How to drop in on a skateboard

Hello. This article will teach you how to drop in on a skateboard. "Dropping in" is when skaters enter a quarter pipe or halfpipe from the top of the ramp. Dropping in is essential if you want to become a good vert skater.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Skateboard
• Quarter pipe

1. First, you want to make your way to the top of the ramp. Once you're up there, place your tail (or the back end) of your skateboard on the edge of the ramp. Hold it there with your back foot, leaving your front foot on top of the ramp.
2. This is more like a tip, but I'll include it here to make sure it gets read. For those of you that know how to ollie, you know that you pop with the toes of your back foot, and not your whole foot. While this tip may not apply to everyone, try to avoid that when dropping in and place your whole foot on the tail, giving you more stability. This could save a lot of bruises and scrapes in the end.
3. Once you've got your stance down, take that front foot and push down as hard as you can. If you dont push hard enough, you will either fall backwards or skid your tail all the way down. If you want a nice, clean drop in, push as hard as you can. Chances are that no matter what material you're dropping in on as long as you push down hard and KEEP BOTH FEET ON THE BOARD, you'll be fine. Do NOT take your back foot off, as this could effect your stability, and send you crashing to the bottom of the quarter.
4. Finally, bend your knees as you're going down the ramp. If you're too stiff you won't be stable and will probably fall straight backwards.
5. Congrats! You just dropped in. Move it up to the next highest ramp at your skatepark and try it out on that.

Tips & Warnings

• Be comfortable riding around with your skateboard and be familiar with other simple tricks before trying this one. If you're new to the vert scene, get nice and comfy riding around on other ramps in your skatepark to get used to the feel. It is a bit different from skating street.
• When moving up onto a higher ramp, dont get nervous or afraid. As mentioned in my ollie article, DONT THINK about it. Too much thinking about it and you'll either get scared and not do it or fall as a result. Just get up there, put your board down, and do it. The same steps and rules apply for all ramp heights.
• Skating is dangerous. I recommend both a helmet and knee pads on this one, as when you fall (IF you fall) you can get pretty scraped up without em.