Technique Discussion

[ALEC_[XAN]_DUR]

true that^^ i love drifting around corners at high speed. fun stuff

me and my brother just went out and dinked around and we werent going fast or anything like that, but we were in our tuck and i came up behind him and put my hand on his back and transfered some of my speed to him. it was neat. never done it before, and it was cool. cant wait to try it at high speed.

[dangercow41]

im pretty new to longboarding, i got my evo in august and it was my first board, but ive found that going out and skating every chance you get helps you improve a whole lot. for me skating often is the key, it lets you learn new stuff instead of wasting time relearning old stuff.

when doing turns, i try not to break out of my tuck unless i really need the leverage, and when i do i grab my board at the front right before it goes in the wheel cutouts, but i dont really put my hand down except for maybe a little skimming.

when i do break tuck my back knee tends to pop out from behind my front leg on frontside and backside turns, and i was wondering if it affects my aerodynamics enough to bother to work on changing it, or just leave it how it is most comfortable.

any tips?

also what is grabbing stinkbug? i saw in the earlier part of the forum and i have no clue what you guys are talking about.

[nokeboarder]

im pretty new to longboarding, i got my evo in august and it was my first board, but ive found that going out and skating every chance you get helps you improve a whole lot. for me skating often is the key, it lets you learn new stuff instead of wasting time relearning old stuff.

when doing turns, i try not to break out of my tuck unless i really need the leverage, and when i do i grab my board at the front right before it goes in the wheel cutouts, but i dont really put my hand down except for maybe a little skimming.

when i do break tuck my back knee tends to pop out from behind my front leg on frontside and backside turns, and i was wondering if it affects my aerodynamics enough to bother to work on changing it, or just leave it how it is most comfortable.

any tips?

also what is grabbing stinkbug? i saw in the earlier part of the forum and i have no clue what you guys are talking about.

grabbing between your legs when sliding/drifting heelside

[Maxx]

So yesterday I was going down a hill on a very flexy and loose S9. I got lots of speed wobbles and tried to turn into a kulda sack because it pointed slighty uphill and I was going too fast for comfort already. Anyway I tried to hold in on the turn but ended up sliding down the slip'n'sidewalk (if you get what I mean). What could I have done there besides not use that kind of board again?

[Justin K]

So yesterday I was going down a hill on a very flexy and loose S9. I got lots of speed wobbles and tried to turn into a kulda sack because it pointed slighty uphill and I was going too fast for comfort already. Anyway I tried to hold in on the turn but ended up sliding down the slip'n'sidewalk (if you get what I mean). What could I have done there besides not use that kind of board again?

try going from the middle of the said hill, and relax, dont think about the speed.

[243racing]

So yesterday I was going down a hill on a very flexy and loose S9. I got lots of speed wobbles and tried to turn into a kulda sack because it pointed slighty uphill and I was going too fast for comfort already. Anyway I tried to hold in on the turn but ended up sliding down the slip'n'sidewalk (if you get what I mean). What could I have done there besides not use that kind of board again?

Work up the hill so you get accustomed to the speed. Honestly you can bomb a hill on any board if you're experienced. Another thing you could do i to (if you haven't done so already) learn to stop with multiple techniques (footbraking, coleman, etc).

[Maxx]

Whats the best thing to do once you got the wobbles? I mean I tried footbraking once with wobbles and that quickly led to the running-down-the-hill method.

[Daniel M.]

Whats the best thing to do once you got the wobbles? I mean I tried footbraking once with wobbles and that quickly led to the running-down-the-hill method.

Just relax and stay calm. Try not to overcorrect the wobbles, just relax, and the will usually subside. I have gotten wobbles once within the last couple years, it really is in the rider IMO.

I got the wobbles due to an odd truck setup where my rear truck was too loose. I quickly dropped into a coleman slide. I wasnt prepared for the slide due to the sudden nature of the even so my footing wasnt the best. I slipped off the board at the end of the slide because of my footing and got a tiny bit of rash but things could have be A LOT worse.


Ride them out if you can, otherwise slide.

[ConnorH]

for me when i feel when i am getting the wobbles i usually do a shutdown slide. it depends on the situation, if i am not able to pull a shut down slide i just try and relax and not tense and freak out, and just carve it out and hold on for dear life.

[cjbliss]

foot position is everything for me, best advise i can give is fit the tuck that works best for you, slowly work up to faster hills, and dont panic when you start to wobble. Like connor said, carve em out a bit. Also make sure your board is set up appropriatly, back truck significantly tighter than the front. I recommend that you don't crank your trucks as tight as they go. Make em stiff but try to keep them loose enough that you can crank out a u-turn in the road. I dont find that tighter truck help wobbles significantly and they will kill you in turns. Practice practice practice.


oh and a good nights sleep and a healthy breakfast work good too....seriously

[243racing]

I've only got major wobbles twice. Once was my first day on a longboard, bombing a hill that is fast even with my current level of experience. The second time was when I bombed a hill on my mini with loose ass bennett 4.3s. Sometimes I get minor ones but I put out my arms and relax out of my tuck a little so I can just absorb them with my body. They usually go away pretty quickly.

[Super Duper Dude]

I've found that the best way to end the wobbles is to untuck and maybe carve a lil and to not think about getting them again

[edmiseta]

Whats the best thing to do once you got the wobbles? I mean I tried footbraking once with wobbles and that quickly led to the running-down-the-hill method.

give your board a spanking.

[gratefuldeadd67]

ive been getting into speedboarding and improving my tuck. but why is it that i see a lot of riders cross their legs almost in a tuck? for instance a regular rider will have his front foot (left foot) to the front right of his board, and his back foot more the the back left to the board? is this for stability? or just riders preference?

[edmiseta]

it lines up ur legs to improve aero. putting ur back leg DIRECTLY behind ur front leg decreases ur rip window.

[Largeboarder]

Man,about tucks,people say "Brazilian Tuck",but here in Brazil we actually use a lot more the European one than ours. In my opinion each guy has his own Tuck,but we can't say the tuck he's using is 100% his,usually he's based on one of the 3 tucks.

There's a guy over here that doesn't use the Euro one nor the Brazilian! So we say it's a Paraguayan Tuck! Hahaha

Obs.: Most cheap things we get here are from Paraguay,and in the past,many of these things were not original,like these old 2506 games in 1 for the SNES. :P

[Pandemonium]

how can I improve my sharp heelside turns? I can do them fine when they are smooth and long, but once the turn starts getting harder (more like a right angle and less straight) I grab the deck for a little more leverage, and I usually try not to put down my hand unless it is necessary. But I find it hard to go from my tuck, to putting my back foot down a little and getting my butt down so I can do the turn. usually the wobbles are minor, but I really want to get rid of them. any suggestions?

[JustinS]

how can I improve my sharp heelside turns? I can do them fine when they are smooth and long, but once the turn starts getting harder (more like a right angle and less straight) I grab the deck for a little more leverage, and I usually try not to put down my hand unless it is necessary. But I find it hard to go from my tuck, to putting my back foot down a little and getting my butt down so I can do the turn. usually the wobbles are minor, but I really want to get rid of them. any suggestions?

First of all to reduce the amount of grab you do try to take a good line from the outside and hit the apex of the turn so you can get the straightest line through so you don't have to use as much force and risk loosing as much grip. Next i personally keep my front the way it is while in tuck but for my rear foot i turn it so its perpendicular to the front of of the board so you and squat down some. from there i guess all that's left is to practice and get comfortable. thats just me though. and i hope that helps

[Josh Lovejoy]

how can I improve my sharp heelside turns? I can do them fine when they are smooth and long, but once the turn starts getting harder (more like a right angle and less straight) I grab the deck for a little more leverage, and I usually try not to put down my hand unless it is necessary. But I find it hard to go from my tuck, to putting my back foot down a little and getting my butt down so I can do the turn. usually the wobbles are minor, but I really want to get rid of them. any suggestions?

depends on your speed, try learning to predrift sharp corners or even just try not grabbing rail. Grabbing rail reduces the amount of friction on the wheels and the pavement keeping your speed as (no handing) the corner will drift more and kill your speed just enough to nail the apex

[Josh Lovejoy]

I've found that the best way to end the wobbles is to untuck and maybe carve a lil and to not think about getting them again

airbreak that shiiiiit