[bravetraveler]

I can only vaguely recall this stage... but I found standing on a board without trucks or wheels fairly helpful!

On a relatively firm surface (ie: carpet) this provides some practice for the balancing act. How foot placement and the contours in the board impact things too

Similarly, on something with a little more flex (grass), it's a decent way to start trying some flip tricks :)

As for rolling around, I think it's mostly finding really smooth/flat surfaces... and just doing it a lot.

Depending on your wheels/weight placement, anything thicker than a quarter can stop you almost immediately.

It takes a little while to get the 'feel' and speed to deal with rougher surfaces particularly well

[rahimnathwani]

So perhaps it was a mistake to try to learn to push off without first learning to balance on the board, with both feet, then one foot etc?

[bravetraveler]

Now that you mention it... there's probably something to that.

The 'kicking off' motion is pretty tricky, compared to say - standing normally, rolling down a driveway.

Instead of just managing balance side/side, front/back gets really important with only one foot on the board -- it wants nothing more than to shoot forwards/backwards, depending on where you're leaning.

Some familiarity with standing on it is key, mainly because kicking requires a lot of balance/control -- one leg/knee is doing a lot of work. It's holding you above the board, but it's also holding the board under you

Standing with one foot on it and rolling back/forth and getting a feel for it can help too. Finding how sensitive the shifts can be and how much 'locking' is necessary to make the transition from kicking to standing

[bravetraveler]

Another thought and I can't edit now!

Try to avoid learning to push in the 'mango' style; planted foot on the back of the board.

Like a Dodge Viper, there's a lot of nose - it's hard to steer/keep under control.

Planting your foot near the front of the board is better for keeping control and powering through rough terrain. Near the back, it'll wander/bounce like crazy

There's no one good spot, but roughly on/just behind the front trucks is a good place to plant for pushing