Any skater who is interested in longboarding, especially bombing steep hills at insane speed, must be familiar with the term “speed tuck”. This method is applied when skateboarders want to reduce the wind resistance and eventually, they can move even faster.
In downhill races, skaters have to take all chances to speed up so an aerodynamic position is needed. When learning about the basics of speed tuck, skaters must know about the definition of the “pocket” areas.
By the definition on SkateAdvisors - a popular skating website, these areas are the space between your body parts like your arm and your upper body. When moving at high speeds, if skaters can not keep their arms as close to their bodies as possible, it can cause a great amount of drag and wind resistance.
Typically, speed tuck is popular in downhill skateboarding but due to some advantages for sliding, drifting, or gripping, it is also used in other skating styles such as freeriding. Gripping is where speed tuck shows its advantages when skaters have to grip several corners on the way. On the other hand, speed tuck is not suitable for drifting since riders can not keep an aerodynamic position for too long.
Although this method is effective for increasing speed, the aerodynamic position that I stated above is not entirely comfortable and skaters need time to get used to it. As a newbie, you may find no difficulty in maintaining balance but your legs can feel like they are burning. The key thing in practicing with these techniques is to adjust your speed which you can check out at SkateAdvisors.
There is no short way to get used to speed tuck rather than practicing and practicing. Carrying a handy mirror is a good way to check whether your form is sloppy or not. Again, your body needs time to adapt to changes so you should take time to practice.
