new to DH

[RodRod]

so im new to the DH scene. i have dont mild DH, but i want to get into some more serious stuff. i want some tips from you more experienced DH riders. anything and everything you got i would like to know. positions for heel and toeside hairpins and what not. anything will do.
thanks guys.
i have already started working on my tuck, but idk if its good.

[CarlTheSmokingCrab]

When taking a heelside turn that requires rail grabbage, make your back leg rest on the board, not have it stick out and look ridiculous. AVOID STINKBUG

Also, work on balance. Taking a sweeper at speeds can be sketchy if you can't hold your body over the end of the board for a decent around of time.

Also. Relax. Stay super loose and be able to change positions at any time. Get comfy with shifting your back foot from resting on your toes to a flat footed stance to regain stability after a spooky section. Try to get your tuck so your back leg is as behind your front as possible. Lower is not always better - I've found that the closer i get my back knee to my front ankle, the higher the angle of my back is. This creates huge drag on my chest and upper body and defeats the point of being aerodynamic. I not know to get my back knee higher up so I can get my chest as chose to my legs as possible so any air hitting my goes over my head instead of hitting my chest and making me slow.

As for hairpins.... work on making sure you start on the outside, hit the apex (the inside point) and end up on the outside in the end. So outside, inside, outside. If you start on the inside you will go inside outside outside outside... crash.

Work on drifting! Heelside drifts are important. Get your shoulders as square you can in the direction you want to go, and get your hand pointing towards where you want to end up. The farther back you bring your hand, the more likly you will over drift and end up in a dumb looking pendy.
Toesides are harder! LOOK where you want to go, keep your head up and get your hand WAAY out in front of your board to control yourself. The farther you bring your hand back in a toeside, the more likely you will either hold the drift sideways and slow to a stop, and fall off like an oaf.
And about falling off!!! BE PREPARED FOR IT! Practice practice practice. Find a good hairpin that's not too fast and dial in them drifts, with PADS ON, then once you're confident, find some faster ones.
Pant... pant... anything else? For a beginner that's some good advice IMO.
HAVE FUN! And remember, depending on your weight, hard bushings, LOOSE TRUCKS.

[RodRod]

When taking a heelside turn that requires rail grabbage, make your leg rest on the board, not have it stick out and look ridiculous.

Also, work on balance. Taking a sweeper at speeds can be sketchy if you can't hold your body over the end of the board for a decent around of time.

Also. Relax. Stay super loose and be able to change positions at any time. Get comfy with shifting your back foot from resting on your toes to a flat footed stance to regain balance. Try to get your tuck so your back leg is as behind your front as possible. Lower is not always better - I've found that the closer i get my back knee to my front ankle, the higher the angle of my back is. This creates huge drag on my chest and upper body and defeats the point of being aerodynamic. I not know to get my back knee higher up so I can get my chest as chose to my legs as possible so any air hitting my goes over my head instead of hitting my chest and making me slow.

As for hairpins.... work on making sure you start on the outside, hit the apex (the inside point) and end up on the outside in the end. So outside, inside, outside. If you start on the inside you will go inside outside outside outside... crash.

Work on drifting! Heelside drifts are important. Get your shoulders as square you can in the direction you want to go, and get your hand pointing towards where you want to end up. The farther back you bring your hand, the more likly you will over drift and end up in a dumb looking pendy.
Toesides are harder! LOOK where you want to go, keep your head up and get your hand WAAY out in front of your board to control yourself. The farther you bring your hand back in a toeside, the more likely you will either hold the drift sideways and slow to a stop, and fall off like an oaf.
And about falling off!!! BE PREPARED FOR IT! Practice practice practice. Find a good hairpin that's not too fast and dial in them drifts, with PADS ON, then once you're confident, find some faster ones.
Pant... pant... anything else? For a beginner that's some good advice IMO.
HAVE FUN! And remember, depending on your weight, hard bushings, LOOSE TRUCKS.

holy #### thanks man. so when starting to drift will speed initiate it pretty much or will i go into it like going into a coleman?(for heelside drifts)

[bagelbum]

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+1... great post.

[RodRod]

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+1... great post.

off topic. you go to SC?
props to you. best college ever my dad graduated from there.

anyway bring on the tips.

[CarlTheSmokingCrab]

holy #### thanks man. so when starting to drift will speed initiate it pretty much or will i go into it like going into a coleman?(for heelside drifts)

glad to help! Been in the DH game for a number of years so I'm happy to share my knowledge.

Speed is ALWAYS your best buddy. The faster you go, the sooner you can start your drift. Basically, start the drift a few yards before the turn even starts, so that then you hit the apex, you're ready to fly out the other side. The faster you go, the farther away you start the drift. It sounds sketchy, and it is, but once you get it down its the best feeling in the world to fly sideways around the corner and stick it on the way out.

Predrifts are HARD. Don't worry about them for now. But hey if you need advice on those, I can tell you how to predrift like a beast.

EDIT!!! About speed... It's speed AND hand placement. The closer your ground hand is to your body, the more you will swing around like a coleman or a pendy, or whatever. Just make sure your hand is far out front and at any reasonable speed your drifts should be smooth.

[RodRod]

glad to help! Been in the DH game for a number of years so I'm happy to share my knowledge.

Speed is ALWAYS your best buddy. The faster you go, the sooner you can start your drift. Basically, start the drift a few yards before the turn even starts, so that then you hit the apex, you're ready to fly out the other side. The faster you go, the farther away you start the drift. It sounds sketchy, and it is, but once you get it down its the best feeling in the world to fly sideways around the corner and stick it on the way out.

Predrifts are HARD. Don't worry about them for now. But hey if you need advice on those, I can tell you how to predrift like a beast.

EDIT!!! About speed... It's speed AND hand placement. The closer your ground hand is to your body, the more you will swing around like a coleman or a pendy, or whatever. Just make sure your hand is far out front and at any reasonable speed your drifts should be smooth.

how do i initiate the drift?
and what exactly is predrifting?

[CarlTheSmokingCrab]

how do i initiate the drift?
and what exactly is predrifting?

To initiate a drift, you start to turn while putting weight on your ground hand. Your board will to the rest. But you DO need to throw some bodily momentum into it to get your board swinging sideways.

A predrift is simply a drift you do before the turn starts, except instead of drifting around the corner, a predrift will allow you to slow to a speed where you can just RAIL the bitch. Predrifts are more used for really high speeds. At least IME they are... I will only throw a predrift if I'm coming into a corner really hot and need to shave off some speed so that I don't fall of the road/hit a cliff face/ FALL OFF A CLIFF, you know, all that ouchy stuff.

[RodRod]

To initiate a drift, you start to turn while putting weight on your ground hand. Your board will to the rest. But you DO need to throw some bodily momentum into it to get your board swinging sideways.

A predrift is simply a drift you do before the turn starts, except instead of drifting around the corner, a predrift will allow you to slow to a speed where you can just RAIL the bitch.

alright sweet. i need gloves now. i have chewed up three pairs of work gloves already. i think my brothers friend has some loaded ones he'll sell me for 15. i would like the landy ones though
oh and on toeside drifts how should i go into it. i dont drop my knee do i?

[Blix]

glad to help! Been in the DH game for a number of years so I'm happy to share my knowledge.

Speed is ALWAYS your best buddy. The faster you go, the sooner you can start your drift. Basically, start the drift a few yards before the turn even starts, so that then you hit the apex, you're ready to fly out the other side. The faster you go, the farther away you start the drift. It sounds sketchy, and it is, but once you get it down its the best feeling in the world to fly sideways around the corner and stick it on the way out.

Predrifts are HARD. Don't worry about them for now. But hey if you need advice on those, I can tell you how to predrift like a beast.

EDIT!!! About speed... It's speed AND hand placement. The closer your ground hand is to your body, the more you will swing around like a coleman or a pendy, or whatever. Just make sure your hand is far out front and at any reasonable speed your drifts should be smooth.

You`re on a roll, tell us about predrifts as well!

[RodRod]

You`re on a roll, tell us about predrifts as well!

agreed.

[CarlTheSmokingCrab]

alright sweet. i need gloves now. i have chewed up three pairs of work gloves already. i think my brothers friend has some loaded ones he'll sell me for 15. i would like the landy ones though
oh and on toeside drifts how should i go into it. i dont drop my knee do i?

BOOO loaded gloves suck. They ripped IN HALF on me! Too much fabric, seams... blah.Landy gloves are simple and do their job VERY well.
For a toeside drift... just take a toeside turn normally, grabbing rail by your front foot, and put your free hand on the ground as far forward as you can, looking and pointing your arm towards where you want to go. Go to a garage and practice. Go to a bike path and practice. Its gonna take TIME to get drifts and form dialed in... What setup are you rockin?

[RodRod]

BOOO loaded gloves suck. They ripped IN HALF on me! Too much fabric, seams... blah.Landy gloves are simple and do their job VERY well.
For a toeside drift... just take a toeside turn normally, grabbing rail by your front foot, and put your free hand on the ground as far forward as you can, looking and pointing your arm towards where you want to go. Go to a garage and practice. Go to a bike path and practice. Its gonna take TIME to get drifts and form dialed in... What setup are you rockin?

right now im on a legendary griffin. drop thru with 50* randals and lime freerides.
im in the process of deciding on a dh board. im looking at the legendary smooth drop, nemesis, and hellcat. any others?

[CarlTheSmokingCrab]

Epic double poast! Ok so I say the posts on predrifts... A heelside predrift will start like a pendy with your hand close to your body and your board will start to swing sideways, once this starts QUICKLY shift your hand forward to keep it sliding sideways, then bring your hand back again and yank that f'in board back in with your back foot, while trying to keep enough weight on your front foot to not loose balance and crash. Once your board is back under you, you can either keep drifting, or rail the corner.

Toesides are tricky... but once you get them they are SO crazy lookin. You use your back foot alot to move the board out with your ground hand in a place between a drift position (way out front) and a slide position (close to your center of gravity) so basically... a nice mid point to where you aren't drifting full on, but rather smoothly swinging your board out and back quickly to shave off speed. Like a heelside, you can either keep drifting the corner or rail it.

edit: Whoa freeriders for DH! I've mobbed on limes for dh but they aren't as grippy as I want them to be. GET A NEMESIS dear lord get one. With 42* randals and lemon big zigs. They aren't as tacky as limes but once they are broken in will grip and slide like crazy. OR just get limes. I do just fine on my limes, but they are SUPER broken in, chunked, coned, gnar contact patch... all sortsa sheet.
I can't say it enough!!! 42 randals are the best truck EVER. You're 14... I'm gonna guess a bit over 100 pounds... For bushings I would say yellow venom barrels all around with a cup washer on bottom and a flat washer on top.

[CarlTheSmokingCrab]

Holy crap, REP! When I got rep from rogdon, dozer and legendary.. I gained a bar. I've gained a bar from the single thread!

Bring on the questions! Need help with a setup? Confused about bushings? OMFG WHAT WHEELS DO I WANT?

I'm glad to help.

EDIT: I LOVE THE NEMESIS. I also love topmounts... I rock an Avenger at the moment, but I'm picking up a mystery model in a few days.
I HIGHLY recommend a hellcat. HIGHLY. It's a bit bland with 42 randals, but for a beginner, it will kick so much ass you won't know what to do with it all.

I had one with 42 randals for the longest time... Then I switched to flipped 50* randals and was alot happier... but I like to be able to move around and have a board that responds. So for you, a hell-kitty with 42 randals and biggie-ziggies.

[boarderaholic]

Uggggggghhhhhh. I want to break every single rule on this site to create multiple accounts just to + rep you Carl. This is the most friggin informative posting that has been going on at anyone time in SO SO SO long!! THANK YOU!!!

As for the OP, what Carl is telling you is mind blowingly awesome, but the biggest thing you can't forget is to HAVE FUN.

[RodRod]

like i said, the concave on the hellcat is more agressive and DH oriented, yet stell flat enough to do anything. the nemesis concave is not as agressive, and has alot of flat space that could make your foot slip around.

ok carl this ones on you. im getting a hellcat. and on those drifts should i push out at all?

[CarlTheSmokingCrab]

ok carl this ones on you. im getting a hellcat. and on those drifts should i push out at all?

YAY I WIN!!!

on toesides, yes, but just to initiate them. they will flow smoothly once they are started. as for heelsides... you don't really need to! I've found the board just starts to drift and slide when you take weight off the board and on your hand...and because you're crouched down so low, your center of gravity does the work for you.

[ridesnow.]

I always found the opposite, toeside drifts just start for me, and heelsides i have to work for a bit more... I don't grab rail heelside anymore, because i was reaching too much with my hand, not getting my but low enough.... toesides have always come easier, i basically just stick my but in the air and dive into the turn


In this shot, you can see how high my ass is, which really helps when taking the corner. Mac attack in the back is railing it heelside, and is lookin good

[nokeboarder]

ok so carl has covered the technical aspect of dh here comes the mental side. when your learning new stuff be prepared to fall, that being said when you do fall if your not to badly hurt get up and do it again. if you have a wreck then don't ride that road for a while it takes much longer to ride the same road confidently again. also don't get discouraged!!! don't focus to hard on getting good or it will ruin it for you! just keep it relaxed and have a good time, you skate your best when just out having fun! hmm... what else ah now i remember! don't let people get you down or discourage you, block them out and keep on skating!!. now get out there and practice practice practice! have fun, wear a lid and stay safe! also keep us updated on your progress.