Why a small adjustment in head position can make a big difference when learning to skateboard.
By Frankie | Frankie's Wheels Skateboarding School
Every weekend at Frankie's Wheels, we see something that never fails to surprise parents. A child approaches a ramp, bends their knees, puts some weight on their front foot and gets ready to roll down. Everything looks good until the skateboard starts moving. Suddenly, their upper body leans backwards, the skateboard shoots out in front of them, and they end up sitting on their backside wondering what happened.
It's one of the most common mistakes we see when teaching children to skateboard. Fortunately, it's also one of the easiest to recognise and often one of the simplest to correct.
The interesting thing is that the problem isn't necessarily what they're doing with their feet. More often than not, it's what they're doing with their head.
Your head has more influence than you think
We tend to think of skateboarding as something we do with our feet and legs, but balance involves the entire body. Your head is a relatively heavy part of your body, particularly for younger children, whose heads are proportionally larger than those of adults. Its position, together with your shoulders and upper body, influences your overall centre of mass.
This becomes particularly important when you're standing on something that moves underneath you.
We often tell children to put more weight on their front foot when approaching a downhill bank. They bend their front knee and apply pressure, exactly as instructed, but their head and shoulders remain behind their feet. Although they're putting pressure through the front leg, their upper body is still leaning backwards, affecting their overall balance.
It's something that can be difficult to recognise when you're concentrating on the skateboard rather than the person standing on it.
As the board starts travelling downhill, it changes angle and accelerates. If the rider's upper body stays too far behind, the skateboard can move forwards beneath them, increasing the likelihood of a backwards fall.
And that's where a small adjustment can make an enormous difference.
Don't fight it. Go with it.
When children first learn to roll down a ramp, their natural instinct is often to lean backwards. It's understandable. Looking down a slope can be intimidating, and moving away from something that feels frightening is a perfectly normal reaction.
Unfortunately, on a skateboard, that instinct can work against you.
At Frankie's Wheels, we spend considerable time teaching children to move with their skateboard rather than resist it. As the front wheels enter a downhill bank, we encourage them to keep their knees bent, look towards where they're travelling and allow their head and shoulders to move forwards with the changing angle of the board.
The goal isn't to throw their body forwards or lean excessively over the front wheels. It's about finding the right balance and allowing their body to follow the movement of the skateboard naturally.
We often see children struggling with the same little ramp several times, becoming increasingly hesitant because the skateboard keeps rolling out in front of them. We make a small correction to their head and shoulder position, explain why it matters, and suddenly they're rolling down with much greater confidence.
Of course, every child learns differently, and not every problem is solved immediately. But it's remarkable how often something that appears to be a confidence issue is actually a simple positioning issue.
A lesson that goes well beyond skateboarding
Having spent more than 30 years enjoying sports such as snowboarding and wakeboarding, I've seen similar challenges across different board sports.
In snowboarding, beginners commonly lean backwards when they become uncomfortable travelling downhill. This can make controlling the board and distributing weight correctly much more difficult. Surfing and wakeboarding also require riders to adjust their weight and upper-body position continuously as the board moves beneath them.
The technique isn't identical across these sports, but the fundamental principle is similar. Your body needs to respond to the movement of the board rather than fight against it.
What makes skateboarding particularly interesting is that children can begin developing this understanding on relatively small obstacles. A gentle downhill bank might not look impressive, but learning to roll down it with good body positioning teaches balance, coordination and body awareness that become increasingly valuable as they progress.
Why getting the basics right matters
One of the reasons we pay so much attention to head positioning is safety. When a skateboard suddenly rolls forwards from underneath a rider, the resulting backwards fall can happen very quickly. In some circumstances, this can lead to impacts involving the back of the head or neck.
Helmets and appropriate protective equipment are essential, but learning good technique is another important part of reducing unnecessary risks.
At Frankie's Wheels, we're not particularly interested in rushing children towards bigger ramps or more difficult tricks before they've developed the fundamentals. We'd much rather see a child confidently roll down a small bank with good balance than attempt something more challenging without understanding how to control their body.
Falling is part of skateboarding, and learning how to fall more safely is important too. But helping children understand why they lose their balance, and how small changes in their positioning can make a difference, is just as valuable.
Something to look for next time you're at the skatepark
If you're watching your child skate this weekend, pay attention to their head and shoulders as they approach a gentle downhill slope. You might notice that they're bending their front knee and appearing to lean forwards, while their head is actually sitting behind their body.
It's a subtle difference, but an important one.
The solution isn't simply shouting, "Lean forwards!" because leaning too far forwards can create problems of its own. What matters is learning how to move the head, shoulders and rest of the body together, adjusting naturally to the angle and movement of the skateboard.
For us, some of the most rewarding moments in coaching aren't when a child lands an impressive trick. They're when a child who was frightened of a small ramp suddenly understands what to do, rolls down successfully and turns around with an enormous smile.
Sometimes that breakthrough takes weeks of practice. Other times, it happens after one little adjustment.
And that's why you'll regularly hear us asking the kids at Frankie's Wheels one simple question:
"WHERE'S YOUR HEAD AT?"
Because sometimes the biggest improvement in skateboarding isn't about learning something new. It's about understanding something you've been doing all along.
Frankie's Wheels Skateboarding School offers beginner skateboarding lessons and holiday programs at Blackman Park in Lane Cove and Meadowbank, Ryde.
