Ripstick Instructions

Learning how to ride and master a RipStik is both challenging and fun. While first learning, it is often helpful to enlist the use of a friend to help guide and maintain your balance. Make sure you are wearing all appropriate safety gear, from the helmet to the knee guards, before beginning. Familiarize yourself with each step before moving on to the next.

  1. Getting to Know Your RipStik

    • Unlike a skateboard, which can be ridden in either direction, the RipStik has two distinct ends, the narrow nose and the wide tail, and can only be ridden with the nose pointed forward.

    Getting Started

    • With your RipStik placed in front of you on a smooth, flat riding surface, carefully step onto it with your forward foot, using a friend, wall or other sturdy structure on which you can lean for stability and balance. Level the RipStik out with your front foot and place some weight on it. Once you feel comfortable, step onto the rear platform and adjust each foot so it is centered. The trick to first getting started is to have the confidence to push off with your back foot to get you rolling. With a Ripstik, the faster you go, the more stable and balanced you will be.

    Going Faster

    • Once you're comfortable pushing off and staying on the board, you're ready to get moving. Unlike a skateboard that requires the use of one leg to propel you, the propulsion behind the RipStik is done by twisting. To learn how to do this, start moving the front and rear platforms in short, rapid, alternating movements. You should begin to pick up speed. Once you get comfortable with this, increase the distance of each twist. Your movement should be fluid and from the hips.

    Turning and Stopping

    • The front foot will steer you in the direction you want to go, and the back foot, doing the opposite of the front foot, will determine how sharply the turn is made. The relationship between the front and back foot in turning is something that can only be learned through practice. To stop, you simply step off. Because the RipStik cannot balance on its own, it will not roll away after you've gotten off.