Posted by ride_and_sk8
you dnt really hav to be able to ride switch i cant and i do 180s and 540s just when you land you need to be able to slide out of it

That's kind of the point. If you have to spin back out of 1's to regular then it's not going to be a proper 1. If you can do the spin then that's great, but no one's going to give you the credit for a trick you have to spin out of as it looks like a fluffed 3'.

Plus, riding switch is a fantastic way to improve your normal riding as you have to go back to basics and really think about things.

Ben

What exactly is a 'pop', like popping off a jump? Also, in what situation would I rather 'pop' instead of doing an ollie?

try messing around on the trail doing 180's at any chance you get....riding swtich, doing switch 180's, buttering...doing a bunch of little stuff on the flat will make you more comfy on your board and will imporve your park riding...might sound wierd but it has helped me out.  hopefully it will work for you too. best of luck dude.

boardslides on boxes your board stays flat on it's own a lot easier... because it's a big fat box.... where as rails you have to keep equal pressure on both feet to make sure you stay balanced.  it'll be tricky at first but it just takes practice and once you get them good there is nothing better then a nice smooth boardslide... well maybe a nice smooth front board, or front lip, or back lip.... well lets just say when you do things right it feels nice.

Posted by supermark

what does sw mean?

Probably means "switch," which is riding with board backwards such that what is normally if the tail of your board is pointing forwards. For a switch trick, it means starting the trick switch. Doing a trick switch usually makes it a bit harder (not  always though... like switch fs540 can be easier for some people because you can spot the landing and you land regular). Yes, it's confusing, don't worry about it too much... if you look good, you can call it whatever you want (well almost).

Switch is not to be confused with  fakie, which general means landing backwards to you takeoff orientation. So for instance a switch fakie air would be going straight up a quarter/halfpipe wall switch (tail forward), and then landing regular. Although some people will say you are like "switch" instead of landing "fakie" in general, no one now stays you takeoff "fakie"

[Edited by Snowolf on 4/12/2007 at 1:06 AM]

Posted by roadrunner1659

thanks bleezie...

 

i was wondering, how difficult is it to ride rails and where do you start?

Posted by mark_remembers_robotfood

Posted by roadrunner1659

thanks bleezie... 

i was wondering, how difficult is it to ride rails and where do you start?

the best place to start is jibbing, learning tricks and spins on jibs is good because it's alot less scarry than hucking huge jumps. grab a file and round your edges a little so they won't buck you, start with low to ground roll on boxes and get comfartble with 50-50's. the easiest thing from there is a tail press, start getting the feel of buttering on your tail while riding and then just do the same thing on the box. just watch what other people in the park are doing and ask them for tips if you're impressed.

Mt. Creek FTW!!! I say go to the smaller parks, the on right next to the Gondola (on the right) and that one that you can just cut through the orange thing to (If it means your not supposed to go that way Sorry). I would defintly start out with the Tabletop at the first park, then hit the battleship in the first park, then I would go for the jump on tabletop in the second park, then I would hit the little kink rail and if you get comfortable with all this PLUS jumps I would go in the big park. btw this is all at Vernon Peak

Posted by kungfusnowman

same thing.  pop = ollie

see, now this is my problem- i'm not a skater and have never done an ollie.  i'm going to give jumps a go this season.  haha i bet the first few is gonna hurt! i think i understand the whole pop thing- i can at least visualize what an ollie is supposed to look like.  i'm just gonna go for it and see how i do.  i'll be riding with one o my best friend's who's an old school skater from way back, so it shouldn't be too disasterous.  haha i hope!  nah... i bet i do fine.

Posted by eL_eRiC
Mt. Creek FTW!!! I say go to the smaller parks, the on right next to the Gondola (on the right) and that one that you can just cut through the orange thing to (If it means your not supposed to go that way Sorry). I would defintly start out with the Tabletop at the first park, then hit the battleship in the first park, then I would go for the jump on tabletop in the second park, then I would hit the little kink rail and if you get comfortable with all this PLUS jumps I would go in the big park. btw this is all at Vernon Peak

all that stuff wont be there this year since the entire park is moved to south.

Posted by galaxie420

Posted by kungfusnowman

same thing.  pop = ollie

see, now this is my problem- i'm not a skater and have never done an ollie.  i'm going to give jumps a go this season.  haha i bet the first few is gonna hurt! i think i understand the whole pop thing- i can at least visualize what an ollie is supposed to look like.  i'm just gonna go for it and see how i do.  i'll be riding with one o my best friend's who's an old school skater from way back, so it shouldn't be too disasterous.  haha i hope!  nah... i bet i do fine.

if your going off the right jumps you shouldnt need to pop at all when your first starting out. start small and work your way up. work on sticking your landings first just riding over a table at a decent speed before you add any pop to it. 

Posted by AznbMx3r716
YES! i got that butter to the max thing lol. i hop up and land on the tail of the board, lean back, but keep some of your body forward to grab the board. FRIKKIN SWEET! lol

yea these are fun...i think its called a tail block (well thats what i call it) when you come to a stop doing it. I like to go up the side of jumps and do a nose block. Once you get the hang of it you can put variations on it by grabbing with your left, right or both hands and by grabbing the heel or toe edge. I want to learn how to go up spin 180 and tail block.

yea grabs r easy spins r pretty easy after a couple tries off jumps and rails arent that difficult if u ever grinded on a skateboard

This is how I see it. First you need to be able to do the basics as everyone has said. Make sure you can control your heel to toe edge as well as speeds to approach certain jumps/boxes/rails/etc... A fun way to learn how to ride switch and do presses/butters/ollies is just go on the bunny hill and play around for a bit, its a little on the mellow side and you can really try these sorts of tricks without hurting yourself or anyone else that is riding because you will be going pretty slow. Once you get these basics down then you should go to the mountain with them...try them out while going a little faster, see if you can control what you are doing. Finally its park time. Make sure you combine the tricks you have been working on with the park features. I do not recommend hitting a huge table top at first, maybe a small kicker where you dont need too much speed. Watch the guys around you because Im sure the majority of them are scared or just as new as you. You can see what people are doing wrong when they hit the jumps. The most common is not getting enough speed to clear the jump where they case it. Another thing that is very common is not leveling yourself out in the air after you hit the jump. Thats where your jump becomes almost a backflip and where alot of people get freaked/lose confidence in themselves or even hurt themselves really bad. Another trick if you are not ready for the big parks yet...make a little one of your own...Find a local hill, doesnt have to be too big...get a group of your buddies and build a nice size jump. Thats what my friends and I did all the time. You wouldnt believe how big some of the jumps you can make with some massive ass snowballs stacked on top of one another. I also recommend trying to do it on a decline so you learn to land on a downward slope. Backyard sessions are also fun if you have a box or a rail you made. My best advice to you is go out have fun, and never give up!

more people should start using this thread!
i need some advice, i have a small 11 foot jump in my backyard (yeah, i live in the country) and as of now i can only 180 off of it. I have gone for 360's but come up short only doing a 270...so what should i be doing, i heard leading with your shoulders is what your supposed to do, but still doesn't get me through the full 3. is the jump too short for a beginner?
stats: 5'11
155 lbs
board is 159 cm
goofy

thanks all! keep this thread going.

i love that i started this thread a little more then a year ago and it has blown up something huge!
[Edited by roadrunner1659 on 12/5/2007 at 5:18 PM]

i dont think it matters wether u get a park or mountain board. ur standered park board is better tho. as for trix i sometime's go on flat beginning courses and just do flat land trix like a 360, 180, tailgrab, nosegrab, manual. then when i do park i'll combined trix's like a tail/nose grab 540 and try this on a tramp first but a back flip. right now i'm working on my 1080...not working so well