How to deal with skateboard speed wobble

As I was new to skateboarding I had to learn everything from the beginning and as I started on the electric skateboard it was even a little more difficult. And the reason is that it is so easy to get to the higher speeds (which normally requires a lot of effort unless you dare to go downhill straight away). This higher speeds also brings some additional challenges and the most known is probably the: Speed Wobble or sometimes called Death Wobble.

And if you think what is it exactly you will notice as soon as you hit a certain speed and the board below you seems to have decided to do something unexpected which will definitely throw you off the board.



There are some things you can do like tighten your trucks, change bushings, etc. but also anything you did not expect could cause Speed Wobble to happen. Think of a small dent in the road, wind, a small pebble or even a small distraction by looking at something else.......

So if you have setup everything from an equipments perspective in the perfect way, let’s look at what you can do to handle a Speed Wobble as you will never be able to completely avoid this to happen. Especially if you are going to push some personal limits (like the GT mode on the Evolve boards).

Here are 4 tips which might help you and as Einstein said: Experience is the only source of knowledge! So go out and practice, practice and practice.

1. Lean Forward

When riding your board you should already have found out that moving your weight to be over the front axle is key to get maximum stability and control over the trucks. Your center of gravity is important here and it should be at this spot.

It might be easier if you just focus on where you want to go (when you ride a motorcycle you do the same when riding corners) and lean into that thought so to speak. This will probably also help you do the same with your body. Tell the board where you want to go and when you feel a wobble starting make sure you stay all the way forward to help you get control back and steer the board.



2. Stay low

When something happens when on the board the instant reaction (in most cases) is to stand up and start moving your arms, etc. You have to train yourselves to not do this and bend your knees and stay low and keep low whatever happens. If you feel a wobble you can also just move to an even slightly lower position which will probably avoid the wobble to get worse. Move in small smooth increments, no sudden movements. Doing something abrupt will feed the Angry wobble monster.


This happens when you don't stay low!

3. Keep your cool and relax

This one is easy but sometimes very difficult especially as you feel you are getting close to pushing your personal limits on higher speeds. They way you have to look at this is that you and your electric skateboard will become one. Energy, vibrations, movements all become a factor and when you are standing on the board like a stiff tree you can imagine the effect. So you need to keep a loose body and consider yourself as a piece of rubber on the board absorbing the vibrations and energy coming from the board and make sure not push it back to the board.

If you want to test this relaxed approach use an adult and a kid who have never been on an electric skateboard. Let them step on the board and make sure it is in slow to avoid injuries. Kids will be in most cases excited and look forward to the fun and magic to happen. Adults will probably prepare for something they will not enjoy (like falling of the board) and think about many things besides to relax and enjoy. This has a huge effect as when you pull the trigger and the board starts to move, kids will compensate for the sudden movement by being more flexible in the response and they will not be thrown off easily, they will use this experience (flexible/relaxed is positive) and they will pick this up really quickly and start riding. Adults will keep a stiffer posture (think of the tree) and will in most cases need to jump off, when trying again it sometimes gets worse as they use all their muscle strength to prepare for the movement instead of being flexible and relaxed.

So in short: loose knees and ankles and let those legs act as shock absorbers and you will definitely feel the difference.

4. Make a slight turn

You might not be thinking about anything else but staying on the board when the wobble kicks in but starting a very light turn will do some magic. Do start in a smooth way and make it a gradual carve. If you do a quick turn the wobble effect will throw you off the board without a second thought. The reason the Wobble is happening is that the truck is making an effort to get to equilibrium and it compensates every time which makes the wobbles even bigger. When starting a slight turn the trucks are kind of pushed back to this equilibrium without this overcompensation happening.

Final thought;
Remember that anybody will at some point experience a wobble and if not something else will throw you off your board at some point. So simply stay within your limits and make sure that you at least wear a helmet to protect yourself.

Any feedback or suggestions are welcome!

Further Reading: Evolve Trucks how to help with speed wobble

Evolve Video on how to setup your trucks: How to setup your skateboard trucks [video]

 

nice post Whizz - good (albeit painful) demo videos and excellent tips !

 

I found that it was best to start with tighter trucks which were more stable and as you become more comfortable you can loosen them to have a better carving board. Really like a quite loose board now for better carving!

 

Great post!

 

Awesome post but there is one thing I have a question about. I don't usually deal with speed wobbles on my GT. But whenever I crouch or go lower, the wobbles happen. Its only when I crouch - otherwise its stable and I'm fine. Does anyone know if its just me? What am I doing wrong?

 

put more weight on your front foot

 

I have been riding for a month now and have never been on a skateboard in my life until this beast and I get very little or NO speed wobble at full speed. The trucks are also pretty loose, (the way I got it from Evolve) and stock bushings. Also did not balance the wheels and they are pretty misaligned hubs/wheels so they wobble on the bench test.

For me the concept of putting more weight on the front foot is key IMO. You can nearly stand at the very front of the board on one foot like a car-hood ornament.

If you turn your head(look backwards) or shift or body weight at all, I can feel the wobble start but just relax and shift forward onto the leading foot and BAM its gone... Watching youtube videos helped a lot and replicating peoples posture and stance as they rode also helped.

 

Excellent information. Thanks for sharing!
The line about the difference between adults and kids is quite powerful. I see young adults skating around (and have been watching quite a few youtube vids about skating while deciding to get another board) and you see the seasoned adults and younger adults have a more relaxed stance, seemingly gliding across any obstacle. This seems to come with both experience and lack of experience, haha.
As an older guy just getting back into boarding i do tend to over analyse and the natural thought process seems to steer towards "what can go wrong and how will i deal with it" rather than "meh, im carving down this road and enjoying it"

Im hoping with getting a few more km up on the board ill get used to it, and find my, and its limitations, tuning both myself and the board as required. I did find some speed wobbles when i was rolling down a long down hill stretch. If memory serves me correct my first reaction was to brake. Turns out that didnt help and the board was wobbling still. I leaned forward (which when your mind is screaming SLOW DOWN and MAKE THIS STOP) is quite un-natural but this helped, the wobbles stopped and then i braked safely.

I also tried moving my feet forward so that while im training my leg muscles again (so my legs are bent, but im not squatting as i wouldn't last long like that) my centre of gravity is over the centre of the board. This seemed to help as my ankles were not trying to compensate as much, and i could just shift my weight to steer (like TheWizz mentions in his post how a motor cyclist leans into the carve).

Probably simple stuff for you experienced boarders but i thought id share my (limited) feedback.

 

woubble at high speed means rake and trail is wrong in the rtucks thats somthing scateboard companys should figure out . No motorcycle rider tighten they sterring neck when they go fast its all itn the rake and trail