Looking for a new activity? Want to relax after a long day at work?
Maybe it's time to start longboarding! It's never too late.
If you're in shape and want to get back into curves or learn all the flip tricks in the repertoire to follow in the footsteps of the greatest skateboarders, you can also start skateboarding?
The apprehension of the beginning
We meet a lot of beginners in the store and we take our role of finding them their first board very seriously. When our customers are complete beginners, the same apprehension remains at first: how will I manage to hold on to the board?
We advise you not to dwell on this question. You will find the answer very quickly, and once you find it, you will never ask it again.
The few sessions where you have to find your balance on a moving board are very short. After several tries, this moment will pass and it will represent a very small segment in your long career as a longboarder.
Our advice: think about what happens next!
Get back on track
But what will happen next?
You are going to slide on the asphalt and find or discover unique sliding sensations like surf or snowboard.
This is a great goal when you start longboarding: to have fun while looking for unique sliding sensations.
This is the beginning of a never-ending quest in which you will discover different disciplines, different spots and certainly different people.
If you've never tried snowboarding before, it's an extremely easy and affordable way to get started. All you need is a board and a road! So it's within everyone's reach.
Where do we start?
Welcome to our family. First lesson: there are no rules!
You start where you want! What's important is how you feel while riding. If you've decided to take up longboarding to unwind, find a new sport and progress, start by listening to yourself and trying to figure out what you like best.
Thereare a thousand ways to ride a board. You can try to generate a lot of speed right away, or you can take the time to work on your turns. You can want to replicate what you see in the Dancing videos, or just ride to work without taking the car.
Whichever mode you choose, you're bound to enjoy riding on the asphalt and feeling the wind in your hair!
From cruising to carving
Second rule: There is still no rule...
However, if we have to give you our feeling, we advise you to start by riding as much as possible. This is the key step of all our sports: you must feel comfortable on your board before going further. And for that, there is no secret, you have to ride with it. On the sidewalk, on the road, flat or downhill, to go to college or in total freedom on Sunday: multiply the experiences until your board becomes the extension of your feet. It's worth it!
We could summarize this step as Cruising, that is to say moving with your board to go from point A to point B.
The next step is the carving. The carving is the undulation which consists in linking the turns as in snowboard. It is a practice that can be approached with any board, even if it is facilitated by the boards a little flex.
For carver, you have to push on your back leg once a turn has been initiated and come back on your front leg to start a turn in the other direction. As in snowboarding, it's the balancing act you'll do with your shoulders that will help you link the turns with fluidity. On paper, it's technical, but in reality, it's totally intuitive once you put your feet on the longboard.
By learning to carver, you open up a huge field of possibilities and it's the beginning of riding sessions that will bring you pure pleasure. Even 20 years later, you will still enjoy carver on flat ground with your longboard.
Towards new adventures
The rest is not written, it's up to you.
There are thousands of ways to ride a longboard, you'll have to find yours.
You can have the time of your life riding like it's the first day! You can also decide that you want to be the fastest longboarder in the world and try to break records.
The most important thing is to have fun.
We highly recommend that you try different disciplines to see what you think. You may find that when you discover Dancing, you discover your new passion. It is also interesting to try different longskate boards. You may also discover that the same spot holds hidden resources depending on whether you approach it with one type of board or another.
In short, it's up to you to see where you want to approach the sport and which direction you will take.
Whatever you do, it will be fun and you won't regret your choice!