GS vs TS = technique differences?

[Erin Riffel]

So how different is the skating technique for GS as compared to TS? Or is the difference more in the equipment than in the skating style?

[Dave Gale]

Erin, your question is 2 fold.. It depends on what you call T.S vs G.S to run a 6' center straight/prlel a short wheelbased board w/ the feet closer together,and frequently in a more "feet facing forward works best for me.. On a G.S it depends on the speed of the hill..usually it requires a longer wheelbase/wider truck and a more wide and surf stance style!! It varies from rider to rider, but that should give you an idea!! G.S at speed is nice to have room to shift your rear foot ,fore an aft to get the traction you need to keep stuck to the ground in the "bigger" offsets! Just my .02 american cent guidelines.....

[John Gilmour]

Ts skaters tend to extend from their boards, GS skaters more likely remain over their decks.

[Chris Linford]

JG is dead right. The centre of gravity is the critical point, and compression. JG gave me some good advice once, on GS pretend you are having a s**t on the cone, compress more than you think.
Snowboarding is good practice for this, but as I live in London no joy there.

Chris

[John Gilmour]

s**t must mean "seat"

In GS you are likely about to slide in a turn so it is better to keep your weight over the board than to extend and have the deck skid out. Better to skid ontop of the deck than have it skid from under you.

If you are not on the verge of a slide in a GS turn...you likely won't win.

Olson and Hackett do everything to drop their center of gravity in a turn- yet still allow for sudden extension if needed (but without adding extra pressure on the wheels as you would do when extending from a squat)- they "bow" into some turns- very cool unique style.