a lot of speed, but it will be good for practicing.
After checking out the ramp, set the tail of the board on the coping which is the edge of the ramp. Hold the board with your back foot by stepping on the tail. If you are ready to go, place your front foot just behind the nose or just above the front trucks of the skateboard. Then shift your weight forward and stomp your front foot and let gravity do the rest.
As mentioned before, there is no need for you to know different tricks when dropping off a ramp. Just get good balance and you will also need a bit of guts and will.
