Go up to the top of the vert ramp, and set the tail of your skateboard.
Now, once the area that you are going to skate into is clear of other skaters, you want to take a nice, deep breath, and relax. Put your front foot right above your front trucks, and stomp it down with all your strength until your front wheels hit the ramp. You want to slap it hard, and don’t lean back! Believe that it will work, and don’t hold back – you can’t hold back!! If you do, you will crash and burn. Put all your weight into it, slam those front trucks down, and ride down the ramp! This is pretty scary stuff, but don’t worry about it. Just go for it.
Most of skateboarding is mental. Like my good friend used to say, skating is mostly in your head. You have to relax, and believe that you can do it. If you can get that down, the rest is easy!
Once you get speed down the ramp you can shift your weight in the same way that you did when pumping up the ramp. You always want your weight on the foot that you are moving towards. So, if you are riding out your speed after dropping in, just relax and keep your weight on that front foot. Lean into it. Then, when you ride up the other side and get to the top of where your speed takes you, shift your weight to the other foot, and ride back down that side of the ramp. Do this back and forth. If you want to keep going, you can pump for speed, just like in step 5!
