i have been told that monkey toe is bad but also that it isn't a big deal if it works, what's your thoughts?
i have been told that monkey toe is bad but also that it isn't a big deal if it works, what's your thoughts?
@John Oliver The biggest issue- I've been told, is the posibility of using your DAWGs to actually press into the rail of the boards which is unstable and too much weight off the board.
I think theres less s**t talk around it since decks have goten less wide so having a few toes over and still pressing onto the top part of the deck is harder to avoid. I personally don't ever keep my pinky toe over the deck and havn't been corrected by any of the really good homies YET.
I think that it's generally bad for both standup and glovedown. Hanging your toes encourages trying to scoop the board sideways, rather than pushing down into the deck.
For glovedown, you're putting your foot in a less secure position when you really want the feet to stay on.
For standup toe, it's really hard to learn proper checks if you're trying to scoop the deck sideways rather than turning in and pressing down through the deck to slide.
Your feet should also be nearly straight towards the nose on toeside, so having the toes hanging could also imply that your back leg is too angled.
No good reason to do it, imo.
@Gabriel Fockler Agreed with this, dispite my previous post, (a little protective of monkey toe since I am a perp of doing it although idk if just a little bit counts.)
Need a full in depth post, even beyond what I've dragged out of the homies, on the exactly ideal form on all this for me and others to study. I'd read like 20 pages of it ez hahahahah.
@Gabriel Fockler We are on the same page about no scoop, and pressing down on deck, however, for the sake of talking bout it, do you think its acceptable to have a toe hangin off while having good form, or is the form change inherent and not just encouraged?
It's fine in small amounts, but it's more controllable to have your foot on the board
@Matt Needs Wheels on the modern super narrow downhill decks, I think that a toe hanging off isn't ruining your form. My rocket deck is like 8.5 and my rear toes might hang a little, even with having acceptable form.
On a wider freeride deck, hanging toes could suggest bad positioning with your back foot.
Pulling a giants head pic for reference, it looks like the toes are dangling a bit, despite being on top of the deck. I wouldnt cite this as amazing form, but i got through the glove down toes fine.
I guess that I would revise my statement to say that monkey toe isn't inherently bad, but it can suggest bad habits (not pushing down on the deck). Does that make sense?
Looking at this picture, I think that the most obvious form critique is that I'm not extending my legs a ton. This is a more static slide position, so I don't have as much finesse on the hookup when compared to the downhill super extended ass up style toe drift.
@Gabriel Fockler I figured, just clarifying to be sure, I got like 8 in the back and see stuff like this on Adriens gram.
Will take information and practice without monkey toe, for both standup and glove down. I think I am psyching myself out because i'm used to kicking out my board with my toe rather than pressing on it. Stay tune ! Thank you everyone
@John Oliver Git er done, if you are learning, hopefully on slidey wheels and a not super narrow board, it will def be advisable to not monkey toe at all to help make 100% sure you are not scoping the rail out as the kickout method imo.
@Josh Gaudon this is what you want to avoid. No control doing them this way, plus the knee is probably out sideways which makes you 180
@Josh Gaudon Ooof,
No monkey toe because feel bad.
Update: after two days of drilling no monkey toe, I have found that pressing down on the board is probably one of the best tips that I got to understand how to kick out without monkey toe. Now to unlearn it in standup. 
@John Oliver DOOD. so sick. Re-learning sucks, I had trash form for so long (still working on it lol) and the longer you do something the more muscle memory it is.
So the sooner you get on it the better- I'm so stoked to see your improvement.
thankful that the forum really sped up the process of understanding how to convert away from monkey toe. this was just a month ago at giants head
@Gabriel Fockler 🤯🤯🤯🤯 I hadn't ever thought about if I was pressing or scooping until read this! I went outside and did a couple little slides and I could feel and immediate difference when I focused on the idea of pressing on the deck on kick out.
@Jeff Starzl Right!! This is such a good tip from gabe!
