the Practical Skateboarder

Here, I want to introduce to skateboarders a useful concept that I’ve come across in my own life and noticed in skateboarding that can help them become better faster.

The 80/20 Principle: most of the rewards come from only a few things you do very well.

In other words, you do not need to master every trick to become great at skateboarding. Only a few tricks are necessary for great results.

By my count, there are 28 common flip tricks, and when you consider nollie, fakie, and switch, then the total is 112 flip tricks that you could learn. And, the number keeps growing when you add rails, ledges, and transition tricks to the count. But while watching skate videos, I noticed that most professionals only do between 15-35 different tricks, and still most of those tricks are some of the basics.

So, what does this mean for you? How can you get better faster with this principle in mind?

You only need to find and master the 20 or so tricks that feel most natural for you to become great at skateboarding. In fact, to become better faster you should spend as much time as possible on only these tricks and completely disregard the rest (for now).

The best skateboarders don’t worry about variety. Instead, they focus relentlessly on those few tricks that they can become great at and practice daily to become the best at those tricks.