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Skateboarding Tricks & Tips: Ollie, Casper, Kickflip, Shuvit, Grind And 50 50
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Published: November 1, 2006
One slick use for the skateboard appears in the opening sequence of “Back to the Future,” when Michael J. Fox grabs the bumper of a pick-up truck and rides his skateboard all the way to school while holding onto the truck. Though great for riding short distances, skateboards are not complete without daredevil tricks.
Until a rider learns to ollie, he or she cannot move up to the popular 50-50, kickflip, shuvit, manual, 360 or varial.
If skater slang makes your head spin, you are not alone. Many skateboarding tricks have names which can be deciphered only by veterans of the sport, though others are more straightforward. For example, a grab is just what it sounds like: any trick in which the rider's hand grabs the board while he or she is in the air. On the other hand, the primo stall (a trick in which the rider stands his board up on the toe edge) and the Casper (named for its inventor, Bobby Casper Boyden) are a bit more puzzling for beginners.
Before attempting a trick as difficult as the primo stall or Casper, skaters need to learn to ollie. What is an ollie and why is it considered by many to be the most basic skateboarding trick?
A skater ollies when he or she makes the skateboard jump off the ground and look as if it is stuck to his feet while he is in the air. An ollie is the simplest way to lift the skateboard off the ground for sustained, level height, which is why it is a building block for other tricks. Invented by skateboarder Alan “Ollie” Gelfand in 1976, the ollie began as an aerial trick performed exclusively in halfpipes and was perfected for street skating in 1981.
How does a skateboarder ollie? When riding in normal stance (with dominant foot on the back of the board), the rider moves his front foot back to the center of the board and snaps the tail down with his back foot as he takes off in a jump. The further the rider bends his knees during takeoff, the higher the ollie. In midair, the skateboarder uses his front foot to level out the nose and tail of the board so he lands steadily. He then rolls out of the trick to complete the ollie.
Once lots of practice and possibly bruises see a skater through the ollie, the manual will naturally flow. A manual is essentially a different name for a wheelie. To do a manual, the skateboard rider uses his back foot to tip up the nose of the board, like in an ollie, but instead of taking off in a jump, he rolls forward on the back two wheels of the skateboard. The pop takeoff of the ollie is great practice for starting a manual, but the skater also must learn how to balance a manual on his own.
Finally, before getting into the most advanced tricks, a skateboarder should learn how to grind. Anyone who has seen someone ride down a railing on a skateboard is familiar with the grind. To perform this trick, the rider ollies the board up and slides down a rail or surface on the trucks of the skateboard (trucks are the triangle-shaped parts that hold the wheels onto the board). A 50-50 is a grind in which both trucks touch the rail or surface the rider is sliding on, while a 5-0, half of a 50-50, is when the rider slides on only one truck.
Skateboarding is a daredevil sport, and skateboarding tricks should not be taken lightly. All skateboarding tricks should be attempted only while wearing proper safety equipment, especially a regulation helmet.
Sources:
Back to the Future. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Perfs. Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd. Universal Pictures, 1985.
Casper (skateboarding trick) available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_(skateboarding _trick), last accessed September 25, 2006.
Cave, Steve. How to Manual on a Skateboard available at http://skateboard.about.com/od/tricktips/ss/HowToM anual.htm, last accessed September 25, 2006.
Ollie (skateboarding trick) available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollie_%28skateboardin g_trick%29, last accessed September 25, 2006.
Skateboarding trick available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skateboarding_trick, last accessed September 25, 2006.
Skateboarding dictionary available at http://skateboard.about.com/od/skateboardingdictio nary/, last accessed September 25, 2006.
Trick Tips available at http://www.skateboard-city.com/skateboard-trick-ti ps, last accessed September 25, 2006
Until a rider learns to ollie, he or she cannot move up to the popular 50-50, kickflip, shuvit, manual, 360 or varial.
If skater slang makes your head spin, you are not alone. Many skateboarding tricks have names which can be deciphered only by veterans of the sport, though others are more straightforward. For example, a grab is just what it sounds like: any trick in which the rider's hand grabs the board while he or she is in the air. On the other hand, the primo stall (a trick in which the rider stands his board up on the toe edge) and the Casper (named for its inventor, Bobby Casper Boyden) are a bit more puzzling for beginners.
Before attempting a trick as difficult as the primo stall or Casper, skaters need to learn to ollie. What is an ollie and why is it considered by many to be the most basic skateboarding trick?
A skater ollies when he or she makes the skateboard jump off the ground and look as if it is stuck to his feet while he is in the air. An ollie is the simplest way to lift the skateboard off the ground for sustained, level height, which is why it is a building block for other tricks. Invented by skateboarder Alan “Ollie” Gelfand in 1976, the ollie began as an aerial trick performed exclusively in halfpipes and was perfected for street skating in 1981.
How does a skateboarder ollie? When riding in normal stance (with dominant foot on the back of the board), the rider moves his front foot back to the center of the board and snaps the tail down with his back foot as he takes off in a jump. The further the rider bends his knees during takeoff, the higher the ollie. In midair, the skateboarder uses his front foot to level out the nose and tail of the board so he lands steadily. He then rolls out of the trick to complete the ollie.
Once lots of practice and possibly bruises see a skater through the ollie, the manual will naturally flow. A manual is essentially a different name for a wheelie. To do a manual, the skateboard rider uses his back foot to tip up the nose of the board, like in an ollie, but instead of taking off in a jump, he rolls forward on the back two wheels of the skateboard. The pop takeoff of the ollie is great practice for starting a manual, but the skater also must learn how to balance a manual on his own.
Finally, before getting into the most advanced tricks, a skateboarder should learn how to grind. Anyone who has seen someone ride down a railing on a skateboard is familiar with the grind. To perform this trick, the rider ollies the board up and slides down a rail or surface on the trucks of the skateboard (trucks are the triangle-shaped parts that hold the wheels onto the board). A 50-50 is a grind in which both trucks touch the rail or surface the rider is sliding on, while a 5-0, half of a 50-50, is when the rider slides on only one truck.
Skateboarding is a daredevil sport, and skateboarding tricks should not be taken lightly. All skateboarding tricks should be attempted only while wearing proper safety equipment, especially a regulation helmet.
Sources:
Back to the Future. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Perfs. Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd. Universal Pictures, 1985.
Casper (skateboarding trick) available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_(skateboarding _trick), last accessed September 25, 2006.
Cave, Steve. How to Manual on a Skateboard available at http://skateboard.about.com/od/tricktips/ss/HowToM anual.htm, last accessed September 25, 2006.
Ollie (skateboarding trick) available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollie_%28skateboardin g_trick%29, last accessed September 25, 2006.
Skateboarding trick available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skateboarding_trick, last accessed September 25, 2006.
Skateboarding dictionary available at http://skateboard.about.com/od/skateboardingdictio nary/, last accessed September 25, 2006.
Trick Tips available at http://www.skateboard-city.com/skateboard-trick-ti ps, last accessed September 25, 2006
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