Learning to stop on a skateboard is essential for getting out of trouble when you are going fast. If you want to learn some tactics like power sliding, toe dragging, or other tricks, you will need to learn how to stop on a skateboard first.
Depending on whether you are a professional or a beginner, various stops will fit your needs best. Practice each of them before trying them while skating fast. We recommend starting from basic tricks and step by step elevating to advanced tricks to stop while skating faster.
It saves you from painful crashes or embarrassing moments in front of your friends. We will start with basic techniques of stopping on a skateboard and then describe some of the advanced techniques that professionals use.
Try each technique multiple times on a slow speed skateboard, and once you got these techniques in your muscle memory, practice them. Slowly, increase speed, and try them again until you get the best at that technique. As they say, practice makes a man perfect. Let us look at some of the primary ways to stop on a skateboard.
Basic Techniques to Stop on a Skateboard
Foot Brake
Put your push foot down while putting pressure on your dominant foot and then slowly transfer pressure from push foot to dominant foot to stop a skateboard.
Do not use the foot brake as a stop when going downhill. Only apply this method of stopping when riding on level ground or plane. We will describe step by step the method of how to stop on a skateboard using a foot brake.
- Turn One foot Forward: Turn the toe of your one foot forward, align them as they face the skateboards nose for an ideal foot brake. Most people use the dominant foot as a push foot.
- Exerting Pressure: When you feel steady on your front foot, apply pressure on that foot and try to put your back foot on the ground.
- Transfer the Pressure: Apply light pressure on the back foot that is on the ground and slowly transfer the pressure from the front foot to the back foot. For instant brake, put full pressure on the back foot.
There is no need to worry if you fall, you may fail more than once, but after some tries, you will get a full grasp of stooping on a skateboard using a foot brake.
Tip: Apply even pressure for a smooth stop.
Heel Brake
Now this one is similar to a foot brake, only in this, you use the heel of your foot to stop the skateboard. It is another basic technique of how to stop a skateboard.
You use one heel of the front foot on a skateboard while slowly putting your back foot on the ground. It consists of the movement of toes on the ground. This will result in your foot being pointed outward, helping you stop a skateboard.
This technique is recommended for slow or medium-running skateboards. As on a fast-going skateboard, you can fall while trying to stop the skateboard due to inertia. You may fall more than once while performing this technique. But dont worry, you will get the hang of it after some tries.
Toe Drag
It is one of the basic techniques that help you stop a skateboard with a little bit of style. When skating, put your back leg out and drag your toe a bit on the ground while your heel is in contact with a skateboard.
You will put the toe side of your foot on the ground while your heels will be on the skateboard, which makes the middle of your foot on the wheels of the skateboard, stopping the spinning of the wheel while your toe completely stops the skateboard.
Remember, this only works for medium to slow speed skateboarding. If you are going faster, we will recommend using the advanced technique on how to stop a skateboard. Moreover, this is best for starting your experience on a skateboard.
You can stop the fast-moving skateboard using this technique, but it will require practice as a complete balance between feet and toes alignment is required.
Push Foot Reverse
When you roll the skateboard on the pavement, push your foot on the ground, you will see that you are slowing down. We will use this method to stop, You put the weight on the skateboard, and when you are putting the foot on the ground, you just transfer the weight.
This will not work on the first try, so keep practicing. It is called push foot reverse because you use one foot on a skateboard and apply some pressure on it while another foot is put on the ground and transfers the applied pressure.
Your skateboard will not instantly stop, but you will see that skateboard is gradually slowing down as you repeat this process. And after a while, it would be entirely stopped.
Pop In The Hand
Pop gives the best feel when stopping a skateboard, Only a true skater can understand it. When you slam the tail of the skateboard, it will pop into your hand, which will look fabulous and stop the skateboard. It is a most stylish way to stop on a skateboard.
This technique depends on your back foot. All you have to slam the tail of the skateboard with your back foot with some force. Resulting in the popping of your skateboard in the air, and then you catch it. Cool right?
The further the toes on the skateboards tail, the easier it is to pop the skateboard into your hand. Have your opposite hand down for the raising skateboard to catch.
Well, These are some methods of how to stop on a skateboard. You can always jump off the skateboard if you dont know what to do or how to stop a skateboard. Hopefully, you now understand how to stop on a skateboard. You may fall several times while learning these techniques, but gradually it will be worth it. As they say, Stopping on a skateboard is the essential part of riding a skateboard fast.
If you are a beginner at skateboarding, we recommend checking the skateboards for beginners which will help you learn skateboarding easily and quickly.
Here are some advanced ways of how to stop on a skateboard. They require some skills and extra time to master them. We will explain popular ones briefly, so here we go:
Advanced Techniques to Stop On a Skateboard
Controlled Slide Stopping
All the above tricks and techniques are not best for stopping when you are sliding downhill. How to stop on a skateboard when you are going downhill is not for beginners as it requires a basic skill set. Controlled Slide stopping is the best technique for stopping skateboard when sliding downhill.
- Place Your Front Foot Forward: Just like foot braking, move your front foot forward as it faces the skateboards nose. If you know where skateboard front bolts are, then position your foot directly above it.
- Rotating 180 Degrees: Pivot your upper body and turn sharply to the side while shifting your weight so you can accommodate the swift turn. As youre doing this, crouch to your knees and lean forward to avoid falling on your back. During this, your both feet will lie on the skateboard neither of them will touch the ground.
- Place Hand For Stability: This step is unnecessary and stops, but if you are leaning back or falling back, place your hand and let it drag. Let the skateboard stop, and when it stops moving, lift your hands.
- Practice: Practice more than once before trying out the real thing. Before you start riding on a skateboard while going downhill, you must master this method to avoid crashing.
This technique, even after mastering it, might not work in the heat of the moment. So, it is recommended to wear protective gear to avoid burn while placing your hand on the ground or getting hurt if you crash.
PowerSliding
Similar to Controlled Slide Stopping, but it requires more maneuver as it is for confident skaters. Do not perform power sliding on the first go when you need to stop. Instead, use it in skate parks or with friends.
When practicing power slides with friends, beware of the traffic as it is a tricky move and hard to stop unexpectedly. So, we will explain to you how to powerslide to stop with style:
- Shift Weight To Heels: Lean slightly to the front of the board. This will give you complete control of the power slide and help you turn more swiftly. Concentrate your weight on the front wheel. If you lean on your back heel, it will make this trick harder.
- Turn Your Body: Turn your body in the direction of the slide. To make sure that both parts of your move together, practice turning your shoulders and hip together. Use a front foot to turn 90 degrees. At the start, avoid moving too fast as you can lose balance and fall.
- Kick Out: Kick out with your back foot. After pivoting with your front foot, kick out in the slides direction with your back foot. Lean back to maintain balance while your skateboard comes to a stop.
There are further different types of power sliding: Front-side Powerslide, Back-side Powerslide, Hand Powerslide. All use the same method, but instead of heels, it uses front foot, back foot, hand for power sliding, respectively.
It is highly recommended not to try this trick on the road because as unexpected things happen, a car may come and it is hard to stop using power slides under these conditions. Practice this technique with your friends in a safe place or skate parks.
Tip: Use Grip Tape on your skateboard to make your control even better when skateboarding.
BluntsIide
A combination of both power slide and heel brake is called bluntslide. This is actually for professional and experienced skateboarders. You need to be able to do both of these tricks to learn this one.
While skating with speed, put your foot at the skateboards end and try pushing the tail. Keep sliding 90 degrees while dragging your heel with the outside of your foot. Most of the time, you might step off your skateboard at the end of Bluntside, but the primary purpose of this trick is to stop a fast-moving skateboard.
In the end, all these advanced tricks require training, so dont rush while learning them and take your time. If you fall more than once, dont be disheartened, as practicing is an essential part of every sport. And last advice, make sure you dont get involved in a serious accident that may affect your physical condition.
We hope this article helped you learn “How to stop on a skateboard”. Although, we recommend carefully executing the process by yourself to master the technique. For better grip and stability we recommend checking the best skate shoes as well.
Happy Skating 🙂