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General Skateboard Trick Tips
The following are general concepts and tips that apply to most tricks in skateboarding. With enough practice these concepts should happen naturally without thinking. But, for really stubborn tricks sometimes it helps to take a moment and try to think about what's going on before actually trying it. Skateboarding requires a lot of discipline, dedication, and above all, patience. The number one rule is to never lose your cool and practice your tricks over and over again until muscle memory is achieved.
Rule number 1. Visually perform the trick in your head before getting on your skateboard. This concept applies to everything, not just skateboarding. It is a scientifically proven fact that sometimes mental practice is even more effective than physical practice. This is great because it can be done at any time; you can try it many hours, or even days before you actually decide to go skating.M-Ed
Rule number 2. Relaxation is the key to a clean and snappy pop. It's easy to get carried away and try to hit your tricks harder, especially when trying the same trick over and over again. Trying harder will actually make your ollies weaker and lower, or even prevent you from being able to land a trick.
Rule number 3. Pop your trick before you run out of speed. This applies whenever you are skating ramps or anything slanted. The key is to pop the trick before you reach the lip of the ramp, while you still have some speed and are still going up. If popping a trick on a bank, ollie before you reach the top and the impact of the landing should make you stop at the precise spot, then you will descend in a gradual and controlled manner. This rule doesn't apply to vert, where you don't actually pop the tail (unless you are Tom Boyle) and just bump your wheels against the coping to pop a little.
Rule number 4. Focus your eyes on your skateboard during the execution of your trick. This may sound basic, but I have found that whenever I am trying to jump over an obstacle with a flip trick, I unconsciously focus all my efforts on trying to clear the obstacle, thus forgetting about the actual trick. Make sure you have enough speed/pop to clear your obstacle, but keep your eyes on your board. You can glance at your landing spot in mid air if you caught the flip early enough, or you can use your peripheral vision to keep your landing spot always in check.
Rule number 5. Forget about all the rules, and just skate for fun! If you find yourself getting frustrated over a trick then simply stop trying so hard and skate for fun. Just try another day when you are more relaxed, or when the vibe is right.
