Skating round rails

[ChuckRamone]

I've been skating more round rails lately and I'm trying to figure out the heel lock like in this video

http://youtu.be/mCCDd4r49qQ?si=vvdvEv1dVjIEAt_q

Do you immediately land on the rail locked in like that, or do you kind of slide and lock in? My main goal is getting consistent at frontside 50-50s but I tend to do them a little differently each time, usually a bit of a cross-lock instead of a heel lock. But to me the heel lock looks more stable once you figure it out.

[tzhangdox]

For frontside, I aim for cross lock but if I land in double heel I can usually hold it and ride away fine.

I try to land in cross lock position but feels like I'm mentally ready to not quite land in the perfect pinch and slip it into the cross lock position as my trucks start to make contact with the rail. So I guess aim to land in cross pinch, but realistically theres a bit of slide and lock in as you say.

I think that only works for cross lock though. If you want to double heel I feel like you'd probably need to ollie and land in perfect double heel position.

IMO cross lock is a bit safer when it comes to not flipping over when your trucks hit the rail. But if you get in a really good heel lock, might be more stable if you're trying to hold it for very very long.

Backside definitely feels significantly easier to cross lock though.

[ChuckRamone]

For frontside, I aim for cross lock but if I land in double heel I can usually hold it and ride away fine.

I try to land in cross lock position but feels like I'm mentally ready to not quite land in the perfect pinch and slip it into the cross lock position as my trucks start to make contact with the rail. So I guess aim to land in cross pinch, but realistically theres a bit of slide and lock in as you say.

I think that only works for cross lock though. If you want to double heel I feel like you'd probably need to ollie and land in perfect double heel position.

IMO cross lock is a bit safer when it comes to not flipping over when your trucks hit the rail. But if you get in a really good heel lock, might be more stable if you're trying to hold it for very very long.

Backside definitely feels significantly easier to cross lock though.

I'm still trying to figure out whether I should do cross lock or heel lock for frontside. I feel like just trying to be centered over it and keeping my ankles locked in position works best for me and not trying to do a particular type of lock in.

One thing that's confused me though is conflicting advice: Dan Corrigan says this is a trick you do not want to lightfoot. You need to sort of harden yourself on the rail. But then another tip video said you should land as lightly and gracefully on it as possible. Seems to me like the first approach yields more consistent results. Anyone have any personal insights on this?

[Vintagebody]

You need to land with all your weight on it, no hesitation. Why would you land lightfooted? You need to force the trucks to make sure they lock in, else you will eat dirt. And you do that by landing commited, confident, and heavy-footed, with weight bias towards the heel.

[ChuckRamone]

You need to land with all your weight on it, no hesitation. Why would you land lightfooted? You need to force the trucks to make sure they lock in, else you will eat dirt. And you do that by landing commited, confident, and heavy-footed, with weight bias towards the heel.

This makes sense. That person's advice about being lightfooted was confusing. Maybe they meant not ollieing way higher than the rail and slamming down on it but landing smoothly into the grind. Either way that is not good advice unless you explain it properly.

[tzhangdox]

Expand Quote

For frontside, I aim for cross lock but if I land in double heel I can usually hold it and ride away fine.

I try to land in cross lock position but feels like I'm mentally ready to not quite land in the perfect pinch and slip it into the cross lock position as my trucks start to make contact with the rail. So I guess aim to land in cross pinch, but realistically theres a bit of slide and lock in as you say.

I think that only works for cross lock though. If you want to double heel I feel like you'd probably need to ollie and land in perfect double heel position.

IMO cross lock is a bit safer when it comes to not flipping over when your trucks hit the rail. But if you get in a really good heel lock, might be more stable if you're trying to hold it for very very long.

Backside definitely feels significantly easier to cross lock though.

[close]

I'm still trying to figure out whether I should do cross lock or heel lock for frontside. I feel like just trying to be centered over it and keeping my ankles locked in position works best for me and not trying to do a particular type of lock in.

One thing that's confused me though is conflicting advice: Dan Corrigan says this is a trick you do not want to lightfoot. You need to sort of harden yourself on the rail. But then another tip video said you should land as lightly and gracefully on it as possible. Seems to me like the first approach yields more consistent results. Anyone have any personal insights on this?

I think you want to be light footed when you ollie and slip into the cross/heel lock position, but once you feel yourself lock in you want to get low and sink your weight into the rail. Being heavy footed on the ollie and initial land could end up in some nasty slams if you dont land in the perfect lock position.

[Vintagebody]

Ok... I disagree, because if you land on a rail light footed, the trucks will move around, and is usually what causes you to slip off. You want to lock in ASAP! If you land heavy footed with heavy emphazis on the heels, or land nearly crosslocked, but heavy footed, it will immediately lock.

[tzhangdox]

Ok... I disagree, because if you land on a rail light footed, the trucks will move around, and is usually what causes you to slip off. You want to lock in ASAP! If you land heavy footed with heavy emphazis on the heels, or land nearly crosslocked, but heavy footed, it will immediately lock.

Hmmm I don't think that how I think about it. Sounds like your strategy might work better if you're aiming for heel lock. But usually I aim for crosslock and feel like there's a splitsecond between your trucks making contact with the rail and slipping into crosslock where I'm lightfooted, kinda shimmy into the crosslock and then I put all my weight down. Whereas if I land heavy footed immediately the board is likely to flip if say my back truck lands toeside but all my weight is on the heelside

[WashingtonNECKTIE]

Just jumping in cause I've never really thought about how heavy footed I try to lock 50s.

I way more comfortable hitting BS 5050s , so take that into consideration.

I wouldn't describe my technique as "heavy footed", but I don't really hesitate to lock it in. I ollie just as high as I need, and try to "stab" my trucks into crosslock, kind of imagining my foot wrapping around the rail as if I was just standing on it in my shoes.

Trying to set the lock in without gapping too high over rail is the safest way for me. Pussy-footing the lock is gonna toss me, and being mad heavy footed is gonna toss me. Precise ollie height and ensuring the lock is right is when I really "set-in/bear down" and try to hold the shit out of it.

I often get sketched about really committing to the distance, so my escape tactic is leaning too far back and popping out too soon

[Space Cowboy]

As someone who primarily skates rails and messed around a lot with the best and most consistent hold for fs and bs 50's, and I can say that for both ways best course of action is to jump a bit above the rail and just focus on the rear trucks heel lock, every time that I've held a very long 50 grind I've been sitting on that back pocket for both cross and heel lock. I find that that way you can kind of end up in either heel or cross lock and still be fine, as most of the weight is on that back truck. Also if you fuck up the lock you just kinda land in a fs smith or back feeble which is chill to bail out of.