How To Grind
The Age
Saturday May 17, 2003
This must be the powerhouse trick for all skaters. If you want to be gnarly, look no further.
1 HISTORY
There are many variations but the basic frontside grind involves creating continuous contact with the underside of the rear skateboard truck (or axle) on a structure of some kind, such as the lip of a pool. Jay Adams, Tony ``Mad Dog" Alva and Stacy Peralta pioneered many of the grinds and aerial manoeuvres that are commonplace today in the empty swimming pools of drought-affected Southern California in 1978. Since then, many councils have built skate parks or bowls that simulate this kind of pool environment.
2 THE FUNDAMENTALS
Before you attempt bowl skating you need to know the basics. The three fundamentals are: pushing off with your foot to gain speed, standing up on the board and maintaining your speed. Practice by skating down steep hills to get comfortable with speed variations. Watch how more experienced skaters do it and don't be afraid to ask for tips. Remember, skaters love to give advice.
3 THE FRONTSIDE
Once you have the fundamentals you need to become comfortable in the bowl. The key is to develop confidence carving, which involves maintaining your speed while you skate in arcs to the top of the coping or lip and transferring your weight to come back down. When you feel you have got it, get close to the lip and, using your balance and eye, work your board so one wheel comes over the lip and the truck makes contact with it. Keep all your weight on your back foot while maintaining balance. Use your momentum to push through the grind until you come to a ``natural" point where you either fall off the board or drop back safely into the bowl.
4 COMING OUT
The length of a grind depends on personal preference but on metal coping you can grind a few metres whereas ceramic or concrete surfaces reduce the length considerably. Your biggest problem now is getting your wheel back off the lip so you can ride back down the side of the bowl with all four wheels making contact with the wall. Transfer your weight like you would in a carving manoeuvre using the grind's natural waning of momentum to drop back in.
Peter Barrett talked to David J. Adair, former editor of Slam Magazine and skate park builder, and Lincoln Scutt, skateboarder from the YMCA Riverside Skate Park in Melbourne.
PROFESSIONAL BACKUP
Streetactive is an initiative of the Australian Sports Commission that encourages people to link with sports clubs and coaching opportunities in skateboarding, BMX and inline skating. Visit their website at www.streetactive.org
For a great documentary about the development of skateboarding in the United States ask for Dogtown and Z-Boys, directed by Stacy Peralta, or see the Australian doco Tic Tac 2 Heelflip, by Mike Hill, at your local video store.
© 2003 The Age