Why Why Why...

[A_Money986]

Ok so I'm pretty new to longboarding but I'm really not scared to try anything... I've been trying to slide for weeks now and I cant do it. I know I know search search search... but everyones saying just do it... or commit. Its just not working out.

My setup is a homemade 40 inch board... I'm running R II's 180 with stock bushings pretty loose (I love to carve)... The trucks are drop through and my board has very little camber, but no concave (could this be my problem... not enough force/grip/leverage?).

How can i do a basic slide without flying of the front of my board (standup) or on my butt (coleman)

any suggestions and or personal tips or styles would help a lot... thanks

[A_Money986]

ohh and im riding orang stumulis freerides

[rosewood thief]

hang your feet off the edge and dig with your heels more, go faster

[theshmoo]

If you wear more protective gear than you will automatically commit more. On factor that is often overlooked is the quality of ground. Brand new asphalt will make it very hard to slide.

[Bookworm]

go faster, put ALL your weight on your hands.

Today I dissected a few of the reasons why toeside shutdowns are the easiest slide to learn.

1- you put both hands on the ground, this feels safer than just one.
2- your body position forces weight onto your hands, helping you slide.
3- you're naturally farther from the board, encouraging a smoother slide with better control.
4- I find them much easier to commit to, since you're already in the safe position of hands and toes or hands knees and toes

Reasons heelside slides are harder to commit to:
1- feels like you could be thrown forward at any moment
2- only one hand feels sketch, harder to find proper hand placement
3- feel less natural to me

Reasons heelside slides are superior:
1- Faster to initiate from a tuck (debatably)
2- Keeps you looking down the road (into the turn or whatever)
3- Faster to stand up from

I recommend learning toeside shutdowns and pendys first to get used to the feeling of your board sliding around, and what tricks you need to do to control it in a slide (weighting shifts and such)

Tricks for learning slides in general: find the steepest slope you're comfortable on. Gray pavement is usually much less sticky than black and is therefore easier to slide on. head down that hill, and at maybe 10 mph throw out that tail (heelside or toeside) and just get used to commiting to that slide, and holding the board under your feet. Then you need to go just faster than you feel comfortable sliding, and right when you exit your comfort zone, slide. This will get you accustomed to speed well, and you will quickly find that slides become easier and more controllable at higher speeds, and your comfort zone will skyrocket.

edit: never bothered to learn standies, so I can't help you there. I should probably get the hang of heelside speedchecks though.

[East.Coast.Shred]

Originally Posted by Bookworm

go faster, put ALL your weight on your hands.

Today I dissected a few of the reasons why toeside shutdowns are the easiest slide to learn.

1- you put both hands on the ground, this feels safer than just one.
2- your body position forces weight onto your hands, helping you slide.
3- you're naturally farther from the board, encouraging a smoother slide with better control.
4- I find them much easier to commit to, since you're already in the safe position of hands and toes or hands knees and toes

Reasons heelside slides are harder to commit to:
1- feels like you could be thrown forward at any moment
2- only one hand feels sketch, harder to find proper hand placement
3- feel less natural to me

Reasons heelside slides are superior:
1- Faster to initiate from a tuck (debatably)
2- Keeps you looking down the road (into the turn or whatever)
3- Faster to stand up from

I recommend learning toeside shutdowns and pendys first to get used to the feeling of your board sliding around, and what tricks you need to do to control it in a slide (weighting shifts and such)

Tricks for learning slides in general: find the steepest slope you're comfortable on. Gray pavement is usually much less sticky than black and is therefore easier to slide on. head down that hill, and at maybe 10 mph throw out that tail (heelside or toeside) and just get used to commiting to that slide, and holding the board under your feet. Then you need to go just faster than you feel comfortable sliding, and right when you exit your comfort zone, slide. This will get you accustomed to speed well, and you will quickly find that slides become easier and more controllable at higher speeds, and your comfort zone will skyrocket.

edit: never bothered to learn standies, so I can't help you there. I should probably get the hang of heelside speedchecks though.

completely agree. toeside slides were the first ones I learned because they felt a lot more comfortable. Basically when I started I went at a reasonable speed put my hands down and kicked out as hard as I could