Street skateboarding is hard it can take months of practice and lot of falls just to learn a basic trick like an ollie.

 Balance training can help speed up the process of learning skateboard tricks by allowing you to train indoors in a safe environment and learn the proper movement patterns needed for different tricks while reducing the risk of receiving an injury from taking a hard fall.

Taking a hard fall while attempting to try a new trick can slow done your skating progression because you will have to stop skating while you are recovering from your injuries.

During all that down time your skills are regressing while everyone else is getting better.

A method for learning skateboarding tricks safer and faster.

 The first to do to learn and master a new trick is to learn the mechanics of the tricks.

 Learn what you have to do with your body and how you have to position your feet on the skateboard.

The fastest way to learn the mechanics of tricks it to be able to practice it over and over again without the fear of taking a hard fall.

You can do this with products like skate trainers or the syck tricks balance board.

Once you have the mechanics of the tricks down you can then move on to practicing the trick on a balance board.

Practicing the trick and landing it on a balance board roller will not be as hard or dangerous of doing the trick on a moving skateboard.

Once you master the trick on a balance board, you can then move on to doing it on a moving skateboard.

If you follow this method, you will have masted the mechanics of the trick and worked your balance skills by sticking the landings on a balance board, so now you will be more confident when you go to attempt the trick on a moving skateboard.

With all this being said balance training can still be dangerous and lead to injury so be careful and wear safety gear.

Types of skills that can be cross trained with balance training tools.

Skateboarding tricks or skills can be broken down into a few different categories. 

Flipping tricks and ollies 

Manuals 

Grinds

Slides  

Each different type of skill has the best method for training how to do them.

In this guide, I cover that best way to cross train to get better at each of these different skateboarding skills.

The best skate trainers and balance boards for getting better at street skateboarding.

Skate trainers 2.0

The Vew-do Zippy

The Vew-doFlow

THe Vew-do El Dorado

Revolution Core 32

DIY skateboard balance board

What is the difference between the Vew-do zippy vs the Flow vs the el dorado

The main difference between these three boards is the type of roller it uses.

The rollers that the zippy uses have nubs on the ends of it that kind of act like training wheels to prevent the board from riding at too steep of an angle.

The Flow is considered their intermediate balance board because the roller allows you to carve harder and ride the board on a steeper angle than the zippy

The El dorado is considered their advanced balance board because the rollers is a little larger than the flows roller so you can carve harder and spin faster than the zippy and the flow.

These 3 boards are all around the same shape and size with the El dorado resembling a skateboard deck the most.

If you are already an intermediate level skater then the El dorado would be the best choice with the flow coming in as the second best.

Another good thing about these boards is that the rollers are interchangeable so if you buy the board and find out you want something more or less challenging you can purchase a roller from Vew-do.

For a more in dept look at the differences between these 3 boards check out my Vew-do board buyers guide

BALANCE TRAINING FOR FLIPPING TRICKS

Vew-Do balance boards vs the Revolution Core 32 for ollies and flipping tricks

What is the best balance board for practicing ollies and flipping tricks?

If you are looking for a balance board for solely working on flipping tricks and ollies, the element 32 would be the better choice for a few reasons.

•  The roller for the element has sand in it to weight it down to help keep the roller directly beneath you to help make landing tricks easier.
•  The roller for the element kickflip will be able to handle the abuse of landing flipping tricks longer than that of the wooden rollers used on Vew-do boards.
• Landing flipping tricks on a vew-do board can be very challenging because you have to get the track that is under the balance board deck to land exactly in the groove cut out of the roller.

Skate Trainers vs Vew- do balance boards, Revolution Core 32 and diy balance board for ollies and flipping tricks

Why choose skate trainers over a balance board?

Skate trainers cost much less than balance boards.

Skate trainers allow you to learn how to do the mechanics of a trick without having to worry about trying stick a landing on a roller.

What balance boards are better at than skate trainers?

Balance board can be used to improve your overall balance as well allow you to work on other types of skateboarding skills.

Balance boards can be fun to use, while skate trainers are not that fun to use.

Even if you can learn how to do a trick with skate trainers, it is going to be challenging to progress to learning how to land the trick on a moving skateboard.

I think balance boards can help bridge this gap because they will help you learn how to land and perform a trick on a moving deck.

What product should you get?

I think the best method of quickly learning ollies and flipping tricks would be to use both products.

First you can to master mechanics of a trick with skate trainers then learn how to stick the landing with a balance board then move on to trying the trick on a real skateboard.

Diy Balance board vs Revolution Core 32, Vew- do balance boards and skate trainers

Why use a DIY balance board over these other products?

A Diy balance board is very cheap especially if you have a spare deck laying around.

Why a DIY balance boards are not suitable for practicing flipping tricks and ollies?

Is is more dangerous.

 Using a soda bottle to practice landing flipping tricks on is not a good idea because the bottle will eventually weaken than explode on you.

 A skateboard deck slides off a soda bottle very easily.

Balance training for improved performance of manuals

Check out in the video below how to use skate trainers for get better at manuals.

Having stoppers on the end of the board help to allow you to practice manuals.

  Vew-do balance boards vs the Revolution Core 32 and diy balance board for manual training.

Vew-do boards will allow you to practice manuals without the fear or the board from shooting out from under you because they have stoppers on both ends of the deck.

Why the Revolution Core 32 and DIY balance board are not the best for practicing manuals.

To practice doing manuals with a balance board you need to maintain the end of the deck on the roller.  

Practicing manuals with the Element kickflip or a DIY balance board can be very challenging because these decks do not have stoppers on the board to prevent the board from shooting out from under yourself.

Balance training for improved performance in grinds.

Skate trainers are not going to be helpful for getting better at grinds.

Why a DIY balance board and Revolution Core 32 are not the best choice.

Both of these boards can help you improve your overall balance which can lead to improved performance in grinds, but both of these boards lack the ability to practice balancing when the board is at a steep angle.

Why the Vew-do el dorado and Flow is better for practicing grinds then a Diy balance board and the Element 32 Kickflip.

The design of the rollers for the el dorado and the flow allow you to practice balancing the deck at a steep angle putting you into a posture that is similar to grinding with a skateboard.

Check out the video below at around the 10-secondmark you can see how the Vew-do flow and el dorado allow you use the board at a steep angle.

The Vew-do el dorado vs Flow vs the Vew- do zippy for grinds.

The steeper the board allows you to ride it at the better it will be for recreating the feel of grinding with a skateboard.

The roller design of the zippy does not allow you to carve as hard or get with the board on as steep of an angle as you can on the el dorado and Flow.

The Flow would be good for intermediate skaters because it allows you get the board at a steeper angle than the zippy.

The El Dorado would be best for intermediate to advanced skaters because the el dorado roller allows you to ride the board at an even steeper angle than the flow.

Balance training for improved performance in slides

Slides do not play as big of a role in street skating as they do in downhill longboarding but I included them in this guide because they can be fun to learn how to do.

Performing slides requires you to commit into a powerful rotation.

Finding a balance board that will allow you to spin on the board will help to learn the movement patterns needed to pull off different types of slides as well as build up the strength in your core.

Skate trainers are not going to help with slides

Why a Diy balance board and the Revolution Core 32 are not great working on your slide skills.

To improve performance in sidles you are going to need a balance board that allows you to spine on the roller. If you try spinning on a soda bottle or the roller of the element 32 kickflip you are most liking going to slide the board off the roller and fall.

Why Vew- Do boards are best for developing your sliding skills.

Vew do boards are the best for working on improving your performance at slides because they allow you quickly spin on them.

Unlike the element or a DIY balance board, Vew-do boards are locked into the roller so you do not end up falling off the roller when you attempt to spin the board.

Working on these rotations or spins with a vew- do board can help build the muscle memory and help develop your core strength so you can feel confident fully committing into a slide.

The video below shows how you can spin and perform slide like maneuvers on vew-do boards.

Still not sure what trainer would be best for you.

Diy balance board- Is free if you have an old deck laying around and is ok for helping to improve your overall balance but does not work that great for specializing on tricks and is much more dangerous to use than skate trainers or balance boards.

Skate trainers- are perfect for learning the movement patterns used for ollies and flipping tricks but even after you learn how to do atrick with skate trainers, it could still be challenging to learn how to land tricks on a moving skateboard.

Being that skate trainers are relatively cheap, the best thing to do if you are serious about improving your skating would be to get skate trainers and a balance board. You can then master a trick with skate trainers then attempt it on a balance board then once you get that down you can try it on a skate board.

Revolution Core 32-  This board would be the best if you just want to focus on getting better at flipping tricks, ollies and your overall balance because the roller can take the abuse of having the deck landing on it. Also sticking the landings are going to be easier than on a Vew- do boards.

Vew-do Zippy is a good all around balance board that will allow you to work on getting better at flipping trick, grinds, manuals, and slides but if you already are an intermediate skater you probably want something more challenging that will allow you work on these skills better.

Vew-do Flow and El Dorato - These boards are great because they enable you to work on flipping trick, grinds, manuals and slides better than the zippy board by allowing you ride the board at a steeper angle.

The down side of vew-do boards is that landing flipping tricks is going to be a lot harder because you have to get the track in the bottom of the board to land directly in the channel in the roller.

Additionally the roller is made out of wood, so it eventually will get damaged if you plan on practicing a lot of ollies and flipping tricks.

Where to find products mentioned in this Guide

Skate trainers can be found here- http://www.skatertrainer.com/

Diy balance boards needs a 3 liter soda bottle. Usually 99 cent stores have them.

If you think anything should be added or corrected in this guide let me know in the comment section because I strive for all the guides on this site to be as accurate as possible. I will continue to update this guide as needed.

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