Carving Tips

23 July 2015, 20:45 UTC

Hello all. Have had my OW now for two weeks and am having a damn good time. I am getting better at carving at slower speeds but am having trouble ay higher speeds; especially with heel-side turns. I ride with my feet perpendicular to the board with my front toes hanging off the pad a bit to help with the toe side carve. I am doing my best to lean into the turns but my front heel starts to lift off the pressure pad and since my toes are off the end a bit how can you really initiate a good nose down moment to get the thing to turn? Any advice people have on foot placement and techniques would be wonderful.

23 July 2015, 21:18 UTC

I have found that keeping your front foot totally stable and pivoting with your back heel and toe will definitely facilitate carving and turns in each direction. Once you get control of that back foot, you will find you don't need to lean as much into the curves and turns. I would however be careful at high speeds with too much heel and toe pivot with the back foot. You will find the faster you go the more intuitive the board seems and requires less pressure with your rear foot to steer

24 July 2015, 16:43 UTC

I agree with @docblock, it took me a few weeks, but once you find your back foot you'll get it more. I move my back foot a lot for pushing, carving etc. I can carve better heel side because I can really push with my back foot and lean into it. Toe side I'm not as good, but still having fun at least. I just can't get the angle on my back foot as well with the lean/weight behind like I can heel side. Honestly, just start moving your rear foot around, and I don't just mean forward back, towards the rear of the deck helps me more.

24 July 2015, 17:09 UTC

I barely steer with me feet at all, I use them to balance and use my hip positioning to steer, much like snowboarding but without the "kick out" from your back foot, If you lean your hips out over the side of the board and focus on balancing the board with your feet the board will follow your hips.

24 July 2015, 17:11 UTC

That's a great point! ^ I wonder if I'm not getting my hips into it enough toe side because I feel like I'm definitely throwing them heel side.

This is when I wish I wasn't at work and could go try stuff when I pickup tips like this. :smile:

24 July 2015, 17:13 UTC

My best advice is to go find some Orange Street Cones and practice maneuvering through and around them on different terrain

24 July 2015, 17:14 UTC

I definitely pick spots on the road and make my own course like manhole covers, dips, bumps, cracks, whatever, it just became my personal onewheel carving course.

24 July 2015, 17:20 UTC

Ever play with sidewalk chalk? :smirk:

24 July 2015, 17:24 UTC

hahhahha I have some from when my neice and nephews came to stay with me. Time to make a course! Though it's as if I don't already look at the world through OneWheel eyes looking and wondering if I can ride that.

24 July 2015, 17:45 UTC

Its an amazing new lens to view the world through! Ive had my "Onewheel goggles" on since I started skateboarding back in the 4th grade!

24 July 2015, 19:08 UTC

In South Beach, I try to slalom around the homeless people in the morning office commute...and there are quite a few.

25 July 2015, 03:08 UTC

@SkateFirst-SamT Yup, it was all my hips. I realized heel side was all hips and was fine. Going toe side I was WAY less hips and more pivoting the board on the wheel as an axis with my back foot. Okay, hmmm, how about I just do what I do heel side toe side? Yup, worked perfectly. Much much much much much more smooth carving, more natural and much more fun. I'm blown away how much more snowboardesque it is now. Thank you for making think and actually realize this, who knows how long till/if I ever figured it out. :thumbsup:

25 July 2015, 07:28 UTC

as far as the sensor problem goes, you could ride with your back foot on the sensor

28 July 2015, 22:43 UTC

@veryous it's been a couple of weeks and I totally agree. Hips are working super well for bent knee carving once you learn to trust the gyro/accelerometer.

28 July 2015, 22:47 UTC

Yeah just weirds me out still how much I was doing it well heel side but not at all toe side. My feet also seem to get less tired as quicly this way.

28 July 2015, 22:50 UTC

Lol, I was opposite. Heel side was wobbly at first, but I was doing super tight toe side turns. Once the trust kicked in, so did the 'connected to your body' feeling.

28 July 2015, 22:51 UTC

That's a great way to put it!

29 July 2015, 13:18 UTC

When I ride switch its all in my back foot otherwise its all my hips