i'm a freestyle rider so new to park riding

[etchy6]

i'm brand new to park riding, i've got myself a board for the park which is lightweight and has vector trucks...

I am not using heelstraps with this park board...

so ANY advice on riding in parks would be appreciated, how to hop higher off flat ground, how to drop in, how to manual, how to pop out of a pipe, etc. etc...

thanks
Dom

[parkerbomar]

manuals are all about practice, and your weight should be way farther over the board front then you would think you need to be, try practicing in flat grass as it is soft the board moves a bit less. or have someone hold you while you hold the "proper" place to get used to it. also hopping in to one is easier then rolling your feet under you because you get the better placement.

hoping high off flat is all about treating it like a bike or skateboard ollie, throw weight to the back of the board until is is in a tail manual and then launch forward all of your weight to get the back off since there are bindings this will be a lot easier, the more you practice this style ollie instead of jumping and using bindings to take the board the better you will get at it.

droping in is all about fear, if your scared you will tend to lean back and fall on your ass. so to fix that lean forward way more then you think you need to but remember your riding technique while doing this or you will start to get weird wobble and fall out of it. ( falling forward hurts more so take care to do it correctly)

poping out of a pipe is hard for me to discribe but remember to transfer your weight under your control dont fling out of the pipe or you will become a rag doll of awesomeness.

[parkerbomar]

bump bump bump

[Mutley]

Nice one PB. Never could get ollies on a skateboard!

[stlmtboarder]

i recommend high tire pressures so you have speed to ride through the park. pick lines where u can pump and hold speed. dont take any smack talk from skaters/ bmx riders. just ignore them and have a good time. it takes time to get good at skateparks but its a ton of fun once u do

[etchy6]

i would use high pressure, but my twistars say max of 45 PSI :O and my T3's max at 65...

[stlmtboarder]

ive taken t3's to 80-90psi however those were on rockstar pros. i would not advise that on twistars. u might want to pick up some cheap rockstars or gi crosshair hubs for skatepark riding. maybe u could find some cheap t1 treads too

[McCarver]

A great post/thread by one our local pros, Pure63

http://www.surfingdirt.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348&highlight=skate+park