Shred School 101: Learn to Skateboard in 12 Free Lessons
Shred School 101 is a free, 12-lesson course that takes you from your first ollie to your first grind. Every lesson has a video and a written breakdown with prerequisites, step-by-step instructions, troubleshooting, and ways to level the trick up. Work through them in order, or jump straight to the trick you need.
New to skating and need a board? See the beginner gear I’d buy: a complete skateboard or the parts to build your own, plus a helmet and pads.
The 12 lessons
- How to Ollie: The foundation for almost everything else in skateboarding.
- How to (Pop) Shove It: A little easier than the ollie, and a good confidence builder.
- How to Frontside 180 Ollie: 180s and half cabs, for more ollie practice while rolling.
- How to Kickflip: Your first flip trick. Take your time with this one.
- How to Railstand (Primo): Standing on the edge of your board, plus ways in and out.
- How to Frontside Shove It: Tougher than the backside version, and it sets up the heelflip.
- How to Heelflip: Harder than kickflips for some people, easier for others.
- How to Fakie Bigspin: Your first combo trick: a half cab and a shove it together.
- How to Noseslide: Your first slide, on a curb.
- How to Varial Kickflip: A pop shove it and a kickflip combined. Maybe the toughest trick in the course.
- How to Casper: The trick that got me into skateboarding in the first place.
- How to 50-50 Grind: Your first grind, and the last lesson in the course.
These are in the order I think is best, with some harder tricks and some easier tricks built in and paced for the best way to learn. You don’t have to do them in order. And if it’s too slow or too fast for you, that’s okay too. Learn at your own pace.
Start here: lesson 1
Want to binge the whole course? Watch all 12 lessons in the Shred School 101 playlist on YouTube.
Why I made Shred School
I’m Aron, AKA Rad Rat. I first started teaching skateboarding tricks on YouTube 17 years ago.
For the past couple of years, I’ve been juggling injuries and health issues, and it’s been almost impossible to keep skating. I was wheelchair bound for a bit, and I used a cane for a while after that. This year, I’ve been trying to exercise and work with a physical therapist to get myself back out there on 4 wheels.
But that means I have to relearn a ton of tricks.
So what better time is there to start up the Shred School so we can learn together?
This is a zero-ego series. Like I said, I’m relearning tricks myself, so I’m honest and upfront about the challenges of each trick and I guide you through with as much detail as possible. Often, trick tip videos are just a way to show off the cool tricks you can do. That’s not what I’m doing. I picked out the first 12 tricks you should learn, and each lesson gives you some variations to work on before you move to the next one.
Follow along with me and show me your tricks on Instagram with #ShredSchool101. I’m just here to help. Let’s have some fun!
