- Hold the board between your legs by pinching your feet together
- Keep your back straight
- Practice each part separately - hop, dismount, step-up
Pogos are a group of tricks that involve hopping on a skateboard while it is balanced upright on its nose or tail. Is that a skateboard or a pogo stick?... heh... No handed pogos involve pinching the board between ones feet and hopping without grabbing the board.
Before learning the no handed pogo, you should learn truck stands, tail stop shuffle, and yoyo hop. It might help to know how to finger flip as well.
Note: some people pogo on their front foot, others pogo on their back foot. There is no right or wrong way to do this trick. Try a truck stand on each foot and see which version is most comfortable for you. This lesson will focus on front foot pogoers
Begin in tail stop position with your back foot on the center of the tail and your front hand grabbing the nose. Draw your front foot under the board and begin lifting the board upright using your hand. As you lift the board, hop off of your back foot and step onto the truck with your front foot. All of your weight should be on your front foot at this point. To stabilize the board, press your back foot against the deck and let go of the nose. It should feel like you are pinching the board between your feet.
Hopping is a great way to stay balanced in no handed pogos. To hop, bend your knees slightly, push upward off of the truck, and briefly loosen your foot grip on the skateboard. Yes, foot grip. Yes, I know this is an uncomfortable way to describe it. I’m doing my best. Aim to do very short hops. Overly aggressive “jackhammer hops” will only destroy your board and throw you off balance.
To dismount from the no handed pogo, grab the nose of you board with your back hand. Release your foot grip (I’m sorry) and lower the board to a 45 degree angle with the ground. While lifting the knee of your back leg, hop off of the truck, and use your hand to flip the board one half of a rotation in the toe side direction. Attempt to land with your feet over the bolts and BOOM! POGO!
When learning this trick, I recommend practicing each part separately. You should master the dismount, the hop, and the step-up on their own before you put them all together.