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Beginner Skateboard Tricks List — 20 Tricks in Order of Difficulty
One of the most common mistakes beginners make is trying tricks in the wrong order. Attempting a kickflip before a solid ollie wastes weeks. This list is ordered by prerequisite — each trick builds on the one before it, so you spend time learning, not spinning your wheels on tricks you're not ready for.
Quick reference: tricks in order
| # | Trick | Type | Requires | Avg. time to land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manual | Balance | Nothing — start here | 1–3 days |
| 2 | Nose manual | Balance | Manual balance | 1–2 weeks |
| 3 | Kickturn | Pivot | Rolling comfort | 1–3 days |
| 4 | Rock to fakie (ramp) | Transition | Kickturn, ramp comfort | 1 week |
| 5 | Ollie (stationary) | Jump | Rolling comfort, pop feel | 1–4 weeks |
| 6 | Ollie (rolling) | Jump | Stationary ollie | 2–6 weeks total |
| 7 | Pop shuvit | Flip/spin | Ollie | 2–6 weeks |
| 8 | Frontside 180 | Body spin | Ollie, body rotation comfort | 3–8 weeks |
| 9 | Backside 180 | Body spin | Ollie | 3–8 weeks |
| 10 | Fakie ollie | Jump | Ollie, fakie riding | 2–4 weeks |
| 11 | Nollie | Jump | Ollie, nose pop feel | 3–6 weeks |
| 12 | Kickflip | Flip | Consistent rolling ollie | 4–10 weeks |
| 13 | Heelflip | Flip | Ollie, kickflip comfort | 4–10 weeks |
| 14 | Varial kickflip | Flip + spin | Kickflip, pop shuvit | 4–8 weeks |
| 15 | 50-50 grind | Grind | Ollie onto obstacles | 4–8 weeks |
| 16 | Boardslide | Slide | Ollie, balance on rail | 4–10 weeks |
| 17 | 5-0 grind | Grind | 50-50 | 3–6 weeks |
| 18 | Noseslide | Slide | Boardslide, nose ollie | 4–8 weeks |
| 19 | Kickflip 50-50 | Flip + grind | Kickflip, 50-50 | 2–4 months |
| 20 | Frontside 180 nosegrind | Body spin + grind | Nosegrind, FS 180 | 2–4 months |
Note: "avg. time to land" assumes skating 3–5 sessions per week. Skating less often means everything takes longer.
Stage 1: Balance tricks (no jump required)
Before any jumping, learn to control the board under your feet while rolling. These tricks are fast to learn and build a feel for weight distribution that carries into everything else.
1. Manual
Lift the front wheels off the ground by shifting your weight onto your back foot while rolling. Keep the front wheels just off the pavement without letting the tail drag. Hold it for 5–10 feet.
Why it matters: The balance feel for a manual is the same as catching a trick landing. Every flip trick landing requires the same tail-weight distribution as a manual catch. Getting comfortable with this balance is more foundational than it looks.
2. Nose manual
The opposite: shift weight forward and balance on the front two wheels with the tail in the air. Harder than the regular manual because your center of mass is already over the front trucks.
3. Kickturn
A 90–180° pivot on the back trucks while rolling. Press your back foot slightly, lift the front wheels, and pivot your shoulders and hips. The board follows. This is how you change direction in a half-pipe and the motion that becomes a 180 ollie later.
Stage 2: The ollie (most important trick)
The ollie is the foundation of almost every trick on this list. Tricks 7–20 require an ollie or build on its mechanics. The time you invest in getting a clean, consistent, rolling ollie pays back immediately — every other trick becomes learnable faster once the ollie is automatic.
4. Rock to fakie (transition)
On a mellow ramp or bank: ride up, put the middle of your board on the coping or edge, then roll back down (fakie). The first ramp trick, and it teaches you not to fear going backwards.
5 & 6. Ollie
Pop the tail, slide the front foot toward the nose, level the board in the air, land with feet over bolts. Start stationary on grass, then move to stationary pavement, then slowly rolling, then normal speed.
→ Full tutorial: How to Ollie — Step-by-Step Beginner Tutorial
Stage 3: Spins without flips
Once your ollie is consistent rolling, learn rotations before adding flip tricks. Spins teach you to control your body and board rotation — critical before you try kickflips.
7. Pop shuvit
The board does a backside 180° horizontal spin under your feet while you stay facing forward. Your back foot scoops the tail backward as you pop; your front foot comes off and back on after the spin. No body rotation. This is a great trick because the mechanics are simple and it demystifies the idea of the board spinning under you.
8 & 9. Frontside 180 and backside 180
An ollie with your whole body rotating 180°. Frontside 180: rotate toward your toes. Backside 180: rotate toward your heels. The board and body rotate together. The landing is in fakie (rolling backwards) so you need to be comfortable with that. Backside 180 is typically easier because the rotation direction is natural with the pop motion.
10. Fakie ollie
An ollie while rolling backwards (fakie). The foot position swaps — your back foot (now the trailing foot in fakie) pops while your front foot (now leading) does the slide. Disorienting at first but clicks quickly once you've done a few 180s.
11. Nollie
An ollie off the nose instead of the tail. Your front foot pops the nose while your back foot slides back toward the tail. The pop comes from the front of the board, so the weight shift is opposite to a normal ollie. Takes time to unlearn the body habits built by thousands of regular ollies.
Stage 4: Flip tricks
Flip tricks combine the ollie with a board rotation. The prerequisite is a high, consistent rolling ollie — you need air time for the board to complete the flip before you land.
12. Kickflip
The board flips once longitudinally (rotating toward your toe side) while you stay above it. Your front foot flicks off the toe-side corner of the board, creating the spin. The most searched trick on the internet for good reason — it looks clean and is the first real flip trick most skaters master.
→ Full tutorial: How to Kickflip — Step-by-Step Tutorial
13. Heelflip
The mirror of the kickflip. The board flips toward your heel side, driven by a heel-side flick of the front foot. Many skaters learn the heelflip shortly after the kickflip because the mechanics are similar but reversed. Some people find heelflips easier than kickflips — it depends on natural foot angle.
14. Varial kickflip
A kickflip combined with a backside pop shuvit. The board both flips and rotates 180° horizontally at the same time. It sounds harder than a kickflip, but many skaters find it happens accidentally while learning kickflips (the board varialing instead of cleanly flipping). Making it intentional takes a few more sessions.
Stage 5: Grinds and slides
Once your ollie is consistent enough to ollie onto obstacles, grinds and slides open up. These are best learned on low curbs or wax boxes, not tall rails.
15. 50-50 grind
Both trucks grinding on a curb or rail simultaneously. Ollie onto the obstacle, land with both trucks on it, grind forward, then pop off the end. The approach angle matters — too shallow and you'll slip out; too steep and you'll catch the nose. Start on a low, waxed curb.
16. Boardslide
The middle of the board slides along a rail or ledge at a 90° angle. Ollie, rotate your body 90° over the obstacle, and land with the middle of your deck on it. The slide goes sideways relative to your direction of travel. Feels very different from a grind.
17. 5-0 grind
Back truck only grinds, front trucks in the air above the obstacle. Think of it as a manual position (back wheels only) on top of a ledge or rail. Requires the same back-foot balance as a manual.
18. Noseslide
Nose of the board slides on the obstacle while back trucks are in the air. The front truck goes on the ledge and the nose slides forward. Requires a slightly different ollie angle — you pop and then tilt forward slightly as you land on the nose.
Stage 6: Combinations (intermediate territory)
Once you have consistent flip tricks and basic grinds separately, you can start combining them. These are not beginner tricks — they're the gateway to intermediate skating.
19. Kickflip 50-50
A kickflip directly into a 50-50 grind. Requires the kickflip to be automatic (you're not thinking about it) and the 50-50 approach to be practiced. The kickflip happens mid-approach and you need to land in the exact position for the grind.
20. Frontside 180 nosegrind
A frontside 180 combined with landing in a nosegrind position. The body rotation from the 180 naturally tilts you into the nose position. This one rewards skaters who have both smooth 180s and solid noseslide/nosegrind mechanics.
The right mindset for learning tricks
A few things that separate skaters who progress quickly from those who plateau:
- Order matters more than effort. Skating 5 hours a day trying kickflips before a solid ollie produces worse results than 2 hours a day learning in order. Trust the prerequisite chain.
- Land the easy version first. Land the trick stationary before moving. Land it small before going for height. Land it on flat ground before trying it on obstacles. Each step is its own skill.
- Session length vs. frequency. Two 1-hour sessions per week produces faster learning than one 2-hour session. Muscle memory builds better with recovery time between sessions.
- Skate with people better than you. Watching someone else land a trick your brain has marked as "impossible" removes the mental block immediately. Park skating accelerates learning for this reason.
- Film yourself. Watching your own attempts from the side reveals problems invisible from above (where you're looking while skating). Most foot position mistakes are immediately obvious on video.
Setup considerations for learning tricks
The right setup makes learning easier:
| What you want | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Fresh deck with pop | Dead decks don't give you the air time needed for flip tricks to complete |
| Hard wheels (99A–101A) | Hard wheels transfer more energy from the pop and don't absorb board flex |
| Slightly loose trucks | Easier to recover from off-center landings while you're still building balance |
| Deck width matching shoe size | Narrower decks flip faster (easier for kickflips); wider decks are more stable for grinds |
| Fresh grip tape | Critical for the front foot flick — worn grip reduces traction for the flick exit |
→ Setup help: Complete Skateboard Setup Guide | How to Choose Skateboard Wheels
FAQ
What is the easiest skateboard trick for beginners?
The manual is the easiest trick — no jumping, just balance while rolling on two wheels. After that, the kickturn (a 90–180° pivot while rolling) is next. The ollie is the most important trick to learn, but it takes longer — expect 2–6 weeks before landing your first one consistently.
Should I learn kickflips or shuvits first?
Learn the pop shuvit first. The shuvit teaches you to let the board spin under your feet without panicking, which is the same skill required for kickflip catches. Most skaters who go straight to kickflips without shuvit experience land on one foot or bail before the board completes the flip. A few weeks on shuvits first speeds up kickflip learning significantly.
How long does it take to learn basic skateboard tricks?
Skating 3–5 times per week: first ollie in 3–8 weeks, kickflip in 6–14 weeks, first grind in 8–16 weeks. Skating once a week, roughly triple those timelines. The ollie is the slowest to learn and the highest leverage — once it's dialed, most other tricks come noticeably faster.