Skateboarding - http://maxpages.com/danman/Grinds

Frontside:
This is the first trick you should learn, and it's also the most basic trick as well. You can do this at any speed, so if you're learning, approach the rail/curb at a slow speed. When you're near the rail/curb, keep your eyes on the obstacle on a specific spot, jump while turning 90 degrees in the air, and land on the obstacle in between the two middle wheels of your skates. If you do not spread your legs, your momentum will sweep you, and you will fall. It is much easier to land with your legs apart. When you're grinding the rail, try to keep your balance in the middle, and above it, if it is a rail. When grinding curbs, you might have to grind at a 45 degree angle to the curb!

Backside:
You can do almost every trick backside, but the easiest of them all is the plain old backside grind. This is only just a little more difficult than the frontside grind, since you can't see the obstacle you're grinding the same way you can when you're frontside grinding. When you approach the obstacle, it is even more important that you spot the place where you want to land. Practise jumping up and down on steps or something like that
first, and be sure that you have it every single time. As I mentioned before, you can do a lot of tricks backside, - just to mention a few: Backside unity, royale, fahrvergnugen, backslide, and fahrvergnugen. When you backside grind, you have to remember, that you need to approach the obstacle from the other direction to get the same position.

Soul:
This is another basic trick, that is very easy to master! Put your back foot in soul position - that is: put your back foot parallel to the obstacle you're grinding, so that the outside sole of your boot is on the obstacle. Instead of grinding with the rail/curb between your middle wheels, you turn the souling foot 90 degrees, and plant the outside soul on the obstacle. The foot you're resting on the outside sole is known as your soul
foot. In the soul grind, your back foot is in soul position, while your front foot is like in a frontside. When you skate to the object, you want to skate to it straight on,
unless you're spinning to it. Jump a little above the obstacle, to see exactly where you're going to position your feet. Lots of beginners step into the grind, by first putting the back foot onto the obstalce, and then the front foot. Forget it! It will not work when you're going to grind real things like rails or ledges - it also looks terrible. If you're grinding round things like copings and rails, it will be easier to keep the balance by bending your souling foot over the rail, so that the knee of your souling foot is resting on the opposite side of the obstacle that you jumped to the obstacle from. You also need to bend your ankle. If you're grinding ledges or curbs, you need to have your soul foot perpendicular on the obstacle or else your souling foot will slide out of the soul position. Put the weight on the souling foot - your back foot in this case. This is the case for almost every grind with a souling foot in it. To add style, try to get as low as possible - this is called a 'lowrider soul'.

Acid:
The acid grind is very similar to the soul grind. The only thing you do differently, is that you turn your front non-souling foot on the other side so that it grinds on the outside frame instead of the inside like in a soul grind. The weight should be on the souling skate - plain and simple! When doing topsides, this is easier than the soul!
When doing a topside soul, you cannot have your upper body over the obstacle you're grinding, but you need to have an angle of about 45 degrees. When doing a topside acid, your upper body is above the obstacle, since it comes naturally by the way you
have to bend your front leg. If you get really low, and your front non-souling foot is grinding only on the outside boot, the trick is called acid soul. This is only when you're grinding on the boot, not when the outside frame touches as well.

Mizou:
The mizou can be one of the most stylish tricks there is, but if done the wrong way, it
looks really dull! It is also one of the easiest tricks you can do, some people even say it is easier than the soul grind. Put your weight forward on the soul foot. Try to get as low as possible to add style - so that the non-souling foot is grinding on the inside boot and not the frame. To maintain balance, turn your body as you would with a backside. Otherwise, you will not be able to keep the trailing foot in the same position. There are many ways to make this trick stylish. Some like to have the trailing foot perpendicular to the obstacle your grinding, some like it, when the soul foot and the trailing foot are placed close together - some like it the opposite way, with the trailing
foot as far away as possible from the souling foot.

Mistrial:
The Mistrial is a mizou with the back foot in royale position. In other words, the
back foot is grinding on the outside frame and outside boot as well. It is important to put as muchweight as you can on the front foot, and lean forwards. If not,you will fall backwards and hurt yourself really bad. This can be hard in the beginning if you're used to doing mizous and sweatstances. Since it is hard to bend your back foot so much that it is resting on the outside frame and boot, you almost have to make the back skate touch
the front souling skate. This is critical to your balance, since you have more balance the wider your legs are apart. When done alleyoop, you have to put a lot of weight on the
souling foot. When grinding alleyoop and going down a rail or something like that with an angle greater than 0, you have to lean backwards, but still have your weight on your soul foot.

Sweatstance:
Sweatstance is another name for a topside mizou, but is a little different than the mizou.
It originated from the kindgrind. This trick is a good one for practising topsides, since you can see your souling skate - you can not do that when you're topside souling.
When approaching the obstacle, spot your landing. It might help if you bend your souling ancle a little, so it is ready for the topside. Land with the souling foot at the spot in topside position. This is the main thing you have to concentrate on, the back foot will come automaticly. Your weight should be on the front foot. When doing topsides, you can't have your upper body right over the obstacle - you need to grind the obstacle with an angle of 45 degrees or less. Since you have this angle, you can't stay on the rail forever, so you need to grind with a nice speed to grind a long rail or curb. When you have more speed on the grind, you will also have less problems with maintaining the balance - just like riding a bicycle.

Kindgrind:
Kindgrind is another name for an alleyoop topside mizou, or an alleyoop sweatstance, although the kindgrind was 'invented' before the sweatstance. I found it a lot easier to
practise sweatstances before I did the kindgrind, especially because I wasn't good at
topsides. The sweatstance is really easy, so when you have got that, you just go backwards instead. When doing this trick on halfpipes and quarterpipes, it is not a big change from going backwards or forwards, but when you're going down a rail, this is a little harder. I find it easiest to launch the trick with a 180 off the ground - in that case you can spot your landing. Be sure to keep your upper body as much over the rail as possible, having in mind that your soul foot should be topside. This will make you keep
your balance, and you can bail out - if you're loosing your balance. You can put the weight practicly anywhere, since this trick is a 'well balanced' trick - it will not sweep yourself away if you lean the wrong way, although I prefer putting my weight on the souling foot. If your back foot is perpendicular to the rail, you have to put
your weight on the souling foot. When done on halfpipes, quarterpipes, and curbs/ledges, you can't have your upper body directly over the obstacle. You need to have an angle of about 45 degrees. Especially when doing rails and ledges that goes downhill, it is
important to have your souling foot as far back as possible, so that it won't sweep your momentum away. When skating street, it is easier to head straight for the obstacle,
and then turn 180 degrees around, instead of approaching the obstacle in a circle, and then turning only 90 degrees while jumping out into the obstacle. When you do this, it is easier to maintain the balance throughout the whole obstacle. Read the guide to mizous for tips on style.

Pornstar:
The pornstar is always done alleyoop - grinding backwards - if it is done grinding forwards, it is called a forward pornstar. The position of your feet is somehow like a mizou: Your front foot is in soul position, and your back foot is grinding on the outside boot or frame. Once you've got it, there is not much to it. The hardest part of the trick is landing it - once you've locked in, it isn't a big problem to do the whole obstacle. You have to concentrate on having all your weight on your souling foot.
The typical beginner mistake is that the skater can't judge exactly how high up the obstacle is, or is concentrating too much on the soul foot - putting all the weight on the soul foot, and therefore having the soul foot lower than the trailing foot when
landing. - The typical thing that goes wrong with this trick is the soul foot being too low when trying to land the trick. Solution: Jump higher! When grinding downhill on curbs and ledges, you need to have your soul foot longer up the obstacle than your head is. You also need to lean backwards. If your soul foot is the right foot then look over your left shoulder. If it is the left foot, then look over your right shoulder.

Royale:
Royale is a variation of the frontside grind. Your front foot is like in a normal frontside, but your back foot is grinding on the outside edge. To do so, you need to bring your back foot in, and push your ankle over, so that you ride on the outside frame, - you might ride on the outside boot as well. Lots of skaters practise the
royale by landing in frontside, and then slowly switching to royale, but this kind of practise will not make you any better, you'll just have to relearn the whole trick from scratch. The landing is the most difficult part about this grind - when you have landed in the right way, nothing will get you down from the obstacle! Try to keep your weight in the front as much as possible - otherwise your momentum will sweep you away. Land with as
spread legs to keep the balance, and then lean forwards, but not specifically on the front foot. When learning the royale, you can lean as much weight as possible in the front, and then just keep the back foot trailing afterwards in the royale position. When you get the feel of the royale grind later, you can put weight on the back foot. When you do so, it is easier if you grind on the frame AND on the outside boot. This will lock the skate to the position. If you look straight down on your skates, your back foot should
be a little behind the spot you're looking at. Like all other tricks, this trick looks best when you're as low as possible. For some skaters, the royale is really hard, but for others, it comes naturally. For those who think it's hard, well...just keep practising, because it will get there if you just try hard enough.When you're an experienced 'royale grinder', the next thing you should learn is the backslide!

Fahrvergnugen:
There are many names for this trick. We prefer calling it fahrvergnugen, but other sources call it alleyoop royale, full torque, reverse royale. In the beginning, it was only called fahrvergnugen, but I guess people couldn't figure out how to spell it. Just for you who doesn't know - 'fahrvergnugen' is German, and means 'driving pleasure' - and that is really what this grind is. It is one of the most stylish looking tricks you can do. In slang terms it's also called a 'nugen'. The fahrvergnugen is the opposite of a royale. Your front foot is grinding on the outside edge of your skate, and your back foot is like in a frontside. When doing the fahrvergnugen, you have to keep all of your weight on your front foot, but keeping your body weight as backward as possible. If you don't lean backwards, your front skate will stick to the obstacle, and you'll stumble over your front foot. If you look straight down, your front foot should be a little ahead of the spot you're looking at. Getting the front skate as low as possible, so that it will ride on the outside frame and the outside boot as well, will result in more stability, since the skate will be locked to the obstacle. The trick is easier when you grind downhill; then it is easier to lock your skate like this. It is so much easier to maintain balance if you do the trick in lowrider style. Many skaters prefer doing this trick backside. If you do so, you can get your knees in an angle of about 45 degrees, which will look better, and probably also easier for the majority. When you do it backside, remember to have your skates placed perpendicular on the obstacle, so that (especially your front skate) your feet won't slide into mizou position.

Makio:
Makios look good, and they are easily mastered, if you have learned the basics as soul grinds. Basicly, a makio grind is just a soul grind, but you lift the non-souling front foot. Preferebly, it is also grabbed with one of your hands. I'll give you some tips if you just can't get the trick down:
If you are normally doing soul grinds by having the weight in the middle, this trick will fool you the first couple of times. If the weight is in the front, you will fall right on your nose. You need to lean backwards, so that your skate will not catch any scratches or holes in the obstacle you're grinding. If done alleyoop, you have to lean your weight on the toe, but not too much, or you will fall on your nose again! When grinding rails and other things that goes down, be sure to have your souling foot in the same angle as the obstacle that is going down. If not done so, you will land on your heel, and if your skate locks in, you will fall backwards. You can get low for style. The makio is near always done by grabbing your non-souling skate. There are several different grabs you can do, for instance the rocket makio - your none-souling skate is held straight out, safetygrab makio - you just grab your non-souling skate with hand of the non-souling foot's side, etc. Doing the makio fowards has become a little oldschool, so this trick is preferably done alleyoop.

Fishbrain:
Fishbrains are considered one of the most stylish tricks out there - it is also one of the hardest to do, when you're not considering truespin grinds, etc.. The fishbrain is a topside makio - in other words, you are topside souling with one foot, and grabbing the other with your hand. Unlike the makio, this trick isn't as easy. When doing the makio, you can have your upper body over your souling foot - but that isn't possible when doing a topside - here you need to have your upper body to one of the sides of the obstacle... If you are normally doing soul grinds by having the weight in the middle, this trick will fool you the first couple of times. If the weight is in the front, you will fall right on your nose. You need to lean backwards, so that your skate will not catch any scratches or holes in the obstacle you're grinding. If done alleyoop, you have to lean your weight on the toe, but not too much, or you will fall on your nose again! When grinding rails and other things that goes down, be sure to have your souling foot in the same angle as the obstacle that is going down. If not done so, you will land on your heel, and if your skate locks in, you will fall backwards. It is hard to stay on the rail for a longer time. If you are having troubles staying on the rail for more than 1 second or so, try to approach the rail with an angle of 20 degrees, so that you will kind of jump into the obstacle. If you miss the trick though, it will hurt real bad, since your souling foot will slide right over the obstacle if planted a little too high. To learn the trick, you can think that you're going to land a farside makio - i.e. landing on the opposite site of the rail in makio position. When you've done that a couple of times, you can practise on getting low, so that your souling foot is 100% topside. When doing the trick on halfpipes and quarterpipes, you need to lean out into the ramp a lot. This is the case with all topside tricks, but it's especially important when doing the fishbrain and the alleyoop fishbrain. You can get low for style. The fishbrain is near always done by grabbing your non-souling skate. There are several different grabs you can do. The most used grab was the rocket fishbrain, but it has become too oldschool. If you want to get respect...the rocket fishbrain is not exactly a good trick to do. Instead, do a safetygrab or a crossgrab, etc. When doing the alleyoop fishbrain, it is important that you lean backwards, but still having your weight on the soul foot.

Fishbrain:
Fishbrains are considered one of the most stylish tricks out there - it is also one of the hardest to do, when you're not considering truespin grinds, etc.. The fishbrain is a topside makio - in other words, you are topside souling with one foot, and grabbing the other with your hand. Unlike the makio, this trick isn't as easy. When doing the makio, you can have your upper body over your souling foot - but that isn't possible when doing a topside - here you need to have your upper body to one of the sides of the obstacle... If you are normally doing soul grinds by having the weight in the middle, this trick will fool you the first couple of times. If the weight is in the front, you will fall right on your nose. You need to lean backwards, so that your skate will not catch any scratches or holes in the obstacle you're grinding. If done alleyoop, you have to lean your weight on the toe, but not too much, or you will fall on your nose again! When grinding rails and other things that goes down, be sure to have your souling foot in the same angle as the obstacle that is going down. If not done so, you will land on your heel, and if your skate locks in, you will fall backwards. It is hard to stay on the rail for a longer time. If you are having troubles staying on the rail for more than 1 second or so, try to approach the rail with an angle of 20 degrees, so that you will kind of jump into the obstacle. If you miss the trick though, it will hurt real bad, since your souling foot will slide right over the obstacle if planted a little too high. To learn the trick, you can think that you're going to land a farside makio - i.e. landing on the opposite site of the rail in makio position. When you've done that a couple of times, you can practise on getting low, so that your souling foot is 100% topside. When doing the trick on halfpipes and quarterpipes, you need to lean out into the ramp a lot. This is the case with all topside tricks, but it's especially important when doing the fishbrain and the alleyoop fishbrain. You can get low for style. The fishbrain is near always done by grabbing your non-souling skate. There are several different grabs you can do. The most used grab was the rocket fishbrain, but it has become too oldschool. If you want to get respect...the rocket fishbrain is not exactly a good trick to do. Instead, do a safetygrab or a crossgrab, etc. When doing the alleyoop fishbrain, it is important that you lean backwards, but still having your weight on the soul foot.

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Page Updated Wed Jun 13, 2001 1:30am EDT