One of the best parts about skateboarding is that it’s something that you can do anywhere, anytime, and with anyone.

Sometimes this means skating with a big group of friends, but a lot of times it means having sessions where you’re just skating by yourself.

At first, skating by yourself might seem like a bad thing, but it can actually be a lot of fun, and some people even prefer it. Whether or not you like skateboarding by yourself, it’s something every skateboarder has to do occasionally, so it’s good to learn how to make the best of it.

1. Learn New Tricks

The first tip for skating alone is to focus on learning new tricks.

This might seem like common sense, but when you’re skating by yourself, it can be easy to just default to cruising around and doing the same few things you always do. By keeping set list of tricks that you want to learn, it makes skating by yourself way more fun, since you always have something you’re working on.

This doesn’t mean that you always have to learn some crazy new trick every time you skate. Sometimes it can something as simple as taking a trick you can already do, and learning it on something new.

Even though doing your go-to tricks can be nice, a lot of the fun of skateboarding comes from learning new things. If you keep doing the same tricks without mixing things up, you’re much more likely to get bored of it.

Other than making skating by yourself more fun, for some people, it can also be a lot easier to learn new tricks when there’s no one else around.

When you go skate by yourself you don’t have to wait for anyone else, and you can just focus on the trick you’re trying to learn. There are times where it can be fun learning a new trick with someone else, but if the spot or the park is crowded, it can make it a lot harder to learn something new since you have to be considerate other people.

Realistically, you should probably try learning a new trick every time you skate even if you’re with other people, but this especially goes for when you’re skating without your friends.

2. Film Yourself Skating

Tip number 2 for skating alone is to film yourself.

Now I wouldn’t recommend going full on selfie stick with it, but if you aren’t skating with anyone else, there’s nothing wrong with propping your phone up or setting up a camera on a tripod.

Skating by yourself is a great time to film your skating both so you can get clips, and so you can have a better look at what you’re doing wrong.

When you’re skating with friends, no one wants to ask someone to film them try the same flat ground trick for an hour. If you’re by yourself though, it’s easy to just prop your phone up and practice a trick for as long as you want. This takes a lot of the pressure off since you’re able to just focus on skating and not feel bad about having your friend film you for so long. Of course, it usually doesn’t look as good as when someone else films, but it’s still helpful just to see the footage.

Also, skating alone can make it hard to figure out what you’re doing wrong since there’s no one else to give you suggestions. By filming yourself, you get a third person perspective that can really help you figure things out.

Aside from just helping you improve, filming your skating can also be kind of rewarding, because at the end of the day, most skateboarders like getting clips, even if that means filming them yourself. It doesn’t matter if it’s just a simple trick at a skatepark, or even some trick filmed in your garage, it feels good to end a session knowing that you got a clip.

Again, it’s not quite as good as someone else filming, but it’s definitely better than not having any footage at all.

3. Work On Consistency

The third tip is to practice consistency.

It’s one thing to be able to do a trick, but being consistent with it is a completely different story. We all know that one guy who has a sick trick he can do if he tries it for a few hours, which is cool, but it’d be a lot cooler if he had it consistently.

Having a solo session is great for practicing consistency and getting tricks down properly because you don’t have as many distractions when you’re the only one skating. When you’re skating with friends, they don’t always want to skate the same spots as you, you have to wait longer in between turns, and you just might not be as motivated to keep practicing the same trick over and over.

A lot of pro skaters have talked about how they used to force themselves to do certain tricks every single time they skated, and it definitely pays off because that’s one of the best ways to get consistent.

A good example of this is doing some version of a straight 8, which is something a lot of skaters do to warm up. Straight 8 usually means doing a kickflip and heelflip regular, fakie, switch, and nollie, but you can really do any variation you want. You can make your own straight 8 for quarter pipes, or ledges, or whatever it is you like to skate. The idea is that regardless of how you do it, it helps you warm up, and it also helps you get consistent.

Whether you do the same trick over and over until you have it perfect, or just make sure that you do a certain trick at least once every time you skate, it’s good to make an effort to practice getting consistent.

Having a trick every try is a great feeling, and by skating alone, you give yourself some time to practice getting to that point.

4. Keep Things Mellow

The fourth tip is to keep things mellow. Even though it’s good to push yourself and try learning new tricks when you skate, you also don’t want to go too hard and get broken off when you’re skating alone.

You don’t need to follow a buddy system every time you skate, but it is good to gauge the situation.

Getting hurt skating is never really a fun time, but at least if you’re with friends you’ll most likely get a clip out of it, and afterwards they can help you wobble back to the car if needed.

There’s definitely skaters out there who disagree with this and will tell you to skate whatever you want whenever you want, but there’s a certain point where it’s better to at least have one or two friends with you.

Most people know to keep things chill when they’re skating by themself, but there are skaters who will just go skate some massive stair set or handrail without anyone else around. This is pretty sketchy to do, because if for some reason you do get broken off, you’re literally all by yourself.

Even if you do land whatever it is you’re trying, you’re either not going to have a clip to show for it, or you’re going to be stuck with an angle that you filmed with your phone propped up on the ground.

Either way, it’s better to keep things mellow when you’re skating by yourself, and save the sketchy stuff for when you have a crew.

5. Watch Skate Videos

Tip number five is to watch skate videos.

Getting hyped up when you’re skating alone can definitely be harder than when you’re skating with friends, and watching skate videos is a great way to fix this problem. Most skaters watch skate videos before they go skate either way, but it especially helps if you’re going to skate without your friends.

It doesn’t matter if you go to thrasher, instagram, or even some stupid youtube channel, watching skate videos before you go skate by yourself can end up making the session a lot more fun. Not only can it hype you up to go skate in the first place, but it can also help give you some ideas on new tricks to try. Also, there’s new skate content coming out every single day, so there’s never a shortage of skate videos to watch.

There’s a ton of great skate videos out there so regardless of what kind of skating you like there’s always something new to watch, and if you’re going to skate by yourself, watching a video before hand can make the session better.

6. Listen To Music

Tip number six is to listen to music. Now this tip somewhat comes down to preference, but listening to music when you skate can really help with the energy of the session, especially when you’re skating without friends.

If you’re someone who doesn’t like to listen to music while you skate that’s completely fine, but it’s worth trying out if you find yourself skating alone often. There’s been a lot of data saying that music can help people study better and even give people better work outs, so it makes sense that it can also help people skate better.

Some people do get annoyed when their friend is skating with headphones in because people tend to talk to each other while they skate, but if you’re by yourself, then there’s really no reason not to. If you don’t want to be the guy wearing headphones at the skatepark, you can always bring a wireless speaker instead, which works just as good.

7. Get Trick Suggestions

The seventh tip for skating alone is to talk about tricks with friends.

Talking to your friends about what tricks you’re working on is a good way to have more fun with your solo sessions. If you tell your friend you want to learn a trick, or if they suggest a trick for you to learn, it can be cool to work on it when you’re skating by yourself so you can actually land it the next time you skate with them.

If you think about it, it’s kind of like homework but for skateboarding.

This is a good way to push each other, and even if you aren’t skating with anyone else it can still kind of feel like you are since someone else recommended a trick to you. It’s a great feeling when you learn a new trick, and it’s also a good feeling when someone else learns a trick you pushed them to try.

Talking about trick suggestions with your friends can help you get more creative, and a lot of times you’ll be able to recommend tricks to each other that you probably wouldn’t have thought about on your own. Depending on the trick, you might not be able to learn it in just one session, but just recommending tricks to each other will at least push you to progress more than you would’ve otherwise.

Skating By Yourself

People skate by themselves for plenty of reasons. Some people just don’t have friends, and other people just do it because they like it.

Regardless, every skateboarder tends to skate by themself at least every now and then, and if you have the right outlook, it can actually be a lot of fun.

Hopefully these tips help you out the next time you’re skating alone. If you have any of your own tips, be sure to leave them in the comments!