Carving tips part 2

[RLY]

I've searched the forums for "carve" and "carving" and read all the relevant threads including https://archive.owforum.co.uk/topic/172/carving-tips and https://archive.owforum.co.uk/topic/315/foot-fatigue. Now that more people have OW and more people have had it longer, I wonder if there are any updates on carving tips (other than just practice more).

I only just went for my second ride on my OW today but I'm impatient to carve on land as I do on snow -- plus my feet are getting fatigued, I'm older now and less willing to risk bodily injury to learn something new, and pavement is less forgiving than even the ice coast.

I can carve on a snowboard (and am still considering getting an alpine snowboard although I ride much less frequently now) and when I taught it years and years ago, the technique we were taught to teach was with the weight on the front foot and zero kicking out with the back foot -- let the edge of the board do all the work. Does this work on a OW?

Any other tips, tricks, and hints?

[groovyruvy]

@RLY for me it's all heel-toe on both feet. It feels like for minor turns I do more of that with the front foot, and for big turns it's more on the the back foot. That and a lot of leaning / bending into the turns. I still get foot fatigue but not as bad / not as often. I've found slower to mid-speed cutting back and forth to be good practice for overall board control, just grooving the board back and forth.

[sonny123]

@RLY

Sorry, wrong place for you.
You just hit 19.5 mph on day 2 and asking us for advice?
Look up Mike T and the pros at Onewheel.. lol...

[RLY]

@groovyruvy Thanks. At or around what speed are you able to carve? I know on a snowboard, it's impossible to carve when going too slow.

@sonny123 Hah. I feel like I'm able to balance myself on the OW and hit high speeds in control, but I'm still unable to carve the way I want. It's like the snowboarders that bomb down a steep slope without making any turns -- they might be very confident and just too lazy to carve down that easy run, or they could be terrified and out of control and unable to carve.

[sonny123]

@RLY

True but honestly, it's not advisable on OW.
As others have said, most nose dives happen during the beginning stage
while understanding how Onewheel works and if it's gonna happen,
as it happened to many of us, let it happen at slow speed.

[RLY]

@sonny123 Alright. I guess it's just practice, practice, practice.

[sonny123]

@RLY

Not just practice.
There are things that come with time and you'll notice it overtime.
To me, Onewheel ain't about speed.
The addictive part is just cruising around at medium speed under 9 mph.
I know in a month or so, I felt way more comfortable all around on it
and I never go above 10 mph.

[RLY]

@sonny123 I wasn't looking for tips on how to go as fast as humanly possible. I was looking for tips on how to carve so I could shortcut the learning curve for that if at all possible. Carving is my favorite part of snowboarding and the comparison between that and the OW was my only reason for purchasing the OW.

[groovyruvy]

@RLY I can carve nicely as slow as 2 mph with really big wide sweeps back-and-forth, and at maybe 10-12 mph I'm carving like I would on a wave or on snow. At higher speeds / just behind pushback I can slalom with ease and pull off larger radius sweeping turns, but I find myself doing less really deep carving at those points.

[No]

I lean from my ankles, I'm standing up pretty straight, but my body is angled over the edge of the board, it comes down to trusting the board and having confidence that you won't fall, just lean a bit deeper each time and build up your trust in the OW's abilities. The problem with carving at higher speeds is that the OW really wants to go straight, like a tire rolling down a hill, so when you lean to carve, your toes/heels start to lift. But I've noticed that the more I stand up straight (with slightly bent knees), the more leverage I tend to have over my carve, and my feet stay planted

[thehoff]

My advice is to get your board onto smooth short grass.., learn to carve on the grass before doing fast carves on asphalt. Grass is more forgiving if you fall but also allows you to be more agressive and find your carving limits.. I take my board to a cricket ground a few times a week to practice fast carves. Spins and riding switch. It's great training as its harder on the legs and ankles..

[medhead]

Try carving on Classic mode for a bit. The turns are easier. Just don't try straight and fast or you will nose dive quickly. It's all heels and toes with a bit of mid-core. There's no back foot kick-out on a Onewheel.

[ahxe45]

@medhead I think I would have to disagree with you on it being easier to carve in classic. In extreme I think you have much more overall control of the board. Being able to dip the nose down into your turn feels much more responsive.

[Hubbitron]

Elevated is the bomb for deep carves and everything else.

[thehoff]

OMG.. Just had my onewheel on the beach. Amazing!!! So close to snowboarding because when you do a deep carve the sand gives way just like the snow when setting an edge on the snowboard. Loved it

[lieutenantglorp]

For me it's all about initiating the turn with your forward shoulder and then letting your body follow.

[thegreck]

@lieutenantglorp Yeah totally. It's about learning to trust that the Onewheel will go in the direction your body turns, so you get to where you just basically look and think about where you want to go and let the board follow without forcing it.

Of course last night while riding to a friend's house in the dark, I was carving into a sharp backside turn and hit a sandy patch in the road and nearly disproved that theory. Luckily I somehow managed to stay on the board and recover.

[mrb]

I say don't overthink it. Just get on the board and carve.

I feel like I have more control when riding on the edges of the tire, if less traction. I can build speed faster on the edges too. On the right surface, controlled skidding of several inches is even possible, but not easy to reign in.

[groovyruvy]

@mrb so far most of my skids have been of the uncontrolled variety

[mrb]

@groovyruvy said in Carving tips part 2:

so far most of my skids have been of the uncontrolled variety<

me too

[RLY]

@No I think you hit the nail on the head. I just need to build up trust in the OW's abilities. Today is my fourth day of riding and I'm comfortable enough that I'm happy with my heelside carve. A little more time and my toeside carve should be acceptable too.

[kelp]

@mrb any videos of this edge riding?

[augie09]

@RLY I am on week 2 now with the OW, so take this with a grain of salt. main things I've noticed when comparing carving a snowboard...

On a snowboard your always on edge (mostly) so on a toeside turn you heels are higher then your toes, heel side carves your toes come up. the harder you carve, the more on edge you get. You also shift your weight more to your front foot. But on the OW, the board stays flat (parallel to the ground) so you have to adjust for that, keep your feet flat. Toeside turns should still feel very similar, but when doing a heel side, try forcing your toes and ball of your foot down, like your pointing your feet at the ground 10 feet away. This will help keep your feet flat and your heel side turn will feel more stable. It did for me at least.

I don't focus as much on front and back foot weight, but more like shifting my hips forward and backward. Not sure how to explain it, but it reminds me of surfing.

Another thing I noticed, if I push outward on both legs just a little, not enough to move my feet on the pads, stability increases on turns. If you feel the board wobble when carving, focus on pushing legs apart and the pressure may stabilize the wobble.

other than that, I usually ride snowboard/wakeboard in duck stance 15deg both bindings, but after carving on the OW for a bit, I notice my read foot has shifted to 0 or even +5 degrees, like alpine boarders.

[kelp]

@augie09 rock on, good post!

[wr420]

@augie09 - Ya I've snowboarded powder for years and I wanted to resist the alpine stance SOooo much but it just works on the OW.

[Tartopom]

I agree too...usually when I ride on concrete, my angle are somehow around 0 to +10 for rear and something around +20,+30 on the front. I'm still in duck stance when I plan to ride switch and so on..

[hustle]

When I get into heavy carving my knees are bent at almost a 90 degree angle and I'm really leaning. This takes some serious trust in your board but that comes with time. I got mine on Aug 20th. That's also the day I had my first crash, and it was a major one.

I'll just have to wait til I can get some video and show you :)

[donny h]

When I'm getting fast and freaky, I have my knees bent a lot and I am down low. I don't pay perfect attention to what I do because I have a lot of hours riding now but I noticed that I do some weird stuff without thinking about it such as shoving the back around with my back foot and even steering the board forward side for just an instant to initiate a sudden heel side turn. My favorite thing lately is carving at a medium speed but trying to carve hard enough to push me into the board with a little g-force.

[Snurfer]

First time post, whats up!

I know this is an old thread, and I don't even have a board yet, but I thought I'd chime in on this thread for others looking for carving tips. With years of snowboarding and surfing experience, I think an often overlooked technique is leading with your head and shoulders when initiating a turn/carve/cutback. The harder/tighter the arc of the turn, the more you really need to commit to opening/closing the shoulders to get the turn going. The torso/hips/knees/feet/board all follow suit after the shoulders. Trying to turn, starting with the lower body up just feels horrible and looks even worse.

I see a lot of videos of beginner/intermediate riders on this forum and they seem to be missing that key. I've never ridden a OW, but I have been studying up and watching tons of footage preparing to go on day 1! The talented riders seem to have this skill down, and I'm sure it comes with confidence/trust in the board. I know it's difficult to commit to a hard cutback on a surfboard, and that's on water!

[groovyruvy]

@Snurfer OW is the same way- lead with the head and shoulders, the board and body follows. . . .