There is no limit to how fast a skateboard can go. As a result, it is crucial to know how to slow it down or even stop it before it becomes a disaster.
When a skateboarder rides for the first time, they first learn to find their balance and push off to increase their speed.
After they finally get it, they gain extra confidence and somehow lose the ability to handle unexpected or potentially tragic situations.
When riding a steep mountain road, a longboard skateboard can reach 90 mph (145 kilometers per hour).
Therefore, it could be a deadly weapon in the hands of someone who is unaware of how to stop it.
So, As a beginner in skateboarding, learning how to apply brakes is essential.
Stopping and slowing down a skateboard can be accomplished in a number of ways.
It is important to keep in mind that a person can reach high speeds on flat ground and on windy days, so you do not necessarily need a steep hillside or street to go too fast and suffer injuries.
As part of this article, I am going to walk you through 9 ways to stop on a skateboard so that you can have more control over your ride. Let’s get started!
1. Brake with your foot
Using your foot to brake isn’t difficult. Whether you’re a complete beginner or have some board experience, you can easily learn this.
With this stopping strategy, you will only need to drop one foot down and drag it on the ground to stop you from moving forward.
In order to perform this stop, you must push on your board with your foot. When you begin to build up your speed, place the foot you use to push down onto the ground.
To do this stop effectively, you want your pushing foot to be flat on the surface of the ground. Because when you step on the ground with the entire foot, as opposed to just the ball, the friction on the ground increases, causing you to slow down more quickly.
For beginners, foot braking is an effective stopping method. It is important to note that most advanced skateboarders move extremely fast. So, this strategy does not work well at high speeds for them.
If you’re flying down a hill at supersonic speed, this is not a good way to stop. Similarly, it would not be a good strategy to use in an emergency situation.
The purpose of foot braking is to allow you to stop when you’re skating too fast but on a busy street. Although this method can be used by both advanced and beginner skaters, but it isn’t an advanced method for stopping.
2. Let your tail drop and drag on the ground (Tail Scrape)
Here’s another way to stop on your skateboard. I don’t recommend this stopping strategy because it wears out the tail over time. Furthermore, this method wears away at your board’s pop over time.
The tail scrape is exactly what it sounds like. Basically, you drag your skateboard tail along the ground for a while.
Similarly to the foot braking we discussed above, the tail scrape stop works by friction too.
The problem with dragging the tail is that you can easily lose control. Due to this, tail scraping is not ideal for slowing down in an emergency situation.
The tail scrape can be used to stop on your skateboard when skateboarding on a sidewalk or other surface recreationally. But, don’t try this stopping method while riding downhill.
3. Jump Off Your Skateboard and Roll Off
This video explain how you can fail safely
Sometimes it’s best to safely jump off your skateboard and roll off trouble. There are some situations in which you might need to jump off and roll off at the same time, such as when you have an emergency.
It is inevitable that a skateboarder will be in a situation where they have to dismount immediately to avoid danger. Like when a crazy driver rides their vehicle too close to you while you’re skating down the road. If such a situation occurs, jumping off your board in a safe manner can save your life.
It may seem like an easy technique, but it isn’t. If you want to do it properly and safely each time, you should practice as much as you can.
To perfect this method, practice it on a soft surface such as your lawn. In the beginning, keep your skating speed low.
Once you’ve practiced enough, try jumping off your board when skating at faster speeds once you feel comfortable with it.
Here’s what you need to do
Jump off your board with your arms and legs relaxed. When up in the air, get into a roll and hit the ground. When you fall, don’t use your arms to catch yourself. This can break your wrists quickly.
As you fall to the ground, curling into a roll will help you absorb the impact of your fall more effectively. Almost always, sticking out your hands to catch yourself will result in broken bones and pain as a result.
4. Heel braking technique
There is a similarity between the heel braking technique and the tail scrape stop. In both strategies, you are damaging things that should be taken care of instead. In the long run, one can ruin your shoes while the other can harm your skateboard if used too often.
Unless you must really, really need to use this skateboarding stopping method. Otherwise, I do not recommend it.
As opposed to tail-drag stopping, heel brake stopping is a little more challenging. Because you need better balance skills to keep the front and tail of the deck down, but not fully down at the same time.
If you want to brake using your heel, bring the rear of the board down without letting it touch the ground. With the rear dropping down, the nose needs to pop up, but not too much.
Then you need to put your heel down until it comes into contact with the surface. As soon as you place the heel of your back foot on the ground, you begin to drag it. When you do this, you create the friction that will finally stop you from moving forward.
You’ll be using your heel to bring your ride to a stop. You should therefore wear skate shoes that are the most durable you have on hand. The problem is that nobody ever buys tough skateboarding shoes to wear them out by making bad stops on a skateboard.
5. Slow down by rolling on a rougher surface
It’s pretty straightforward. The best way to learn this strategy is to ride your skateboard moderately fast. Ideally, you’ll want two surfaces that have varying degrees of roughness. Consider a smooth concrete pavement alternating with grass.
Rather than using any of the techniques discussed above, you simply roll to a rougher surface. As a result, you should naturally slow down, but you probably won’t stop right away.
This is more like a slow-down strategy for skateboarding. The technique isn’t best used when you’re traveling too fast.
6. Catch Your Board and Just Walk Away (Ollie Tricks)
You shouldn’t try this if you’re a beginner skateboarder. As of yet, beginners have not learned how to Ollie or pop their boards. Because of this, beginning skaters shouldn’t use this stopping technique.
Despite the fact that this stop isn’t ideal for beginners, you also shouldn’t do it if you are riding super fast. Instead, the best time to use this strategy is when you are skating moderately fast and need to stop.
In order to perform this stop, you need to start pushing on your skateboard and get up to a certain speed. After that, you have to jump an Ollie and catch your board with one of your hands. Now that the board is in your hands, descend, land, and begin walking in the same direction you were skating.
In order to master this technique, you need a lot of practice as it doesn’t come naturally for most people.
7. Slow down your skateboard by carving long turns
There are three steps involved in this skateboard stopping strategy, namely carving, popping the board, and walk away.
As you can see, the carve-long-turns-to-slow-down method is similar to the board pop method. The only difference is that you incorporate carving into this method.
To begin, start by pushing on your board to gain speed. For beginner skaters, don’t go too fast. Then, follow that with a series of full, long turns.
Carving should help you skate slowly enough to pop your board into your hand and just walk away. Of course, you should walk in the direction of your initial momentum.
In order to perform this stop efficiently, you should keep your skateboard trucks a little loose but not too loose.
8. Use Slide Stop (When Skating Downhill)
If you are riding a skateboard downhill, what is the best way to slow it down? Well, using a slide stop is the best technique for slowing down a skateboard when you are going downhill.
If you’re bombing down a hill and need to brake quickly, use a slide stop.
If you’re cruising downhill at an insane speed, and you see a car appear out of nowhere, what would you do? Well, You should use the slide stop if you have a sudden emergency rather than jumping off your board. because it’s safer and more effective than jumping into a curled roll.
This is how you do a slide stop
Your riding foot should be facing nose-forward (the front foot). Ideally, your foot should be above the bolts on the front trucks.
After that, turn 180 degrees by transferring your body weight to the side. It is an extremely sharp turn, so be careful not to lose control.
Make sure you crouch to your knees in order to increase your stability. Likewise, lean forward a bit to avoid falling backward.
Also, You should not try to drag it with your feet. your foot should remain solidly planted on the deck throughout the slide.
To further increase stability, you can place your hands on the ground (if you have wristguards).
9. Use Powerslide to a Stop (for Advanced Skaters)
Powerslide stops are similar to slide stops. But powerslides can not be done when skating fast or when you are going through heavy traffic on a road.
It is an advanced skateboarding stopping technique that should only be attempted by experienced skaters. In order to powerslide effectively, your skateboard needs to be equipped with the best wheels that can handle powerslides. They are usually small, hard wheels that have a high durometer.
Here’s how you can powerslide on your skateboard to slow down
I would prefer you to do this on a smooth surface. One of the best and safest places to learn or practice this is at the skatepark.
To perform this, First, shift most of your weight to the front foot, which stands above the front wheels.
Secondly, using your front foot as a pivot, turn your shoulders and hips to make a 90 degrees turn.
Lastly, using your back foot, kick out in the direction you’re sliding in. As you make this motion, you will be able to complete your powerslide. Eventually, you’ll stop, but it won’t be abrupt.
To keep your balance, lean back a little as you kick out with your back foot. However, you shouldn’t skate too fast. Otherwise, you’ll lose control of your ride.
Conclusion
There are many different ways to stop on a skateboard. So, It is important to know how to stop quickly and safely in order to avoid accidents.
As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. So, be sure to try out different techniques until you find the one that works best for you. And most importantly, safety always come first!
