A Variety Of Skateboarding Tricks
Apr24
Both amateur and seasoned professional skateboarders alike will tell you that there are literally hundreds of skateboarding tricks that can be executed which all fall into five general categories. Fancy footwork is required to perform flips, slides, and grinds and can all be performed on either the ground or off an edge, like a ramp or a rail. Manoeuvres like aerials, that boost you nearly into the stratosphere, as well as handplants can be performed on ramps or in pools. And, for the creatively expressive, there are freestyle and old school tricks which can all be adapted to enhance the adrenaline rush.
It either takes a good understanding of the laws of mechanics or to have a natural affinity to bend them in order for skateboarders to perform the seemingly endless variety of stunts that never cease to amaze spectators. Most feats are performed in the safety of a skate park which may be equipped with a number of ramps of varying sizes, rails, a bowl as well as various other obstacles which will provide the skater with a variety of options for them to express their individuality.
A tremendous amount of practice and skill is required to successfully execute most stunts. Injury is common and safety should always be the first consideration. Anywhere that a skateboard can negotiate is an open invitation for a trick.
The ollie, which is a jumping technique that allows the skater to jump over obstacles, is one of the most famous trick and forms the basis for most other stunts. A variety of combinations are possible and can include flips, and spins. It can also be performed with only one foot, or landed on only the front or rear wheels.
Slides, grinds, and stalls are performed on a coping or a rail and can use any part of the board, most often the tail, a truck, or the nose. When a spin or an ollie is added to the routine, it’s possible to perform something really interesting like the backside boardside. Adding handplants or footplants will gain a favorable reaction from the crowd.
When a skater drops in from either a ramp or bowl, they will usually use a technique called “pumping” in order to gain sufficient speed which will allow them to launch themselves into the air for long enough so that they can perform some of the most amazing stunts. When spins, various acrobatic leg placement, and ways of holding the board are combined, then feats like the highly acclaimed 900 degree, airwalking, and the backflip can be achieved.
Manoeuvres on the lip often include an ollie with a 180 degree spin as well as grinding and can also land on the nose. Sliding, or stalling, can be done on either the tail or the nose and can also include landing on a foot, called a footplant. A basic lip trick is the invert, where the rider plants a hand on the coping so that they are balancing upside down on the lip of the ramp with a number of variations of how the board is grabbed as well as leg placement.
Most of the thrills of skateboarding tricks comes from the enjoyment of practicing, rather than successfully executing stunts. Old school tricks, like 360 degree spins and the impossible, have produced many variations because of the pleasure of performing them. It can be asked who has more fun, the thrilled spectator or the adrenaline junkie rider?


