First Ride and First Tricks on a Freestyle Scooter (Lesson 1)

⚡ In short: ride first, then jump, then spin.

A sequence that works: ride → hop → bunny hop → tailwhip → barspin. Perform each step on a flat surface with no people around, and only then move on. For the first three tricks, a sidewalk or parking lot is enough; for a tailwhip and barspin, expect to take a few dozen falls.

Always wear a helmet (skate-style, not a cycling helmet), knee and wrist guards to start with, and make sure your scooter has been checked before every ride.

🪖 What should you do before you even set off?

Three things every rider does before every ride. They'll take five minutes.

1. Warm up and stretch. A few minutes of hopping, rotating your ankles, wrists, and shoulders, and stretching your thighs and calves. A warmed-up body is more flexible, making the first tricks easier; cold muscles are more likely to get injured when landing badly.
2. Deploy protection. A helmet at all times, without exception. Don’t use a regular cycling helmet: it doesn’t cover the back of your head and won’t protect you if you fall backwards, which is the most common type of fall on a scooter. A proper skate helmet sits lower and covers the back of the head. For the first few months, add knee and wrist pads. For more details, see the article Helmet and Pads for a Freestyle Scooter ; you can find helmets in the helmets category and pads in the pads category.
3. Check the scooter. It must not have any loose bolts; the handlebars must not wobble or turn relative to the front wheel, and there must be no cracks around the welds. Quick test: lift the scooter a few centimeters off the ground and let it drop onto its wheels. A dull thud is fine; metallic knocking means something is loose. You can find the full procedure in the guide How to assemble a new freestyle scooter and what to check before your first ride.

Where to practice: for your first ride and first tricks, a smooth surface free of stones, puddles, mud, and dust is all you need. A sidewalk or an empty parking lot. It’s important that there are no people there: your first tailwhips don’t go where you want them to. Only go to the skatepark after mastering this lesson.

🛴 Step 1: Riding – stance, pushing off, braking, turning

Which foot goes forward? Stand upright and have someone gently push you from behind. The foot you instinctively step forward with is your front foot: it stands on the board at the front, just behind the handlebar stem, with the toes angled slightly to the side. You bounce off the second one. Most people lead with their left foot (“regular”), while a minority lead with their right (“goofy”); both are correct.

Reflection. Front foot on the board, knees slightly bent, hands holding the grips loosely. With your back leg, make three or four long pushes, not ten short ones. Then stand her on the board behind the front foot, with her feet one behind the other and her weight centered. Look ahead, not at the front wheel.

Braking. Slowly: lower your back foot and slide the sole along the ground. Quickly: press the brake with your back foot (the steel plate above the rear wheel) briefly and repeatedly, rather than locking the wheel for a long time; a locked wheel skids, brakes less effectively, and develops a flat spot. When braking, bend your knees and shift your weight back.

Turning. You steer mainly by leaning your body; you only turn the handlebars slightly. When the handlebars are turned sharply at speed, the front wheel slips. Try figure eights around two bottles in the parking lot, starting slowly.

🐰 Step 2: Hop – first lift-off from the ground

What it is: a small jump in which both wheels lift off the ground at the same time and land together. The smallest and most important trick.

1. Stop, both feet on the board, feet staggered, knees bent, hands firmly on the grips.
2. Lower into a slight squat and push off sharply with both feet, jumping upward as if performing an ordinary vertical jump.
3. At the same time, pull the handlebars toward your body and “lift” the deck with your feet; the scooter rises with you.
4. Land on both wheels at the same time, with your knees bent to absorb the impact.
5. If possible, try the same thing while driving slowly. Then jump over the line in the parking lot, then the crack in the pavement.

Typical mistake: you jump, but the scooter stays on the ground because you didn’t pull it up with your hands. Or you'll land with your knees locked, and the impact will go into your back.

Safety: flat surface, nobody around, helmet. You don’t get many drops from hops, but here you’ll get used to the routine.

🐇 Step 3: Bunny hop – a higher jump over an obstacle

What it is: a jump where the front wheel goes up first, followed by the rear wheel.

You jump higher than during a hop and clear the curb. This movement is the foundation for ramp jumps and tailwhips.

1. Set off at a slow, steady pace. A bunny hop in place is harder than while moving.
2. Squat, with your weight slightly back. sharply upward and toward you; the front wheel will lift (like a “wheelie”).
3. At the moment when the front is up, push off the board with your back foot and pull your legs toward your body. The rear wheel lifts after the front one.
4. In the air, level the scooter by pressing your hands forward and down.
5. Land on both wheels or the rear wheel first, with your knees bent.
6. Practice first without an obstacle, then over a line, then over a hose lying on the ground, and finally over a low curb.

Typical mistake: you lift the front wheel, but the rear stays on the ground because you didn’t push off with your legs; or you yank the handlebars so hard that you fall backward. Solution: lower jumps, more repetitions, weight in the middle.

Safety: start with “obstacles” that you can't trip over (a line, a hose).

Kerb with some clearance to spare. Wrist guards make sense here: a botched bunny hop ends with you landing on your hands.

🌀 Step 4: Tailwhip – the deck rotates around the handlebars

What it is: while jumping, you kick the deck so that it rotates 360° around the handlebar stem, then land back on it. The first “real” trick. Expect dozens to hundreds of attempts; that’s normal.

1. Start without jumping. Stand beside the scooter, hold the handlebars with both hands, and kick the back of the deck with your foot so that it spins all the way around and comes back under you. You can tell which direction it's spinning and how hard to kick. Repeat until you can stop the board with your foot every time.
2. Jump with your feet off the board. Do a hop, move your feet slightly apart in the air, and land back on the board. You're getting used to holding the scooter in the air with just your hands.
3. Connection. Hop, at the highest point, kick the board sideways with your back foot (not downward), and spread your legs apart. The board spins around the post; the hands hold the handlebars firmly and calmly, without moving them.
4. Catch. Follow the board with your eyes. Once she turns underneath you, “catch” her with your legs: first one, then the other. Knees bent.
5. First while stationary, then while driving slowly. If the board doesn’t complete a full rotation, kick harder or jump higher. When they spin out, kick less.

Typical mistake: you kick the board downward instead of sideways (the board doesn’t rotate, it just drops), or you jerk the handlebars when you kick. Another common mistake: you look straight ahead instead of at the board and don’t know when to catch it.

Safety: the board spins fast and hard; if you miss, it will hit you in the shin.

Long pants, sturdy shoes, 3 meters of space clear of people. Helmet: falls from a tailwhip are backwards.

Video tutorials for the tailwhip and all other tricks will gradually be added to ScootAcademy.

🔄 Step 5: Barspin – the handlebars rotate 360°

What it is: the opposite of a tailwhip. The board stays beneath your feet; while in the air, you spin the handlebars a full rotation and catch them again. You need a high hop and smoothly rotating handlebars (compression tightened, but not overtightened).

1. Ground test. Stand next to the scooter and hold the front wheel in place with your foot. Spin the handlebars with one hand and catch them with the other once they’ve made a full turn. Repeat until you catch them 10 times in a row.
2. Height. The hop must be high enough for your handlebars to complete a full rotation in time. Practice hopping until it’s higher than a bunny hop.
3. Connection. Hop, at the highest point, spin the handlebars with one hand, keeping the other open and ready to catch them. The feet press the board down so it stays level and doesn’t swing up behind the handlebars.
4. Catch. Catch the handlebars as they come around, first with one hand, then immediately with the other, and land with your knees bent.
5. First while stationary, then while driving. If you can’t complete the handlebar rotation, you’re spinning too weakly or jumping too low. If you spin them and don’t catch them, you’re spinning too hard.

Typical mistake: the front wheel turns along with the handlebars, causing the scooter to veer beneath you; this is due to insufficiently bent knees or stiff handlebar rotation (improperly adjusted compression). Or you grab the handlebars before they finish spinning and land with the wheel turned.

Safety: during a barspin, the handlebars can hit your face and fingers. A mouthguard makes sense even for beginners; gloves protect your fingers. And again: flat terrain, nobody within range.

🏟️ Where to next: skatepark

Once you’ve mastered riding, hopping, bunny hops, and can land a tailwhip at least occasionally, it’s time for the skatepark.

It's the best place to ride: a clean surface, obstacles and ramps made of concrete, wood, or metal, and other riders who can help you with tricks. But it has its own rules: look around, don’t stand at the end of the ramp, don’t block the lanes, and let those who are waiting go first. Everything in lesson 2: First visit to the skatepark: rules and etiquette .

👨‍👩‍👧 For parents: how to help your child with their first lesson

• Check the scooter yourself. Tightening the connector and compression are your responsibility, not a seven-year-old child’s. The procedure is in the guide How to assemble a new freestyle scooter.
• Insist on wearing a helmet from the very first ride. A helmet is strongly recommended at all times, for children and adults alike, both on the street and at the skatepark; your first tailwhip often ends with a backward fall. A skate helmet that covers the back of the head, not a bicycle helmet.
• Let the child go through the steps in order. The most common reason children quit sports is frustration with the tailwhip, which they tried before they could jump confidently. Hop and bunny hops in a parking lot are boring, but you can’t do without them.
• Long trousers and sturdy shoes with flat soles. The deck hurts your shin during a tailwhip; the griptape (the rough “sandpaper” on the deck) wears through soft sneakers in a month.
• Expect setbacks and don’t make a big deal out of them. Scraped knees come with the territory; knee and wrist guards make the difference between “I’m carrying on” and “never again.”
• Watch from a distance. A child learning a tailwhip needs 3 meters of space, not a parent one meter behind them.

⚠️ The Most Common Beginner Mistakes

• Tailwhip as the first trick. It can’t be done without a sure hop. The sequence ride → hop → bunny hop → tailwhip → barspin exists because each step builds on the previous one.
• Locked knees on landing. The impact goes into the knees and back and throws the scooter off. Bend your knees with every landing.
• Look ahead, not at the deck, during a tailwhip. You don’t know when to catch the board, and you land beside it.
• Long braking with a locked rear wheel. It wears a flat spot into the wheel, and the wheel has to be replaced. Brake briefly and repeatedly.
• Training among people. A failed tailwhip sends the scooter 3 meters away. An empty space, not a playground full of children.
• Uninspected scooter. A permitted clamp will cause more crashes than all the tricks combined.

❓ FAQ