Sliding is hands down one of the most useful skills a longboarder can utilize to slow down or even come to a complete stop at high speeds. It’s an important thing to learn for riders at any level for safety reasons, not to mention it can look super steezy if you know how to do it right.
Gear Requirements
To learn the Coleman slide I’d recommend having good balance and being able to push comfortably on your longboard. You’ll also need some safety gear to protect yourself. A good helmet that fits properly is a must, along with slide gloves and knee/elbow pads (not a must but certainly recommended while learning). I can’t stress the importance of having a good helmet, most deaths from skateboarding/longboarding are from not wearing a helmet so don’t be an idiot. Also if you do take a smash to the helmet make sure to replace it as it is usually compromised after that.
Wheels
Your choice of wheels has a big impact on how easy it is to break into a slide and also how smooth it is. The greater the durometer of your longboard wheel (e.g 97A), the less grip the wheel has and thus the easier it is to slide. Examples of slide wheels include the Abec 11 No Skoolz, Earthwing Slide A’s and the Gravity Sergio Yuppie’s. Softer wheels in the lower durometers such as 78A are certainly possible to slide out but will require more effort and spot on technique. You’ll notice that when sliding softer wheels they tend to be chattery and less predictable as opposed to a harder wheel.
To perform the coleman slide, it’s all about transferring your weight off your board and onto your hand to break the board into a slide. I definitely recommend riding in the a dropped knee crouched position at first to get comfortable since this is the ideal position to be in while coleman sliding. It will certainly be eaiser to learn if you spend some time doing some hard heelside carves and riding in this position before attempting to actually slide.
The Drop Knee Stance
Once you find a nice hill to bomb, pick up some speed (the faster you go the easier it is to slide) and place your left hand down on your heelside and carve back up the hill as hard as you can. Really put your weight onto your left hand thats on the ground and at the same time swing your right arm across your body (your right arm helps guide your body into the slide). Once the longboard is unweighted you’ll find it breaks into a slide really easily so using your right arm to help steer your body while in the slide.
Just remember that learning the coleman slide can take some time but its well worth it when it comes to longboarding. Also remember the two keys to sliding are to go fast and be confident. With a little practice and those two things you’ll become a much better rider.
Watching videos of people sliding is a great way to pickup subtle things that can help you learn how much quicker than just figuring it out on your own. Here’s a video of none other than Cliff Coleman himself teaching you how to do it!
