Picking up skateboarding ...

[WuZie]

y0 dudes,

After 3 weeks of studying (sitting behind my desk) for my exams I'm finally done with school (finished off highschool ).
This Tuesday I finally went outside and I actually saw the sun for the first time, so I decided to pick up skateboarding
I have never skateboarded before (well... when I was 8 yrs old maybe, with a board like xD).
I bought this board after watching some youtube tutorials on how to pick a board for beginners (this board is 8 inch wide (I have big feet, and I was told it's more stable for beginners) 31.8 inch long.
I got my board on thursday, and I've been practising for two days now for a couple of hours each day (after work).
Have been practising basic turning (leaning) and simple kickturns, braking with my foot next to the board, braking with my foot on the tail (still losing my balance often though, so I'm not that comfortable with that yet), and mostly pushing.
Today was the second day of praticing, and I'd love to know how you guys started. I think it's a shame I'm starting so late (I'm 18 years old now) as I enjoy learning to skate a lot as of now.
I'd love to now in what order you guys learned skateboarding, and just an approximate of how long it took you to feel comfortable on a skateboard
And how you learned skatboarding in general (for instance: I've been watching a lot of tutorials on youtube n stuff, and I'm trying it later).

Thanks in advance for helping me out

[PoppySquidJr]

Have fun, dude. To this day all I can do is hillbomb and ollie very short heights, so I'm not much of any help, but I'm glad to see you're picking it up.
Now somebody build a pool in my town so I can learn to ride them.

[Antwan]

When I first started I did everything stationary man
Setup in a comfortable spot where you're less likely to fall. Grass, Carpet.
It seems silly, helped when I was starting out though..
It was a combination of stationary tricks and just learning to ride the board comfortably that helped me along.
When you feel like you've got stuff going forward, start trying what you've learned moving.
Good you're having fun, That's the most important thing.
The order I learned stuff in went something like
Pushing, Riding, Turning, Stationary Ollies, Moving Ollies, Moving Shuv-Its, Moving Pop-Shuv Its
It wasn't till many years later that I approached bigger fliptricks
the guys at the skateparks will inspire you, even if they aren't always that nice
Just keep having fun! Every Trick has a little nook that you can expand on in any way you want to That's why I love skateboarding.

[pawnluvguitarist]

As far as how long it takes to get comfortable it's hard to say. I've been skating like 12 years and its just been the last 2 ish where I've made this huge leap in comfort, style, consistency. A feeling of being one with the board.

Just keep at it, have fun, don't worry about how quickly you're progressing. If you are consistently skating and pushing yourself pretty hard every sesh you should be looking pretty good by the time winter hits I would think. But everyone's different man.

[Antwan]

As far as how long it takes to get comfortable it's hard to say. I've been skating like 12 years and its just been the last 2 ish where I've made this huge leap in comfort, style, consistency ect.

Just keep at it, have fun, don't worry about how quickly you're progressing. If you are consistently skating and pushing yourself pretty hard every sesh you should be looking pretty good by the time winter hits I would think. But everyone's different man.

True
I learned ollies later than the people I skated with but I got varial heels before everyone.
I will say though, I learned the fundamentals or basic fliptricks before I started doing odd stuff.
Being comfortable on your board is much more important starting out, knowing how it flips and reacts with movements is vital to your progress.
Keep at it, Get hyped up.
I suggest watching your favorite skaters before heading out.

[m.seven]

that's the board that started it all for me..lol
people seem to progress so much faster now than back when I started in '86
lots of factors to that I won't get into here.
I can't even begin to image my life if I hadn't skated,had tons of great memories
welcome aboard man,hope skateboarding is as good to you as it has been to me

[PoppySquidJr]

As far as how long it takes to get comfortable it's hard to say. I've been skating like 12 years and its just been the last 2 ish where I've made this huge leap in comfort, style, consistency. A feeling of being one with the board.

Just keep at it, have fun, don't worry about how quickly you're progressing. If you are consistently skating and pushing yourself pretty hard every sesh you should be looking pretty good by the time winter hits I would think. But everyone's different man.

Maybe it's just because I never focused on tricks at all and because I've snowboarded, but I felt that level of comfort on my board within the first year. I just kinda get in a flow with it, I sorta ride it like a snowboard in a sense.

[pawnluvguitarist]

Maybe it's just because I never focused on tricks at all and because I've snowboarded, but I felt that level of comfort on my board within the first year. I just kinda get in a flow with it, I sorta ride it like a snowboard in a sense.

Yeah I get that, more about tricks I guess, comfort levels will be relative on what you are doing. But yeah it's all about that first year.

[Antwan]

Maybe it's just because I never focused on tricks at all and because I've snowboarded, but I felt that level of comfort on my board within the first year. I just kinda get in a flow with it, I sorta ride it like a snowboard in a sense.

For sure man
Skateboarding emulates Surfing
Snowboarding emulates Skateboarding
While I've never done it I still know it.
Anything using a board is usually a balance system, I even found this when trying to wake board.
Which I still want to learn by the way.. thanks for the reminder.

I'm curious though, have you ever tried snowboarding tricks on the skateboard?
Obviously, different names apply but it would be the same basic feeling right?
Like nose/tail butters sounds interesting.

[Ayreon]

Maybe it's just because I never focused on tricks at all and because I've snowboarded, but I felt that level of comfort on my board within the first year. I just kinda get in a flow with it, I sorta ride it like a snowboard in a sense.

got a longboard? their more just for riding around and shit