A skateboarding trick (Inward Heelflip)

A skateboarding trick is a maneuver performed on a skateboard while skateboarding. Most tricks are based on the Ollie (once called the Ollie Pop), which was invented by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand of Florida in the late 1970s. Skateboarding tricks can involve varials, jumps, flips, grabs, slides, grinds and stalls, and may even be combined with twists of various multiples of 180 degrees. Tricks which require some kind of ramp, sometimes a halfpipe, are known as transition tricks; the rest can be performed on flat ground or off of curbs and on rails and are known as street tricks.

Competitive skateboarding is primarily judged on the difficulty and success of such tricks.

Ollie

Ollie

Nollie

Switch ollie

Fakie ollie

Tricks based on the ollie

360 Flip

A classic street trick first invented by technical freestyle legend, Rodney Mullen, and originally popularised as a street trick by pro-skater turned actor Jason Lee. This is the combination of a 360 pop shove-it with a kickflip. Also known as 360 kickflip, 3 flip or tre flip.

360 Heelflip

Also known as the Laser Flip. The origin of this trick is not clear though it was probably performed not too long after the 360 flip. This is in the same style as the 360 flip except that it is a combination of the 360 frontside pop-shoveit and the heelflip. This is a much more difficult trick to perform than the 360 flip, but it is unpopular due to its low visual appeal.

360 Shove-it

This trick is simply a shove-it execpt that the board is rotated 360 degrees instead of 180.

Backside ollie

A Backside ollie is a short term for a backside 180 Ollie also dubbed as B/S 180. Turning in the direction of the rider's toes, the rider and the board spin 180 degrees in the same direction and at the same time during an ollie.

Big spin

Big spin flip

Frontside ollie

A Frontside ollie is a short term for a Frontside 180 Ollie also dubbed as F/S 180. Turning in the direction of the rider's heels, the rider and the board spin 180 degrees in the same direction and at the same time during an ollie.

Hardflip

A hardflip combines a frontside pop shove-it with a kickflip. Due to the difficulty of this trick, a similar looking variation has been popularised which is similar to the pop shove-it, in which the board rotates as it would with a pop shove-it only at a higher angle, so the board rotates 180 degrees vertically rather than horizontally, like a pirouette. The former version was the original version, but the latter has become popular enough that it is performed by several professionals (e.g. Chet Thomas , Ryan Gallant and Kris Markovich ), and appears in this form in the 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater' video game series.

Heelflip

A heelflip in essence is the same as a kickflip only the board spins outwards away from your body under your feet before you land. Again there is a kick as part of the ollie but unlike the kickflip it is directed forwards, so that the last part of your foot to leave the board is your heel, hense the name.

Kickflip

Nollieflip

Ollie north

Ollie north is an ollie during which the skateboarder kicks his foot forward. During the trick the skateboarder hovers in mid air with his front foot pointing "north". The trick was named after Oliver 'Ollie' North.

Pop shove-it

Varial kickflip

A varial kickflip is a trick which is a combination of a pop shove-it and kickflip. The board spins 180 degrees whilst flipping.

Varial heelflip

A varial heelflip combines a frontside pop shove-it with a heelflip.

Inward heelflip

An inward heelflip combines a backside pop-shove-it with a heelflip.

Impossible (skateboarding trick)

Aerials

Aerials, or more commonly 'airs', are tricks usually performed on ramps, pools or quarterpipes where there is vertical wall with a transition available. Aerials usually combine rotation into different grabs. Most of the different types of grabs were originally aerial tricks that were performed on vert raps before flatground aerials became common.

Benihana

Caballerial

Christ air

Judo Air

During a Judo air the skateboarder performs a nose grab, takes his ront foot off the board and kicks it forward and pulls the board backwards (while the back foot is still on the board). The skateboarder looks like he is doing a martial arts, Judo kick in mid air. This trick was invented by Tony Hawk.

Lien Air

Lien air is another name for a frontside air backside grab. It was named after the inventor Neil Blender (Lien is Neil spelled backwards).

Madonna

Mc Twist

Mc Twist is another name for an inverted 540. It was named after the inventor Mike McGill .

Rocket Air

During a rocket air the skateboarder grabs the nose of his skateboard with his both hands and at the same time places his both feet on the tail.

Grabs

Grabs are different ways to hold the board during an aerial trick.

Indy grab

This is a generic skateboarding trick that has been performed since the 1970s. This trick is performed mainly while Vert skating e.g. on halfpipes. This trick is where the skater grabs the middle of his board, in the middle of his feet on the side his toes are pointing (frontside).Although this move can be done on flat land it is much easier on a ramp. This grab trick is the basic of all vert skaters and is usually combined with spins, kickflips and heelflips. Originally referred to only as a "frontside grab", and airing on a ramp frontside while grabbing in this was was called a frontside air. The name "indy air" was coined for airing backside while grabbing frontside. For some reason, people now call grabbing this way an indy grab regardless of which direction the air is performed.

Stalefish grab

Named by skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. The back hand grabs the heel side of the board behind the back leg. This results in a bending of both legs which can be emphasised to create more style. When this is done on a trick it is called a 'tweak'.

Airwalk grab

This trick goes way back to 1980s freestyle and has been made famous by legend, Rodney Mullen. Originally done on flat ground this is where the skater ollies quite high and catches the board in a nose grab. While in the nose grab, he holds it out beside him and spreads his legs apart so that it looks like he's walking in mid-air. Contrary to those who play Tony Hawk's Pro Skater this trick is very rarely performed on ramps.

Early grab

The early grab was widely used when vert skateboarding started out In fact, everybody used the early grab, until Alan "Ollie" Gelfand invented the ollie. The Early Grab is a very basic trick and can be carried out in the following way:

1. Ride up a ramp or to a ledge (using a small ledge to start with) at a comfortable pace to catch a little air.
2. Before you get to the top of the ramp or to the edge of the ledge, crouch down and grab your board any way you see fit.
3. Ride off the ramp or ledge. (Remember to keep the board under you.)
4. Let go of the board and stand up to get ready for impact.
5. Land.

Nose grab

For a nose grab one grabs hold of the front (nose) of one's skateboard whilst one's feet are in an ollie position.

Tail grab

A tail grab is like a nose grab except you grab the tail.

Cannonball grab

The skateboarder ollies then grabs both ends of the board (nose and tail) and holds them. This makes the skater crouch and appear small and round in shape, like a cannonball, hence the name. This trick can also be done as an early grab.

Gorilla Grab

Also known as the double handed indy grab. This is where the skater performs an indy grab but grabs the board with both hands, looking slightly like a gorilla, hence the name.

Melon grab

Also known as a backside grab. This trick is quite a difficult trick to perform and as a result is considered very impressive when performed on vert ramps. This is where the skater grabs the back of his board, in the middle of the two heels and then the legs are extended forwards creating a stylish "layback" look to it.

Method

This grab originates from snowboarding and was made popular by pro vert skaters such as Tony Hawk. This is similar to the melon grab only when the board is grabbed the knees are bent so the board is raised backwards and the skater appears to be kneeling in mid-air.

Mute grab

This trick has caused much confusion in the past as it is a quite complex trick to understand. Many believe it is an indy grab but grabbed with the oppsite hand. This is false. A mute grab is where the skater grabs the board on the heelside of the board( backside) just ahead of the front foot but not quite on the nose. It is done with the furthermost hand so that the arm is brought across the body to grab the board. This trick is often confused with the seatbelt air grab due to this concept.

Grinds

Grinds are tricks where the skateboarder slides on the hangers of the trucks. Grinds are performed on handrails, stone ledges or similar obstacles.

5-0 grind

In this maneuver, you first ollie onto a rail or ledge, then put all your weight on your back foot so that the back truck is grinding. This move is similar to the manual.

50-50 Grind

This trick's name was originally given to a freestyle trick where the skater stands on the truck of the board while the board balances on the tail. However it has given way to the name "truckstand" and this popular grind trick has taken the name 50-50. When you 50-50 you ollie towards a rail or ledge, in the hope of landing with both trucks on the rail or ledge.

Links:

• slick description from a magazine

Crooked grind

Also called crooks, or the K-grind after the man to whom the trick is most commonly accredited (although nobody can say for sure who really invented it), Eric Koston. This is similar to the nosegrind only the board is turned at an angle, towards the side of the rail/ledge that the skater came from. It is kind of a cross between a noseslide and a nosegrind. Backside crooked grinds are significantly easier than backside nosegrinds.

Feeble grind

Not unlike the Smith grind. Only when ollieing onto the rail/ledge the back trucks land on it and the rest of the board hangs down over the far side of the rail/ledge. This is kind of like a cross between a boardslide and a 50-50.

Hurricane/Sugarcane

This is a very hard trick to describe and perform. When approached from the frontside (toes facing the rail/ledge) a hurricane is best describe as a "backwards smith grind". The board is turned 180 and the front of the board is now hanging over the far side of the rail while the back truck grinds forwards. The sugarcane is the same concept only it is more like a "backwards feeble grind" where the front of the board now hangs over the nearest side of the rail/ledge.

Nosegrind

A nosegrind consists of a grind on the front truck of the skateboard. Similar to the nosemanual, except grinding.

Overcrook grind

Similar to the crooked grind only the board is turned over the other side of the rail/ledge the skater came from, hence the name. This name is commonly used, and is in a certain skateboarding video game. However, you will also hear/see it called ollie over to crooked grind, or the rather strange "noseblunt grind".

Salad Grind

This is very similar to the 5-0 only at a slightly crooked angle, such that the front wheels go over the obstacle on which the grind is performed. Like the "overcrook" grind is like a crooked nosegrind the Salad grind is like a crooked 5-0. This trick has been invented by Eric Dressen, hence the name (dressen, dressing, salad dressing).

Smith grind

This grind is especially impressive out of all the grind tricks as it requires a lot of skill and style to pull off. When ollie-ing onto the rail/ledge the board turns to that the back trucks land on it and the front of the board hangs down to the nearside of the rail/ledge. This makes the trick appear sort of crooked. Usually considered a bit harder than a tailslide. It is kind of like a cross between a lipslide and a 50-50. This trick was named after its inventor Mike Smith.

Slides

A slide is a trick where the skateboarder slides sideways either on the deck or on the wheels.

Bertleman slide

Blunt slide

Blunt slide is similar to tail and nose slide but the deck is in a vertical position during the slide. In other words, the truck rests on top of the obstacle and the tail or nose slides along the side. It is much more difficult than a nose or tail slide since getting off the slide requires performing an ollie horizontally.

Board slide

Crail Slide

This is a tailslide only the skater grabs the nose of the board with his back hand while sliding. Usually performed on a ramp.

Dark slide

Lip slide

Similar to a boardslide only the skater turns 90 degrees so that the back trucks are placed over the rail/ledge and the skater slides on the middle of the board while facing forwards. It is harder than a boardslide. Note that in this case a frontside lipslide involves facing forwards while a backside lipslide involves facing backwards.

Noseblunt slide

Same as a blunt slide only performed with the nose and the front wheels. This is probably one of the hardest slides to perform and so often done by pros on handrails.

Nose slide

A noseslide is performed by riding parallel to an obstacle (ledge, rail, etc...) with your toes facing it. The skateboarder then does an ollie and turns the board 90 degrees so that their toes turn towards the ledge. They then land on the ledge with the nose of the board sliding on top of it. The skateboarder can then come off the ledge either regular or fakie (backwards).

Power slide

Powerslide is a four wheel slide.

Rail slide

Tail slide

Similar to the noseslide only when turning 90 degrees the tail of the board is landed on the edge of the ledge/rail. This trick is often flipped into and out of.

Lip tricks

Lip tricks are performed on halfpipes, quarterpipes and mini ramps. They consist of tricks that require different varieties of balance on the "lip" of the ramp (this is the metal coping at the top of the curved ramp). Stalls and inverts are performed to link tricks together and also allow a great deal of innovation and style.

Nose stall

To perform this trick, skate at a moderate speed, do an ollie but keep your foot on the nose. Land the nose on an edge and you have now performed nose stall.

Axle stall

An axle stall is a stall on both trucks of a skateboard. It is used commonly to regain composure before performing another trick or to "drop in" on a ramp.

5-0 stall

An axle stall on only your back truck

Tail Stall

Similar to a nose stall only the board is turned 180 degrees and the tail is placed on the lip. The most common form of "dropping in" on a ramp is to start off in tail stall.

Rock to fakie

This is a quick, common and easy lip trick performed mostly to link tricks together on mini ramps. The front truck is placed over the lip of the ramp and then the board is "rocked" slightly before coming back down backwards (fakie).

Rock and Roll

Similar to the Rock to Fakie only a quick 180 is done as you come off the lip so that you don't ride fakie.

Blunt Stall

More commonly known as a Blunt to fakie. This is a very hard trick where the back truck is placed over the lip of the ramp and the tail is placed on the lip, appearing like a stationary blunt slide, hence the name. As small ollie is then performed to come off the lip and ride back down the ramp in fakie. You can also do a small 180 ollie out, if you ollie out frontside you get a frontside blunt stall, and likewise for a backside 180.

Nose blunt stall

Like the blunt to fakie, only a 180 degree turn is done at the top of the ramp so the nose is used in the same fasion as the blunt stall. A nollie is then done to come back into the ramp.

5-0 to Fakie

An axle stall on only your back truck, but instead of turning around and riding in normal, you come in backwards. A cross between a Blunt to fakie and a 5-0 stall .

Nose pick

This is often confused with the nose blunt stall and vice versa. The only difference is that the nose pick is done with the front truck on the lip and is often grabbed to help the skater back into the ramp.

Disaster

This trick is where the skater rotates 180 degrees and lands in the center of his board with the front trucks facing towards the ramp and the back trucks over the lip. The skater then leans forwards to return back in the ramp.

Inverts/Handplants

This is a complex lip trick where the skater grabs his board and plants a hand on the coping so that he is balancing upside down on the lip of the ramp. Many variations as to where the board is grabbed and how the legs are arranged make for a number of different tricks of this type. Examples are: Eggplant, Andrecht Invert, Gymnast Plant, Sadplant, Burntwist, One Foot Invert etc

Miscellaneous tricks

Acid drops/bomb drops

These are slightly different street tricks but more or less used in the same fashion. An acid drop is where the skater uses his board to ollie off an object e.g. a wall, from a tail stall position onto a lower surface. A bomb drop is similar only the board is usually held and then placed under the feet, mid jump.

Boneless One

This classic trick, invented by Garry Davis, dates back to the retro freestyling era and the longboarding days of skateboarding. This includes many variations such as the beanplant and the fastplant, but basically the principle is where the skater grabs his board while simultaneously stepping off the board and jumping with one foot. The skater then replaces the board under his feet and lands. It is commonly used to gain more height or performed down stair sets.

Another variation of this trick is as a lip trick on a ramp. The skater ollies out of the ramp and then grabs the board, takes their front foot off and puts it on the ramp, then jumps off their foot and puts it back on the board and rolls back into the ramp.

Casper

Manual

Manual is a wheelie performed immediately after a trick that involves an aerial. A trick combination could, for example, be a kickflip into nose manual. The original definition of manual is often mixed with the wheelie and very often a regular wheelie is called a manual.

McTwist

The McTwist is a 540-degree backside rotation in a vert ramp. Invented by Mike McGill, using a mute grab.

No Comply

The front foot slides off the side of the board. With the body weight on the back foot over the tail, the board 'snaps' up and can be guided with the back leg/knee. To ride away the skate jumps with his/her front foot back on.

Rodeo

Like a McTwist, except performed frontside.

Wall ride

This is a difficult, impressive trick where the skater places all four wheels onto a wall and rides along vertically until ollieing off. This ollie is known as a "wallie". If the skater grabs the board and kicks against the wall with his foot it is known as a "wallplant".

Wheelie

Wheelie is a trick where the skateboarder rides with only with the rear wheels touching the ground. If the skateboarder rides on the front wheels, the trick is called nose wheelie.

Freestyle tricks

Freestyle skateboarding was pioneered by many skateboarders in the early days of skateboarding back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The most notable of all was Rodney Mullen whose innovation and unique, mind boggling skill has led him to invent most of the basic tricks we see around us today. Freestyle in its heyday was performed on flat ground and required a lot of balance and co-ordination. The aim was to carry on a series of different tricks in one continous combo without landing all four trucks on the ground (signalling the end of a trick). In this way a skater could balance on two wheels or on the end of his board while still flipping into and out of tricks. Many tricks such as the manual, casper, tic-tac or the Spacewalk were used to link tricks together without ending the combo. In competitions points were awarded for style and variation of tricks. Although not as popular today, the vast majority of modern street tricks would not have been possible without freestyle.

Body varial

A body varial is a trick where the skateboarder jumps up and rotates 180 degrees and lands on his board riding in switch stance (or regular stance if the trick started from switch stance). It is nowdays almost always combined with some other trick.

Power Slide

This trick is performed while moving quite fast, and is often used as a move to lose speed if going too fast. With both feet braced firmly on the board, both the skater and the board spin 180 (or more) with all 4 wheels on the ground. This makes a characteristic scraping sound.

Walk The Dog

A move where you put one foot in the middle of the board, step to the nose with the back foot, and bring the nose to the back, spinning the board 180 around the centre foot. With practice this move can be done quite fast and many times in a row.

Tic-Tacs and the Space Walk

Tic-tacs are where the front wheels are lifted, brought 45 degrees to one side, touched down, lifted again, brought 45 degrees to the other side and repeated, making a tic-tac sound as the wheels touch down. Using momentum, a skater can use this move to gain speed and even climb gentle hills. A space walk is exactly the same but the front wheels do not touch the ground.

Handstand

Basically doing a handstand on a moving skateboard. Many variations evolved from this, including one-hand handstands, headstands, frogstands, handstand wheelies, etc. Rodney Mullen can do kickflips (punchflips?) out of handstands, landing on his feet.

Rail Stand

A rail stand is when one edge of your board is on the ground and you are standing on the other, usually with your feet also on the wheels. From this position you can do many tricks, including flips, 180s, 360s and combinations of the above (landing into another railstand if you wish), caspers, etc.

Primo Slide

This is like a rail stand but done while moving, so you slide along the ground on the side of you board. Named for its inventor, Primo Desiderio.

Finger flip

A predecessor to the kickflip, this trick involves reaching down with the front hand, jumping off the board, flipping the board on its axis, and landing back on it. Double- and triple-fingerflips have also been done, as well as 180 fingerflips, where the board is rotated 180 as well as flipped with the hand.

Old School Kickflip

Like the kickflip, but done standing with feet parallel in the middle of the board, so it could be done on old boards that lacked the nose and tail of modern boards.

Old School 360 Flip

Like the Old School Kickflip, but one foot is closer the nose, and the other is closer to the tail

Hang Ten Wheelies

A classic freestyle trick, this move involves putting both feet at the nose of the board and lifting the back wheels off the ground and balancing while moving. Other manual tricks are one-footed manuals and one-wheel manuals, which are self explanatory but very difficult to pull off.

50-50

This trick is similar to a casper, with the board upside-down, but the back foot is standing on the back truck. The 50-50 is done with a hand holding the nose of the board, or it can be done with the front foot holding up the nose. In this case it is called a No-Hand 50-50.

Sidewinder

The trick is actually a type of transfer from a 50-50 to a casper, where the back hand grabs the back truck (the one with the back foot on it), the front foot is placed on the nose of the board, and the weight is transferred to the front foot, while the back foot moves from the back truck to under the board, to the casper position.

Pogo

Done with the board straight up and down, this move uses the skateboard as a pogo stick. One foot is on the bottom truck, and the other usually presses on the grip tape side of the board for grip. You can grab the nose of the board or not.

Shove-it

TV Stand

This is basically a pogo handstand. Very impressive indeed!

Saran Wrap

Usually done from a pogo or 50-50 position, this trick involves the front leg tracing a circle around the nose of the board.

360s

'70s skate competitions would often have an event to see who could do the most consecutive 360 spins on a skateboard. The current world record is 163 by Russ Howell. Variations include Nose 360s, One-footed 360s, etc.

Many other freestyle tricks exist, it's up to you to make your own!

External links

• J&J Skate Skateboarding Resources
• Skateboard City
• Simplesam7's Skate Tricks Tips Page
• Bob's Trick Tips
• Transworld Skateboarding