Arcs
T ail Carve Turns
Toeside and heelside tail carve turn
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Big board turns from the tail
Why turn from the tail?
When riding a big skateboard, or surfboard for that matter, the stance where you have the most control and leverage is the tail stance. Turning from the tail is not easy, as there's so much board and nose out in front of you. It takes practice, but the reward is that not only will you be able to turn with a lot of control, but your stance on the tail will leave plenty of room up front and set up all kinds of walk and nose riding maneuvers.
There are lots of ways to turn a skateboard. In the Arcs: Slides section I begin most slides with a turn that is weighted more toward the nose. Check out those pages for contrast. Another style that is more front weighted is a carving style resembling what snowboarders in a slalom race would do, called technocarving. Keep in mind when you read about these big board turns, that this is not the only way to turn, or the best way. It's the way I do the turns to get a certain look and function in my big board style.
Tail turns involve weight transfer. I position my tail stance at first with my weight forward, but I will transfer my weight back when I start the turn, and not simply lean over into a rail. The idea is to lighten the nose and make the board "loose", or maneuverable. This allows for any radius in the turn, rather than just that of the built-in turn of the trucks.
Tail carves and kick carves
Tail turns have two categories. When both trucks are on the ground carving but the tail is weighted, I call it a tail carving turn, or a tail carve. When the nose and front trucks pivot and the tail wheelies, I call it a kick carve turn.
The turns have a similar technique and feel. The real difference is that kick carve turns come around much faster, as the two front wheels are off the ground. Both turns can represent a surfing bottom turn or a surfing top turn. The cutback in surfing is best represented by a kick carve turn, as it has a short radius and is best when a complete change of direction is needed.
Toeside tail carve turn
This sequence shows a toeside tail turn in its most basic form. No attempt is made to swing the board with the front wheels off the ground. The stance is not fancy, with no arching or counterleaning.
In frame one I am in a tail stance, with feet about shoulder width, where maximum turning leverage can be had. My weight is on the front foot, which keeps the board down and limits the looseness of the board for now.
Here I lean back onto the tail and carve to the toeside direction. I want to turn easily, but I don't get too relaxed in the upper body. I'm trying to keep a lot of control and I don't want to do anything fancy to compromise it. I lean into the turn, keep pressure on the tail, and guide the nose around with my front foot. No muss, no fuss.
In this frame I have carved across the hill. I am now nearing the center of the road. This center point is the "fall line" of the hill. I crouch and cruise across the fall line, preparing for the next turn.
The fall line is the most critical part of the hill, and where speed will be the fastest. This isn't much of a hill, so speed control isn't a worry. But linking turns across the fall line is the key to speed control on bigger hills.
Toeside carving arch turn
This sequence shows a carving tail turn, but it's a lot fancier. This is a "soul arch" turn, and actually will produce a deeper rail in the turn as well as more style and a traditional longboard look. One characteristic of this turn is that it looks like I'm leaning out to heelside, so you'd expect the turn to go that way. But it doesn't, the weighting makes for a sharp turn to toeside.
I start the turn to toeside by bending my knees to lean the board over a little. I also arch my back and push my stomach out. I reach toward the ground with my arms.
As my knees bend and my arch gets more extreme, the turn becomes sharper. The action of bending my knees makes my shins come closer to my feet. Pretty soon my toes are driven toward the turn, and the board leans sharply.
Counter lean toeside
This frame shows a good example of what I call counter lean, which is a body lean that counters the way the board is leaning. The arch puts my body weight over the higher rail, further pressuring and leaning the board toeside, without me leaning into the turn at all. I'm leaning away from the turn, or standing upright.
The board also moves quite a ways away from my body, due to the body position I've set up. My upper body is straight up, or leaned away from the turn slightly. My legs push the board away behind me.
Heelside tail carve
This sequence shows the essential idea of the tail turn to the heelside direction, that being the weight shift off the middle of the board to the tail.
In frame one, I'm weighting my front foot. In frame two, I shift back onto my back foot, leaving my front leg fully extended. On a board this size you can do this, for an extremely wide stance, in almost exactly the same stance that you'd use on a long surfboard. On a shorter skateboard, you would want to pull the stance narrower. At the same time as the weight shift, I also twist my upper body into the turn. The weight on the tail lightens up the front and makes the turn looser. You have the option of sweeping the board around faster, brushing the front wheels on the ground.
In frame three, I shift my weight forward again. In this case, I get up on one foot in frame four, to prepare to cross step forward.
Heelside tail carve, sequence 2
This sequence shows a similar heelside tail turn from a different angle. This head on shot will show how I use a bend in my waist to set up a balance that keeps me over the board and will make the rail dig deeper.
In frame one my weight is toward the middle. I am skating across the hill and intend to turn in an arc that will bring me across the hill in the heelside direction.
Counter lean heelside
As I shift my weight back onto the tail, I rotate into the turn, as noted in the first sequence. Here you can see another trick I use to make the turn go easier. I bend at the waist in a neat angle, so a lot of my torso weight stays over the board. This makes it easy to lean my seat farther over to heelside without tipping over. The farther I lean my seat, the more I have to reach for the opposite rail with my arms and shoulders. This is a heelside counter lean or counter weight body shape, the opposite of the toeside arch turn body shape. Notice my front leg is straight. This is good tail turn technique, as it puts my weight squarely back.
If you do this counterlean far enough, eventually the outside wheels come up off the ground and the turn gets "overcooked". Some sort of slide or tipover will occur. Presumably, on one of those carving boards with many wheels, you could lean way over and still hold an edge.
In this frame I have carved across the hill and have reversed direction almost 180 degrees. My front leg is bending slightly to return my weight forward.
