How to Ride an Electric Skateboard and Avoid Sore Feet?
Like many sports, e-skating requires you to use your body non-conventional as you try to stay balanced on a moving object. New riders commonly experience some muscle soreness, numbness, or pins and needles, especially in their feet and legs. The obvious and most important thing to remedy this is time. Just like lifting weights for the first time in a while, if you get sore after your first ride, that's just your body remembering muscles it didn't know it had. The more you ride, the more you will get used to it, and the less often you'll be sore. In the meantime, let's look at a handful of tips that can help you avoid discomfort altogether.
How to Ride an Electric Skateboard: Stance
Stance is important. Having your knees bent will slightly minimize the bumps you feel and make the ride more fluid. We often hear people talking about the calf on their rear leg getting tired. This is due to uneven weight distribution favouring the back foot. Learn to be comfortable increasing the weight on the front foot as well.
Also, take note of the angles your feet are at on the board. If your rear foot is pointing backwards and your body has twisted forwards, you will feel unnecessary stress. We recommend your back foot be more or less 90 degrees to the board while your front foot should be pointing around 30 degrees forward.
Even if you have the perfect stance, locking yourself into it and trying to hold it for an hour straight isn't going to feel good. You want to get some movement happening. The first fix for this is carving. If you are carving back and forth, you are not only shifting your weight distribution but will naturally be alternated in the muscle groups being used.
How to Ride an Electric Skateboard: Motion
The second fix is important and helps build overall riding confidence, moving around the board while it's in motion. Whether you are just shuffling your feet a little bit or completely moving around the board, it will give you a break without actually having to stop for a break. It might simply be throwing in a kick push every now and then, or narrowing the width of your feet for a while.
If you want to take it a step further, you can try out a few fancier moves. You might find if you are riding somewhere with a lot of cracks or expansion joints, the sudden impacts can take a toll on your feet. A good habit to get into is a slight hop to relieve pressure off both your feet and the board at the moment of impact. Not only will this save your feet from all those jolts, but it's also healthier for the board to avoid heavy impacts.
How to Ride an Electric Skateboard: Shoe Type
The final tip is super important: shoe type. We recommend something with good support in the arch, a flat sole for grip and not too much ankle support that limits the range of movement. We see customers in everything from skate shoes to trainers to basketball shoes. If you are looking to rock Vans, a useful tip is that they make a ton of versions, and many of them are just for fashion. What you want is the pro skate range. The shoes are more durable, have better support and are all-round higher quality. For new riders who found this article because your legs are sore, don't stress. In a week or two, you'll be adapted to e-skate. Implement some of these tips, and you can focus on enjoying the ride for a long time to come.
