How to Longboard Cross Step
This is pretty much the foundation of all longboard dancing. It’s the trick you should learn before you do anything else if dancing is your thing.
Longboard surfers will be familiar with the cross step too – it’s the most basic bit of footwork that you can do to get your weight forward to trim your board for straight line speed. If you’re a surfer and you want to brush up on your footwork – learning on a longboard skateboard will make life WAY easier next time you’re in the water!
As longboard tricks go, the cross-step is pretty easy to learn, and the risk of injury is low. If you’re just starting out, give it a try whilst holding onto a handrail or something first.
In terms of terrain – all you need is a flat bit of road or pavement. You need a bit of space, so an empty car park or similar is perfect for learning to dance in.
For gear, a longer longboard is essential. You want to be skating something at least 44″ long to give yourself room to play with. Bigger boards make this easier as you can be wider with you stance.
A symmetrical board isn’t required at this stage, but could come in handy later as you start to do 180 slides and shuvits.
We recommend the Kisiwa for surf-style boardwalking and noseriding, and the Legend for dancing. You can get a Mako Pintail to work if you’re on a budget, too.
A helmet is a good idea, and maybe wrist guards, but more pads than this will just slow you down and stiffen you up. It’s important to be fluid and flexible whilst longboard dnacing, so just try not to fall off and put up with the odd graze now and then!