There are a ton of awesome freestyle tricks you can do on the Ripstik. I am going to talk about some beginner tricks for you to try. Before you try any Ripstik trick, make sure you are comfortable riding your board. Once you feel comfortable and confident, you can try some of these great hacks.
First try a manual. A manual is where you simply lift the front wheel off the ground. The longer you hold the manual, the cooler it will look. Try to keep your balance for long distances by riding only on your rear wheel. That’s called manual. A nose manual is when you do the same thing except you lift the rear wheel off the ground and balance the board on the front wheel.
Another great trick for beginners is the step over. Once you know how to make a nose manual and manual, the step should be a piece of cake. To do the step, place an object such as a broomstick. Approach the broomstick on your board and as it approaches, lift the front of the board and then immediately lift the back of the board onto the stick. That is the step forward. To make this trick more difficult, use a larger object or try climbing on something like a curb.
A hang 9 and a hang 10 are tricks that look very flashy and cool, but they are not that difficult to do. A hang 9 is when you are riding your board normally and you take your front foot and place it on the rear deck and pedal for as long as you can. This trick leaves the front of your Ripstik empty and both feet are mounted on the rear platform. To do this trick, place your back foot directly over the rear wheel, if you place it too far back when you lift your front foot, the front of the board will go up in the air. Gain some speed and regain your balance, then quickly pull your front foot onto the back platform. Hold it for as long as you can, then return your foot to the front platform and continue riding, that’s your hang 9. Doing a hang 10 is a bit more difficult but looks even cooler. Do the trick with the same technique, but instead take your back foot off the board and ride with both feet on the front deck, then return your back foot to the back deck.
One trick that I don’t have a name for but is super fun to ride is just trying to balance on a curb. It is best to find a curb that has a slight drop on one side and grass on the other. A sidewalk with grass on the side is perfect. Go up to the curb and try to walk along the curb keeping your balance and without falling. No other board allows you to do this trick because no other board except the Ripstik has the two wheel design. There are some kids on youtube.com who ride a 137 foot curb without falling. These are all the tricks I will discuss in this article, so be careful when trying new tricks, but most of all have fun.