Internet Info 1993/Internet Info CD-ROM (Walnut Creek) (1993).iso/answers/rec/rec-skate-faq/part10

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From: [e-mail] (Tony Chen)
Newsgroups: rec.skate,news.answers,rec.answers
Subject: Rec.skate FAQ: Skating Tricks and Moves Sec. 2 (10/10)
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Archive-name: rec-skate-faq/part10

REC.SKATE FAQ - PART 10:  Skating Tricks and Moves Section 2


                   Skating Tricks and Moves Section 2
                   ----------------------------------
                     (last changed Nov 29, 1993)


Table of Contents
-----------------
 o  Jumps (180's, 360's etc.)
 o  Pipes and ramps
 o  Rail slides
 o  slaloming (new section)


180-360 JUMPS
-------------

From: [e-mail] (Daryl S. Cain)

[e-mail] (Daniel Briggs) writes:
> Suggestions for exercises on how to work towards a good 360?  How high
> should I be able to jump in order to have a reasonable shot at finishing
> the 360 before landing.  For that matter, how should my feet be set on
> take off and landing?

The trick is to power your rotation from your torso and just carry your
legs along for the ride.  I it helps me to hold my arms out in an L shape
(one arm out to the front and one out to the side) and swing them to get
the rotation going.  The best way to practice is in your shoes on the
grass (softer when you fall).  Its my theory that if you can't jump and do
a 360 in your sneaks (wear heavy shoes to simulate the weight of skates)
then there's no way in hell that your going to do one in skates.  Its also
my theory that the best positionl for your feet is about six feet straight
down from your head, I mean, the hardest part about spinning (on land or
in the air) is staying vertical and balanced.


From: [e-mail] (Stephen J. Okay)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (James A Holroyd-1) writes:
>Steve: Yep, they're fun, aren't they?  Haven't done them (180 jumps over
>curbs) to a
>heel-to-heel, but I have kept rotating and sort of spun around in a crouch
>to a forward position again once I land...

Well, its not really OVER the curb so much as it is using it as a launchpad
of sorts. But yes they are fun.... :)

Crummy ASCII art follows:
              ____   +--------Launch into 180 here...
             /    \  |  _
            /      \ | / \
           /     ___\|/__ \ curb hop
          /     /        \ \/---------- skating path
Land 180 here   ^^^^^^^^^
                curb/traffic island

--

From: [e-mail] (Spectre)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Daniel Briggs) writes:
>
>Suggestions for exercises on how to work towards a good 360?  How high
>should I be able to jump in order to have a reasonable shot at finishing
>the 360 before landing.  For that matter, how should my feet be set on
>take off and landing?
>| Daniel Briggs  ([e-mail])                      |  USPA B-14993


    Go back to basics.  Take off your skates, stand in one place, jump
up and spin around.  Concentrate on thinking on what you are doing, one
step at a time.  Once you get to a point where you think you can explain
it to a crippled 12 year old, then put your skates on.  Start without moving.
Just do the same thing, jump up, turn around (Pick a bail of cotton if you
really want to), and get the feel of what parts of your body emphasize the
speed and control of the spin.  Then just start rolling, and doing it.  Once
you get to the point where you can do it with a good speed roll, then
everything beyond (curbs, stairs, etc) is just conquering fear...it's not
any different wether you spin over a perfectly smooth pavement, grass, stairs
or a car.  If you can make the jump without any of the obsticals, you can
do it with the obsticals...just close your eyes at first and you won't kno
the difference :)

--

From: [e-mail] (James A Holroyd-1)


Regarding 360's:
    I've almost got them now... I'm spinning most of the way round,
but I keep dropping one foot too soon, so I end up landing like this:
(apologies for the ascii art)

              |                                 ^
              |  <---right skate                |
              |                                 | direction of travel
              |                                 |
    -------      <---left skate

(spinning clockwise)

This isn't really a problem, but it looks kind of stupid... I think I need
to get more of a "pop."  I also need to keep my skates closer together.

The physics behind the spin is actually pretty simple:
While you're still on the ground (the wind-up phase), you give yourself
angular momentum by turning your torso in the opposite direction to the
one you're going to be spinning in, then twisting into the spin and
jumping.  Hopefully, you'll give yourself enough momentum to make yourself
go some multiple of 180 degrees when you're in the air.  You can make
yourself spin faster by pulling everything in closer to your axis of
rotation.  I saw a TV program on PBS once about video/computer analysis of
ice skaters doing jumps... they had one skater who couldn't do a
triple-something-or-other, and they diagnosed her problem as leaving her
arms too far away from her body.  They had her lift weights, which
strengthened her arms, which let her pull them closer in to her body,
which helped her finish the jump.  One interesting thing to note about ice
skaters is that they usually start jumps with one leg at least partially
extended away from their body.  When they pull the leg in, it reduces
their polar moment of inertia, which increases the rate of the spin (since
angular momentum is conserved, neglecting air resistance).  Because most
in-liners start their jumps on 2 skates, we can't get the slingshot
effect of bringing the leg in, consequently we can't do triples on flat
ground.  Anybody out there doing ice-style jumps on inlines?  Any thoughts
from you ice-skaters out there?

James

--

From: [e-mail] (Michael L. Dickens)

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Joseph P.
Cernada) wrote:
> I still haven't figured out how to get any height while jumping in
> this position.  I get maybe 5 inches off the ground.  Anybody have any
> suggestions on how to jump higher from the heel-to-heel position?

It's leg strength.  And the ability to raise your legs up like an
airplane's wheels retracting.

If you're in New York, check out the now-somewhat-talked-about Victor - the
master of side-surfing.  Before he moved (from Boston), I've SEEN him jump
a barrel (about 3' height & 1' radius) on it's side while side-surfing, and
have heard that he can do the same barrel standing up!

What he does highly resembles retracting his legs as he goes up, and
dropping them back as he comes down.  Quite impressive.


PIPES AND RAMPS
---------------

From: Spectre <[e-mail]>

Re: pipes

> I'd appreciate it if you could drop me a few pointers so that if I find one
> someday I won't kill myself on the first time out...

    Pointers:

    START FROM THE BOTTOM!!!  Never start from the top until you get
get yourself to the top from skating, and not climbing.  Even if it is
a 3 foot quarter pipe...don't start from the top till you can skate up it,
turn around at the top, and come back down without falling.  I was teaching
a friend of mine, he was fooling around on a 3 foot quarter...I told him
to work bottom to top.  He skated up, up the ramp, and stood on the top...
the "dropped in" (Started from the top standing up), fell backwards and
sprained his wrist, now he doesn't want to skate pipes anymore.

    Work your way up, get used to the transition from flat to sloped..
it's a very strange sensation going up a curved incline vs. a flat incline.
Work on getting used to going up on the transition, turning around, and
coming back down, all fluid.

    Once you get comfortable with the transition, you have to learn how
to pump.  Pumping is what makes you gain speed when your in the pipe, since
gravity and friction will slow you down a little... I don't know if I can
explain this well but....as you come up to the transition, bend your knees
some...When you start up the transition push your feet out...the result will
just be you standing up...but pushing against the centrifical (sp?) force
will let you get a little more speed.  When you turn around at the "apex"
of your ride up...do the same...turn around, bend your knees a little, and
extend against the pipe...you will notice a BIG change in speed, since you
will be getting more speed than you would if you where just riding down the
side of the pipe.  Repeat this for both sides...From the bottom, pump, up
the transition, turn around, pump, down the transition, accross the flat,
pump, up the transition, turn around, pump, down the transition.  If there
are skateboarders or other skaters there, watch them, expec. their knees...
You can ask them, but a lot of skateboarders don't even realize they do it.

    Pumping is the secret to riding...the better you can pump, the
higher you will go...with out pumping, you will never gain speed, and will
never get as high has you were when you turned around on the other side..
(Simple physics)

    Once you think you have control over that...say you can get to a
point where you can grab onto the top of the pipe and pull yourself up
on the platform, your almost ready to drop in.  At this point, you want
to start by going in sitting down.  Maybe the first time, sit on the edge
and slide down, just get used to the hight and the speed when you slide...
Then sitting down, put your hands on the coping  (the metal pipe that is
on the edge of the pipe) and push yourself forward...you have to go forward
enough so when you stand up, your body will be perpendicular with the pipe..
push off...and stand up...and go like you did when you started from the bottom,
except you already have some speed.  That part sound dificult, but after
a couple of tries it gets really easy.

    Once you feel comfortable with that, you can either 1) drop in
standing up...(put first to wheels over edge..bend your knees and touch your
toes...you'll roll into the pipe, and your legs will be perp with the pipe..
then you just need to stand up)  2) Start lifting your feet some as you go
in...lift yourself up on your hands, put your feet behind you so that your
feet are higher up with you go in sitting./..that way you get more used to
to the actual hight from the top...keeping going till your comfortable with
getting your feet all the way to the coping before you push yourself in.

    If there are any other skaters there, you can ask them for tips, but
do not "drop in" until you feel comfortable...I did that once...12 foot
pipe 1 foot of vertical...dropped in...forgot to bend my knees...face plant
damn close to the flat....

    Good luck...be careful....wear a helmet and knee pads at least....
let me know if anything isn't clear.

--

From: [e-mail] (Duncan Savage)

Saw a neat trick that some guys (including one who looked about 13)
are doing in Sydney, Aus. Basically, they use a standard skate
ramp, skate into it, but instead of rolling up it, catch their toes
(I don't remember if it was with one or both feet) on the front of
the ramp, flipping themselves into a forward somersalt with their
heads just about scraping the ramp. They land on the other side of the ramp.
Needless to say they had a full complement of protective gear, and given
the protection even their stuff-ups didn't look too painful. I don't think
I'll try it just yet.

--

From: [e-mail] (batty)

Charlie, I agree wholeheartedly with your construction technique, but we
found different geometry worked better for us when we built launch ramps
for skateboarding.

When you go off a launch ramp, you are launching so that you land away
from the ramp, so the top lip of the ramp doesn't have to be perpendicular
to the ground.  If you build a ramp with a radius less than 6 feet, it
feels *really* weird.  We found that the ramps that were easiest to launch
off were the ones that we could go fastest on, which gave us more air
time.  8 foot radius worked well for us..  You suggested building a ramp
with a 2.5 foot radius.  The distance from your center of gravity
(somewhere around your bellybutton) to the bottom of your skates is about
2.5 feet (less if you're crouching).  When you hit a 2.5 foot radius ramp
that goes to vertical,
your skates will go up the ramp, but your center of gravity will stay in
one place... you'll also go straight up in the air and either have to
launch to one side, or you'll have to land back on the ramp.

Here's some really bad ascii art showing my favorite launch ramp:


                                        ____
                                      *    |
                                   *       |
                                *          |
                            *              |
                      *                    |
             *______________________________

The "launch angle" was a little more than 30 degrees, the whole ramp was
about 8 feet long, and it was about 2-3 feet tall.  It was (as I remember)
about a 10 foot radius.  it had a small platform at the top (which,
combined with the length of the ramp, made it very stable)
We could hit this ramp going *very* fast, and it sent us a long way.
This is what worked for us.

--

From: [e-mail] (Jim Aites)

Hey, you SKATEBOARD'ers!  Got any helpful hints for us fledgelings?

|   found different geometry worked better for us when we built launch ramps
|   8 foot radius worked well for us.

Is it just me or are a lot of folks under the (obviously) mistaken impression
that some launch ramps use a parabolic curve?  Ignoring the fact that the
previous poster indicatated that the ansi-art was poor, this STILL looks
like it isn't a radius type ramp.
                                            ____
|                                         *    |
|                                      *       |
|                                   *          |
|                               *              |
|                         *                    |
|                *______________________________

Also, I've jumped ramps where the vertical part of the ramp was MUCH closer
to 90' than it was to 45'.  I'm not saying that they were better than the
above, as a matter of fact, you *have* to go fast so you don't stall at the
top of the ramp...and dribble over the top lip. <grin> Hang time (altitude)
gets outragious pretty quickly, and all without landing more than 10' from
the ramp.  Does this match with anyone else?


From: [e-mail] (Spectre)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>> Fakies
>
>What exactly is this?

    Fakies are A half-pipe trick.  It's actually a un-trick.  You go
up the side of the pipe like you are going to do a trick, go in the air,
and do nothing...not even turn around.  You then come back into the half
pipe skating backwards (Which isn't nearly as simple as street skating
backwards :)

>    Work on 360 jumps off the ground (forward and backward).  Once you
>have those down, hit a jump and do it (again, forwards and backwards).

    My favorite:  360's clearing 6-8 stairs.

>                        Ken

    One that I've been playing with, if you find a long bench, or low
wall, or something at least 10-20 feet long.  Jump onto it with a 180,
land backwards with one skate on the bench and the other scraping along the
side of the bench, then jump off with another 180.  I'm pretty sure in
half-pipe lingo, it's a backwards rail grind, but I'm not sure.

                       |____|  - one skate
                 ||
other skate ->    |____||-------
          ||  | bench

Jeff Schreiber

--

From: [e-mail] (Tony Chen)

In article <1r9dn1$[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Spectre) writes:
>
>                       |____|  - one skate
>                 ||
>other skate ->    |____||-------
>          ||  | bench


A more flashy version of bench riding is to jump on top of the bench (or
some kind of edge) and into a spread-eagle (I guess this would be a 90? 8-)
Ride all the way to the end and jump off with a 180 so as to land in
another spread-eagle, but with your feet reversed.

Another variation, find stairs that are sectioned with flats in between
flights.  Ride the steps sideways (spread-eagle) and flip 180 in the
flats.  You could also flip to backwards-bashing or whatever.

--

From: [e-mail] (Gadget)

Just to add the simple ones to the list, here goes...

Front wheels of both skates
Front wheels of both skates in parallel
Back  wheels of both skates
Back  wheels of both skates in parallel
One wheel (front/back/left & right)
Heel & toe
Front/back/mixed wheels while spread eagle


Of course all these can be done backwards as well.

Oh, and as a great drill.  Cross over backwards while going forwards and
  cross over forwards when your going backwards....


--

From: [e-mail] (Stephen J. Okay)
Subject: Stair/Wall Jumps..

In the ever continuing chronicle of attempts to break my neck, I thought I'd
share some thoughts on my stair and wall work that I did last night.

I went over to a local high school that has some rather interesting structures
for thrashing on, so following a couple quick laps around the parking lot, I
set to work on the stairs, and while I have no problem jumping up/over up to
4 steps at a time, or back down, I still have absolutely NO clue as to how to
actually ride the damn things...any hints/ideas would be much appreciated,
esp. from our two resident thrashers on the group...

Aerials are a different story. I can now say with a good degree of confidence,
I can do a 180 (and sometimes a 270) from back off of up to 4 steps. The trick
seems to be in starting your turn when you launch. I've always fallen when I've
tried this until I realized that its just too much to think about if I try to
turn in mid-air, so its better to just start right off doing it.


Walls:

Had moderate success hurdling, getting over a couple walls/barriers.
The idea is to use head straight for the wall and use it as a vault of
sorts to propel yourself into the air with. My biggest problem with this is
that I need to remember to lift my feet higher. I kept scraping the wall and
consequently losing control, making for a really sloppy landing...
I did get over clean once or twice, which probably looks really cool, but who
knows...I was the only one there...

Another cool thing I noticed in my warmup skate: Those sloped ramps that are
often built into curbs as bike or wheel chair ramps make cool jumps. Dip down
the side closest to you and then ride up the lip of the opposite side and if you're
going fast enough, you'll clear the curb and catch some air(Just make sure no cars
are coming,as this does kind of definitely put you out in the street). So I did that
a bunch of times and liked it a lot...Kind of reminds me of one of my favorite
skiing maneuvers: dipping down into the gouges made by other skiers and popping out
into the air on them.

Oh, I also tried the dual braking thing again, but at higher speeds than before.
Balance is definitely the key to this one. Everything above your waist should
be pointing forward, and everything below should be leaning back on your
heels. Anything else throws your balance too much, IMHO.

Helmets:I have a Protec skateboarding helmet, that has the 1-impact foam core
with a hard plastic outer shell(none of this wimpy 'microshell' stuff) that
fits pretty well. Good side coverage of the side of my head down past the
ears, and covers down the back of my head.
I've gotten some skateboarding/music stickers for it, and it looks cool.
Yes, its the full combat style of helmet, but I definitely would NOT
thrash without it.

--

From: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Douglas J. Narby) writes:
>Stalls
>Curb Grinds/Rail Slides
>Fakies

i've never seen "fakies" before.  (well, i have a friend who will
occasionally "catch a fakie" but that is something _completely_
different, and not related to skating).  the term comes from
skateboarding and means simply "backward".  thus the usage would be
"i jumped 180 to fakie...", which tells you that the person started
facing forward.  "fakie" preceding a trick name means that the
person was skating backward when the trick was started, i.e.,
a "fakie 540" would be one and a half revolutions, starting from
backward (and landing facing forward, hopefully, for a 540 :).

you haven't mentioned anything about airs in your list.  that is a
large area, and as far as i know there is no standard for skate airs
(regarding the airs that aren't duplicates of jumps performed in
ice skating, like grabs).  well, one thing that could fit on the
list of "not airs" is skating crouched, with most of the weight on
one skate, the other leg being bent so that the knee is close to the
ground (several inches) and only the toe wheel is rolling on the
pavement.  if you can't picture it, either see it on MTV sports or
watch a man proposing to a woman, same stance.  anyway, it's known
locally as a crunch, as in, "gallivan to crunch".


From: [e-mail] (Andy Wardley)
Subject: Pipe-Dreams
Organization: International Computers Limited

Last Saturday afternoon was a sheer joy for me.  I spent nearly 4 hours
skating the half-pipes in my local park and seeing as it was my first
real (i.e. more than half an hour) session and I managed to get quite
good,  I thought I'd share with you my trials and tribulations and
tell you about some of the interesting places I've got bruises.

The smallest of the pipes is about 2 foot high and absolutely bloody
useless because it is so small.  The next is about 3 foot high and just
about skatable with inlines.  (sorry, did I mention I was skating inlines?)
The 4 foot pipe was great - high enough to get some speed, wide enough to
give some maneuvre^H^H^H^H^H^Hmanoovre^H^H^H^H^H movabilty room but not
so big as to risk neck-breaking for the uninitiated (me).  Bloody good fun!

Whoever said in the FAQ that you shouldn't drop in straight away was dead
right!  I skated about half an hour and pretty much got comfortable with
it before dropping in.  The first two attempts, however, resulted in me
landing flat on my arse, causing the first large bruise area and a severe
jolt up the spine.  Attempt three was the success and when you've done it
once, it's a piece of piss.  You've just got to throw all your weight
forwards and get you body perpendicular to the wall of the pipe.  Bloody
good fun!

Managing to keep my speed up was the next big task and I slowly got the
hang of it.  The trick seems to be to bend your legs up towards you as
you go up into the curve and then extend them out again as you are coming
back down again.  It's hard work, particularly on the stomach muscles, as
it requires a lot of trunk flexing.  Bloody good fun though!

Next step was to try a few rail grinds.  Easy!  Trying to slide along the
rails took a bit more confidence and after limited success, I decided to
leave that for next time.  Bloody good fun!

I briefly tried the BIG pipe.  It's about 10 foot high and not to be skated
lightly, IMHO.  I didn't drop in because they didn't have the ladder out
to get to the top platform and I didn't really fancy trying to build my
speed up to jump up onto the platform.  Again, maybe next time.  The other
thing was that there is a sign saying that full safety kit should be worn
on the big pipe.  I didn't have a helmet and thinking about it, I don't reckon
it would have been a good idea to try it without.  Bloody good fun though!

On that note actually, I really wouldn't recommend skating pipes without knee
pads and wrist guards *at the very least*.  I have bruises on my knees,
elbows, shins, ribs (I landed with my arm under my chest - Ouch!) and
backside and that was with knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards.  Without
those, I would undoubtedly have plaster on at least one wrist and both
knees.  I think you can safely manage without a helmet on all but the
biggest pipe but your mileage may vary.  It does take a few bruises to
get the hang of pipes, but after the first couple of hours, the falls are
fewer and further between and generally much more controlled.  Bloody
good fun too!

If you haven't skated pipes and get the chance - try it!  It is really
good fun and doesn't hurt much.  I tend to be a bit reckless when skating -
more conservative skaters may well find the experience less painful.

Anyway, I better go because this post has got very long.  Just thought
I'd let you know about my skating experience.  If you want to hear more,
I've got Megabytes more I can write about the afternoon :-)

More importantly, if anyone wants to make the trip to South London on
a Saturday or Sunday afternoon (I'm not sure if it's open during the week)
then I can let you know exactly where to find the place.  Similarly, if
anyone knows of any other pipes or good skating places in London, let me
know.  Apologies to all overseas readers - I realise it's a bit far to
come from the US or Oz or wherever, but if you ever do find yourself over
here....

--

From: [e-mail] (Michael L. Dickens)
Subject: Re: Pipe-Dreams

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Andy Wardley)
wrote:
> Last Saturday afternoon was a sheer joy for me.  I spent nearly 4 hours
> skating the half-pipes in my local park [...]

Hmmmm.  So did I - at the indoor skate park in Cambridge - MA that is.
And, yes, it was (& still is) bloody good fun.

Pipes there range from a couple feet with about a 6' radius, to 10' with an
8' radius - ie: 2', 4', 6', 8', 10'.  The half-pipe is 9' with a 1'
extension on one side, with a 8' radius.  (I think the 8' radii are
correct; but are close enough for this discussion.)

> Whoever said in the FAQ that you shouldn't drop in straight away was dead
> right!  I skated about half an hour and pretty much got comfortable with
> it before dropping in.  The first two attempts, however, resulted in me
> landing flat on my arse, causing the first large bruise area and a severe
> jolt up the spine.  Attempt three was the success and when you've done it
> once, it's a piece of piss.  You've just got to throw all your weight
> forwards and get you body perpendicular to the wall of the pipe.

Agreed with the "don't drop in until you're comfortable" thing.  I was on
the coping & doing fakies, forward & reverse 180's, and almost stalls
before I dropped in.  I remember the first time I tried on ANY pipe I fell
on my arse as well.  But once I got the feel down, I immediatly went up a
couple of levels.

> Managing to keep my speed up was the next big task and I slowly got the
> hang of it.  The trick seems to be to bend your legs up towards you as
> you go up into the curve and then extend them out again as you are coming
> back down again.  It's hard work, particularly on the stomach muscles, as
> it requires a lot of trunk flexing.

It's called "pump"ing.  It's supposed to be bending the legs, not from the
waiste.  But most everyone I know splits the task.  As you drop in, you
start with legs bent, then "pop" them straight during the transition.  As
you approach the pipe to go up, bend slightly, and "pop" the legs again
during the transition.  This "pop"ing transfers potential energy into
kinetic energy & vice versa using centripetal forces, sort of (I won't get
into the physics here).  So the better you get at "pop"s, the faster &
higher things will go.

> On that note actually, I really wouldn't recommend skating pipes without knee
> pads and wrist guards *at the very least*.  I have bruises on my knees,
> elbows, shins, ribs (I landed with my arm under my chest - Ouch!) and
> backside and that was with knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards.  Without
> those, I would undoubtedly have plaster on at least one wrist and both
> knees.  I think you can safely manage without a helmet on all but the
> biggest pipe but your mileage may vary.  It does take a few bruises to
> get the hang of pipes, but after the first couple of hours, the falls are
> fewer and further between and generally much more controlled.

Definitely a good idea to wear FULL armor.  This might even include
"hip-clips" - pads that clip for hip & thigh protection.  Helmets & BIG
knee pads are a must.  Wrist guards are good for sliding & such, but you
should be able to train yourself to fall onto your knees from ANY position.

Last Saturday I was doing stalls on the 9' pipe - and on one occasion I
pushed off too hard.  I knew I was NOT going to make the whole transition,
so to save myself I pulled my legs up & fell directly onto my knees.  Hit
the last foot or so of the transition & slid the rest of the way down.
Because I knew I wasn't going to make it, I automatically (w/o thinking out
it) fell onto my knees.  The big cushy knee pads saved my back again!!!

--

From: [e-mail] (Andy Wardley)
Subject: "Pipe Dreams 2" presented in glorious Inline-O-Rama


Another weekend of hard-hitting half-pipe skating action was had by
myself, and in a spirit of uncharacteristicly unselfish generosity,
I thought I'd share my tales of woe and joy with all you loverly
people out there.  Yes, you too can experience Inline-O-Rama from
the safety and comfort of your own homes....

For those of you who read last weeks issue of "Pipe Dreams", you'll
remember my adventures on the half-pipes at my local park.  Since
then I've got quite high up on the gnarly scale and even quite "rad"
according to the local sk8boarders.  I'm told this is a compliment :-)

Dropping in, turning, jumping out, these are all second nature now and
bruises are certainly fewer and further between.  I also junked my old
Bauer knee pads and got some serious thick pads (not cheap at #25 UK
Quids) after realising quite how much my knees were suffering even
with the pads.  The new ones are infinitely better.

I've got the hang of popping/pumping to get some speed up.  This means
I can catch some serious air on my way out of the pipe, 180 and drop
back in with little trouble.  I reckon a 360 would be fairly easy but
I haven't attempted that yet.  My pumping isn't perfect and I found that
I still can't get up and out of the 10' pipe, but practice will no doubt
make perfect.  Thanks to Michael for the tips - they helped a lot.  Can
anyone actually tell me what the physics are involved in the process?

Stalling on the rail is a fave of mine and easy for the novice.  I
still can't get any decent slides along the coping - maybe I'm just not
going in with enough sideways velocity.  Anyone got any suggestions?
I've also tried to stall, jump 180 to a forward stall in prep to drop
in forwards.  Didn't work - will keep trying.

The basic fakie (i.e. don't turn and drop backwards) and the stall
to a fakie (i.e. stall on the rail and then drop backwards) are also
quite easy to master and seem to generally impress people who think
it looks inherently dangerous to skate a pipe backwards.  Actually, it
can be because you have to be used to taking a transition backwards.
You can then reverse-fakie (is that the right name?) at the other side
to get going forwards again.  I bit of a jump when you r-fakie can be
impressive but make sure that your skates land back inside the pipe.
One time, mine didn't, and my left skate caught the top, rolled backwards
onto the platform and I smacked my shin badly on the coping and slid
face-first into the pipe.  Well-bruised my shin but it was BLOODY GOOD
FUN!

If anyone has any hints or can tell me about other good trix to try,
I'd love to hear about them.  At present, I am the only inliner who skates
the pipes so I don't have anyone else to watch, discuss trix with or get
inspiration from.  The sk8boarders are a good laugh and fun to watch but
I worry that I might start to sound like them, man....   :-)


From: [e-mail] (Spectre)
Subject: Re: "Pipe Dreams 2"

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Michael L. Dickens) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Andy Wardley)
>
>I think I'll go back and review my advanced calculus physics book to see
>what it said in the first place.  After all, I never really READ the book
>for class - just did problems out of it to pass.
>

    I sat down and calculated what exactly was going on about a year ago
and it is completely out of my brain now (face plants don't help physics
memory very much :).  It has to to with the combination of the centrifital
force and the action/reaction principle.  by pushing against the centrifital
force you are adding more force, and since the half pipe can't break (you
hope) the force has to be evened another direction, sideways, which is
influenced because of gravity, so the result is an encrease of speed.
Take a look at vectors and force.

    I'll try to put in a little more thought on this and get back to
everyone.



RAIL SLIDES
-----------

From: [e-mail] (Spectre)

    I don't know if we've gotten much into rail-slides, so I thought
I would be the one to bring it up.

    For those who don't know rail-slides, they are sliding sideways along
a railing.  They aren't the easiest things, unless you take off one of your
wheels.  If you take the 3rd back (of the 4) out, and at least put the axle
back in for support on your frame.  A lot of people have teflon or other
plates designed to go in place of the wheel so you slide on the plate rather
than the frame.

    I was working on stair bashing this weekend and got a bit bored, so
I started doing rail-slides on the railings instead.

    Jump up on the railing (You can stay the direction you are going,
but I like to do a 180 on the way up so I'm facing the way I'm gonna fall :)
With the wheel removed, you want to land on the gap, where the wheel was, then
you simply (Not quite :) just let your feet slide along the railing down the
stairs.

    Best way to practice, find something like a railing that is about
3-12 inches off the ground, skate up, land on it, and slide as much as you
can.  I don't recommend that you try it right off the bat going down a
stairway, since the sensation of sliding backwards is REALLY strange.  The
skate park that I practice at has 2 railings that are about 6 inches off
the ground.  One is a railing that was taking off of a wall, and the other is
just a 3 inch diameter pipe that is placed on some wood so that the pipe
sits in the wood structure with 1/2 above the wood.


    Happy Skating!  (I Think this immortality feeling from owning a helmet
is going to get me killed!!!!)

--

From: ?

Jumps:
 spread-eagle
 daphney/daffy
 helicopter
 kossack
 back-scratcher


In freestyle skiing this is called a Kossak(sp):
> leap-frog         - I just made this name up, since I don't know what
>                     ski people call it, but you do a really wide
>                     spread-eagle, plant your fists in between your
>                     legs, and lean forward a bit.  Looks cooler on
>                     skis, I think.


--

From: [e-mail] (bill)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1992 01:07:35 GMT

Bunny hop: stand on one foot and swing the other leg forward. Lift
up (jumping) as the free foot is passing the leg on the ground or
just after. Bring the original free foot back underneath with the
toe stop down, bounce off the stop (you can just bounce or really
jump), and land on the foot you started with.

You don't use the toe stop when taking off.


SLALOMING
---------

From: Jim Aites <[e-mail]>
Subject: Slalom_faq_maybe

I enjoy slaloming and will make a stab at introducing others to it.
Critique and alternate ideas are invited.


Slalom (Note: one of the most misspelled words known to mankind)

 The movement known as a 'slalom' is normally applied to the art of dodging
in and around a series of obstacles.  Being pulled by a ski-boat or weaving
thru the poles on a ski slope are two well known examples.  This discussion
will try to address some of the joys and techniques used when affecting
this move on in-line skates.

 There is both a natural 'swing' and a physical 'compression' that come
into play while doing a slalom.  The 'swing' is durn near natural, but by
understanding and making proper use of the 'compression' it is possible to
use this technique to slow your speed, maintain, or even increase it.

NOTE: Although the slalom can be accomplished in a stylish manner by almost
any skater, the ability to use the technique to slow down should *NOT* be
considered a replacement for any of the more standard braking methods.
Also, I believe that serious slaloming is well within the scope of the
intermediate skater.   Although novice skaters have more important things
to learn before slaloming...like stopping...I feel that is is something
that any skater can/should do.

 Before trying to address the mode used to change your speed, let's talk
about the simplicity of the move while coasting or going down a very
slight grade.


Basics:

 The slalom movement is based on the transfer of weight during a continuous
series of serpentine turns.  This linking of alternating turns can be a
slow-and-easy movement, or it can be as fast as skiing a tight mogul field.

 Although there is a 'classic' position for doing a slalom (crouched with
knees and feet together), it may be done with feet in an open placement or
even in the water-skiing (one foot in front) position.  The most important
thing to keep in mind is your ability to handle your steering and speed.

 Generally speaking, a couple of standard down-hill skiing suggestions
come to mind.  The most reasonable of these is the idea of keeping your
shoulders and head facing straight down the hill (or direction of travel).
Your upper body *can* provide added stability and leverage to manage the
slalom movement itself.  Giving yourself this extra stability will help
a lot in avoiding an 'over-rotation' which happens when you just ride the
turn, and then try to go the other way...only to find that your momentum
wants to carry you around even further!


Steering:

 I mention this first because it is *critical* that you be able to steer
your skates without lifting them.  As a point in fact, you will not be
able to do a free swinging one-footed slalom without mastering this type
of steering in one form or another.  The following is a basic practice move
suitable for anyone, including novices.

  One footed slalom:      (suggested method - author)

  One of the simplest moves and most important ideas in skating (imho) is
  the ability to do small slalom movements while on one foot.  Steering
  with one foot is *basic* for doing stable cross-overs, free-style,
  surviving a one footed recovery, or...doing slaloms.

  While moving at a slow glide on one foot, simply shift your weight
  comfortably onto your heel.  HEY, easy there!  Just lift your toes a bit.
  No need to try heel-walking yet!  Now, simply use your body and/or free
  leg to help point your toes in the direction you want to go.  Weave.

  Note: I know I said one-footed, but I meant either foot.  Practice BOTH!
        This is *easy*, my 7 year old does it.  She found that she needed
        to practice it to help her do controlled T-stops.

  The basics of slaloming hinge on your ability to steer in some manner
  similar to this.   PLEASE TAKE NOTE!


Safety thought:

 The 'feet side-by-side' stance used often in slaloming is probably one
of the more dangerous (from a front-to-back balance perspective) things
about it.  The one-foot forward water-skiing stance makes a great deal of
sense when moving between smooth/rough pavement.  In either event, beware
sand and water! It is also suggested that your first attempts at slowing
while going downhill be done on a WIDE road with NO traffic. (nice grassy
shoulders next to the road might be a good idea as well) If you find
yourself picking up speed instead of slowing down, just continue a turn
till you are coasting back up the hill.


Changing speeds:    (This is where it gets interesting.)

 In the process of 'carving' a turn (with both feet), you will find that
there is a point of compression.  Adding pressure before the furthest swing
of each turn will increase (or help maintain) your speed.  Letting yourself
'give' just after the point will slow you down.  (if this reminds you of
changing speeds while on a child's swing then you might have the idea ;')

 When going down a hill, simply doing a slalom is NOT a sure way to slow
you down.  It will probably keep you from going as fast as a straight
run, but that doesn't mean that you won't pick up enough speed to lose
control.  Making your turns wider or 'deeper' will help shed more speed
because you are spending more time going diagonal or crossing than
heading down the fall-line.  It is important that you find the give-point
(after compression) and learn to take full advantage of it.

 While practicing your slaloms, you may be tempted to try 'shreading'
some of your speed during each turn by unweighting the outside foot and
then shoving your heel outward with a bit of extra force.  This can help
in slowing, but it is awkward and dangerous in execution.  There is a
tendency for the heel to 'catch'.  Fair warning!


Other pseudo-slalom moves:

- Linked cross-overs with a slalom type one-footed glide.
- Outside leans...use the opposing foot. (counter-intuitive...looks great!)
- Catch the give-point of the compression, and use it for a 'spring' type
  action.  Care to try 'popping' a 360' in the middle of a hill?


Just for fun:

 After you've proven to yourself that you can maintain or increase your
speed by pumping a slalom, try heading UP a narrow sidewalk.  Amaze your
friends or passing motorists.

--

From [e-mail] Sat Sep  4 19:47:25 1993
Subject: Re: Slalom pre-FAQ, comments please...

I have a few comments to add. My skating is currently cross-training for
veldrome racing (bicycles), but I also have experience racing slalom and GS.

One of the things that you leave out is the necessity of keeping one's weight
forward. That is, imho, the main use of poles in skiing. The pole shouldn't be
planted next to you; it needs to be planted IN FRONT of you. To maintain
control in a slalom and use the "swing" properly, your weight needs to be
forward. My suggestion for practice is skating by carving turns with alternate
feet. The more you flex your boot, the more your rear wheels drag, and the more
speed you lose on each turn.

To practice pole planting, sit in a chair. Sit forward a little, and move your
feet back some, keeping your feet flat on the floor. Now, reach out with your
hand and lean forward. See how that feels? Now try it on skis at 50MPH...

--

From: Hank Hughes <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Slalom pre-FAQ, comments please...

>  Note: I know I said one-footed, but I meant either foot.  Practice BOTH!
>        This is *easy*, my 7 year old does it.  She found that she needed
>        to practice it to help her do controlled T-stops.
>
>  The basics of slaloming hinge on your ability to steer in some manner
>  similar to this.   PLEASE TAKE NOTE!

Very TRUE ... but

        Another approach may be too shift the weight forward (onto th
        ball of your foot). Start on a patch of grass/carpet with your
    feet in a v-stance. Then lunge like a classic fencing champion by
    mimicing a stroke, but keep the weight on the balls of your feet.
    You're more nimble with the weight on the balls of your feet.
    Then lift the trailing leg slowly.

    Concentrating on the final stance:

    With a lot of flex into the tongue of boot and knee, try to drop
    a perpendicular from behind the support leg's knee down to the
    space between the 1st & 2nd wheel. Basically, if you look down
    you should NOT be able to see your foot because your knee is in
    the way. To balance, press on your outside toes to turn in, or
    press on your inside `BIG' toe to turn out

    In motion:

    To steer, point your knee into the direction you wish to turn. This
        rolls your ankle & center edge into the appropriate inide/outside
        edge. Now you can grind through turns ( & hear the whoosh from
    breaking traction).

        Next week the upper body .... *grin*

        One-footing for years - Hank

        PS Anyone in Boston area drop bye corner of Mem drive & Western Ave
        for tutoring on Sundays we set up 2 courses: straight and
    staggerred...  8)

        Inline Skills Development & Preservation Corp. (IISA)

--

From: [e-mail] (Marty Hall)
Subject: Re: Slalom pre-FAQ, comments please...


    If you're talking about the inline "trick" type slaloming around
cones (as opposed to around taller poles and/or as training for skiiing),
I'd mention a couple of things:

o You want to get SMALL cones, both narrow and low. This is so that you
  can clear when doing leg-crossing moves. Empty or partially sand-filled
  soda cans substitute nicely.
o For starting, I find a gently sloping parking lot is best. Put a cone
  at the end of each stripe. Move them closer together and/or move to
  a steeper hill once you get the hang of it. IMHO about 15-20 cones
  is a good length.

There are tons of variations beside the "normal" (to a skier) version.
I find getting very low helps on almost all:

o One foot. It is actually not very hard to do almost full-speed slaloms
  this way.
o Toe to heel. Ie 1 foot behind each other.
o Backwards. Both double footed, toe-to-heel, and 1 footed. I still can't
  do more than about 6 backwards 1 footed. Be SURE to wear a helmet;
  I usually land on knee/wrist guards when falling going forwards, but
  going backwards greatly increases your chances of hitting your head.
o Crouched down. Basically sitting on your front foot with your rear
  foot just on its toe.
o Leg-crossing. Ie start with one foot on each side of the first cone.
  From here, each foot slaloms independently, so they are always on
  opposite sides. So one cone your legs are crossed, the next uncrossed.
  IMHO it works best to always keep the same foot in the back.
o Backward leg crossing. Not as hard (for me) as backward 1 foot, but
  the only other hard one of the bunch so far, IMHO.
o On the front wheels of both skates. Stagger your feet slightly.
o On the front wheel of the back skate and back wheel of front skate.
o Spread eagle (heel to heel). I can't do this one.

I'm sure there are lots of others, and would welcome seeing a collection.

--

From: [e-mail] (Joseph P. Cernada)
Subject: Slalom tricks


I'm looking for some new ideas for doing slaloms through cones.  So
far I've got:

Regular slalom (skates side by side)
Backwards regular slalom

Forward crossovers
Backwards crossovers

One legged (raised leg in front or back)
One legged backwards

Side-surfing/spread-eagle
Side-surfing/spread-eagle heel-and-heel slalom
Side-surfing/spread-eagle crossover

heel-and-toe slalom
toe-and-toe slalom
heel-and-heel slalom



From: [e-mail] (Damon Poole)
Subject: Re: Slalom tricks


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Joseph P. Cernada) writes:
>
> I'm looking for some new ideas for doing slaloms through cones.  So
> far I've got:

<Truly impressive list>

Anyway, how about 'tele-marking'? That's the only thing I can think of that
I didn't see on your list. That's where you kneel down so that the knee of
your trailing leg is almost touching the ground. The skate on that leg is
perpendicular to the ground:


         |\
         | \
         |  \
         |   \
o========     >
o            /
o           /
o            o o o o


Another suggestion is to do everything in both orientations. One foot on left
foot or right foot, side-surfing with left foot leading or right foot leading,
etc.

--

From: [e-mail] (David Madeo)

>>>>> On Thu, 7 Oct 1993 16:09:27 GMT, [e-mail] (Joseph P. Cernada) said:

cernada> Side-surfing/spread-eagle crossover
    This is called an independant.  An extendended independant is
when one foot, usually the lead foot is on a heel.

cernada> heel-and-toe slalom
cernada> toe-and-toe slalom
cernada> heel-and-heel slalom

There are combinations such as forwards criss-cross with a jump 180 to
backwards criss-cross.  There are ballistics which are high speed runs
of all of the above.  There are the rattlesnake forwards and backwards
where you have your feet one after another.

Then there are the ones that are hard to describe in text.  The
cutbacks or stepbacks, the Max-out (which the creator can't even do
anymore), the remy turns, and of course the mockery that Felix does to
the slalom course.

There was this quad skater from Paris who came in and was doing all
sorts of neat tricks including the one wheel down the course.

--

From: [e-mail] (Jim Aites)

Nice list!  Most of these should be included in the slalom FAQ.  But...

|   Side-surfing/spread-eagle
|   Side-surfing/spread-eagle heel-and-heel slalom
|   Side-surfing/spread-eagle crossover

What's the diff on these?  Aren't spread-eagle and heel-to-heel the same
move with the only difference being the distance between the heels?

|   heel-and-toe slalom
|   toe-and-toe slalom
|   heel-and-heel slalom

Actually, I can't see riding cones while doing 'two wheel' work.
Methinks that 2wheel stuff is best on the glide, but I guess it still
comes under the 'slalom' heading...just because it *can* be done!  ;')

--

From: [e-mail] (Joseph P. Cernada)


> |   Side-surfing/spread-eagle
> |   Side-surfing/spread-eagle heel-and-heel slalom
> |   Side-surfing/spread-eagle crossover
>
> What's the diff on these?  Aren't spread-eagle and heel-to-heel the same
> move with the only difference being the distance between the heels?

Side-surfing/spread-eagle: all wheels on the ground
Side-surfing/spread-eagle heel-and-heel: TWO heel wheels on the ground
Side-surfing/spread-eagle crossover: all wheels on the ground, but
    legs move side to side so each leg goes around a DIFFERENT
    side of the cone.

heel-and-heel slalom: TWO heel wheels on the ground, but both skates
    facing the same direction.

> Actually, I can't see riding cones while doing 'two wheel' work.
> Methinks that 2wheel stuff is best on the glide, but I guess it still
> comes under the 'slalom' heading...just because it *can* be done!  ;')

I've done heel-and-toe and it seems to looks pretty good :).  Haven't
done more than a 1/2 dozen cones on toe-and-toe, just a little too
unstable for my taste.

--

From: [e-mail] (Duncan Savage)

In article [e-mail], [e-mail] (Joseph P. Cernada) writes:
...
>heel-and-toe slalom
>toe-and-toe slalom
>heel-and-heel slalom


How about:

Lambourghini  (one-foot plus one toe in a crouch)
Heel-Toe Lambourghini (heel-toe crouch)

Chook Steps (crossing legs over on each cone - one leg either side)

Brackets  ( a bracket step alongside each cone -
        bracket = one foot turn to the outside the circle,
         opposite to a three-turn)

Counter/rocker - like the bracket, but between each pair of cones
              instead of beside each cone.

============END OF FAQ PART 10===========================================