ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

Carl and Brad,

Sorry to take a while to get back online. I was Farming all weekend and didn't jump on writing any posts.

Not to argue with Tom, but my method of slalom introduction is what I have found is the quickest way to get up to speed running cones FROM ZERO EXPERIENCE. If you can ride a skateboard but have NEVER done any wiggling, then I'll stick by my method of doing it the hard way. What my "resistance-tight-aggrevating" method accomplishes is it gets your hips, arms, abdomen and legs working in a manner that a skater may have never experienced before. And it does it QUICKLY. One hour of running the impossible stuff will make you able to run 6-footers in 61 minutes.

Sometimes those of us who have been slaloming forever forget just how hard it is to get through that first run of straight slalom. It can be daunting.

Brad, let's keep this simple. "Pumping" is nothing more than using your body strength to propel a skateboard down the street. It's also rather easy to do: when you turn your skateboard, don't cruise or coast, but PUSH with your calves, thighs, back and abdomen muscles. Grunt if you have to. Push DOWN. It makes no difference if you're on a hard wood or flex board. These have nothing to do with pumping. Pumping comes from the rider, not the equipment.

When you pump through that first turn, then turn the other way and PUSH again. Then back and forth. Push through every turn. Soon you'll be accelerating from nothing more than the energy created by your body torquing the board through each turn. And, yes, you can do this on the flat, UPHILL or down.

Oh, to answer a question before you ask: if hard or flexy makes no difference, why go with an expensive flexible slalom board? Well, flex is not what makes a skater pump a board BUT flex is an immeasurable asset in CONTROLLING your pump, your turn and your acceleration. Think of the suspension on a race car: it has nothing to do with how much horsepower comes from the engine, but has everything to do with keeping the wheels on the ground so the car can go forward as fast as possible. Flex is part of the boards "suspension" and is all part of going down a hill faster and faster but not slip sliding away.

Flex, wheels, trucks, bearings, bushings, risers, toe stops, grip tape and nuts & bolts, though, are for another post. Right now, I gotta go unload my truck from my 2000 miles on the road this weekend.

Carl, are you referring to these?

viewtopic.php?t=1149

The proper bushings are a BIG bonus as well! Loosening trucks with hard bushings makes a more "clickety" type turn that isn't condusive to pumping and accelerating! The rebound of good bushings is key!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can someone elaborate running cones on a flat area. If my math is correct, Senor Dong's average running the Cyber course of 174 ft in 8 seconds is close to 15 mph. Is this all done by pumping, with the exception of the speed gained by the initial push?

And what about pumping uphill?

The previous posts by WT and TT talk about pumping rather than the normal turning based on the looseness of the trucks. Can I assume that the pumping also gets Dong's average speed on a flat above 14 mph?

I have been reading on the Roe forum about rebound characteristics of various boards, and it sounds like this is a key factor in the movement through the cones, and I am wondering if this is also responsible for the extra speed factor that wins races.

Also, on the matter of pumping through the cones, when I look at the body position of slalom racers in pics on this site, it looks like some of the more successful racers have a more extreme twist of the body. Is this coincidental or is this body movement key to successful pumping?

Thanks Wes.

Nice analogy: "resistance training". I was a power lifter for years, so I am TOO familiar
with this. I have found that tighter trucks work for me. But I have always ridden with tighter trucks and been comfortable with that, no matter what type of riding I'm doing.

As for cone placement, thanks for those tips. Did you ever finish all of those charts you were making? Those were nice, do you have them posted somewhere?

-later

Tom,

Thanks 4 your note!!.

it is exactly what i was looking 4. i really had it wrong and did not understand about pumping vs using loose trucks which feels really unstable. i don't know how next weekend will work, but will definitely plan to join you on next sessions. please use email 2 keep me informed of when u get together

Brad, no trick....just muscle it, find your rhythm, and commit to the turn. Once you've run a few courses, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Gets easier the more you do it. Since your a beginner, you really should start with the cones spaced farther apart than how Wesley described. Maybe 7-8 feet. Once you master that and the concept of pumping clicks for you, start challenging yourself by moving the cones closer together. But first things first. Learn to generate speed through PUMPING. Loose trucks are ok while your learning but can lead to some bad habits. Some slalomers have a tendancy to steer through courses rather than pump through them. Pumpers go faster.

Myself and a couple of guys from Atlanta get together now and again to slalom. Your welcome to hook up with us next session. Possibly next weekend.

Wesley,

Useful tips. thanks.

Carl,

Don't get too concerned about cone spacing. At 99% of the races cones are layed out by just stepping it off. The Cyber Slalom demands exact spacing and sometimes with a special slalom you'll see a course with precise spacing, but that's rare.

For practicing, what you really want to work on are technique, consistency, pumping and getting your head in the right place (re: mental prep.) Just remember: Practice + Pumping + Precision = Velocity and Victory (P(3) = V(2))

When you set your cones for practice, think of it as weight lifting: you want to endure "resistance training." How do you do that on a slalom skateboard? Simple: reduce the spacing as much as you can and increase the offsets as much as possible. Yes, make the course IMPOSSIBLE to ride. You WILL knock down lots of cones. So be it. Don't forget, though, THIS IS PRACTICE. Don't get discouraged. And when I say reduce the spacing, I'm talking about 4-foot centers with 1 and 2-foot offsets off the centerline. Really ridiculous.

Do it anyway. Pump it, crank it, contort yourself into a circus act trying to get through that course. Do it over and over. When your calves and thighs are burning and your lungs feel like they are filled with cement, you're about half way there. Do it some more. Before you know it, you'll actually be making one or two cones. Then three. If you have 30 cones set up in this impossible course, work on getting around AT LEAST ONE MORE every run. But don't get discourage. Keep at it.

Then, after about three hours of this humiliating torture, go back and reset the course with traditional 6-foot or 6.5-foot centers. You'll breeze through it like you've been slaloming for 20 years. It's really amazing how it works. But always go back to the torture course. It's like playing the piano: even Horowitz and Lizst played their scales everyday. It's also good for a slalomer to run through his scales every day.

So, don't sweat exact spacing. Practice on a course WAY BEYOND your abilities and never stop refreshing your basic skills. It'll all pay off in the end.

Oh, and real quick. This is the sort of pattern I'm discussing:

0.......

.......0

0.......

.......0

0.......

.......0

0.......

.......0

0.......

.......0

0.......

.......0

0

And one last thing before I forget: try not to loosen your trucks to make the course. The idea is to get STRONGER LEGS to turn the board. Loosening your trucks will make it a little easier, but you'll lose that velocity that comes from pumping. The more you can torque into the board and wheels, the faster you go around a cone and on to the next one. That doesn't mean ride a board so stiff it won't budge, but try not to ride a board so squishy that you can't get any response.

Hey all. I have ordered some cones to practice with. I've been using the small waterbottles
half-filled with sand technique.[thank you Wesley for that tip]
I have been setting my "cones" up using center-to-center measurements, is this correct? Or is the correct measurement from edge-to-edge of the cones, giving the full [6/8/10 etc.] feet? Forgive me if this topic is posted somewhere already.

One more. What type of patterns do you suggest for best practice? Or is it up to me?

Thanks for any help.