Slacklining is not a difficult sport, as long as you can endure the first day’s frustration when things do not work out as fast as you would like. Many of us started slacklining by ourselves and if you are reading this article, trying to find out how to slackline, you are probably going through the same process. The good news: it is really easy to get your balance and start walking as long as you follow some tips and avoid some mistakes.
To help you, Samuel made a video explaining 10 common mistakes you should avoid.
How to slackline: the 10 mistakes that are keeping on the ground
- Straight knee: beginners tend to have their knees straight while trying to get their balance. It seems to help balance but it blocks your ability to move.
- Falling always to the same side: while starting people usually fall to the side of their free leg, it seems safer and it is less scary. The problem is, when they don’t dare to get out of the comfort zone, the center of gravity is not straight above the line. If this is an issue for you, make a few attempts on falling to the other side until you get comfortable with that. This will help to improve your skills faster.
- Being scared of balancing on one leg: one of the key points of the how to slackline tips: You have to be confident while standing/balancing on one leg only. It is understandable that you search for stability of placing the second leg, because the slackline gets shaky if only standing on one. But these shekes come as result your own balancing reflexes, which in fact help to keep yourself on the slackline. So if you want to get confident, practice a lot while balancing on one leg while you use the other one to counter-balance. Remember to shift the legs.
- Looking down: at the beginning a force seems to pull your eyes to your feet. Even if there is a more experienced slackliner telling you that you have to look to the tree or at a fix point, to get straight and a better balance, you feel like you have to see and command your feet. WRONG! If you do that you will bend your back and lean forward and, in just a bit, you will be on the floor. Just look forward, it will get you straight and trust that your body will know where the line is.
- Wrong arm position: your hands should be with your thumbs showing upwards. If you do the opposite you will block your shoulders and make everything harder.
- Avoinding to move: there is no way you will find out how to slackline if you do not move your body. The more you move the faster you will understand which movements work in certain situations. Allow your body to move, react and you will learn a lot faster. You should move your legs, hip, upper body, arms – simply everything.
- Arm shifting movements: you should use your arms to do circular movements around the slackline instead of shifting movements to the side.
- Hollow back: try to activate you pelvic floor to lift up your body to a better position.
- Relaxing the arms: when your shoulders start burning try to keep them active and do not let your arms hang down. Balancing without your arms is something you may practice further ahead, when you got the basics.
- Balancing like a gimnast: try to be soft in arms and move your joints instead of being straight and rigid. Moving all your joints will help you balancing.
Now have fun and if you need help on choosing a slackline, discover 5 things you should consider.
Written by:
I started slacklining 2012 and was mostly into trickline for around 5 years. Right now, my slackline days are split between rodeo and longline. In 2013, my enthusiasm for slackline led me to open Monkeybiz, the first Portuguese slackline shop, through which i started to work with Slacktivity, Samuel and Tobias, as a customer. In 2019 I decided it was time for new challenges and closed Monkeybiz, but created the All About Slackline Blog as the slackline professional life drift way. Recently after a challenge made by Slacktivity, I could not resist coming back to slackline and took over the Slacktivity.com international operation. Feel free to reach me if you need any help on the website, or even for a slackline session, in case you are passing by Porto, my hometown.