Standing up on the slackline
The first thing anyone who wants to walk a slackline has to do is…actually get up onto the slackline. This may sound easier than it is in practice though. The ideal height for a beginner slackline is around 30cm – 50cm from the ground. You’ll want to stand beside the slackline and place one foot onto the line with your toes facing forwards and slowly weight it, right about now is when you will get the signature leg wobble…Fight through it! Even though it might not feel stable at first your body will adapt and learn to correct for the side to side movement.
Now it’s time to step up with the second foot while simultaneously lifting your arms above your head keeping your elbows bent at about shoulder height. The best advice here is to simply keep repeating this step over and over trying to slow it down and get more controlled as you do. This is the most challenging part for most beginner slackliners as it takes a tremendous amount of patience and determination. If you put in the time here though you are well on your path towards walking a slackline. This first step can take anywhere between an hour and several days to achieve, keep at it, the reward will be worth the work.
Once you have successfully managed to step onto the slackline with both your feet and managed to find your balance here, it’s time to take your first step!
Taking your first steps
So you’ve managed to step up onto the slackline, one foot in front of the other…now what? Take your first step on a slackline! Again, this might might sound easier than it is in practice but simply bring your back foot forward and place it in front of the other. Find your balance here, still using your arms above your head. Once you feel comfortable here, repeat with the other foot.
Now this will take some time and patience again but if you can step twice you can technically walk a slackline, well done! You’re awesome!
Learning to turn
Okay so you’ve been practicing walking and manage to get to the end of your line, where to from here? It’s time to learn how to turn around on a slackline. I suggest learning this skill about a quarter of the way in from one of the ends (on a 10m slackline that would be about 2,5m from the anchor) this part of the line is one of the most stable places to be and is a great place to learn to turn without the risk of falling into the tree.
You will want to stand on the line with one foot in front of the other and face the end of the line, then you can slowly turn on the balls of your feet and swing your head around to find a focal point on the other side. Practice, practice, practice and we’ll see you at the next step.
Learning to sit start / chongo
Now you might want to start walking some longer lines that you can’t simply stand up onto, this is where the sit start or Chongo mount come in handy.
First you will want to sit on the slackline with the line running across one of your sit bones. You will want to sit on the same side as your front foot when you stand up on the line, in this example we will sit on the left side, if you stand up on the other side simply mirror all these steps. From here you will want bring your right foot onto the line in front of you and try to pull it in towards yourself. The next step will be to use your left hand to grab the line and pull yourself onto your right foot, try to find your balance here using your right hand out to the side. Once you’re feeling comfortable in this position, slowly raise your left foot and place it on the line in front of you, you can now bring your left hand up and start to stand up using both your legs.
This is called the chongo mount named after Chuck “Chongo” Tucker the creator of the move who is one of the founding fathers of what we call highlining.
Your second option is the sit start, you will start in the same position as before, bring your right foot onto the line first and then place your left foot in front of it with both hands still out to the side for balance. Then you will want to either place one hand behind you and push up from the line or use one hand to pull yourself up from the front. Alternatively you can bounce and stand up or lean back and rock forward without grabbing the line.
Deciding on what discipline you would like to get into
There are a few different slackline disciplines that all require different slackline set ups some being very similar to one another and some completely different. To find out about all the different slackline disciplines check out the article “What is slacklining“.