Trick Tips

In this section of the site a few of the Sonsk8 boys will be showing you how we do certain skateboarding tricks. Remember that everyone has their own style so use these as guidelines and hopefully this will help you to progress and even more so, have a good time doing so :

The Ollie

The ollie is the base of basically every trick you will ever do in skateboarding so be sure to practise this as much as possible so that you will be as comfortable as you can be. If you get this right, your other tricks will be a lot easier to learn.

1. Push at a comfortable speed, remember the faster you go the better the pop.

2. Place your front foot near the middle of your board, about two inches under your bolts. Put your back foot on the tail.

3. Squat, so you can spring yourself up.

4. Kick your back foot down so you can pop as you jump up, your front foot should rub upward on your griptape.

5. Make sure you tuck your knees to your chest, picking up your back foot as well to level the board at a good height. REMEMBER you are jumping forward.

6. Then come down comfortably, both feet on the board. It will look better if both your feet are over the bolts as well as lessen the stress of impact.

7. Finally bend your legs as you touch down to give it that smooth style and roll away stocked.

Tips:

1. Learn this trick without rolling at first to get comfortable with the motions. Once you feel comfortable with the basics, you will be able to adapt to moving and going up or down things.

1. The hardest part is the timing of when to push down on the tail, when to jump, and how quickly to suck up your legs. The secret: It’s all done at the same time. The faster you do it, the easier it becomes. Think about jumping off with one foot and sucking your legs up to your chest.

The Frontside 180

This one’s a building block trick as it will help when learning frontside combo tricks.

Steps :

1. Roll at a comfortable speed, and hit your tail like you would for a normal ollie.

2. Begin to suck up your legs and the board as you turn your shoulders, and open up your hips so your chest goes toward the front.

3. Push down slightly with your front foot when you have reached the peak of your ollie. This will help guide the board through the rest of the 180-degree turn.

4. Level the board out right before you land by bending your legs and pushing down with the rear of the board.

5. Be loose when you land, and try to avoid pivoting on your front wheels too much.

Tips :

1. Learn the straight ollie first.

2. Think about jumping from one foot to the other when learning how to turn your body.

The Backside 180

There are several techniques to achieve the backside 180 ollie – here are two of them.

The Scoop Method

1. Roll at a comfortable speed on flat ground.

2. Hit your tail as if you were going to do a regular ollie, but begin to turn your shoulders (so your back is forward) as you hit the tail.

3. Let your shoulders lead your body. Your hips will follow and will turn your feet, which will turn the board.

4. Keep your center of gravity over the middle of the board. With the scoop method, the tail of the board stays low to the ground, and you may land a little on your back wheels first.

5. Compress your legs when you have come around the full 180 degrees. This will absorb the shock and will let you be smoother as you roll away.

The Pop Method

1. Roll at a slightly faster speed than for the scoop – this will allow you more time in the air.

2. Pop your tail like you would for a normal ollie, but with more force than for the scoop.

3. Ollie almost straight up into the air, turning only slightly backside. When you reach the peak of your ollie, swivel your hips to direct the rest of the turn.

4. Compress the same way as with the scoop.

The Kickflip

Once you have mastered the ollie you can start with the basic flip tricks. Combining these with 180′s and 360′s will be the next step so get cracking.

1) Start with your back foot on the tail and your front foot right under the bolts. Your front foot should be slanted just a little.

2) Bend your knees and pop your board.

3) Flick your front foot off the tip of the nose making it flip, kind of the same way you would slide it forward for a ollie but just more out to the side.

4) Suck up your legs and hold them there for the catch. Try your feet over the bolts and its easier to land your back foot first as your front foot will follow.

5) Land and absorb the shock and roll away.

Check out the video below:

The Heelflip

Once you have mastered the ollie you can start with the basic flip tricks. Combining these with 180's and 360's will be the next step so get cracking.

1) Roll fast enough that you feel like you're rolling smoothly and comfortably across the ground.

2) Set up with your back foot on the tip of the tail and your front foot just behind the front truck bolts with your toes hanging off the edge of the board. Keep your body straight– your head should be directly above the center point between your feet.

3) Bend down keeping your head above your board. (Don’t lean forward, just squat.)

4) Pop your ollie and jump with it but don’t throw your shoulders back as you go up. Right after your tail taps the ground, kick your front foot forward with the heel in a kind of diagonal direction. Kick it out in front of you but also kick it a little toward the direction in which you are rolling. This helps to give you a flip that you can see and catch easier.

5) Don’t lean back! Don’t try to bail! Catch the board, push it down and land. Roll away happy.

The 5050 grind is the easiest of all the grind tricks to learn and a really good base for all tricks to follow. Get this down and you will find it easier when trying to progress and move forward.

1) Learn to Ollie and get comfortable with ollieing while moving at a high rate of speed.

2) Find a ledge or rail to 50-50.

3) Go fast and approach the object however you want to. Some people come at a 45 degree angle and some come directly at it in line with the direction they will 50-50.

4) Keep your eye on the spot where you want to lock onto the object.

5) Ollie and lock your trucks onto the object.

6) Stand up straight and keep your balance.

7) Spot your landing and stick it.

Ride away and then take a victory run.

Backside Boardslide

Description:

While rolling the skateboarder jumps and the skateboard comes off the ground with him/her. He/she turns 90 degrees frontside and lands with the middle of the board on the obstacle. He/she slides along the center of the board then comes off the obstacle and turns 90 degrees so that he/she can land on all four wheels.

Technique:

1. Find a grindable rail, ledge, lowbox or whatever. I find it easier to do on a low, flat rail, so you might want to try there first.

2. Push a few times and get some speed. The faster you go, the longer you will be able to slide for.

3. Ride backside up to the obstacle (so that your back and heels are facing the obstacle).

4. Bend your knees and pop your tail. Ollie up over the obstacle and turn 90 degrees frontside. Make sure your front trucks clear the obstacle and land on the middle part of your board. Lean forward a little if it is a fast sliding obstacle, or back a little bit if it is a slow sliding obstacle. Keep your balance and slide until the end.

5. When you're at the end of the object begin to turn back slightly. Complete your turn back once you are off of the obstacle.

6. Land on all four wheels and ride away

Additional Help:

Problem: My board just slides out from under me.

Reason: You are probably leaning back too much, or not really giving much effort when you try to slide.

Solution: Experiment with how much you need to lean. Lean only slightly forward or slightly back at first. Keep adjusting until you can stay on and slide properly. Do not just try and jump onto the rail and expect to slide until the end. You need to concentrate on staying balanced throughout the slide.