Dropping in on a vert ramp can be intimidating for skateboarders who have never done it before. Even for experienced skaters who know how to drop in, dropping in on vert for the first time is a true test of confidence. Sure, there is a certain level of skill and board control involved but, what it comes down to is believing in yourself, being confident, and fully committing. Recently, the Braille team decided to conquer their fears and jump into the world of vert skating. Check out the video below to see Aaron, Mogely, Uzi, and Glo attempt to drop in on the Berkeley Vert Ramp. Will they succeed, or is someone getting bodied? Find out for yourself!

How to Drop in on Vert

1. Place the tail of your skateboard on top of the coping with your wheels hanging over the coping.
2. Place your back foot on the tail and your front foot on the front bolts.
3. Bend your knees slightly and prepare to shift your weight forward.
4. Fully commit, pushing the wheels down to the ramp with your weight shifted forward.
5. As your front wheels hit the ramp, even out your weight to both legs while still leaning forward.
6. Roll away…FIRST TRY!

Common Issues 

The most common mistakes people make when dropping in on vert are usually a direct result of a lack of confidence, or not fully committing. Once your board is set up on the coping and you’re ready to drop in, it’s better not to hesitate. Hesitating will cause your weight to shift back. In other words, you’ll start to back off and lean back. As soon as you hesitate and fail to put your front wheels down, that’s when you’re most likely to fall by shooting the board out in front of you and slipping backward. On the other end of the spectrum, you can also fall by putting all your weight on your front foot when you push down. Usually, if you’re leaning too far forward and put too much weight forward, you’ll get bodied on the flat bottom of the ramp. This is why it’s important to bend your knees a little bit, commit, shift your weight forward, and even your weight out as the front wheels hit the ramp.

As you could see from our video, this experience can be intimidating but if you believe in your self and commit, you’ll be dropping in on vert in no time. We do recommend wearing full pads when trying to drop in on vert and working your way up to the 13′ vert ramps. Start by gaining confidence on smaller ramps and gradually drop in on larger ramps until you feel confident enough to drop in on vert. Another way to get comfortable before dropping in on vert is to start at the bottom of the ramp and pump your way to the top. This will give you some experience riding the full length of the ramp and then you’ll be more than prepared to drop in for real. We hope the video above and these tips helped you on your journey to drop in on vert. Now get out there and SKATE!