What Is the Center of Gravity for Longboarding?

Cruising over streets and sidewalks on a longboard with the wind blowing in your face can be a thrilling and exhilarating experience. Longboards are longer and heavier than regular skateboards, and thus they are not as conducive for performing tricks, but they are more stable and can travel at faster speeds. If you want to ride a longboard to get exercise or to transport around town, it can help to understand center of gravity.

  1. Center of Gravity

    • When riding on a longboard, you are the primary force of weight that applies pressure onto the deck and wheels of the board. The height at which you stand determines where the force of gravity is strongest and how much of your weight is being applied to the board. Thus, the center of gravity refers to the general position of your body and the degree of weight being distributed to the board by that particular body position. For instance, by standing up tall and with your legs straight, your center of gravity is very high, which can result in an unstable and off-balanced ride, because you are not applying the full pressure of your body weight onto the deck.

    Effects

    • To maximize the speed at which you travel and to enhance your control over the board, it is essential to maintain a low center of gravity. To position your body properly and to achieve a low center of gravity, keep your feet flat on the deck, bend your knees and lower your butt so your entire body is relatively close to the board. By doing this, you can brace your body into a relatively low stance. In turn, the lower center of gravity enables your body to transfer a large portion of its weight onto the long board, which creates a much more stable and safe ride.

    Turning

    • Standing with a low center of gravity while riding enables you to assert more control over the board than standing with a high center of gravity. Thus, to maintain safety while maneuvering the board, you should usually have a low center of gravity. For instance, to turn a longboard, you must use your feet to distribute your weight in the direction you want to turn. By having a lower center of gravity, more of your weight is already being placed on the board, and the heavier weight makes it is easier to shift and move the board toward the right or left. Furthermore, if unexpected potholes or cracks appear on the street in front of you while riding, you can maneuver the board around the obstructions more quickly and more effectively by sustaining a low center of gravity.

    Decks

    • Many different companies manufacture and provide longboards, and different boards have slightly different characteristics and features. Some boards are designed to specifically enable riders to achieve the lowest center of gravity possible. Many of these boards feature low decks accompanied with deep drops at the center of the decks to provide a dramatically lower center of gravity. Furthermore, some companies can make customized decks with the specific features a customer is looking for, and thus people who want an extremely low center of gravity can have the company produce a very low deck with deep centers.