How to footbrake

Teplitzskate

Teplitzskate

Owner / CEO
Staff member
Footbraking is not to be relyed upon at higher speeds, but it should be in your toolbag for slowing down at slow speeds.

-If you have the correct stance for a downhill longboard, you should pretty much be almost set to get ready to foot break. For a quick recap, weight forward, facing down the hill with hips and shoulders facing down the hill, and feet more paralel than perpendicular with the deck.

-With your front foot the same, or slightly more straight forward. Take your backfoot weight from ~15% on the board to zero.

-Move your back foot to the ground to provide resistance slowly while keeping the majority of your weight still on your front foot.

-Congrats, you are slowing down.
 
There are plenty of times that you can footbrake at a higher speed. Maintaining good spacing in a pack/in tight spots, shedding a tiny bit of speed, etc.



When people learn this I see them either putting their foot down too hard and skipping, or trying to just use the ball of their foot.



You want to start with gently putting the heel down, then adding pressure as you flatten the entrie foot on the ground. You want your body and front foot pretty straight towards the nose. If your front foot is turned sideways, you'll be more likely to turn or wobble.
 
@Matt Needs Wheels I think although footbraking might be a little more difficult at the higher speeds, it can be really good for preventing someone from reaching unmanageable speeds at all. Once the manageable speeds start getting higher though, I think air braking takes precedence in comparison.
 
@Terence Liu I think there is a reason besides fun that we all slide instead of footbreak when things get too fast at higher speed, and I think that is because it is safer to glove down than foot brake at higher speeds. Within the context of starting out footbreaking shouldn't really be on your radar when getting up there in the mph.
 
I footbrake at high speed. I am an old downhill rider (40 years old) and started riding downhill in 2003. Footbrake was a thing you needed to master back in these days. Now all guys and girls are riding down on slalom board with slalom trucks and throwing powerslides everywhere at high speeds. I am really impressed by the level this new generation did bring. But footbraking at high speeds seems more secure, more stable and less dangerous for me.

I kind of catch the front of my board with one hand by flexing legs (kind of a monkey squat), to be the lowest on the board, then take the rear leg out of the board and apply my foot to brake

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Footbreaking is generally more dangerous than sliding at high speeds, especially without brake pads. You slow down much slower than through sliding, and the chances of a serious (key word SERIOUS) injury during a footbreak crash is much higher than crashing during a slide where your lower to the ground and in a less compromising position. (Having both feet on the board is a less compromising position.)

that being said, footbreaking can be a great tool to use for cutting speed and it doesn't require a lot of horizontal space to utilize. I sometimes utilize the footbreak on certain roads like lookout mountain before the "gooch" corner or places where it logically makes sense versus pre drifting or shut down sliding. Another thing with footbreaking is it doesn't wear off wheels if you want to maintain the fresh skin of the wheel at someplace like Maryhill
 
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