How to Powerslide on a Skateboard

What this video teaches

Skate IQ treats the frontside powerslide as a balance problem rather than a foot trick, and frames the whole thing as sitting in a chair that your slowing wheels build for you. The lesson covers four parts: foot position with the toes set back from the toe-side rail, a slight jump to unweight the wheels for the 90 degree turn, an actively pushed slide with the hips sitting well behind the board, and an exit steered by pushing the front foot at a target. The core correction is that most skaters squat over their feet and get pitched over the toe side once the wheels stop, when they should sit far enough behind the board that they would fall over if they were not sliding. It closes with a live coaching session where a rider fixes stuck front wheels by sitting further back and trusting the deceleration to stand him up.

Key tips

• 1Leave a little space between your toes and the toe-side rail; toes hanging over the edge pitches the board toe side and makes the wheels grip and roll instead of slide
• 2Initiate the 90 degree turn with a slight jump to unweight the wheels; pushing down into the ground creates traction and the board will never break loose
• 3Sit behind the board off the heel side with hips well back and the chest hinged forward, far enough back that you could not balance there while stationary
• 4The slide is active, not passive; keep pushing your feet forward through the whole slide or the wheels stick and roll again
• 5Exit by picking a target and pushing your front foot at it; do not try to rotate backside out of the slide
• 6More speed makes powerslides easier because there is less grip once you pass the threshold where the wheels release

Summarized from the video transcript.