PT. 4 Beginner Bmx Tricks Overview
Okay, so you have a sweet new bike, you understand basic repairs, and you know some skatepark etiquette. Now lets try to learn a few basic tricks that will help you progress and have fun. You do not need to do a crazy amount of whips or bars to be good. The cool thing about bmx is that it is a creative outlet. So any tricks you do that feel fun, are good tricks.
I will keep this post fairly short and simple. If you want some more tricks that I didn’t cover, let me know in the comments and I will add a new post with the suggested tricks. Lets go over the ones that I think are the most fun and important.
We will go over:
- Bunny hop
- Footjam
- Footjam whip
- 180
- X-up Ride
- Wheelbarrow
There is no point in me making brand new how to videos if there is already some good ones out there. So I will write out the steps and embed a banging how-to video for you guys!
How-to Bunnyhop
Beginner
Everything starts with a bunnyhop. They are such an important trick. You need bunnyhops to get up curbs and stairs. You also need to bunnyhop to do most tricks. I made a quick tiktok about how to bunnyhop.
Bunnyhop steps
- Bend your knees and pull the bars back
- Expand your knees and push forward
- Suck your knees back up
- Land
Bunnyhop video with Adam LZ
I’m not really an LZ fan.. However, this is a very detailed how-to video.
Tips
| Can’t pull the front off the ground? | Make sure your bmx is the proper size for you. If it is too big, you will struggle to control it. |
| Can’t get very high? | Just need to practice. Find new things that are taller and taller and try hopping them. |
| Can’t get the back wheel off the ground? | Make sure that you are pushing forward and sucking up your knees. |
How-to Footjam
Beginner
I loooovvveee footjams. They are so fun to me. You are able to footjam flat on the ground or on a bank. When you get good at them, you can even get them on quarters. They will open a whole world of possibilities like footjam whips, bar to footjam and 360 footjam.
Footjam Steps
- Go slow
- Use your front foot and jam it into the fork
- Lean forward while jamming
this will bring the back wheel more off the ground - Keep practicing until you find the balance point
- Learn to hop around to keep your back wheel from going back on the ground
How-to footjam whip
Intermediate
This is a fun one to try after you master the footjam. Again, this is a trick that can be done on flat or on a quarter. I like doing this one when I’m just messing around.
Footjam whip Steps
- Get comfortable kicking it from the ground
- Cross your front foot over the frame and put it in the tire while kicking the frame with your back foot
- Keep your balance while the bike spins around
- Compress your knees
- When the bike is close to coming fully around hop and catch the pedals
Footjam Whip Tips
| Can’t get the bike to go around | Make sure that you are leaning forward when you kick the back end and jam your foot in. |
| Back tire keeps hitting the ground | You are leaning too much forward and this causes the bike to smack into the ground. Practice balancing! |
| Can’t catch the bike? | Make sure you are hopping out of the footjam. There should be a point where your bike is completely in the air and the bike is coming around like a real tailwhip. |
How-to 180 a bmx
Beginner
180 are the first spin trick you will learn. To complete a flat 180 you will need to fakie. A lot of pros use 180 combos by doing huge 180 drops, 180 bars and 180 fakie manuals.
180 Steps
- Use a wall to practice fakies
- wedge front tire into the wall
- Pull back to start your backwards momentum
- Turn your bars so you roll in the direction that you want to fakie
- Do a small hop to finish the fakie
- Carve a little bit in the spin direction
- Pull back on your bars and start a bunnyhop
- While in the bunnyhop turn your head and use your back foot to push the bike around
- Sucking up your knees will help get this around
- Once you land do the fakie like you practiced
180 Tips
| Can’t get the full rotation | Try and hop higher and make sure that you are using your head to look in the direction that you are spinning |
| Can’t get the fakie | The fakie will be the hardest part. Practice will make it perfect. |
How to x-up ride bmx
Beginner
X-up rides are growing in popularity and have become a kinda unique trick that links other tricks. I can’t do them because it feels like my shoulders are going to snap off. But some people have a lon of fun with them.
Heres a tiktok we made that includes an x-up ride.
Youtube How-to
X-up ride Steps
- Go at a slow comfortable speed
- Pull up the front end so your wheel comes of the ground
- Make a full x-up and put your front wheel down while in the x-up
- Loosen your grip so you have more control
- Use your arms to steer
- Lean back and uncross your arms to “land it”
X-up ride tips
| Can’t get the x-up all the way | Try to loosen your grip and it will give you more control |
| Can’t steer it | Make sure you are turning the x-up to your front foot |
| I can’t get out of the x-ride | You will need to be leaning back so that there is less pressure on the front wheel. This will allow the wheel to come back |
Conclusion
These are some of the easiest bmx tricks. All of these tricks can be combined with harder tricks and will help you become a better rider. To me, the bunnyhop is the most important bmx trick. How can you expect to do any trick without being able to get off the ground? Keep practicing these tricks and leave a comment suggesting new tricks for me to make exclusive how-to’s on.
