STANCES

Lets make sure you know where you're at and what you're doing before we go any further. You better know what you're talking about when you practice your stuff at the park or with your crew.
Knowing your basic stances is crucial to knowing what trick you're doing or even what to call whatever you're doing! There are 5 basic stance positions; Normal (which can be either Regular or Goofy), Fakie, Switch, and Nollie.

First of all you have whatever your normal stance is. Your normal stance can be regular ( left foot forward) or "goofy" (right foot forward). 

To do your "fakie" stance just do your normal stance and ride backwards.
     
Switch Stance - This is just the opposite foot position of your normal stance. If you normally ride regular, to do a switch stance put your right foot forward. If you normally ride Goofy to do a switch stance put your left foot forward.

Before you even start to work on switch stuff have your tricks down pat in your normal stance (regular or goofy).

Nollie Stance - If you combine your Fakie and Switch stances you are doing your Nollie stance.

 OLLIES

You must perfect the "ollie" before trying any other trick . The "ollie" is the basis and the most important of all tricks. Every other air trick that exists is based on this first essential skill.

This is basically just a leap into the air while keeping the board flush with your feet. Once you have this mastered you can fly over the many obstacles which may stand in the way of your line as you street skate (curb, Grand Canyons, or maybe large rats!)

You kind of need to practice your landings before trying a full ollie. You might try acid drops off curbs. Roll off a curb and lift the front wheels a little before you roll off. Always land with your feet directly over your trucks.

Next step, the jump. Put the ball of your back foot in the middle of your tail and your front foot between the middle of the board and the front truck. What you want to practice here is bending down and compressing the board. Now in one motion slam your back foot down on the kicktail so it slaps against the ground and jump into the air.

As you jump, suck your knees up and slide your front foot up towards the nose. It's important to concentrate on keeping your shoulders in line with the board so you land soundly and continue in a straight line.

At first you might try this just standing with the board on carpet or grass then try jumping from concrete to grass (or carpet) until you land on the board every time.

KICK-FLIPS

 Hopefully everyone has survived the grueling hours of dedication and the hundreds of bone breaking, death defying attempts at successful Ollie maneuvers.
Remember to keep at it! You must continually master every new trick in your arsenal, because as you improve in your overall skating ability, every maneuver will develop your overall skills to a finer and smoother style and your confidence will lead you to your ultimate "flow" that is the perfect skater YOU!
 Well my fearless flyers it is time to conquer the next dimension of becoming the "sick" perfect skater that is locked deep within you. The Kickflip!
 
To be able to execute a kickflip you must have cool, smooth Ollies mastered. If you don't have the Ollie down yet, you should continue working out the bugs until it is perfect and smooth. If you are ready to move on, here are the basics of Kickflips.

We'll start by learning  a slight variation to your normal Ollie stance. If you are in your regular Ollie stance you should move your back foot to the tail of your board.
Keep the ball of this foot centered on the middle of the tail. Your front foot should be just in front of the front bolts and turned 45 degrees from normal. Okay, ... this is your kickflip beginning stance. At first get used to getting your feet in these positions for a while before we begin our first kickflip "pop" execution.
 
To begin your kickflip do a "tail pop" like you do to get air in your Ollies. Be sure to give it some good juice!
Pop down the tail real hard and you'll start to catch air.
As you get the nose up and the board gets air, slide your front foot like you're doing an Ollie and at the same time slip your back foot off the heel edge of the board. Slide your front foot to the outside of the nose, flick your ankle, and allow the board to spin 360 on a straight axis (with no varial movement).

Here's the most important step! Get your feet away from the board! Whatever it takes to get out of the boards way -
get out of its way! You may want to practice stationary jumps from the board lifting your knees and your feet as
high as possible.( first on grass, etc... be sure none of the neighbors are watching as you are jumping up and down lifting your knees as high as possible or they may send the guys with the straight jackets for you!)

This exercise will develop muscle and coordination skills that will be very helpful as you develop into that pro skater you'd like to be. As you get better at your stationary jumps begin to practice your "high leg lift" jumps with a perfectly executed landing on your board.
 
Back to the kickflip. Do what you have to do to get your feet out of the way. Some skaters kinda pull their legs out
like jumping jacks or doing the splits. Some lift their knees and feet straight up like some "Crouching Tiger" kung -fu
move. Whatever. Find your own path, Grasshoppa! 
                     
If you've given the board enough "pop" it will spin around in a backward 360 degree flip. When it gets back to foot
surface position bring your feet back to the board and "grab" it. You should try to plant your feet on the bolts as you catch the board. Remember to stay flexible, bending your knees as you land to absorb the shock. ( Another good skater exercise is deep knee bends with your feet "bolt wide" apart!)

Hopefully you actually landed ON the board and you are still riding away! If so your friends are looking at you with
their jaws hanging down to the ground and the sickest skater around is starting to look at you a little differently cause you just moved on to the next level dude!