Manuals are one of the fundamental moves in Skate 4 and skateboarding in general. It allows you to keep a smooth line going and chain one trick into another with ease. It’s the first thing you should learn if you want long, fancy combo chains.
Manuals in Skate 4 are quite difficult to get right, and the game doesn’t even teach you them in the beginning. But it’s one of the moves that you should learn as soon as possible. So, here is how to do the Manual in Skate 4 and perform the combos you always wanted to.
How To Manual In Skate 4
In simple terms, a Manual is basically doing a wheelie on the skateboard. Only the back two tires touch the ground, and the front stays up. There are two types of manuals: the standard manual, with the back tires touching the ground, and the nose manual, where only the front tires touch the ground.
Here is how to do a Manual step-by-step:
- Get some speed by pushing the left stick up. You don’t need to be very fast, just get the skateboard moving.
- Now you need to pay attention to the flick-it UI at the bottom of the screen, which shows your right stick movement. You basically pull down the stick, but not to the end. You need to keep it between the center and the bottom. If you pull it down completely, the character will come to a stop.
- Just keep the stick there, and your character will continue to manual. If you are doing it correctly, you will see it at the bottom right of the screen.
- For the nose manual, do the same but push the stick upward.
It will take a couple of tries to find that perfect spot, and holding it there will require some control. Something that worked for me was using the very edge of my thumb to pull the stick down. You need to be very light with your thumb, and using the edge makes that easier. Feel free to try it out to see if it works for you.
The next step is to practice doing a manual after a trick. You can start with simple ollies and land while doing a manual. This will take time to master, so be patient and just practice until you get that timing down.
What Are Manuals Used For In Skate 4?
Manual isn’t just a flashy trick you can do once to show off. Its main use is to chain different tricks together. It essentially serves as a transition trick that connects two distinct tricks. For example, you can Kickflip > land in a manual > ollie 360 shove-it.
Without the manual, those would be two separate tricks. With it, the game counts the whole sequence as one smooth combo, giving you a bigger score multiplier.
Besides acting as a bridge between tricks, Manuals also help keep your line flowing instead of stopping between tricks. For instance, after grinding a rail, land in a manual and ride it out until you hit the next ledge. It looks natural and stylish, like how real skaters link tricks in a run.
In short, if you want to chain tricks and keep a smooth flow going between combos, you need to learn manuals. It’s one of the fundamental movements in skateboarding.
Tips For Learning Manuals In Skate 4
Here are good tips and techniques that could help you learn manuals more quickly in the new Skate:
Start Slow
On a flat surface with good speed — not too fast — practice pulling the analog stick back just a little. Get used to how much tilt the game expects.
Practice Landing Into manuals
Do a simple trick (ollie or flip) and try to land directly into a manual. This helps with rhythm and recognizing when to start the manual input. You can also use the replay mode to see where you are going wrong.
Balance The Stick Input
If you pull/push too hard, you might instead do another trick (ollie, nollie) or lose balance. Too little pressure won’t trigger a manual. It might take a bit of time to get the position of the stick right. Just practice enough and build that muscle memory.
Keep Momentum
Manuals last longer and are easier to control if your speed is decent. If you slow down too much, you might lose the manual.
Switch Between Regular And Nose Manuals
Alternate between back wheels (regular) and front wheels (nose manual) to adapt to different situations (especially for ramps, transitions, or flow through a course).
At the surface, manuals are easy, but when you’re trying to do them after a trick, that’s where it gets hard. Sadly, there is no shortcut to learning them except just practicing till you are consistent. If you’re completely new to the world of Skate, check out our guide on how to perform all grab tricks in the game.
