Learning how to stop and be under control....

[CisRey3]

I'm new to longboarding and am still learning the moves and getting used to my board. I want to be able to board around town, but I'm not used to the speeds and I don't really know how to stop much. If I go around town now, I'll be walking with my board mostly, cuz I'm not used to the hills and whatnot. What's the best way to stop/slow down after going down a slight hill. Even the slightest hill, I gain a lot of speed. So you experienced boarders please help, before I get seriously hurt!

[Ginjiroku]

Well you can stop a number of ways. First of all find a quiet hill with out a lot of traffic to practice on. Now to stop you can footbreak by putting your foot on the gound. I would do this as you go down a hill because it doesn't work too well when you get going fast. It's also not easy to do on steep hills. You can slide to a stop. You'll need to practice for this one but when you learn to slide that can be used to stop. Or you can just bail out and try to aim for grass or any other soft surface.

[ChaosSmashKill]

Balance on your lead foot and take your other foot and drag the sole of your shoe along the ground slightly until you are at a complete stop or slow enough to just step off of the board.This techniqure is called foot braking.

[Uncle Frank]

I can't tell you much about sliding, but I can suggest that you CARVE on the hills whenever possible. Carve to the point that the wheels almost slide, and you will scrub off speed. Carving usually requires relatively loose/soft truck setups. It took me a while to get all loosey-goosey, but now I like it.

Also, footbraking can be valuable. Put down your back foot, contacting the road with the heel or ball of foot first. Increase pressure and flatten your foot. It usually helps to raise your opposite arm for balance.

Edit: looks like 3 of us were posting about footbraking at the same time. Wow.

[CisRey3]

Thanks for the input. Carving/sliding, may be my best bet. I have an Original board with the Original trucks, so carving is super easy. As for foot braking, it sounds like it works, but I don't want to ruin my Nikes!!

[ChaosSmashKill]

Go to K-mart and buy some cheap skating shoes.They will probably run you like 5-10 bucks.

[sfPaul]

I think that everyone should know how to foot brake. Learning it helped to improve my balance/skating greatly. Practice pushing without putting your back foot on the board. Sliding takes more time to learn and it's nice to be able to bomb a hill when sliding practice gets frustrating.

[sfPaul]

I think that everyone should know how to foot brake. Learning it helped to improve my balance/skating greatly. Practice pushing without putting your back foot on the board. Sliding takes more time to learn and it's nice to be able to bomb a hill when sliding practice gets frustrating.

[crazylongboarder]

while i agree with footbraking being an "essential" tool in longboarding, i think for someone that is new to the sport carving out a hill should be something they learn too. carving out a hill was almost has fun as bombing one when i started boarding. learn to footbrake confindently at lower speeds and gradually step up. dont try it all at once on a mosnter hill.<-- common sense i guess 8)

[Airin]

Footbraking, sliding and carving all take time to learn and generally, if you stay diverse in your riding, all three skills will improve together. I found that gradually my abilities improved and I felt comfortable with steeper grades as time went on.
So, start by staying on streets that have a comfortable sloop for you and are safe to ride given your ability and then just skate lots. You will naturally get better and longboarding just becomes more and more enjoyable as your skills improve.

go skate!