need help with beginner pumping setup, truck looseness

[omin]

i just bought a landyachtz bamboo dingy few days ago.it has Mini Trucks, abec 7 bearings, and 60mm noschoolz 78a. i dont have any skateboarding experience.

from what i have read from searching around, my board seems like a decent setup. i couldnt find much about truck looseness though. some people claimed that they can pump harder with tighter trucks but of course faster with loose. ive noticed that loose trucks are much harder to balance (at low speed anyway... i cant go very fast either). my left food actually start to get really tired from trying to balance from loose trucks. maybe i just need to get used to them? or maybe they were too loose... the washers werent moving around though. anyway, i have them pretty tight right now. it's much easier to push without much effort to balance myself and i dont have any problems with carving. it's not like i can do sharp craves right now anyway. you guys think i should just practice with what i have right now or try going a little loose again. and how do i know whether if the bushing i'm using are soft or not? and should have have my back trucks tighter than front?

[Jorelle]

I suggest getting comfortable riding and balancing on your board. Pumping requires you throwing your weight left and right (in a sense) and optimum set-ups for a front truck are supposed to be 'twitchy'. Get used to carving proficiently first, getting to know your board and then about pumping, think about pushing the board down as you turn. I found this to be the easiest way to learn how to pump before you actually realize what you're trying to do and tweak your technique. Looser in the front, stiffer in the back is the general concensus but not too stuff. It has to track the front trucks.

[loug]

best explanation of pumping read so far:

shift weight from front foot to rear foot while moving your hips like you are swinging a holahoop. tried it and it works.

[Brian the Longboarder]

best explanation of pumping read so far:

shift weight from front foot to rear foot while moving your hips like you are swinging a holahoop. tried it and it works.

That's great.

[Bwave]

yeah dude... basically loose in front and tight in back. I pump with a evo and its fun!

Seriously, as for technique.. it really is just what works for you. As for me, I make quick fast carves back and forth and make em quick and snappy.

If you think about it, when you pump the reason you move forward is in your front truck, when you lean left the right wheel slides forward a tiny bit and then snapping it back is what pulls you a tiny bit ahead. Same goes for leaning right. So when you do this alot really fast it works!

and you'll learn more from the board than the keyboard
so go out there and DO IT!

[omin]

haha thanks for the tips guys.
still cant get it right!

[samhell]

I still think one of the best visul tools is watching
tight slalom videos. watch the top tight slalom
racers and watch every movement of their body.
One quick way to learn how to pump is to set
up about 25 cones on flat ground and get a good
amount of push speed and start weaving the cones
while trying to keep as much speed as possible.
Eventually you will start to pump yourself faster
through them.Once you start propelling yourself
through the cones, you'll be able to pump on
a regular basis. Pumping takes time to really
master. And there many ways to pump as
far as body position, arm movement, stance,
shoulder/torso position.
Watch things like this and then get out and try it.

[jackpiunti]

The main thing is time. You need to have some idea of what you are doing, the hula hoop description is a great one, but what you need to do most is get out on your board and spend time skating. It took me over 3 hours for it to click, and once it did, I was so happy. Like all good things, learning to pump takes time.

[loug]

worked with a guy once whose ex called him "one pump chump". never knew he was into skating

[xrayvzn]

When I first learned, I used to skate in a big circle (20 foot diameter or whatever size you find comfortable) on flat, smooth pavement. I used a nearby cul de sac. A basketball or tennis court would also work.

I first started skating in the heelside direction and would gradually start to work in some pumps mixed in with pushing. Eventually I would be able to pump around in that circle without pushing. Once I learned how to heelside pump, I would switch direction and skate/pump in the toeside direction.

Once I got good at pumping both heelside & toeside, I would narrow the diameter of the circle and pump faster. Eventually I just transferred the techniques to pumping heelside then toeside in a straight line.

Just make sure you wear a helmet as when you fall when pumping it is easy to hit the back of your head on the pavement.

Hope this helps, it helped me.