Skating and Hockey / Drop in

It can be difficult to know when you’re ready to learn how to drop in for the first time. As it often is with skateboarding, you should go with your gut. But there are certain milestones you’ll probably want to have hit before you attempt dropping in.You’ve mastered the beginner skate tricks: The kick turn, tic tac, and revert are under your mastery of beginner skateboard tricks. You are comfortable with lifting your back wheels and front wheels and shifting your front foot and back foot when needed to render your board in certain ways.

You’re in the process of learning how to Ollie and Ollie higher: While it isn’t necessary to learn how to ollie before you drop in, especially if you prefer transition or vert skating over street, it is a good sign that you’re at the skill level needed to learn how to drop in. We have a complete guide to learning how to ollie if you ever find yourself in need of some extra pop!

You’re comfortable being at the skatepark: This is a rather important element of being ready to learn how to drop in, as dropping in generally requires a quarter pipe or mini ramp found at a skatepark. You also will exit the ramp on your way down with considerable velocity and should know if you’re about to rocket off into oncoming skate traffic.You can visualize a successful Drop In: Visualization is key in learning any skateboarding trick. You might even have dreams of rolling away from your Drop In the night before it happens. Skaters will all tell you they’ve had dreams of landing tricks or daydreams for hours before they actually happen.

You Want to Learn How To Drop In: Okay, this might sound obvious but you would be surprised at the amount of skate moms or skate dads that force this trick upon their child. Skateboarding is all about self empowerment, you never have to do something you don’t want to do, especially if it’s leading you to not have fun or worse, getting injured. If you want to learn how to drop in, that’s a great sign you’re already capable of mastering this amazing trick.

How To Drop In
Go ahead and jam your back wheels and back truck onto the coping. You’ll notice if they are secure or not when you wiggle your back foot. That being said, you probably want about half your foot split on the deck of the ramp and the tail of the board, with just enough weight on the back of the board to be able to come off the ramp smoothly.

However, be conscious of having enough of your foot off the board to confidently be in control of shifting your body weight when the time comes.You want your front shoulder and front truck to be aligned for a successful transfer of weight from the deck of the ramp onto your front foot. This comes in the form of the momentum from your upper body carrying you onto your front truck and through the drop in.

So when you place your front foot on the board, you’ll still be leaning on your back foot. Our GOSKATE instructors will help you check if your upper body is aligned enough. From there you’ll be able to lean in and lead your body weight transfer by looking at where your lead shoulder is compared to your front foot on the board.

Lead with the top of your body, preferably with your head and press all your weight onto your front foot and lean in fully with a full transfer of momentum like a tree falling over. By keeping your front leading shoulder below your back shoulder, you have a marker for making sure you’re transferring your body weight enough to the front of your board. There are more tips below like holding your nose to stay low enough to have control of your center of gravity.But otherwise, if you’ve learned all your weight you should be slapping all four wheels onto the ramp.

While not everyone will instinctively be able to let go of their weight on their first few go’s, everyone will need to slap their front two wheels onto the ramp (as hard as you can) to guarantee you make the drop in. This is produced from the above steps of transferring your weight fully onto your front foot and leaning in forward down the ramp.

Proven Tips for Successful Drop In
Hold Your Nose: Holding your nose is something skaters will do even after skating for 20 years. It helps you feel connected to your board and also naturally produces the keen crouch it takes to have both your feet on the board while holding the nose, ensuring your center of gravity is low to the ground. It can sometimes feel like you’re all alone up on that ramp but you always have your skateboard – the most important relationship to foster as a skateboarder.A lot of beginners will think standing up straight is natural, but it actually disconnects your equilibrium as we will see in the main reasons people fail drop ins below.

Always Fall Forward: A great maxim for skateboarding given to us by the late great “Phelps” long time editor of Thrasher Magazine, is “always fall forward.” The main reason for this is because it proves that you are committing to the trick, which is the number one way to minimize your fall.Hesitation will lead to disaster, fall completely forward for the minimal fall. If you’re wearing pads fall forward to your knees especially.

Know Your Limits: There’s always that skate mom at the skatepark that’s had a few too many cans of courage who steps onto the skateboard in flip flops and earns a one way ticket to the ER.But the same philosophy can sometimes be applied to young skaters who set their sites on a drop in a bit too early. Or rather, on an obstacle a bit too large. Know your limits. Start from the smaller ramps, to the mini ramps to the quarter pipes. You’ll be dropping in on half pipes like Tony Hawk in no time.

Check for Debris: Some skatepark bowls or mini ramps might have clogged drains or have been neglected from clean up crews. A good rule of thumb is to always scope out the obstacle before you skate it, especially if you’ve gotten there early before other skaters. Be aware of wax on the coping as well. We don’t want you to slip out!

Hold Someone’s Hand: Last but certainly not least, GOSKATE instructors will literally hold your hand while you drop in. It’s actually been proven to help thousands of skaters land their first drop in. It can be so scary attempting your first drop in, especially if you’re an adult learning how to skate, but accomplishing those fears is what makes skateboarding one of the most powerful self development tools in the world.

How To Practice Warming Up for Dropping In
While ‘warming up’ is usually reserved for a physical warm up of the muscles, we’re going to teach you ways to warm up your confidence and muscle memory for the drop in.Because while a quarter pipe or mini ramp at a skatepark can be pretty intimidating, there’s plenty of neighborhood obstacles and even flat ground technique to help you warm up for dropping in.

Standing Still: While standing still on flatground, place your back foot on your tail and lift the nose of your board all the way up until you are fully rested on your back foot and your front foot is stationary either on the ground or nose of your board.

This is the drop in position.
Essentially, you can then practice slamming down your weight back onto your front foot until all four wheels are on the ground. This is also a great way to get familiar with learning how to ollie.

Down Your Driveway: Okay, remember that drop in position? With your back foot keeping you in place? You’re going to want to set up that position in the driveway, where the curb slopes down. It’s basically a tiny ramp in that sense and a great low risk ‘quick’ quarter pipe.Set up with your back wheels and back foot on the top of the sloping driveway, steady yourself as you bring on your front foot, and press your weight down to level all four wheels.

Downward Slope: Not all ramps or slopes at the skatepark are quarter pipes or mini ramps. You can look for downward slopes that are flat 45 degree angles, or much less of course. What you do here is similar to that above. You position the back wheels and your back foot as if you were locking onto the coping of a quarter pipe.Proceed with transferring your body weight onto the front of the board so that you get all four wheels on the ground and roll away successfully. Always be aware of the trip down and make sure you can stop when needed. You don’t want to go flying down a hill or slope you’re not ready for.

Reason Why Drop Ins Lead to Falling (And How to Avoid Them)
Standing up straight: While your mother has always told you to stand up straight, your skate instructor won’t when it comes to the drop in. It’s a great general tip in skating to crouch when performing any trick. While crouching will also be the foundation of your style, ultimately when you’re standing up straight you’re disconnecting your head and feet from the center of your gravity.

This dramatically detaches your core from your limbs. This disconnection is what generally produces the “slams” you want to avoid. Also, the higher you are, the farther you fall. Crouch and you’re basically falling inches instead of feet.

Not Committing: Some of you will fall victim to this more than others because not committing is a personal issue. It can be harder for adults to commit when learning how to skate because they are a bit more aware of injuries and what sustaining an injury can mean to their daily life.That being said, committing will also dramatically reduce your chance of injury. Especially with the drop in. 99-percent of falls from drop in are from not committing or even worse, hesitating.

Hesitation: Do not hesitate – sounds simple enough? Well, hesitation is really another form of not committing. But when you’re up on that ramp alone, and you hesitate, it’s a long way down when you accidentally slip or lean back.If you’re properly trained you shouldn’t be hesitating, instead be confident in what you’ve learned and fully commit to dropping in. Also, having fun (which is the reason we skate!) shouldn’t mean hesitating.

Leaning back over back shoulder: As we wrote earlier, always fall forward. Well, a lot of beginners might fall backwards because they lean back or look back over their shoulder. This can sometimes be from hesitation, or it can be from feeling a bit more comfortable performing a trick opening their vision to their belly. But in reality it’s poor form and fear that will lead you to falling on your wrists. Don’t lean back! Lean forward! You got this!

Not Having the Proper Skateboard: Unfortunately, a lot of beginners are still not equipped with the proper equipment – including the proper skateboard. A longboard should never be used for attempting a drop in. Longboard wheels are also not meant to be used for the maneuverable demands of skateparks or street skating. Also, never use a penny board. They are way too small and do not produce the proper crouch needed to drop in.