How to Do Skateboard Trampoline Tricks

Use your trampoline to bust out huge tricks on a skateboard.

You can use skateboards for more activities than one might think. By taking off the trucks (the mounted axles that hold your wheels), you can use your skateboard as a snowboard, or do tricks on the carpet. Another maneuver is to take your skateboard deck (the board itself) to the trampoline and learn to go sailing through the air doing tricks you could never land while skateboarding on flat ground. With some practice, you can learn to do some very difficult stunts that will impress your friends.

Things You'll Need

• Skateboard deck
• Metal spring mattress
• Trampoline

Instructions

Getting Started

1. Disassemble your skateboard if the trucks are still on. You will be using only a skateboard deck to perform tricks on a trampoline. Leaving your trucks and wheels on will not only make it harder to execute tricks, but it will also damage the trampoline.

2. Practice your tricks on a metal spring mattress. Take your shoes off and keep your socks on to increase your grip. Get the feel of how you will be bouncing up and down on the trampoline by practicing on this mattress.

3. Focus most of your energy on trying to bounce higher each time while still being able to control the skateboard deck. Start experimenting with different tricks that you may already know how to do from skateboarding on flat ground, and get a general feel of the minor adjustments you'll need to make when performing those tricks on the trampoline.

4. Use the skills you learned while practicing on the mattress and apply them to the trampoline. Start out slow before trying to bounce too high. Begin with basic tricks like kickflips, 180 ollies (an ollie is a jump), or Indy grabs, and work your way up to more advanced tricks such as 360 flips, 360 ollies, or Cannonball grabs after you feel more comfortable.

Performing Spin Tricks

1. Set up for your ollie by standing in the traditional ollie stance with your back foot on the tail and your front foot on the front bolt holes of the skateboard deck. Bounce lightly up and down to prepare for your big jump.

2. Prepare to perform your trick by winding up for the direction you want to spin, and execute the ollie. Focus most of the spring on your back foot, bring your knees up high, and begin spinning your body.

3. Keep your back straight for the whole rotation to avoid flying off the trampoline. Pay attention to when you will hit the trampoline, and prepare to land. Remember that you are landing on a trampoline and you will need to continue jumping to avoid buckling your knees.

Performing Flip Tricks

1. Stand in the proper stance for whichever flip trick you are going to do. Each stance will be the same stance one would use if they were skateboarding on flat ground with wheels and so forth. If you're doing a kickflip, for instance, keep your back foot on the tail, put your front foot near the front bolts, and tilt your heel inward so that your front foot sits at a 45-degree angle.

2. Perform your ollie, and execute your flip trick just before you get to the climax of your jump. Do kickflips by using your front foot to kick the board down, causing it to flip. Try pop shove--it's by rotating your board horizontally with your feet. Push it in the direction you want it to go with your front foot, and push in the opposite direction with your back foot. Mix it up and use your back foot to rotate the board horizontally, and your front foot to flip the board, and do 180 or 360 flips.

3. Catch the board when it comes back around and prepare to land back on to a trampoline, not flat ground.

Performing Grab Tricks

1. Stand in the traditional ollie stance and begin lightly bouncing up and down to prepare to jump as high as you can.

2. Take a big leap just like you would for an ollie. Put most of the focus on your back foot and bring your knees up toward your chest as high as you can.

3. Perform your trick by grabbing the board when your knees are up as high as they can go. Hold on to the board and let go just before you land. Remember to land appropriately and avoid buckling your knees.

Tips & Warnings

• Practicing on a mattress is a very important step to avoid injury. It is much easier and safer to get the hang of doing tricks on a trampoline by starting out slowly.

• Do not secure your feet to the skateboard deck with tape or anything else. While this may seem like a good idea, it is a good way to get seriously hurt if you miss the trampoline upon landing.

• Always have someone around when you are on a trampoline as trampolines can be very dangerous, especially when performing tricks with a skateboard deck.

References

• Skateboarding UK: Turn Your Skateboard Into a Snowboard
• Video Jug: How to Use a Skateboard on a Trampoline

Resources

• Kendincos: 10 Awesome Trampoline Skateboard Tricks