Jason Mitchell, Seismic Nationals 2007, Hybrid Slalom.  Photo by Greg Fadell Northern California Downhill Skateboarding Association
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Skateboard Riding Techniques

 
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Riding Techniques (3851 Posts)
Topic Technique
Paris,France
On 9/30/1997 Fred wrote in from ()

Are you looking for a great place where you always could
skate with your favorite longboard?
Go to the nearest and biggest parking with your car and
a good friend (in whose way of driving you can trust)...
Laird Hamilton does it in Hawaii with his surfboard ,so
why could you not do the same with your longboard skate?
I do skate by using a car's speed and it's really
exciting so try it by yourself

Aloha to all longboard skaters!

 
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On 9/15/1997 Adam wrote in from ()

How to Stop a Longboard

Look further down this page to Randal's post dated 1/26/97. He describes the Coleman Slide, an effective braking maneuver, which you can see demonstrated in several photos in the Pics section of this site. The key is the special glove.

 
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On 9/15/1997 Wood wrote in from ()

I just got a powell pele 49" road it for the first time going 20 mph.
Being a cross country--tele skier I do have to say I love to carve big ass turns.
I skated a little when I was younger then I grew to be 6feet 8 inches.
What I am trying to say is that when I fall I fall damn hard.
I know this from being a Mt. bike racer.
What I wanted to know is how can I ride while arching sweet ass turns staying at a reasonable speed?
I dont want to be crazy yet and go balz out and kill my ski traing because I lost a pound of flesh on the road.
I loose enough skin when I go rollar skiing.
What I whant to do is to feel the soal of arching sweet turns while being safe.
I'd like some info on slowing down stoping whatever.

 
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On 9/12/1997 Curt wrote in from ()

I've been surfing on longboards (Hansen 50/50 & BZ) for years. The longboard skateboards look cool, but how do you stop??????

 
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On 9/11/1997 mark a. wrote in from ()

hey brothers and sisters,

got my first board this summer and have learned about the unique 'wobbling'
that starts around 20-25 mph. don't have access to big hills now but am hitting
the streets and parking ramps.

any insight into the sport or just a contanct to talk about the sport is great
appreciated.

if god wills

mark a.

 
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On 9/9/1997 Colin wrote in from ()

I want to now if it's bad for the deck or for the truck
(Tracker B52) to perform small or long grind on side of the road.
At the beginning of the pedestrian walk.

Please let me know, 'cos I don't want to ruin my trucks or the setup of my trucks....
Skate happy
Colin

 
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On 9/5/1997 chung moo wrote in from ()

second day with my longboard(powell's nokaoi with b52)

I felt advanced today. it's just second day of riding though..
first I loosened the truck.. It was point. My board was quite stiff so there was little chance to flex my board.. but loosening the truck accelerated the board. I surprised.. compared to disappoint of yesterday.
with 1 hour's of boarding I found certain position for flat surface riding. It made me accel my board quite quickly.
please listen to me and.. I want to hear your opinion if you guys are using this position or not.
I positioned my front foot right on the front truck and with my back foot on middle of the board. position of front foot helped alot with it's short turning radious. some times tail got skid but.. It looked like real tail.
how do you think about this position I want to hear your advice and about the standard position for long board.

 
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On 8/19/1997 FREaK wrote in from ()

I just got a longboard and need to learn how to use it please email me and give me your comments

 
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On 8/16/1997 Rick wrote in from ()

Hi my names Rick and I just got myself a longboard.

 
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On 8/14/1997 Alan wrote in from ()

Whassup? Well, I live in northeast Nebraska, so we have no hills and the best thing to do is get goin real fast when a car is coming, try to get to its back-end, grab on, bend down so they donnt see ya, and enjoy the ride! When you feel its time(keep balance while doing this), slingshot yourself off the car. This is the funnest thing I have ever done. Its dangerous, but a thrill! Make sure you know the street that you do this on or, can you say ouch? All you spped lovers would have a blast doing this, just be careful, very careful. Only one problem, I need safety gear. Can anyone tell me what kind of gear to use, or maybe if you know where to see it on the net? thanx, and please write me.

laters

 
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On 8/14/1997 Alan Gunsolley wrote in from ()

Whassup? Well, I live in northeast Nebraska, so we have no hills and the best thing to do is get goin real fast when a car is coming, try to get to its back-end, grab on, bend down so they donnt see ya, and enjoy the ride! When you feel its time(keep balance while doing this), slingshot yourself off the car. This is the funnest thing I have ever done. Its dangerous, but a thrill! Make sure you know the street that you do this on or, can you say ouch? All you spped lovers would have a blast doing this, just be careful, very careful. Only one problem, I need safety gear. Can anyone tell me what kind of gear to use, or maybe if you know where to see it on the net? thanx, and please write me.

laters

 
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On 8/13/1997 Jonas wrote in from ()

what tricks can I do in a halfpipe with my 41.5" Deplo longboard (no kicktail) ???

 
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On 8/3/1997 shaun wrote in from ()

i hOOked up with a trucker thats usually drunk by my
apartment and he hooked me with some trucker gloves.
I like to go about 15mph and lean all the way to my
frontside and grind the gloves. who does ride a 60 inch
or big board and knows some stylie skating tekniques. mail
me.

 
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On 8/2/1997 Adam S. wrote in from ()

I have been longboarding for a while now and I have found that a fun thing to do is the crouch ride. To do this, do what the name emplies; crouch down on the board, knees bent, front foot somewhat parallel to the direction you are going and flat on the board with you back foot just on the ball of the foot. Oh yes, no hands. For full enjoyment you can't be holding on. This style is fun but dangerous, because if you hit a crack or get speed wobbles you can truly eat it. Another fun thing to do is hang five with your front foot then place your other foot ontop the foot that is hanging five. It may sound lame but it's pretty enjoyable and hard to control. Questions or comments please e-mail.

 
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On 7/15/1997 Jay Barr ( Braking---Why powerslide sucks, skid rules) wrote in from ()

Email JKB123@HOTMAIL.COM

I am am expert downhill skater and extreme surfer. I have been doing both for 20years. I even downhill skate the steep hills of San Fransisco without a problem, even in the rain (no joke).
The reason I can comfortably skate down any hill even in the rain(not faster than 20mph) or on rough terrain (with an offroad board) is because I can comfortably stop at any speed using the skid and different techniques of the skid that I have learned throughout the many years.
First I skate with a medium length, old school type board
with a wide tail. This enables me to maximize skidding on the tail. Of course I use a plastic skid guard (1 every two days) to prevent damage to the tail, 70 mm wheels.
At any speed I can safely stop, without hesitation.
For really fast speeds I skid while grabbing the nose of the board with my right hand, and pulling. This increases the friction between the tail and the ground , especaially if its raining. The result in a immediate, safe stop.
Why Power Slide Sucks????

I also know how to power slide really well. But I never do because it sucks, its dangerous and its very inconsistent.
The powerslide only works in snowboarding.
If and when I powerslide when skating, it only works on certain surfaces and speeds under 10mph.
Upon challenging many expert downhill skaters like myself to powerslide on steep hills, they all chickened out.
Many amateur downskaters claim they can powerslide well.
But they can't. At least not going down a steep hill at
25 mph, or even at 5 mph in the rain.
When I skate in the rain, I never go faster than 20 mph, but Iam comfortable because I can control my braking with the skid.

The other tips on how to stop that I read here are a joke.
There is no need to glue any shit to your board. All you need is a board that medium length with a wide tail. If your have a really long board your screwed, because you'll never be able to skid.
Take it from me, I 've been downhill skating for over 20 years. Ive tried every possible method to stop and the skid is the way to go The power slide or any kind of slide won't let you stop on dime.

Email JKB123@HOTMAIL.COM

 
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On 7/8/1997 CHRIS ZANARDI wrote in from ()

THIS MAY BE OLD HAT TO SOME BUT MY FRIEND AND I HAVE BEEN
EXPERIMENTING WITH NOSE RIDING BACKWARDS. FIRST, WHILE IN MOTION
YOU TURN YOUR BODY 180 DEGREES AND THEN SLOWLY WALK BACKWARDS
TO THE FRONT OF THE BOARD AND TRY TO GET BOTH HEELS TO HANG OFF
THE FRONT. THE MORE COMFORT IN BALANCE YOU ACHIEVE THE MORE
YOU SHOULD INCREASE YOUR SPEED.
ANOTHER NEW ONE FOR US IS REFERED TO BY US AS THE "SWITCHO-CHANGEO".
WHEN YOU DO YOUR SLIDE PULL IT ALL THE WAY SO YOUR NOSE IS FACING UPHILL
THEN QUICKLY STAND BACK UP AND JUMP 180 DEGRESS SO YOU ARE NOW FACING
FACING DOWNHILL ONCE AGAIN AND YOU ARE RIDING YOUR BOARD BACKWARDS INTO
THE NEXT SLIDE. OBVIOUSLY THIS ONE IS ONLY REALLY GOOD FOR
SLIDING ON STEEP HILLS THAT REQUIRE MORE THAN ONE SLIDE TO
REACH THE BOTTOM.

 
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On 6/24/1997 Alex Ramirez wrote in from ()

Big Brake
for braking operations in high speed hills, use a over
sized back brake (you can make it from wood or a tire cut)
just put your weight over the rear of the board smoothly but
firmly and adopting a safe position, this will allow to you
to control the board and perform some fishtails.
if you want to perform a braking/turn just apply more weight
to the side you want to turn to just like the surfers.
Dont forget to protect your head, hands, knees and elbows,
the safety equipment can keep you away from a tragedy.

 
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On 6/22/1997 mauvais wrote in from ()

always control, smooth style, speed, winds in your eyes and in your hair.No rules just having fun.:')

 
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On 6/17/1997 ALEX MORILLO V. wrote in from ()

HI, SPEED freakzos: There,s not a long downhill road I can
blast here in St. Paul like the ones I ride back home (Qui-
to ECUADOR!) the only possible 10 blocks or so starts by the
State Capital building..I,ll probably do it after midnight
some night!
I say: RELAX and ENJOY, uselly tight tracks, A GOOD FULLFACE
HELMET that dosen,t move around with a shield or goggles,
gloves, leather jacket and CONFIDENCE in yourself and board
SPEED is GOOD but so is no broken bones or blood on the road
move your head/helmet towards the turn, anticipate moves
and always have somebody follow you in a car (they let you know
your SPEED! I do 10-12 KMs. at about 85 Kph!) also, like
someone allready said: good hard sole SHOES...and ACDC on the
ears...MAY THE FORCE OF GRAVITY BE WITH YA! later ALEX

 
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On 6/16/1997 Creag shiels wrote in from ()

Ride for life.

 
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On 5/29/1997 bill k wrote in from ()

I am gonna tell you the best technique. And its not put more pressure on the back foot or loosen up your trucks or any thing like that no it a little thing called confidence.If you say to your self i will beat this hill or surf this 10+ wave and you can see yourself doing it and feel what it feels like to hit 50
+ miles per hour then you will most defenitly have better rides.I found out the hard way that if you think you are gonna eat shit then most likly you are.You could be having a great run and see a sharp turn in front of you and either say oh shit i'm gonna die, or you can say all right killer turn coming up for me to whip aruond and amaze everyone whos with you. So take my advise seriously and i gurentee that your skating/surfing will improve.

 
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On 5/26/1997 robert wrote in from ()

As always if you go down you have to somehow get back up. Sometimes on real steep stuff I just walk with my big stick over my shoulder,(looks cool for the chicks). When it is not to steep I use a technique that I call switch foot pushing. If you ussually have your left foot on the board and push with your right the letf leg gets tired. If you practice you can learn how to switch to having the right foot on the board, altternating as you go up the hill. I am a goofy foot so I have more control and skill if I leave my right foot on the board near the front truck and push with my right. When the right leg gets tired I put the left foot on the back of the board and push with the right foot. With practice I am getting to where I can have the samr amount of control and eficiency with both legs. as always style rules over pure speed. all you need to go fast is guts, to go with style takes heart. Peace

 
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On 5/23/1997 Amy wrote in from ()

As I am carving down the hill I really do imagine the biggest weiner possible!! And besides that I just cruz and have fun.

 
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On 5/20/1997 Adam wrote in from ()

Attn travis newbill:

Go downtown, find a multi-story parking garage, and bomb the ramps! Elevators are the ticket for the ride back up.

 
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On 5/20/1997 Scooter wrote in from ()

As I scream down hills at unbelievable speeds I imagine the
biggest breasts possible. Now this sounds slightly
perverted, but it's better than thinking of the biggest
weiner possible.

 
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