Technique Discussion

[Oligreen]

lets keep this to DH yeh? one thing iv found really usefull is looking through the corner. if you look at the vid below (the whole 90mph thing was a joke by the way) rather than looking through the corner, i was focusing on the crash barrier, which i hit, hard, my knee is still screwed a month later! so yeh, don't get target fixation, look where you want to go, and ul go there!

YouTube - Longboarding crash at 90 mph

[basstard]

What do I do if there are no good hills in my area and I have no one to ride with?

[rkd350z]

lets keep this to DH yeh? one thing iv found really usefull is looking through the corner. if you look at the vid below (the whole 90mph thing was a joke by the way) rather than looking through the corner, i was focusing on the crash barrier, which i hit, hard, my knee is still screwed a month later! so yeh, don't get target fixation, look where you want to go, and ul go there!

YouTube - Longboarding crash at 90 mph

+1

looking at the exit of the corner helps IMO..

when I get scared and don't look at where I want to go, I usually end up sliding more and turn radious tends to get wider, pushing me to outside of the road..

you gotta look where you want to go! body will follow

[rkd350z]

what I've found is that trying to slide more, is not faster. Maybe I just need to get better at sliding. But on my bigzigs just a couple seconds of sideways kills tons of speed. For me, it is tweaking my line so that I don't drift more than a little bit and exit the fastest.

+1 grip riding is faster like grip driving.

drifting is cool and fun thing to do and chellenging!

[DELETED]

lets keep this to DH yeh? one thing iv found really usefull is looking through the corner. if you look at the vid below (the whole 90mph thing was a joke by the way) rather than looking through the corner, i was focusing on the crash barrier, which i hit, hard, my knee is still screwed a month later! so yeh, don't get target fixation, look where you want to go, and ul go there!

YouTube - Longboarding crash at 90 mph

I came here to post something along these lines. I used to autocross (my autox car is broken ATM) and hold an interest in racing theory. Apexing corners (outside/inside/outside) is the fastest route most of the time, but another thing that affects your speed is linking turns together. You may have found the fastest line through one corner, but the exit may put you in a bad position for the next one. Think 1-3 corners ahead of yourself and optimize your line to hold more speed through all of the corners. Here's a good rundown of lines for different types of corners

Kart City - Dublin, Ireland. Driving tips

[RastamanD]

Pllaying racing games helps...it really does

Gran turismo helped me corner better

[rkd350z]

Pllaying racing games helps...it really does

Gran turismo helped me corner better

I was/ am in to car racing, so I apply some ideas to DH.
For the turn, I use Out-in-out for maximum speed through the corner and using most of space I can use while I turn.

[speshalized]

an other thing to think about while cornering is the camber of the road... all the roads i skate locally have massive cambers, and the outside/inside/outside line doesnt always work, and sometimes makes it harder because the outside is going to send you farther out.
one of my favorite local hills has an extremely sharp 90 degree corner at the fastest bit of the run, however the fastest line through it is to hug the inside all the way, because the camber of the corner slingshots you through it. ive got that camber dialed in so hard i can literally drop all my weight into the board then push out through my feet and 'pump' through the corner and gain speed while exiting, all in one motion...
have a look at some of the footage from Newtons Playground and the corner Forest's Elbow, the fastest line was on the very inside due to the camber of the corner, i tried the outside/inside/outside and i slammed so hard into the bails i bent my axles, then realised the inside line the whole way was much faster and alot safer...

[Josh Lovejoy]

Pllaying racing games helps...it really does

Gran turismo helped me corner better

forza 2 is were its at, and seriously , you get the idea for drifting, the angle, and the timing down after playing

[Grizzly]

lets keep this to DH yeh? one thing iv found really usefull is looking through the corner. if you look at the vid below (the whole 90mph thing was a joke by the way) rather than looking through the corner, i was focusing on the crash barrier, which i hit, hard, my knee is still screwed a month later! so yeh, don't get target fixation, look where you want to go, and ul go there!

YouTube - Longboarding crash at 90 mph

dude you suck balls im 14 and im better than you

[Oligreen]

grizzly im gna be honest, im not claiming to be any good, i was just giving a bit of advice that really helped me. now how about you stop insulting people on the internet, cos my goodness that takes balls, grow up n go out n skate? if all your gna bring to the table is your immature insults, why don't you just shut the hell up? if you want to duke it out on a racecourse, then bring it, il be the one laughing all the way down cos im here for the stoke!

[cuna123456]

Wow, good call.

[N88]

i used to really suck at toe sides for every reason listed and then some.
what really helped me was waiting for it to rain and then trying to do corners,

because the rain is going to amplify all of your mistakes, and so you will have to be even better than you normally would have. and the other thing that really helps is to start really wide and dive harder then you want to to start a drift.

i dont know if it is just my friends and me, but heelside at speed is much easier then toeside, so when i take my toe sides i want to make sure it set up for success early, i start as wide as possible within 6" to 1 foot of the edge of the road, and then swoop early and aim for the apex of the turn harder then my wheels will stay gripped, this way i have as much time to correct as possible, and i drifting well, i found that i cannot drift as hard as i can hellside, so i make sure that i am always drifting up until the apex, and when the apex comes, to stop drifting, i pull my knee into my other knee, and extend my body weight back onto my front leg and push my sliding hand farther forward

[Dr. SLudge]

just do your toe sides in tuck.
and your heel sides
no hands down
8)

[Dr. SLudge]

What do I do if there are no good hills in my area and I have no one to ride with?

That would explain the horrendous tuck in your avatar?

[tomes]

I've found that they key to drafting/passing is to not get out of the draft too early. Wait until you're right behind them (like about to run into them) to cut out and go for the pass.
If you cut out of the draft too early you will lose all the speed and they will pull away from you. I kind of thing of it like a slingshot or rubberband effect, u want to hop out of the draft when its given u as much acceleration as you can get. Leave it early and your essentially breaking the rubberband.

Another thing that I've found helpful with this is not forcing myself to use the draft right when I get it. If its at a point where passing won't be beneficial to me I do some baby air breaking with my arms to keep me where I want to be in the draft then use it when I want to later on.

[Dr. SLudge]

Another thing that I've found helpful with this is not forcing myself to use the draft right when I get it. If its at a point where passing won't be beneficial to me I do some baby air breaking with my arms to keep me where I want to be in the draft then use it when I want to later on.

yeah dude if you have a crew of 4 (minimum)you can do some cool things like
"mario kart double dash"
where you pick partners and you race 2 vs 2, and you pretty much have to hold hands through the corners.
on straights to build speed you can utilize both your weights by getting the person in back to push you, then when you have finished accellerating, put your head up high and your arms out to give the back person a REALLY good draft, so they get a good run at you, they will come blasting back into you and you can link up again, with the speed of a push, and a second push.
sick stuff, just dont get disconnected through a corner or you will lose!!!

[brooklynslider]

how close to you have to be for a draft to really work
i was racing in prospect park at the rip and i was behind a huge alittle bigger then me
i had a evo while he had i think a sector9
we kicked off and i drafted almost imedietly
for some reason he still got ahead
did i draft too soon or was i not close enought
(its hard to remember but im saying mabye 2-3 feet behind him)

[Pat S]

prospect park is too slow to create a noticeable draft......

[Justin K]

With technique i don't think it's very helpful to be told, it may be helpful, but you develop your own technique over time, so just ride and practice because you will develop it over time