How to Footbrake on a Skateboard or Longboard

You are cruising down your street and you are going a bit too fast or a car pulls out. Either way, it is very important to know how to footbrake so you don't crash and burn.

These footbraking instructions are good for skateboarding, longboarding, and any other boarding you come up with.

Take your front foot and turn your toes so they face the nose of the board. Your chest should also turn and face forward as well.

Now go ahead and transfer all your weight on your front foot as you swing out your back leg and lower it to the ground. It is important to keep your back leg straight as you lower it to the ground. Also, keep all your weight centered on your front foot, do not lean back or forward.

As you lower your back leg to the ground while keeping it straight, first apply light pressure to the ground with the sole of your shoe, and then continue to apply more pressure if you want to slow down faster. Remember: nice and easy.

Don't expect to get this your first time, it takes practice to learn how to footbrake.

Please don't skip this step! Everyone needs to practice - there's no way around it. Practice!

A common first mistake is that when you apply your back foot to brake, it will want to skip off the ground. This is because you are applying too much weight on your back foot. Remember all your weight is basically on your front leg, and you are just dragging your back foot on the ground to slow down.

IMPORTANT: Don't go too fast because you will fall. Start learning how to footbrake at a comfortable speed, a speed where you would not normally need to brake at, then work your way up to faster speeds.