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Aim for short, even rotations
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Turn your shoulders with each pivot
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Press into the ball and heel of your foot to “pump” forward
Tictacs are the first trick that any freestyle skater should learn. Learning this trick will help a new skater to develop their board control and comfort while riding. Tictacks involve consecutive pivots in the frontside and backside directions. Done correctly, these short pivots can propel the skater forward.
Before learning the tictack, it’s a good idea to learn how to stand on the board and how to push.
Begin by rolling forward slowly. While bending your knees, press down on the tail of the skateboard just enough to lift the front two wheels off of the ground and turn the board 10-20 degrees in the backside direction. Now press down on the tail and turn the board frontside, 20-45 degrees. You can repeat these two turns as many times as you want. Congrats! You’re tictacking! You may notice that you can pump into each turn by leaning into the ball of your foot during backside turns, or by leaning into your heel during frontside turns. This “pump” can be useful if you want to move forward without pushing.
Challenge your friends to a tictack race and see who can skate the fastest without pushing. Winner buys everyone pizza.