Sliding is scary...

[Jiboomer]

you have to commit...when you start your slide just stay low in your tuck position for as long as possible because if you eat it its a way lower drop to the ground...AND thats what you have to do to slide..commit.

when you hit the first 180 its not gonna shoot right back for you to stand up. you gotta stay with in down low and your momentum will do it for you. basically you have no control so dont try to jerk it back just ride it out. if your form is right, the slide will work itself

[Death By Snu Snu.]

I too have your setup, and are fearful of slides...

The roads in my neighborhood were JUST repaved so they are nice and buttery smooth.

After a recent (2 weeks ago) snowboard trip to Colorado I can all of a sudden now drift my wheels out?
**By drift I mean: carve at a decent speed shift my weight back a little bit and push my back foot out and forward and make what I think is my wheels losing grip for a few feet. (w/ signature wheel sliding sound)

I think my next step is to just keep drifting farther, longer, faster, and harder...

Correct?





Also: The whole idea of laying backwards on your hand while balancing on your board flying down a hill is MUCH more difficult (imo) than stand up sliding... But the physical act may be easier..

I have never slid with gloves or without gloves.

[roadrashed]

I too have your setup, and are fearful of slides...

The roads in my neighborhood were JUST repaved so they are nice and buttery smooth.

After a recent (2 weeks ago) snowboard trip to Colorado I can all of a sudden now drift my wheels out?
**By drift I mean: carve at a decent speed shift my weight back a little bit and push my back foot out and forward and make what I think is my wheels losing grip for a few feet. (w/ signature wheel sliding sound)

I think my next step is to just keep drifting farther, longer, faster, and harder...

Correct?





Also: The whole idea of laying backwards on your hand while balancing on your board flying down a hill is MUCH more difficult (imo) than stand up sliding... But the physical act may be easier..

I have never slid with gloves or without gloves.

stand ups are harder than palms down, with gloves down you have 1 or 2 extra points of contact providing more balance, you're lower so you have a lower center of gravity and you're able to take your weight off your hands.

Make sure your wheels are broken in (shiny stuff is completely gone and then some) and then commit, if you fail to do either of these things, you'll probably fall on your face from experience...that was interesting to explain the day after...

[Viebster]

I found hands down sliding easy at the beginning. Just go fast, get low, put hand on ground and everything else does it's job.

[Death By Snu Snu.]

stand ups are harder than palms down, with gloves down you have 1 or 2 extra points of contact providing more balance, you're lower so you have a lower center of gravity and you're able to take your weight off your hands.

Make sure your wheels are broken in (shiny stuff is completely gone and then some) and then commit, if you fail to do either of these things, you'll probably fall on your face from experience...that was interesting to explain the day after...

Yeah they are definitely broken in, I'd say they have over 100+ miles on them. And my friend who can do any slide rides/rode them off and on. The edges are what I would say perfectly broken in.

I don't have gloves, nor do I really care to make gloves I'll have to just manage with the stand ups)

If it wasn't for the combo of cold weather and me being so addicted to MW2, I'd be out progressing.. oh well.

[lilyunsta]

Switch out your wheels, those are the worst wheels you can slide in, get some Earthwing Slide A's. I'm using a Dervish too with slide a's and they beat any other soft wheel out there. Zigzags and inheats suck ass.

[Blix]

Slide A's on a Dervish isn't the best choice if you want to do anything else than just sliding...

[MacRae]

Also: The whole idea of laying backwards on your hand while balancing on your board flying down a hill is MUCH more difficult (imo) than stand up sliding... But the physical act may be easier..

I have never slid with gloves or without gloves.

Hands-down slides look scarier before you've tried them, but once you've fallen doing a hands-down and fallen doing a stand-up, you're gonna prefer hands-down falls by far. I've lost my board tons of times doing hands-down slides and like 90% of the time you're not going to get hurt at all if you've got at least gloves and kneepads - you just slide to a stop on your hands and knees (or your hands and butt/feet depending on the slide). By comparison, the fact that a stand-up fall is an actual fall from a more or less standing position means your face, shoulders, back, elbows - all that good stuff - are highly likely to smack into the ground.

For people who think fear of sliding is screwing them up, especially if they've never slid at all, ever, I've got a real simple suggestion: go buy the cheapest, hardest street wheels you can find and a pair of slide gloves (since you're going to need them anyway). Put the wheels on your board and the gloves on your hands and go find some flat, hard pavement (empty parking lot, say?), then just go as fast as you're comfortable, crouch down with your hands at your sides, start turning towards your back, put your hands palm backwards behind you and just sort of sit down and away from the board while keeping your weight on the edge of the deck so you keep turning.

Since you've got hard street wheels on, they're gonna slide like nobody's business without any effort even on flat ground. Just hold on until you come to a stop (won't take long) and sit down on the ground (or stand back up on the board if you're able). Congratulations, you just slid. If you can't keep the turn going once your hands are down because you don't have enough leverage on the board, loosen your trucks.

The hardest part of sliding for the first time, and the key to overcoming your fear of sliding, is convincing your mind and body that the wheels are going to slide. And the easiest way to do that is to make it easy for a slide to happen. Sliding's not scary - it's not knowing when the slide is going to happen that's scary, or worrying that it won't and feeling like you're going to get tossed off the board by turning too sharply.

Once you've slid for the first time, it's a hundred times easier every time afterwards, because you'll stop second guessing yourself.

[Sk8Guy31]

I was kinda scared when I was about to do colemans and 2hand toesides when I was first about to do them but as soon as I actualy did them my fears just vanished. I realised that you are so low to the ground you cant realy get that badly hurt and after some minor bails I have realised that worst I get is some small grazes and worn out jeans/t-shirts.

The worst thing you can do is get real freaked out cause that just means you will panic and try and do the slide wrong. My friend can kinda do colemans but is scared of heelsides and refuses to try them at all cause he fell once or twice when trying them.

With speed checks I cant realy comment cause I have only managed to properly slide the board out once and I just get little scrubs the rest of the time. It was kida weird suddenly having the board whip out but I think that it will be easy to get over after some practice and some more grazes

[origin]

just listen to eddy martinez. dont be afraid of the slide, commit to the slide. fear is the mind killer and so is this ****ing forum so get off and go practice

[Skanonymous]

Switch out your wheels, those are the worst wheels you can slide in, get some Earthwing Slide A's. I'm using a Dervish too with slide a's and they beat any other soft wheel out there. Zigzags and inheats suck ass.

Since when do Zigzags and Inheats suck? Also Slide A's aren't soft wheels, so obviously they beat an 80a wheel. Just curious, how does that work out for anything other than sliding?

[Swarm200]

I was kinda scared when I was about to do colemans and 2hand toesides when I was first about to do them but as soon as I actualy did them my fears just vanished. I realised that you are so low to the ground you cant realy get that badly hurt and after some minor bails I have realised that worst I get is some small grazes and worn out jeans/t-shirts.

The worst thing you can do is get real freaked out cause that just means you will panic and try and do the slide wrong. My friend can kinda do colemans but is scared of heelsides and refuses to try them at all cause he fell once or twice when trying them.

With speed checks I cant realy comment cause I have only managed to properly slide the board out once and I just get little scrubs the rest of the time. It was kida weird suddenly having the board whip out but I think that it will be easy to get over after some practice and some more grazes

Im learning standing stuff now and colemans just give your jeans that worn look that people pay a150 mbucks for so its all good

[Swarm200]

Switch out your wheels, those are the worst wheels you can slide in, get some Earthwing Slide A's. I'm using a Dervish too with slide a's and they beat any other soft wheel out there. Zigzags and inheats suck ass.

Homie waz I slide my freinds zigs all day all day

[MitchStoppinTime]

I have a loaded dervish, with otang in heat 83a
My wheels are broken in now, so i was trying some slides..
I thought this was gonna be really easy.. but when I tried it, the board threw me off my board really bad.
I do it at a crusiing speed, and I am really scared to do these.
I am trying stand up frontsides. I am practicing speed checks, but those also throw me off my board..
Anyone have tips, I am really scared when riding to attempt these slides

I got the same set up man. Just hang your toes off the edge a little. Bend your knees. Throw your arms and head to the way you want to go and you'll get em. I'm doing the same slides. Skate Happy mang.

[sneaky pete]

Lot's of good info in this thread, I am also new to sliding and found it all very helpful.
It seems I am having the same top heavy problem and find myself getting thrown when I try stand up slides. I think it is a lack of commitment and a cramp in my mangina..

The gloves comments has me thinking I will order some and see what is up with the laid back slides, they look like they are a little more safe.

But once again thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[817]

Practice, practice, practice. Also, something that recently helped me was skating after the rain. Get your bearing cleaning supplies out for afterwards, wait till the pavement is slick with rain and the residual oil from cars, and go out and slide your a$$ off! I could not get my pendy's to really snap back under me until two days ago when I skated in the rain. Picked up more speed than I usually attempt at and threw down. The water/oil gave me the little extra slickness needed to get my form right without really pushing my speed too much and keeping it in my neighborhood where I know the traffic patterns and people.

At the end of the day all you can do is skate. I try to skate everyday if possible, and even then my learning curve is generally slower than most of my riding buddies. Fear is your enemy and everyone is different with overcoming hesitation. If you are the type of guy that needs a controlled environment (I am one) don't be ashamed and don't let that hesitation ruin your confidence. I take out factors for me that are fear inducing (heavy traffic, no grass on side of road, road quality, etc...) and practice where/when I feel comfortable. Most of my friends will bust something they have not tried on a new run (I'm just not that brave). All I'm trying to say is keep your cool, practice and think about what you are doing each time you do it. I must have tried to do a coleman 40+ times before I landed it.... but it happened. You can do it.