went to skate the recently resurfaced haversham mini last night, stopped at tyringham on the way home to chill next to the river then went and bombed a hill i haven’t skated in years twice
forgot how fucking massive it was the first time and was already going way too fast round the first blind bit to run out of it (tonk swellbow on left arm from slamming monday night i’d rather not fall on) or slow down so just had to ride it out. there was a lad on the path walking his bike up i had to scream at to get out of the way (was actually one of the homies biking home from skatepark funnily enough) then had to hold on the last 100 or so metres of speed wobble before taking the corner round the roundabout. started walking back up and the lads had all stepped off up top ffs
I like bombing hills but just can’t work out how to powerslide to check speed. Maybe I’m not leaning back or unweighting enough. It’s something I really want to learn.
Are you attempting them frontside or backside? Backside ones are pretty tough. Frontside are much easier. I assume you’ve tried them on flat first before a hill, right? Play around with where you place your front foot.
Edit - just to expand. If your front foot is too low then it’s hard to actually turn your board into the 90 degree motion needed. If your front foot is too high then it just becomes a revert. Obviously, the balance between the two is what you need to find. Try find some really smooth ground and just play around with them.
Also, for powerslides you really need to go fast and lean back. The actual motion is all in the hips.
Interesting. Never really thought too much about foot placement.
For me it’s about unweighting, leaning back the correct amount (too little and I’ll fly forward, too much I slip out and I’m on my arse) and getting those shoulders turning quickly to be perpendicular to the direction I’m rolling in.
It’s like you’ve got to achieve a certain speed threshold too: too slow and you’re more likely to deadstop and pitch forward.
Oh and wheels that are pretty hard will help too.
The same principles probably apply to backside, but I’m shit scared of them.
If you carve into a power slide on a Hillbomb you’ll start feeling it under your feet, like if you weave in and out and then just lean back it’ll happen, brace those shoulders!
for me powerslides are almost like snowboarding. frontside ones i sit back like there’s a chair behind me. backside ones i lean hard on my toes and pray i don’t catch an edge
Once you’ve been snowboarding I think backside power slides seem much more accessible!
I agree with whoever says just start carving hard downhill and the powerslides should follow. Just make sure you’re keeping your weight balanced enough so you don’t overcook it.
Had some very bad slams from overconfident downhill powerslides in the past…camping/cider/hill back from the pub in Cornwall/waking up stuck to my sleeping bag by my own scabs.
Couple of hours solo session earlier. Seem to have hit a barrier trying to get old basic stuff back - trying to relearn fs 5-0’s on my ledge and I’ve got the fear of leaning back. Putting it down to being oldish at 43 and over cautious.
Good time and glad to get a bit of peace and quiet!
