As a skater, there”ll be days you won’t love hitting the skate parks. Sometimes, you only want to take on wide-open spaces and practice your balance while turning left and right.
And like dodging ramps, surfing on sharp angles smoothly also requires the appropriate equipment in carver boards. So, what is a carver skateboard in the first place?
Essentially, this skateboard works best for perfecting sharp turns. Keep reading to know more about this board type.
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Everything About Carver Skateboard
Generally, carver skateboards imitate the feeling of riding a surfboard on the waves. These boards are a decent practice avenue for people who want to ride these water obstacles.
1. Function and benefits
Unlike some skateboards, carvers are flowy in motion. Skaters who know how to carve can identify such differences, especially when going downhill.
Here are a few benefits of using a carver board:
- Improved body posture – Proper posture is necessary when surfing the waves. And by learning the proper stance through a carver longboard, you can train your body to stand firm once you’re surfing.
- Better body coordination – Surfing has time constraints, given that water waves don’t last like fixed skating platforms.n
On the other hand, using a carver skateboard will give you unlimited time to practice surfing techniques such as top and bottom turns, cutbacks, and pumping.
- It’s a perfect practice benchmark – If you practice carving regularly and record yourself, you can assess which area needs improvements, whether it’s your posture or how you perform specific movements.
- Adequate balance – Besides your stance and skill execution, carving skateboards enhance your sense of balance. This includes working on the compression of your knees, body inclination, and other balancing movements needed.
- It’s a fun skill to learn – Aside from learning carving for surfboards; it also serves as an added skill set for any skater. It’s not only for preparing to ride the waves but also for improving your turns on flat ground.
2. Features
So, what makes a carver surf skateboard? And how different is it from other boards? Take note of the following features.
- Trucks
Carver skateboard trucks come in different classes. Let’s get to know a few.
- C5- These trucks are probably the closest to street skate trucks. They have a lower center of gravity, improving ollies and skateboard control.
- C7 – Designed for purely surf skating, these trucks yield smooth turns and fast pumping. History made the Carver C7 skate truck a sought-after type for many because its two torsion axles allow the rider to skate in the Carver style.
- CX.4 – If there’s a truck that’s great for cruising, it’s the Carver CX.4. This reverse kingpin skate truck lets you pump with stability and move your skateboard with aerial surfing feels.
- Decks
Most carving skateboards come with wooden concave decks and raised tails, allowing optimum maneuverability. And like almost all brands, carvers also have grip tape for safety.
But if there’s one unique aspect about this skateboard type, it’s that it’s more specific in size. The numbers coming with the deck correspond to the most appropriate user height for it.
For example, if the rider stands at 5’10, a 29-inch carver board like the Swallow skateboard should fit. Or, if the skater has a 6’8 height, the 33.75″ Green Room deck will suffice.
Besides fitting specific heights, the carver deck’s sizes also work best in distinct skating styles. Short skateboards yield sharp turns and quality slides.
On the other hand, the lengthier carver decks are more stable for cruising. Thus, they are a perfect choice for beginners learning to skate.
- Wheels
As mentioned in skateboard buying guides, wheels come in various sizes and hardness levels.
For carver skateboard wheels, here are a few models you can use.
- Roundhouse Ecothane Mag Wheel Set 65mm 81a
- Roundhouse by Carver Eco Concave Wheel Set 69mm 81a
- Roundhouse Ecothane Mag Wheel Set 70mm 81a
- Roundhouse Ecothane Mag Wheel Set 75mm 81a
One thing common among these rollers is they are grippy and fast. Also, they make pushing easy.
Samples of the Best Carver Skateboards
To help you visualize carver boards better, consider the following examples:
- Carver Triton – These boards are famous for their Thruster and Fish forms with simple yet unique aesthetic prints at the bottom. The Triton works solely for surfing, supported by its pair of CX trucks.
- Carver USA – Carver USA Booster skateboards come with a deep concave shape designed for advanced surfing and skating. They are not only excellent boards but are also official skateboards used by team USA.
Conclusion
Skateboarding does not only connect skaters sharing the same interests. It also links you to activities you may have never thought of trying, like surfing. But what’s unique here is these two sports happen in different locations.
The good news is, carver skateboards are there to prepare you to surf. So, what is a carver skateboard? It’s a classic board type designed to give you the closest feeling of wave surfing, but on land.
It comes with distinct benefits, features, and advantages we need to check out, so we’ll know if we would want to have one.
Hi, I am Charles Harris. I opened this site to write as much as I can about my biggest passion – skateboarding!
I started as a clumsy yet passionate rookie 10 years ago to now a still passionate yet much better skateboarder! But I have to tell you, the whole journey has always been fun and rewarding, indeed not without hardship.