Skateboarding Tricks: The San Fransisco Flip

The San Francisco flip: is a type of truck transfer where the rider enters a no handed 50-50 stand and does a no handed carousel to cross footed no handed 50-50. The trick has been recently made popular by sailor and freestyle skateboarder Mike McCabe. He has also been known to do them blind folded. Gunter mokulys has also been known to do the trick.

Source: wikipedia

Skateboarding Tricks: Sal Flip

Sal Flip

foto: flicker

Sal flip: it's invented by Salvador Lucas Barbier (Sal Barbier). In motion this trick mimics a Fingerflip and a 360 Pop Shove-It. While riding forward, the rider mildly hits the tail like a Backside Pop Shove-It. At about 45 degrees into the rotation with the leading hand, catch the nose with the palmside of the hand touching the grip tape (thumb underneath) with an elbow motion, flare the board forward and outward for the rest of the rotation (315 degrees) with the feet up and out of the way until the rotation is complete . depending on air time the feet may 'catch' the board in mid air or casing the trick at touchdown. On flat ground this trick may not 'flare' as much and may look similar to a (palmside) Fingerflip that 'pirouettes' vertically using more of a wrist motion as opposed to an elbow motion. The higher the rider goes the more exaggerated the movement can be, IE instead of a wrist or elbow rotation the rider can actually 'flare' the board with a shoulder motion.

Tricks to do Sal Flip on a skate board (Melanie Hammontree)

• Ride your skateboard in an Ollie position. This is where you are on the balls of your feet toward the front-side edge (the edge closest to your toes.) Your front foot will be back a little more than usual. Ride the board gaining a little speed so you will have momentum to do the trick.
• Pop the board up and put your back foot on the ground. You will catch the board in your left hand with four fingers on top and the thumb on the bottom. You can try practicing popping the board while you are standing still and then turning the board. This can help you when you are moving. If you get the movement down while you are standing, it will be easier to accomplish in movement.
• Take two steps while you are turning the board 180 degrees. This will all be done in a fluid motion. After the board pops, you are walking and twisting the board.
• Let go of the board and jump on to it as it falls. This will be tricky because you need to make sure the board is completely turned around and it will need to land flat. Jump high enough so that you jump on the board while it is still in the air. You do not want to jump on the board when it lands.
• When you land the trick, you will go into a manual and ride the trick out. This is where you will apply a little pressure to the front of the board and the back wheels come off the ground. From here, you can go into your next trick.

Source: wikipedia, ehow

Varial-Skateboarding

Originally a Varial was a Frontside Air where the skater reached between the legs and grabbed the board on the heel edge with the back hand (now known as a Roastbeef grab), then turned the board 180 degrees frontside with the hand before putting it back on the feet and landing. Like all Frontside Airs at the time, they were performed without an Ollie (early-grab). This version, however, is not very common anymore. Tony Hawk invented the Backside Varial in the late 80s, adding an Ollie in the process. Before long, 360 Varials, where the skater turns the board 360 degrees backside and grabs it, became commonplace. After the invention of the Kickflip Indy, most professional vert skaters had to be able to perform one to win a contest, and soon they were looking for ways to increase the difficulty. One of the ways was to spin the board 180 degrees during the Kickflip, which ended up being called a Varial Kickflip Indy. Somehow the term filtered back in to street skating and it became common for a Kickflip combined with a Pop Shove it (180 spin of the board) to be called a Varial Kickflip. Some have even gone so far as to drop the "kickflip" from the name altogether, calling a Kickflip Shove-it a "Varial." However, vertical skateboarders still use the term Varial to describe any trick involving spinning the board and grabbing it.

Source: wikipedia

Grinds-Skateboarding-

Grinds are a form of skateboarding trick where the skateboarder slides on the hangers of the trucks. Grinds are performed on any object that may fit between the space between the wheels where the truck meets. Grind rails are also sold commercially.

The move likely originated in backyard pools, as the early skaters gained in skill and confidence with their high speed carves around the top of the pool walls and one day went that little bit too high. The trucks of the time, often being merely 'borrowed' rollerskate trucks, didn't allow much contact due to their inherent narrowness, but as skateboarding gained its own truck manufacturers who widened the hanger design, the possibilities for exploration became apparent, and all sorts of moves started popping up. Nowadays they are commonly performed on handrails or on the lips of objects such as benches, but any suitably hard, smooth edge will do.

Source: wikipedia

Photo: amazon

Skate Bearings

Each skateboard wheel is mounted on its axle via two ball bearings. With few exceptions, the bearings are the industrial standard "608" size, with a bore of 8 mm, an outer diameter of 22 mm, and a width of 7 mm. These are usually made of steel, though silicon nitride, a high-tech ceramic, is sometimes used. Many skateboard bearings are graded according to the ABEC scale. The scale starts with ABEC1 as the lowest, 3, 5, 7, 9. It is a common misconception that higher numbers are better for skateboarding, as the ABEC rating only measures tolerances, which do not necessarily apply to skateboards. The ABEC rating does not determine how fast or how durable a bearing used for skateboarding will be. In particular, the ABEC rating says nothing about how well a bearing handles axial (side-to-side) loads, which are severe in most skateboard applications. Many companies do not show the ABEC rating, such as Bones Bearings, which makes bearings specifically for skateboarding. These bearings are usually called Swiss or ceramic and are better for skating.

source: wikipedia

Skateboard Wheels

The wheels of a skateboard, usually made of polyurethane, come in many different sizes and shapes to suit different types of skating. Larger sizes like 65–90 mm roll faster, and also move more easily over cracks in pavement. Smaller sizes like 48–54 mm keep the board closer to the ground, require less force to accelerate and produce a lower center of gravity, but also make for a slower top speed. Wheels also are available in a variety of hardnesses usually measured on the Shore durometer "A" scale. Wheels range from the very soft (about Shore A 75) to the very hard (about Shore A 101). As the A scale stops at 100, any wheels labeled 101A or higher are harder, but do not use the appropriate durometer scale. Some wheel manufacturers now use the "B" or "D" scales, which have a larger and more accurate range of hardness.
Modern street skaters prefer smaller wheels (usually 45–55 mm), as small wheels with lighter trucks can make tricks like kickflips and other flip tricks easier by keeping the center of gravity of the skateboard closer to the deck, thus making the deck easier to spin. Street wheels are often quite hard as this allows the wheels to slide easier on waxed surfaces for bluntslides and nose/tailslides. Vertical ramp or "vert" skating requires larger wheels (usually 55–65 mm), as it involves higher speeds. Vert wheels are also usually very hard, which helps to maintain speed on ramps. Slalom skating requires even larger wheels (60–75 mm) to sustain the highest speeds possible. They also need to be soft and have better grip to make the tight and frequent turns in slalom racing. Even larger wheels are used in longboarding and downhill skateboarding. Sizes range from 65 mm to 100 mm. These extreme sizes of wheels almost always have cores of hard plastic that can be made thinner and lighter than a solid polyurethane wheel. They are often used by skateboard videographers as well, as the large soft wheels allow for smooth and easy movement over any terrain.

Source: wikipedia

Trucks

Attached to the deck are two metal (usually aluminum alloy) trucks, which connect to the wheels and deck. The trucks are further composed of two parts. The top part of the truck is screwed to the deck and is called the baseplate, and beneath it is the hanger. The axle runs through the hanger. Between the baseplate and the hanger are bushings, also rubbers or grommets, that provide the cushion mechanism for turning the skateboard. The bushings cushion the truck when it turns. The stiffer the bushings, the more resistant the skateboard is to turning. The softer the bushings, the easier it is to turn. A bolt called a kingpin holds these parts together and fits inside the bushings. Thus by tightening or loosening the kingpin nut, the trucks can be adjusted loosely for better turning and tighter for more control.

Longboard specific trucks are a more recent development. A longboard truck has the king pin laid at a more acute angle (usually between 38 and 42 degrees) to the deck, this gives a lesser degree of turning for the same tilt of the deck. This adds stability and allows riders to go much faster while still maintaining stability and control.

Source: wikipedia

Deck

Most decks are constructed with a seven to nine-ply cross-laminated layup of Canadian maple. Other materials used in deck construction, fiberglass, bamboo, resin, Kevlar, carbon fiber, aluminum, and plastic, lighten the board or increase its strength or rigidity. Some decks made from maple ply are dyed to create various different coloured ply. Modern decks vary in size, but most are 7 to 10.5 inches wide. Wider decks can be used for greater stability when transition or ramp skating. Skateboard decks are usually between 28 and 33 inches long. The underside of the deck can be printed with a design by the manufacturer, blank, or decorated by any other means. The longboard, a common variant of the skateboard, has a longer deck. This is mostly ridden down hills or by the beach. This was created by two surfers; Ben Whatson and Jonny Drapper. One of the first deck companies was called "Drapped" taken from Jonny's second name. "Old school" boards (those made in the 1970s–80s or modern boards that mimic their shape) are generally wider and often have only one kicktail. Variants of the 1970s often have little or no concavity, whereas 1980s models have deeper concavities and steeper kicktails.

Grip tape, when applied to the top surface of a skateboard, gives a skater's feet more grip on the deck. It is most often black but can come in a variety of colors including clear, allowing the top of the deck to be decorated. It has an adhesive back and a sandpaper like top.

source: wikipedia

Skateboard

Skatingboard is the act of riding on or performing tricks with a skateboard. A person who skateboards is referred to as a skateboarder or skater.

A Skateboard is a four wheeled piece of wood used for the activity of skateboarding. The modern skateboard originated in California in the late 1950s. By the mid 1960s they were mass produced and sold throughout the United States.

A skateboard is propelled by pushing with one foot while the other remains on the board, or by pumping in structures such as a pool or half pipe. A skateboard can also be used by simply standing on the deck while on a downward slope and allowing gravity to propel the board and rider.

There is no governing body that declares any regulations on what constitutes a skateboard or the parts from which it is assembled. Longboards are a type of skateboard with a longer wheelbase and larger and softer wheels.

Skateboarding Glossary of "A"

Air: is riding with all four wheels off the ground; short for aerial.