How to Frontside Boardslide on a Skateboard
Santa Monica and Venice Beach skate coach Coyote Rob shows us how in today's online skateboard lessons!
Approach a grindable rail at an almost-parallel angle. Ride up to the rail frontside so your chest and toes are facing the rail. You need to be almost completely parallel to the rail, but slightly angled towards it to help you get up and land on it.
You will need to find a normal round or flat rail to execute this trick.
Wear a helmet and elbow/knee pads to protect yourself from getting injured if you fall.
Push a few times to gain enough speed to allow you to execute the trick. Make sure that you will have enough momentum to slide along the whole rail. Start far back enough that you can reach your top comfortable speed before you reach the rail.
Start with the shortest rails you can find to practice this trick. Once you get the technique down, you can start trying it on longer rails.
Place your feet in the regular ollie position as you get close to the rail. Stop pushing and turn your body 90 degrees so both your feet are on the board in the ollie position. Keep your eyes on the part of the rail you want to land on.
Your hips and shoulders will do a lot of the work in this trick.
Crouch down and get ready to pop your ollie. Lower your center of weight and get ready to ollie onto the spot you want to land on the rail. Start lifting yourself up from the crouching position right before you are going to ollie.
Start visualizing the ollie and looking at where you want to land on the rail as you approach it. It will take some practice to coordinate all the body movements together.
Pop the ollie and rotate your board 90-degrees in mid-air. Pop the tail of the board and start rotating with your hips and shoulders as soon as the board is in the air. Start guiding the front trucks of the board over the rail so that you will land with the middle of the board on the rail.
Rotate your hips to the front, so that they will be facing backwards when you land.
Land the middle of the board on the rail and center your weight. Land your board as perpendicular to the rail as possible. Keep your feet above the trucks of the board to distribute your weight evenly.
Make sure not to lean back as you land to avoid wiping out.
Bend your knees and use your arms to balance as you slide along the rail. Don’t lean too much either way. Use your arms to tilt you back in the other direction if you start leaning too much. Keep your knees bent slightly to help keep your weight centered.
Keep looking in the direction you are sliding and be prepared to dismount as you approach the end.
Rotate back to the straight riding position as you exit the rail. Turn your board back to the straight riding position by twisting your shoulders and hips back 90 degrees. Keep the board level in the air and your weight centered as you slide off the rail.
Get ready to land the trick and ride away clean.
Land all 4 wheels of the board flat at once and roll away straight. Use your arms to balance and bend your knees when you land to absorb the impact. Roll away in a straight riding position.
It will take practice to get the hang of this trick! Keep doing it over and over until you learn to balance yourself for the slide and land smoothly.