The time has come to delve into the art of longboard sliding! This guide will cover everything you need to know about how to slide on your longboard, from the different types of slides to the necessary equipment and techniques. Whether you’re a complete beginner or looking to refine your skills, this comprehensive guide will provide the foundation you need to start sliding with confidence.
Understanding the Fundamentals of Longboard Sliding
Before we get into the specific techniques, let’s establish a fundamental understanding of what a slide actually is. This knowledge is crucial as it forms the base for your learning and helps you communicate effectively with other skaters.
In essence, a slide occurs when you cause your wheels to lose traction with the ground. The resulting friction allows you to decelerate in a smooth and controlled manner. In more technical terms, a slide is achieved by manipulating your weight, body position, and board carving to a point where the board oversteers and breaks traction. Then, you rely on your balance and control to maintain this oversteer until you’ve slowed down enough. Finally, you allow the wheels to regain traction and roll away.
Exploring Different Types of Longboard Slides
Longboard sliding isn’t a monolithic technique, it encompasses a variety of styles, each suited to different situations and preferences. Here’s a look at some of the most common types:
Pendulum (Pendy) Slides
A pendulum slide is a hands-down slide where you swing from side to side while sliding. This is a great way to control speed, particularly when going fast, and is often the first slide that beginners learn. The key to a pendulum slide lies in using your shoulders to steer the board’s direction.
By swinging your shoulders from left to right (or vice-versa), you can initiate the board’s swing in one direction, then help it swing back by throwing your shoulders in the desired direction. Swinging your shoulders back also helps you regain traction. This is a very reliable way to slow down and maintain control.
Pre-Drifts
A pre-drift is another hands-down slide, typically performed before entering a corner. Its main purpose is to reduce speed enough to safely navigate the corner without understeering into another lane or off the road. Pre-drifts are a crucial skill in racing and for safely navigating open roads.
To execute a pre-drift, you slide the board, but you maintain the angle of your board less than 90° in relation to the direction you were traveling (the road). This angle allows your wheels to continue rotating during the slide, resulting in even wear and superior braking capability. Sliding at a 90° angle will cause one side of the wheel to wear unevenly, potentially leading to flat spots or an oval shape.
heelside backside pre drift
Additionally, maintaining an angle less than 90° allows you to steer the board during the slide. This can be very helpful for taking better racing lines, or navigating the corner more efficiently. If your hands are behind your heels, it’s a heelside (or frontside) slide. If they are behind your toes, then it is a toeside (or backside) slide.
toeside backside predrift
Stand-Up Slides
Stand-up slides are essentially the same as pre-drifts but without the use of your hands on the ground. You initiate the slide by carving hard and pushing your board out, forcing the wheels to break traction. Then, you balance on your board as it slides across the pavement. To regain traction, you shift your weight and allow the wheels to grip up, enabling you to roll away.
While stand-up slides look very impressive, they are also more difficult and potentially riskier. However, with the right board setup and a firm understanding of the basics, they are quite achievable, even at higher speeds.
Sit-Down/Squat Slides
Sit-down slides are a variation of stand-up slides where you squat on your longboard as you slide, or get as low as possible. The execution is similar to stand-up slides, but they are generally easier if you have a good squat and can maintain that position on your board.
Nick Broms performing a squat slide
Essential Preparations Before Attempting Longboard Slides
Before you try sliding, there are important steps you should take to ensure both your safety and your chances of success.
The Right Gear and Equipment
To start sliding, the following basic gear is needed:
- Slide gloves: Protect your hands when putting them on the ground.
- Slide wheels: Designed for sliding with a smooth, predictable release.
- Helmet: Protect your head from potential falls.
- Durable pants: Sliding can cause wear and tear on clothing.
- Hip pads: Cushion your hips when you fall.
While it is possible to slide with any longboard, any size, and any wheels, using specialized equipment will always make learning easier. It is highly recommended that you invest in a good set of slide wheels.
You also don’t absolutely need a helmet, but sliding can be risky and put you at risk of injury. A bad fall can lead to serious injury. While you can recover from scrapes, brain damage can be irreversible, so wearing a helmet is always the smart choice.
Investing in Protective Gear
Protective gear is a vital component for building confidence and allows you to push your limits without fear. It provides a safety net that allows you to learn, make mistakes, and fall safely. At a minimum, invest in knee pads. Hip pads are also a good idea, as you will be falling on your bum frequently when starting.
Mastering Hard Carving
Hard carving is a fundamental skill for sliding. It allows you to more easily break traction. If you cannot carve hard, you will struggle with learning to slide. As you carve hard, you take your wheels to that point where sliding only needs a slight nudge to happen.
Practicing Hand Drag Carving
Once you can carve hard, the next step is to learn how to do them with your hands down. Hand drag carving is an excellent way to familiarize yourself with your body position when sliding. It also gets you comfortable with getting low and putting a hand down. You should always wear slide gloves before attempting this.
If you can consistently do hand drag carves, and can do a 180° turn with your hand down, then you are practically ready to slide. This exercise will boost your confidence and give you the skills you will need. It also highlights any areas you need to improve on.
It is a good habit to do hand drag carving before each skate session. It helps warm you up, get comfortable with your setup, and feel out if anything is off so you can make the necessary adjustments.
Getting Comfortable Squatting on the Board
Being able to squat comfortably on your board is crucial for both heelside and Coleman/pendulum slides. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart. While the image below demonstrates the proper form, your specific squat may vary due to different body types and riding styles. Experiment to find what’s most comfortable and natural for you.
Nick Broms performing a squat slide
It is common for beginners to compensate for a lack of flexibility by grabbing the rail of their board to pull themselves into position. While it may help with the learning process, this can damage your knees in the long run. Consistent stretching and hip exercises will improve your squat.
Perfecting Your Foot Positioning
Foot positioning is a very natural thing that most riders pick up quickly. As a general rule of thumb, your feet should be about shoulder-width apart. Position your feet so that you have good leverage when turning to the left or right. You can also shift your foot position when turning in either direction for maximum leverage and comfort.
Heelside longboard foot positioning
The above image shows a guideline for how you should position your feet when turning heelside, and when eventually doing a heelside slide. These are just guidelines and are not set in stone.
toeside longboard foot positioning
The image above shows the suggested toeside foot positioning when turning toeside and when attempting toeside slides. Again, this is just a starting point, you can adjust to find what’s most comfortable.
Setting Up the Carve
A good setup carve is essential for sliding. If you can’t do this correctly, sliding will be significantly harder. To slide to the right, use the setup carve shown in the image below. For a slide to the left, use the second image. Remember to click on these images for a larger, more detailed version.
how to carve to slide to the right
how to carve to slide to the left
Step-by-Step Guide to Longboard Sliding
Now that you have the fundamentals down, it’s time to start putting these techniques into practice.
Coleman/Heelside Pendulum Slide
The Coleman slide, invented by Cliff Coleman in the 70s, is one of the most reliable ways to slow down. It involves the following:
- Start with a toeside carve, with the intent of turning heelside at the peak of your carve.
- Get into the squat position with your legs shoulder-width apart.
- Swing your shoulders and arms out to break traction as you initiate the heelside carve.
- Swing your shoulders back to bring the board back into the direction of movement so you can regain traction.
- Gently push down and apply pressure on your front foot to encourage the board to come back the other way.
heelside longboard slide sliding early
Key points to remember:
- The slide is led by your shoulders.
- Place most of your weight on your heels.
- Your weight distribution should be about 40-50% on your front foot, 30% on your back, and 20% on your hands.
- Always look downhill.
Some tips to help:
- Aggressively throwing your body can help with breaking traction.
- A big setup carve will make breaking traction easier.
- Grab the rail of your board to help you stay on, but make sure to grab behind your back knee and not in between your legs.
- You should be going relatively fast, so you can keep the board in the slide.
how to rail grab longboard
Toeside Pendulum Slide
The toeside pendulum is very similar to the Coleman. You still use your shoulders to rotate your body 180° in either direction. Here’s how to do a toeside pendulum slide while grabbing the rail:
- Carve heelside, with the intention of doing a toeside carve once you get to the zenith of the heelside carve.
- Hold onto the board and swing your shoulders to the right (or left if you’re goofy).
- At the same time, put your weight on your toes.
- Put your back foot out to encourage the back of the board to break traction.
- Release the pressure on your back toes, and start putting more pressure on your front toes.
- Start swinging and bringing your shoulders back in the other direction.
- Pull your board to turn it in the swing.
- Anticipate the hookup, and bend your knees to absorb the momentum.
Heelside Pre-Drift
Here’s how to execute a heelside pre-drift:
- Start with a deep toeside carve, with the intention of sliding when you reach the peak of the turn.
- Get low in the “box” position.
- Put a hand on the ground, and put most of your weight onto your front foot.
- Put pressure on your heels.
- Kick out the slide by rotating your hips, or gently pushing out with your back leg.
- Maintain pressure on your feet, and let the board slide.
- When you’ve slowed down enough, release the pressure on your back foot.
- Maintain the pressure on your front foot, while bringing your front leg back.
Toeside Pre-Drift
Here is how to do a toeside pre-drift when grabbing the rail:
- Start with a deep heelside carve. When you get to the peak of the turn, shift your weight to the other side.
- Keep pressure on your front foot, and try to focus that pressure on your toes.
- Put pressure on the toes of your back foot.
- Kick out the back at the zenith of your heelside carve, with your back toes/foot.
- Keep your weight and pressure on your front toes.
- Maintain pressure on your front foot to control the angle of the slide.
- As you release the slide, keep pressure on the front foot.
- Bend your knees to absorb the momentum from the hookup.
Stand-Up Slides
Stand-up slides usually follow this pattern:
- Setup carve.
- Compress (bend your knees).
- Put pressure on the relevant part of your board (toes for toesides, heels for heelsides).
- Have about 60% of your weight on the front foot, and 40% on the back.
- Give the board a nudge and kick it out.
- Decompress (unbend your knees) as you kick the board out.
- Relax and hold the slide, while maintaining pressure in the relevant areas.
- Look where you want to go, with your shoulders facing that direction.
- Release pressure on your back foot, and maintain pressure on your front foot.
- Compress your knees to absorb the momentum when hooking up.
Sit-Down Slides
For a sit-down slide:
- Do a setup carve.
- Use your back leg as a rudder to kick the board out.
- Put 70-80% of your weight on your front foot, and the rest on your back leg.
- When you kick the board out, make sure you have pressure in the right places.
- To end the slide, pull your back leg in and push out a bit with your front foot.
Key Sliding Tips, Insights and Observations
Where to Apply Weight
heelside slide pressure and weight
The above image shows a rule of thumb for where to put your weight when doing a heelside slide.
toeside slide pressure and weight
The image above is a guideline for where to put your weight when doing a toeside slide.
How Different Riders Slide
It’s important to be aware of the fact that everyone slides a little bit differently. Instead of forcing yourself to replicate someone else’s style, you should strive to find what works for you and is comfortable.
- Josh Neuman: Has a very popular riding style.
- Troy Yardwaste: Slides with his back leg on the kicktail.
- Ian Freire: Known for his great form and consistent technique.
- Nick Broms: Is able to focus 90% of his weight on his front foot.
- Adam Westfall: Doesn’t conform to the perfect form, but is still one of the best.
- Daniel Engel: Noticeably lifts his front foot during slides.
- Daina Banks: Has a unique stance with fully upright legs during heelside slides.
- Lyde Begue: Sits very low on her board, with her ass close to the ground.
Despite their differences, pro riders have these things in common: they consistently setup carve, compress, decompress, and then compress on the hookup. If you want to be a great stand-up slider, focus on mastering these basics.
Setting Up Your Board for Stand-Up Slides
There are two types of people when it comes to sliding. There are those that like to push into their wheels when sliding, and those that float on top of their boards. Floaters typically have a tighter setup with a large center. For stand-up slides, try to build a setup that works like a floater.
To get the perfect feel for your bushings, consider joining some longboarding communities such as:
- #WhatgearshouldIbuy
- Venom bushing setup and product help group
- Skateboard racing
- Longboard family
- r/longboarding
Warm-Up Techniques
Skateboarding is a sport, and warming up is important. Dynamic stretches will help your lower body get flexible. Hand drag carving is also a good warm up exercise.
The Importance of Flexibility
Flexibility is very important for sliding, particularly for heelside slides. If you are not flexible enough you may have a hard time getting into the squat position, and doing heelsides comfortably. You also need good hip rotation.
If you lack flexibility, you might be tempted to grab the rail of your board too much and force yourself into position. This may lead to knee injuries. Through consistent stretching and hip flexibility routines, you can improve your lower body mobility and your ability to comfortably do heelside slides.
Poor heelside slide
improved heelside slide after stretching
Finding the Right Practice Hill
A good practice hill should:
- Mellow out at the bottom, or go uphill so you naturally slow down.
- Have a corner for practicing turns and pre-drifts.
You can learn on any hill, but using a good one will help your progress. If a corner has limited visibility, make sure to have a spotter.
Practice Sliding in the Rain
Sliding in the rain is a great way to learn because it allows your wheels to break traction very easily. When you learn to slide in the rain, this knowledge transfers to sliding in the dry. So if you are having problems sliding in the dry, give it a go in the wet.
Filming Your Progress
Filming your progress has multiple benefits:
- It highlights any mistakes you might be making.
- It allows you to see your own improvement.
- It allows you to see how you’re interacting with the hill.
- It gives you something to show other skaters.
- It gives you content to post on social media.
Other Useful Guides
Here are some other guides that may be useful:
- Reddit guide to sliding
- How to stand up slide (Muirskate)
- How to slide and freeride your board (Loaded Boards)
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Practice Makes Perfect
Learning to slide takes time and practice. It is unlikely that you will master it on your first day. The key is to keep trying and learning from your errors.
Is Your Board Set Up Properly?
Though you can slide on any board, having a board set up properly will make your life much easier. Having specialized trucks and wheels designed for sliding will be much easier to slide with than using a board that is not designed for sliding.
Mastering the Basics
Always remember the basics:
- Setup carving,
- Have enough speed,
- Compressing, decompressing etc.
If you can’t seem to get the hang of it, film yourself to see what you might be doing wrong.
Avoid Hesitation
Hesitation can lead to mistakes and high-sides. If you hesitate when doing a setup carve, it can lead to a poorly executed slide. Try to warm up and practice before each ride. Repeating affirmations to yourself can also help boost your confidence.
Final Thoughts
This guide is meant to be a comprehensive resource to help you get started with longboard sliding. It may seem overwhelming at first, but remember to take it one step at a time. With consistent practice and a solid understanding of the fundamentals, you’ll be sliding with confidence in no time!
