Beginner Guide

Longboard Tricks for Beginners: Start With These Simple Moves

The best longboard tricks for beginners are not flashy. They are low-speed weight shifts that teach you how the board responds to your body — and they do not require a skatepark, special hardware, or any prior trick experience. Start with tic-tacs and carving, practice on flat pavement, and you will build real board control without the slams that come from jumping ahead.

Before You Try Any Tricks

I once talked a rider through her first fall. She messaged me saying she had scraped her knee and wondered if the board was too advanced. It was not. She had not practiced how to longboard basics — pushing, riding straight, and stopping — before she tried to carve on a slight slope. The board was fine. The sequencing was wrong.

That conversation taught me something I repeat to almost every beginner now: tricks come after fundamentals, not alongside them.

Here is what you need before attempting any beginner longboarding tricks:

  • Push comfortably. You should be able to push several times in a row without wobbling or losing your line.
  • Stop on demand. Foot braking is the minimum. If you cannot slow yourself down on flat ground, you are not ready to shift your weight intentionally. If you need a refresher, our how to ride a longboard for beginners guide covers the basics step by step.
  • Wear a helmet. Knee and elbow pads are worth considering too, especially when you are learning moves that shift your center of gravity.
  • Find flat, smooth pavement. An empty parking lot, a school basketball court, or a quiet residential street with no traffic. Cracks and gravel make every trick harder and every fall worse.
  • Check your board. A drop-through deck or a longer board (38–42 inches) gives you a more stable platform for learning. If your board feels twitchy at low speed, the trucks might be too loose — tighten them half a turn and try again.

For most first-time riders, a stable, beginner-friendly complete longboard with soft wheels (78A–82A) is the right starting point. The board choice matters less than the surface you practice on and the order you learn things in.

Your First Trick: Tic-Tacs for Board Control

Tic-tacs are the first longboard trick I recommend to anyone. They look simple — because they are — but they teach you the one skill every other trick builds on: controlled weight shifting.

Here is how to do them:

  1. Set your feet. Back foot on the tail or over the rear truck bolts. Front foot near the front bolts, angled slightly forward — roughly where you stand when you push.
  2. Shift weight to your back foot. Press down gently so the front wheels lift just barely off the ground. You do not need much — an inch of clearance is enough.
  3. Pivot the nose left. Use your hips and shoulders to swing the front of the board about 15 degrees to the left. Your back foot stays planted.
  4. Set the nose down. Let the front wheels touch the ground.
  5. Pivot the nose right. Repeat the motion in the opposite direction.
  6. Repeat. Left, right, left, right. The goal is a smooth, rhythmic zigzag without gaining speed.

What this means for you

Tic-tacs teach your legs and core to communicate with the board at low speed. You are not going anywhere fast — you are learning how small weight changes move the deck under your feet. Once this feels natural, every other beginner trick on a longboard becomes easier because you already understand how the board responds to balance shifts.

Start on grass if you are nervous about rolling. The board will not move much, and you can focus on the footwork without worrying about speed. Move to pavement once the motion feels automatic.

Understanding longboard deck shapes helps here too. A board with a kick tail makes tic-tacs easier because the tail gives your back foot a lever. But even pintail and drop-through decks work — you just press down over the rear bolts instead of a dedicated tail.

Carving: Turning Your Board Into a Trick

Once tic-tacs feel comfortable, carving is the natural next move. It uses the same weight-shifting principle but at a slightly higher speed, with your wheels staying on the ground the whole time.

Here is the process:

  1. Start rolling at a slow, comfortable speed. Push once or twice on flat ground.
  2. Bend your knees slightly. Keep your weight centered over the board, not leaning forward or back.
  3. Lean onto your toes. Press your toes into the deck and let the board turn to one side. Your shoulders and hips naturally follow — look where you want to go, and your body will orient that direction.
  4. Shift to your heels. Press through your heels to arc the board the other way.
  5. Link the turns. Toe-side, heel-side, toe-side, heel-side. You are drawing an S-pattern on the pavement.

In practical riding terms, carving is not just a trick — it is how you control speed on a gentle slope, how you dodge a crack in the sidewalk, how you navigate a crowded campus path. It builds muscle memory for real-world riding situations.

One thing I notice in buyer conversations: people who skip straight to hills without learning to carve on flat ground end up scared, not skilled. Carving on flat pavement first gives you the reflexes to handle slopes later. The shoulder-hip-foot coordination becomes automatic.

If your board feels stiff when you try to turn, your trucks might need adjustment. Most beginner longboards ship with trucks on the tighter side for stability. Loosening them a quarter-turn at a time gives you more turning range without making the board feel unstable. Finding a board with the right truck setup matters — see longboards built for different riding styles to compare what setups work for carving versus straight-line cruising.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

I used to think the biggest mistake beginners made was buying the wrong board. After a few years of buyer conversations, I changed my mind. The bigger problem is rushing the sequence.

Here are the mistakes I see most often with beginner longboarding tricks:

  • Skipping to ollies or shuvits. These require popping the tail, catching the board mid-air, and landing with your weight balanced. If you cannot carve smoothly, you are not close to ready. Master tic-tacs and carving first — they take most people a few focused sessions, not months.
  • Practicing without a helmet. A flat-ground fall at walking speed can still give you a concussion if you land wrong. Helmets are not negotiable.
  • Choosing rough or uneven surfaces. Cracked asphalt, gravel parking lots, and wet pavement all increase the chance of a fall and make it harder to feel how the board responds. Find the smoothest flat ground you can.
  • Ignoring foot placement. Small changes matter. If your front foot is too far forward, the board feels unresponsive. If your back foot is too far off the tail, tic-tacs become a struggle. Spend a minute adjusting your stance before every practice session.
  • Practicing for too long in one session. Your legs and focus degrade faster than you think. Shorter sessions — 20 to 30 minutes — with clear goals beat hour-long marathons where you get tired and sloppy.

I had a buyer, Marcus, who rode a drop-through for three months and then contacted me because it felt too soft. He had progressed from flat-ground commuting to wanting park riding and gentle hills. His skills had outgrown his setup. The board was not wrong when he bought it — he had just moved past it faster than expected. The lesson: most riders’ skills evolve over 6 to 18 months. If you already know you want to progress toward faster riding or steeper terrain, pick a beginner board with a little room to grow.

What to Try Next

Once tic-tacs and carving feel automatic — meaning you can do them without thinking about your feet — here are the next tricks with longboard to explore:

  • Cross-stepping. While rolling slowly, step your front foot across to the back and your back foot across to the front, then step back. This is a balance exercise that also looks smooth. Start at a near-standstill and build up to rolling speed.
  • Manuals. Roll slowly and lift your front wheels off the ground by shifting weight to your back foot. Hold the position for as long as you can. Then try the reverse — lift the back wheels by shifting forward. Both build the balance and leg control you need for more advanced moves.
  • Ghost riding. Step off the board while it is rolling slowly, walk beside it, then step back on. It sounds silly, and it is — but it teaches you to get on and off a moving board without panic.

When to think about your board setup

If your board feels too stable and you want more turning response, slightly looser trucks or softer bushings can help. If it feels too twitchy, tighten the trucks or try harder bushings. Wheel durometer matters too: 78A–80A wheels give you a smoother ride on rough pavement, while 80A–83A wheels roll faster on clean surfaces.

These are not urgent upgrades when you are starting out. But if you have been practicing beginner tricks on a longboard for a few months and something feels off, the answer is usually in one of these components — not in buying a whole new board.

For a full breakdown of how different setups affect your ride, start with our complete how-to-longboard guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the easiest trick to learn on a longboard?

Tic-tacs. They require no speed, no special board shape, and no prior experience beyond being able to stand on the board and push. You shift your weight to lift the front wheels slightly and pivot the nose left and right. Most people can get the basic motion within their first practice session. Basic carving is the next step — it uses the same weight-shifting principle but with the wheels on the ground at a rolling speed.

Do I need a special longboard for tricks?

No. Most standard longboards work for beginner tricks like tic-tacs, carving, cross-stepping, and manuals. A board with a kick tail makes tic-tacs slightly easier because the tail gives your back foot a natural leverage point, but you can do the same move on pintail or drop-through decks by pressing over the rear bolts. Stability matters more than specialization at this stage — longer decks (38–42 inches) and softer wheels give you a more forgiving platform to learn on.

How long does it take to learn basic longboard tricks?

Based on buyer feedback and general rider experience, most people can get comfortable with tic-tacs in two to three focused practice sessions of 20–30 minutes each. Carving takes a bit longer — usually a week or two of regular practice before the S-turns feel natural. The timeline depends on how often you practice and whether you already have board-sport experience. Riders who skateboarded as kids tend to pick up carving faster because the weight-shifting mechanics are similar.

Ready to Start Practicing?

Beginner longboard tricks need a stable board, soft wheels, and enough deck room to feel balanced while you shift your weight. If you are shopping for your first board — or upgrading from something that feels too twitchy — browse beginner longboards with the right stability and setup for learning these moves safely.

— / About this article / Written by Jordan Ellis, Founder of Groveride / buylongboard.com at Groveride. / This guide draws on buyer conversations, rider progression patterns, and Jordan’s direct experience helping first-time riders find the right starting point for their skills. / Where conclusions are observational rather than verified, this is noted in the text. / Last reviewed: 2025-06-15 / —

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