Private Skateboarding Lessons in Sydney

My coaches and I teach private skateboarding lessons around Lane Cove, Ryde and Sydney for kids, adults, complete beginners and people who already skate but want to improve something specific.

A lot of the people who come to me are nervous when they start. Some say they have no balance, some have tried before and never really felt comfortable, and some are convinced they are just not sporty enough to learn. None of that worries me. I use a proven teaching system that breaks everything down into simple steps, so people can understand how to push, balance and control the board properly from the start. Quite often, once the body position is right, people are surprised by how quickly things begin to make sense.

For me, skateboarding is not just about where you put your feet. I spend a lot of time talking about body position, weight transfer, shoulders, hips, where you are looking and how relaxed you are. Small changes in those areas can make a huge difference to how stable somebody feels on a board. I also explain why those things matter, because once people understand what their body is meant to be doing, they usually stop fighting the board and start moving with it.

My background in board sports also plays a big part in the way I teach. I have more than 40 years of experience in snowboarding and a fair amount of years wakeboarding, and there is a lot of crossover between those sports and skateboarding. Balance, weight transfer, stance, vision, commitment and learning how to move with the board are all connected. I have quite a few students who come to me because they want to get better at snowboarding, and skateboarding can be a really useful way to become more comfortable standing sideways and controlling a board before getting back on the snow.

Private lessons are not just about street tricks either. I teach people on short boards, longboards, cruiser boards and electric skateboards, depending on what they actually want to do. Some people just want to learn how to cruise around comfortably. Some want to carve properly. Some want to feel more confident on an electric board. Others want to learn ramps, bowls or tricks. That is why I enjoy private lessons so much. I can actually teach the person in front of me rather than trying to fit everyone into the same lesson.

I also teach electric skateboarding, and that comes with its own set of skills. The motor might be doing the pushing for you, but your body still needs to know how to deal with acceleration, braking, speed and turning. A lot of people can get an electric skateboard moving but still feel tense or unstable once the speed picks up. I work on stance, throttle control, braking, body position and speed management so the rider feels more in control rather than simply hanging on and hoping for the best.

Another big part of what I do is helping people with fear, especially when it comes to things like dropping in on ramps and bowls. For many skaters, the technique is not actually the hardest part. The hardest part is getting your brain to accept what your body needs to do. Standing at the top of a ramp and leaning forward feels completely wrong the first time, even when it is exactly what the technique requires. I do not believe in standing behind someone and just telling them to go for it. I would rather break the movement down, work through smaller steps, explain what is happening and get the person to a point where they understand what they are about to do.

Fear, stress and anxiety are all normal parts of learning something that feels beyond your current comfort zone. I try to help people stay in the moment and focus on the movement they are actually doing rather than getting caught up thinking about everything that could possibly go wrong. At the same time, I also think it is important to be realistic about risk. Skateboarding has risk in it, and pretending otherwise does not make somebody safer.

I talk a lot with adults about risk and reward, because everybody’s situation is different. A dad with young kids who wants to drop into a big bowl might be physically capable of doing it, but the consequences of an injury could be very different if he is running a company, working as a self-employed tradie or simply has a lot of people relying on him. That does not mean he should not challenge himself. It just means the decision deserves a bit more thought. My job is to help people progress while keeping the risks as controlled as possible and making sure we are not doing something just because the ego says we should.

Sometimes the right decision is to try it. Sometimes it is another ten minutes of practice. Sometimes it is leaving it for another day. I do not see any of those as failure. Progress in skateboarding is not always about doing the biggest thing possible. Sometimes it is about understanding when you are ready and when you are not.

I teach both kids and adults, and I approach them differently. With younger kids, I normally keep the explanation simple and get them moving quickly. With adults, I often spend more time explaining why something works because adults usually want to understand what they are doing wrong and what needs to change. Either way, the lesson is built around the person, not around a fixed script.

If you are looking for private skateboarding lessons in Sydney, particularly around Lane Cove, Ryde, Gladesville and the Lower North Shore, you do not need to arrive with any experience. You might be learning to push for the first time, getting ready for a snowboarding trip, trying to feel safer on an electric skateboard, or working up the confidence to finally drop into a ramp. We start with where you are, work out what you want to achieve, and go from there.

Frankie’s Wheels Skateboarding School‍ ‍

Private Skateboarding Lessons in Lane Cove, Ryde and Sydney‍ ‍

0400 653 932