Reef Layer 2
Slide Chains
3 60 Slides pg 2
Slide Arc- itecture
Layer 1 Parts
Twist slide fs
Torque slide bs
Preparation
Switch stc
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360 no. 2: twist in switch, torque out
This is another variation on the 360, chained 180s slide. Like 360 slide no. 1 it starts with a twist rotation. But this one is where I try to have some fun, and get a little out of control. In working this out my way of thinking was, what is my strongest slide for power? Backside torque regular. So I designed this combination to put that slide on the way out, where it's the most necessary to have power. I start switch, to set up the regular foot slide half way through. I start twist, because that will be very in control. Half way through I will use torque, which will mean the slide out will have some zing. It also means there may be some difficulty controlling it at the end. Also I will have to come out switch, which will also mean a potentially unstable ending.
All these things are a tradeoff, and you have to look for the situation where a slide is appropriate. As I said on the last page, 360 no. 1 is all about control. You should be able to use it on a steep hill or bad surface and not get yourself in trouble. This slide is going to be wild at the end, so maybe you'd use it going up a bank where you hit the bank after a 180 in front of it. Then you'd need power and control would be less important. You're coming out switch at the end, so that's something else to consider.
You could start and come out regular stance, but then the second backside 180 will probably be weaker. Like I said, it's a tradeoff. I think this is a strong slide, and it compliments 360 no. 1.
Frontside switch twist 180
I start in switch stance, right foot forward. I will go into my frontside twist from this stance, turning my shoulders cw. This time the arc I'm skating on is not across the downhill line, but away from it, arcing up the hill slightly. This has something to do with what is coming up. I don't want to be too far around when I torque the second half of this slide.
Now I've twisted into the turn, left arm back, right arm coming forward, upper body twisting cw. Notice the twist and turn is weaker than the twist in 360 no 1. It's not just that it's my switch twist, it's that I'm saving the greater part of the 360 for the second part, which I intend to really crank into.
Preparation windup for torque 180
I'm only 90 degrees around, but already I've relaxed my twist and turned my shoulders back ccw a bit.
As I turn my shoulders more ccw, the board continues around cw until it's straight downhill, tail first. This has the effect of making my windup more extreme. In effect, both my upper and lower body are contributing to the windup twist that is developing. When I let go of my ccw windup shoulder twist and go the other way, there is going to be a lot of force coming onto the slide. If I were about to hit a bank at this point, I would use even more force, and perhaps up unweight as well. Since it's flat, I just want to send it around with some snap.
Tricks have to be thought out
If you look closely at the last three frames as the slide comes around and settles into my strongest stance and I become wound up in a regular stance, you can almost see me getting more coordinated! This is all part of my design for this combination, and it's the way you should think about your tricks when you work them out. Maybe you want to start a trick on your weak side to set up a strong exit. That's the principle of doing a switch 540, so you can come out on your strong side. There are many examples of this way of thinking in skateboarding, and I'm trying to zero in on the mentality from start to finish, from the way I presented the Arc backside twist in switch which fit in with 360 no. 1, to this moment in this combination.
Backside torque 180
The next two frames are a strong and sudden torque rotation to cw or backside. My shoulders are actually rotated more than 180 degrees in a very short time. I do this by going from one end of the range of my twist to the other.
My left arm points straight back up the hill, while my right arm is thrown cw to lead the rotation. My head looks backwards or slightly to the right. Never let your head check your rotation by keeping your eye spotted on where you were going. My weight is slightly forward toward my left leg. Note this is the rear truck but acts as the front truck in this fakey slide. With so much torque, my weight doesn't have to be forward much, and actually you don't want to pivot too much. You want to scrape as much as possible for a nice even slide with good braking control.
In this frame I've eased up on the torque and am riding the slide.
Now it's time to check out and stop the rotation. I got off balance here and leaned to the rear. There is likely to be some fighting to stop the rotation of a torque slide. I do this by pressing my shoulders back to ccw. My left arm presses back to help the check. It's a little wild on the exit. Like I said, there are tradeoffs to doing the whole combination in switch mode.
After the exertion to check the rotation, my arms and shoulders snap forward and I ride out in switch stance.
It's fun to experiment with torquing half way through a 360 combination. I could have started this routine regular stance, and my torque in the middle would have been fakey. It wouldn't have had the power of this one's second slide. The exit probably would have been smoother. In either case, I think it's better than starting with a torque slide, which is what I see lots of skateboarders doing on 360s. After the violent beginning, the whole last 270 is often out of control.
