If you were to ask me for a few skateboarding safety tips I would say…

1. Skate within your level. This means that you should know your limits. If you don’t know how to drop in yet, don’t try to skate the half pipe. If you can’t ollie well, then don’t try to skate stairs. Skating within your own skill level is the best tip for safety.

2. Gradually advance. This goes along with the first tip. Work up to ollieing over four boards by first trying two and then three. Work on variel flip before trying to learn how to do a 360 flip. Skate the four foot ramp, then the six, then the eight. It sounds like common sense, but a lot of times people get into "the zone" and forget what’s safe for them.

3. Know your limit. It’s fine to push yourself hard when you’re skating. It helps you get better overall. You need to know your limit however. If you have tried about a hundred times to land a kickflip on a new stairs set, just give it a break. Those stairs probably wont be going anywhere soon. Remember to rest when you’re tired.

4. Wear your helmet and pads. Some skate parks don’t enforce pads rules. It’s skate at your own risk. That sentence alone should be enough to make you want to wear pads. It is risky to skate without them. I don’t care if it’s not the cool thing or if your favorite pro doesn’t wear them. Most likely, you are not a pro skateboarder. You should wear pads and a helmet anytime you are trying something you are not 100 percent sure of.

5. Keep hydrated. Sounds silly, but dehydration leads to a lot of accidents. Not only that, but it can be bad for your body in the long run too. And, if that’s not enough, you skate better and are more flexible when properly hydrated! So always bring along a water bottle or two.

6. Examine the spot you’re about to skate. Make sure there are no rocks where you’ll be skating. Check for glass, the streets where I grew up were filthy and littered with broken glass. Sweep up that stuff. You don’t want to have to remove rocks from your hands and elbows. Keep an eye out for rusty nails and metal pieces, etc…

7. Skate during the day. It’s hard to see at night. When it’s dark, you won’t be able to skate as well. You won’t land tricks as often and this can lead to more bails and falls. You also can see other skaters better during the day. If you’re at a park at night, there’s a good chance of running into someone else on their skateboard.

8. Be aware of the temperature. If it’s hot out, make sure you have drinks ready. If it’s cold, bring gloves and a beanie. Don’t stay out too long in the cold. You might think your body is fine, because you’re feeling warm and producing heat. You can develop serious health issues from cold weather. Extreme temperatures are dangerous. Heat stroke and frost bite are seriously potential problems. It doesn’t matter what age you are either.

I hope these skateboarding safety tips have given you some insight into safety on your skateboard. Although these are great tips, there’s no way to completely eliminate risk from skateboarding. Many consider it an extreme sport for a reason. It has obvious dangers. Trust me, getting hurt doesn’t make skateboarding more fun. So skate smart and safely and you will have a good time.