How to juggle carve?

[skunkmonkey]

I'm curious if anyone knows how people do this "juggle" style of carving, where your upper body stays stationary, but the wheel juggles back and forth between your legs rapidly? It looks pretty cool, and I could see that kind of rapid carve being very helpful for obstacle avoidance. I can carve fine at speed, but it's no where near as fast as this.

 

[Phonoman]

Practice by dodging manhole covers or any other visibly different patches on the ground as late as you can (ride straight towards it targeting the middle, then pull the wheel to dodge it). By getting good with this (and even chaining this dodging) you'll get more used to the feeling - which is basically half of the juggle - and eventually will be able to do the "juggling" a few times before it doesn't feel stable.  

 

P.S. Some wild beats help  

Edited October 9, 2023 by Phonoman

[skunkmonkey]

Thanks. When you say pull the wheel, I guess that’s the part I’m trying to imagine how it’s accomplished.

I know of three ways to carve so far (I’m fairly new):

1. Lean the way you want to go.

2. Press hard on the inside pedal, and lighten pressure on the outside pedal. I’m only able to effectively do this at lower speeds so far.

3. Use your hips to rapidly change the wheel direction. Only viable at very low speeds.

[trailless]

The first step would be that you need to be able to ride with your knees pointed outwards, like in the video. You bend your knees and open your legs from the hips. Or you could be bow legged and that would work too. Then the next step is to put more pressure on the pedal in the direction that you want to carve and slightly take some pressure off the opposite pedal. The only time the wheel touches your leg is when you're changing directions, so you stay bowlegged the entire time. Imagine it being like a dance with the wheel, the partner. You're guiding the wheel in the direction you want to go and you feel it's movements. Once it's time to go in the other direction, you guide it again. I recommending starting slow in both speed and the juggling process. BUT try to go at least 15-20mph, you want to get the gyro effect of the wheel.

You also mention that the body stays stationary, but there is still a slight movement in the body left and right. It just won't be as dramatic or noticeable as when you're trying to do long deep carves. 

This is why I always recommend to newer riders to try something new and make each riding session a learning session as well.