| Aciddrop |
Skating off the end of an object without touching the board with your hands. |
| Air |
The name given to the trick of the skateboard and skater when they leave the ground/ramp . |
| Airwalk |
Airwalk This trick can be done with or without grabbing the nose; once in the air the front
foot is kicked out and the back foot is kicked back so they are in a walking type position |
| Alley-oop |
Alley-oop A spinning trick on transition that entails spinning to the right while airing to
the left, or vice versa |
| Am (amateur) |
Everyone who is not a pro |
| Anchor grind |
A grind on the front truck, with the tail pointing back, down, and away from
the obstacle |
| Backside 1. |
When a skater or his board are spinning, they are spinning backside if the
rotation leads the skater’s back or the heel edge of the board to turn immediately forward |
| Backside 2. |
When approaching an obstacle, the potential trick will be called backside
if the obstacle is on the heel side of the board upon approach |
| Backside grab / Melongrab / Melancholy / Mosquito |
Grabbing heel edge with your front hand while airing forward or backside |
| Bail 1. |
To fall |
| Bail 2. |
While in the air, deciding your not going to land your trick and kicking your board away for a hopefully painless landing. |
| Bank |
Any incline used for riding up, completing a trick, and riding back down |
| Barley grind |
An ollie 180 to switch smith grind *Named after Donny Barley |
| Beni-Hana |
A grab in which, after the ollie is initiated, the front foot pulls the board as far forward as possible, the back foot is left to hang in the air,
and the back hand grabs the tail of the board before
pulling it back under the skater's two feet |
| Bigflip |
A bigspin with a kickflip incorporated into the spin |
| Bigspin |
A trick in which the skater and his board both rotate along a vertical axis,
but the skater rotates 180 as the board rotates 360 *Alfonso Rawls named this trick after
its inventor, Brian Lotti. Rawls thought Lotti sounded like lottery, and since the board
was spinning so much during the trick he named it after the California Lottery's Big Spin. |
| Bitch Slap |
Grabbing right near the front wheel on the heel edge with your front hand,
then pushing the tail over to the left (right if goofy foot) by crossing your back
leg underneath your front leg |
| Bluntslide |
A slide on the tail or nose, with the respectful
truck resting atop the obstacle, and the opposite end of the
board pointing up and towards the obstacle |
| Boardslide |
A slide in which the nose is brought up over the obstacle
and the board slides between the two trucks |
| Body Varial |
The spinning of ones body along its vertical axis while the board does not spin |
| Bomb a Hill |
To skate down a big hill |
| Bowl |
A vert or miniramp with concave transition wrapping around 360 degrees,
forming a bowl shape |
| Burly |
A big trick involving lots of potential for pain if it is not pulled off;
a skater can be called burly if they are partial to these tricks (Jamie Thomas
and his tricks are burly) |
| Bust 1. |
A spot is a bust if you are likely to get kicked out |
| Bust 2. |
To bust a trick is to perform it successfully; you are busting if you are skating well |
| Boned |
Pushing the board out in front and pointing downwards. Performed in mid-air |
| Boneless |
Take the front foot off the board and grab the board with your hand. With your back foot still on
the board jump up. Then place your front foot back on the board and remove your hand before landing. |
| Caballerial / Full Cab |
The name given to a fakie ollie 360 |
| Carve |
The act of making big fast turns usually in a large bowl or transition |
| Casper Slide |
A slide in which the board is flipped for half of a kickflip, then caught with
the back foot on the darkside of the tail and the front foot holding up the
nose from the griptaped side of the deck, and brought down by the skater into
a slide on the peak of the tail |
| Casperflip |
A trick in which the board is flipped for half a kickflip,
then caught upside down and flipped back over and spun backside 180 degrees on its vertical axis, all while in the air |
| Catch |
To stop the board from rotating by placing your feet back on the board while in the air |
| Cess Slide |
The act of sliding sideways on all four wheels while on a transition |
| Chip |
When a piece of wood is broken off of the deck |
| Christ Air |
Once in the air, go into the crucifix position, holding the
board out to the side with one hand |
| Concave 1. |
The various curves of the deck |
| Concave 2. |
Describes a curve or transition arced inward |
| Convex |
Describes a curve or transition arced outward |
| Coping |
Any grindable and slidable material attached to an obstacle
for easier grinds and slides |
| Crooked Grind |
A grind on the front truck, with the tail pointing up, back,
and away from the obstacle |
| Curb Cut |
The transition created between the bottom of a driveway and the top of
a curb that is used as a hip |
| Darkslide |
A slide in which the board is flipped for half a kickflip,
then caught with the back foot on the darkside of the tail
and the front foot on the darkside of the nose and brought down by the
skater into a slide on the middle of the griptaped side of the deck |
| Darkside |
Your board is darkside if it is upside down;
the darkside of a deck is the side that the baseplate is mounted to |
| Deck |
The wooden part of the skateboard assembly, made usually of hard maple |
| Delamination |
The result of a manufacturers defect when the plys of
the deck become unglued and peel apart |
| Demo |
Parks and shops host demos, where pros and ams demonstrate their skateboarding. |
| Disaster |
The smacking of the center of the deck on the coping during re-entry
into a quarter pipe, mini ramp, etc. |
| Dog Piss |
Grab mute right by your front foot and kick off your back foot as if you were
a dog taking a piss, hence the name |
| Double Set |
A stairway with two sets of stairs seperated by a flat section |
| Double Sided Ledge |
A ledge that is narrower than your wheelbase, allowing for
boardslides and lipslides without any wheels sliding on top of the ledge |
| Drop In |
The act of going from a flat platform into a steep transition |
| Drop-in |
Any obstacle where a skater can place his tail on the edge of said obstacle
and lean forward to drop in to a transition of some kind |
| Dropping! |
Some skaters will yell this to prevent a collision as they drop in to a section of
a crowded park |
| Dual Durometer |
A term used to describe a wheel made with two urethanes of different
hardnesses; the core is of a hard urethane to better encase the bearing,
and the outer part is softer for a smoother ride. |
| Durometer |
The hardness of urethane used to make a wheel, measured by a number followed
by a letter; ex: 98a |
| Early Grab |
Grabbing your board before leaving the ground or the transition |
| Escalator |
On some bowls, quarters, minis or vert ramps, the escalator is the part of
the coping that is not parallel to the ground, but rather slopes from one height to another |
| Extension |
A part of a ramp where the transition extends higher than normal |
| Fakie |
You are skating fakie if your predominant foot is leading, and will
be used to initiate a trick |
| Fast plant |
A trick initiated with an ollie, the back foot then planting on
the ground and pushing off while the board is controlled by the front foot
and some kind of grab; the trick is landed with both feet on the board |
| Feeble Grind |
A grind on the back truck, with the nose pointing forward,
down, and toward the obstacle |
| Flatbar |
A rail or bar that is not sloped down stairs or an incline |
| Flatbottom |
Any flat surface at the bottom of a transition |
| Flat Ground |
Skateboarding without any obstacles, with the exception of something to trick over |
| Flatspots |
These appear as clean spots on your dirty wheels as a result of the dirty
urethane being rubbed off by the wheels sliding on some surface |
| Flip |
To flip your board is to make turn on its lengthwise axis, as in a
kickflip or heelflip; to flip your body is to go head over heals as in a McTwist |
| Fliptrick |
A fliptrick is a move that involves the board spinning on any or a
variety of its axes |
| Focus |
To break a board in half |
| Footage / Footie |
Skateboarding captured on video |
| Freeze Frame |
Take a digital picture |
| Frontside 1. |
When a skater or his board are spinning, they are spinning
frontside if the rotation leads the skater or the toe edge of the board
to turn immediately forward |
| Frontside 2. |
When approaching an obstacle, the potential trick will be called frontside if
the obstacle is on the toe side of the board upon approach |
| Frontside Flip |
The name given to a frontside ollie 180 with a kickflip |
| Frontside grab |
An indy grab while airing frontside |
| Funbox |
Any variety of box (usually wooden or concrete or metal) with grindable and slidable surfaces |
| Gap |
A distance between two riding surfaces which skaters ollie over, and
often do other more sophisticated tricks over |
| Gnarly |
Amazing |
| Goofy |
You are goofy footed if you normally skate with your left foot on the tail |
| Grab |
Using either hand to grab anywhere on the deck while in the air |
| Grind |
Any variety of tricks where the hanger(s) of the truck(s) grind(s)
along the edge of an obstacle |
| Grommet / Grom |
Little kid skaters |
| Gyrate |
see Pump |
| Half Cab |
The name given to a fakie ollie 180 |
| Halfpipe / Vert Ramp |
A ramp composed of a flatbottom with concave transition
leading to vert on both sides |
| Handrail |
A rail that is down stairs or an embankment and is of at least moderate height |
| Hang up |
While trying to drop back in off of the coping after completing a trick,
the truck that was above the coping does not clear it on the way back into the transition;
this often results in a slam, but can be pulled off by some |
| Hanger |
The largest part of the truck, it contains the axle,
pivots on the baseplate, and is used to grind on |
| Hardflip |
A trick consisting of a frontside 180 pop shuvit and a kickflip |
| Heelflip |
The rotation of the board around its lengthwise axis as a result of
kicking your front foot off the toe edge of your board |
| Hip |
The junction of two banks, transitions, or other riding surfaces which meet at
an angle, usually anywhere from slight (300 degrees) to right (90 degrees); these angles
are ridden, grinded, and flown over
|
| Hip Ollie |
An ollie off of a hip |
| Hipper |
A large, painful strawberry bruise on the hip which often becomes a hematoma,
or a swelling of blood; avoid at all cost |
| Hurricane grind |
A grind starting with an ollie 180, then the back truck (which is now in front)
is placed on the obstacle with the nose pointing back, down and towards the obstacle |
| Impossible |
This trick can be performed using either your front or back foot, and
it entails wrapping the nose or tail around its respectful foot 360 degrees |
| Indy grab |
When either airing forward or backside, grab your toe edge with
your back hand and poke your nose out |
| Invert |
A trick that entails getting upside down and supporting yourself
on one hand, usually on the coping of a ramp, as the other hand performs a grab |
| Japan |
A mute grab, tweaked frontside 9090 |
| Jetty Ledge |
A ledge that continues out laterally as an adjacent staircase or bank goes down |
| Judo |
Grab heel edge near the front wheel with your front hand and kick your
front foot off in front of you |
| K-grind |
see crooked grind |
| Kickflip |
The rotation of the board around its lengthwise axis as
a result of kicking your front foot off the heeledge of your board |
| Kickflip Underflip |
A trick consisting of a fully rotated kickflip that
is then kicked with the front foot on the dark side of the deck to send
it flipping back in the same direction that it came from |
| Kinked Rail |
A rail that is kinked or bent, increasing its difficulty |
| Land |
To perform a trick successfully |
| Late Trick |
Any trick that is executed after the board has reached
its peak height in the air, or after another trick without first touching the ground |
| Launch Ramp |
A ramp used for launching a skater in the air |
| Ledge |
Any raised surface used for grinding and sliding |
| Lien Air |
Grabbing heel edge while airing frontside *Invented by Neil Blender who
said you have to lean into it, though nowadays it is spelled as Neil's first name
written backwards |
| Line 1. |
A number of tricks performed consecutively |
| Line 2. |
A path or planned course through a park or spot |
| Lip |
The edge of any obstacle that a skateboarder rides; on ramps, the lip
usually is completed with coping; on a bank or curb, the square or angled corner is the lip |
| Lipslide |
A slide in which the tail of the board goes up and over the obstacle and
the board slides between the two trucks |
| Local |
A skater is local to a spot if he lives nearby and is skating it and ripping it
all the time |
| Lock |
see Hang up |
| Lock in |
The act of getting your board into a slide or grind position in a way that
is most stable, allowing for a lengthy maneuver |
| Madolly |
A madonna air with no grab |
| Madonna |
Grab heel edge near the front wheel with your front hand and kick your front foot
off behind you; this trick is often done to tail smack on the way back into
the tranny. Tony Hawk himself named this one after a singer as trendy as the trick itself |
| Manuel |
A trick in which the skater balances his weight over the back truck, keeping
the front wheels off of the ground |
| Manuel Pad |
Any raised surface where a skater can ollie on to one section, and drop off
another; such obstacles are used for manuals and for doing tricks onto and tricks off of |
| Method |
Grabbing your heel edge with your front hand and pulling that edge up towards
your back *named by Neil Blender who described this grab as the method for getting higher air |
| Mini Ramp |
Similar to a halfpipe, but smaller, with mellower transition and no vert |
| Mongo |
You are mongo footed, or “pushing mongo”, if you are using your leading
foot, the incorrect one, to push |
| Mute |
Grab your toe edge with your front hand while airing backside *named after
Chris Weddle, a deaf mute known for being one of the first skaters to execute this trick |
| No Comply |
Any trick that entails the front foot stepping off of the board and onto the ground
while the back foot initiates any of a number of tricks such as ollie, 180, pop shuvit, etc. |
| Nollie |
An ollie off of the nose of the board rather than the tail *originated by Natas Kaupas,
it is short for nose ollie or Natas ollie |
| Nose |
The part of the deck in front of the most forward two mounting holes which is steeper
and longer than the tail |
| Nose Bonk |
A very short nose grind involving a quick bonk of the front truck on an obstacle |
| Nose Grind |
A grind on the front truck, with the tail pointing up and back |
| Nose Manual / Nose Wheelie |
A manual performed on the front truck rather than the back |
| Nose Pick |
A stall in the nose grind position, usually involving an indy grab for control |
| Nose Slide |
A slide on the nose of the deck |
| Obstacle |
Any object that you can incorporate into a skateboarding trick |
| Old School |
Used to describe a trick or skater or pretty much anything that is representative
of an older, nearly outdated style |
| Ollie |
The basis of most other tricks, it entails using your back foot to smack the tail of
your board against the ground while your front foot pulls the board up into the air. |
| O-Vert |
Short for over vert, a transition that goes past vert so that the face of the
transition is actually facing slightly down |
| Pivot Grind |
A trick or part of a trick where the back truck is grinding atop an obstacle
for just a moment before the trick's completion |
| Play Skate |
This game is also called horse; someone starts off the game by doing a trick;
if they miss, it's the next person's turn to try their own trick; if they land it, everyone else has to try it and whoever misses gets an S;
the winner is the last one not to spell out the full word |
| Pole Jam |
Riding up and off of a pole bent diagonally out of the ground |
| Pop 1. |
The amount of snap and stiffness to a board |
| Pop 2. |
To smack the tail against the ground to initiate a trick |
| Pop Shuvit |
A trick in which the board is popped in the air where it rotates along its
vertical axis |
| Poser |
Someone who poses as a skateboarder, or anyone who tries to be something they're not |
| Pressure Flip |
Popular a few years ago, and still today with a lot of grommets, it entails
putting pressure on the correct spot of the tail to make it flip around without hardly
leaving the ground |
| Primo |
Your board is primo if it is resting on its side, axles running vertically |
| Pro (professional) |
A skater who is so good, companies want to put his/her name
on their products |
| Pro Ho |
A girl who likes hanging around with pro skaters |
| Pump |
Flexing your legs at the right spot on a transition to build up speed |
| Push |
With one foot on the board, the other pushes along the ground to get speed |
| Pyramid |
A pyramid shaped obstacle with a flat top |
| Quarterpipe (quarter) |
A ramp with only one concave transition
(two quarters positioned facing each other would make up a vert or
mini ramp, minus the connecting flatbottom) |
| Rad |
good or great |
| Rail |
Any type of railing of any size, material, and height |
| Railslide |
Sliding along an object usually a rail on the part of your deck between the trucks |
| Rasta |
A certain genre of skaters known for their laid back style, high ollies,
dreadlocks |
| Regular |
You are regular footed if you skate with your right foot on the tail |
| Revert |
A trick that is added on to the end of any other trick, and it means to
spin one's self and the board 180 after completing the initial trick |
| Ripper |
A really good and consistent skater |
| Roastbeef |
Grab your heel edge with your back hand, in front of your back leg |
| Rocket Air |
Once in the air, putting both feet on the tail facing lengthwise and grabbing the nose with both hands, keeping one's body as straight as possible so one
looks like a rocket |
| RockN'Roll |
Ramp trick were one goes up to the lip and push the front truck over it, stall , then turn 180 back down the ramp |
| Roll-in |
A smooth convex transition going from a flat platform into a steep transition |
| Sack it / Nut it |
To land on an obstacle usually a narrow one like a handrail,
right on your jewels |
| Salad Grind |
A grind on either truck, with the opposite end of the board pointing
forward, up, and towards the obstacle |
| Session |
Any time a group of skaters get together at a spot |
| Sex Change |
A body varial while doing a trick |
| Shifty / 9090 |
Shifting your board 90 degrees, with feet still in contact with the board, then
bringing it back to starting position |
| Shuffle |
A sidewards re-entry into a transition, which is then turned fakie |
| Sick |
good, cool or great |
| Skate Key |
Any tool made specifically for a skateboard |
| Skatepark |
An area, publicly or privately owned, that has a variety of obstacles designed
specifically for skating |
| Skate rock |
A term coined in the early eighties and made famous by Thrasher magazine, that
catagorizes the bands whose members rode skateboards; could be any type of music, but
is noted for its generally uptempo beats |
| Sketch or Sketchy 1. |
Used to describe an obstacle or trick when either lacks smoothness
and apparent ease |
| Sketch or Sketchy 2. |
Used to describe a person or situation that is fishy |
| Slam |
A hard fall |
| Slappie |
A grind on a ledge without ollieing |
| Slide |
Any trick in which any part of the deck is sliding atop an obstacle |
| Slob |
A mute grab while airing frontside |
| Smith Grind |
A grind on the back truck, with the nose pointing forward, down, and away from
the obstacle |
| Snake 1. |
Someone who cuts you off or steals your line at a park or spot |
| Snake 2. |
To cut someone off or steal their line |
| Spin |
To spin your board is to make it rotate on its vertical axis as in a pop shuvit |
| Spine |
A ramp consisting of two quarter pipes back to back with a narrow spine, usually
coping, separating the two |
| Sponsored |
Having your skateboarding supported by someone or some company who gives you
discounts or free product |
| Spot |
Any place any where that has anything to skate |
| Stalefish |
Grab your heel edge with your back hand, behind your back leg |
| Stall |
The act of getting your board into a sliding or grinding position on an obstacle, without
sliding or grinding |
| Stances |
The different ways you can stand on your board |
| Stick |
To land a trick solid and clean |
| Stoked |
The feeling of doing something well |
| Street Course |
The part of a skatepark with obstacles that mimic those found while street
skating |
| Street Skating |
Skating which is done using only those objects or obstacles found in the
urban environment |
| Swellbow |
When you fall on your elbow and it gets abnormally large |
| Switch |
You are skating switch when you are not using your predominant foot to initiate a trick |
| Tail |
The part of the deck in back of the furthest back two mounting holes which is
shorter and more mellow than the nose |
| Tail Slide |
A slide on the tail of the deck |
| Tail Grab |
Grab your tail with your back hand |
| Technical (tech) |
Any trick that is usually performed on flat ground or on a fairly low ledge,
that involves plenty of technical skill such as combinations of flips/spins
and slides or grinds. Also, a skater can be called tech, or a tech dog, if they
are partial to these types of tricks. (Daewon Song is a tech dog) |
| Tic Tac |
To pivot left and right on your back wheels, either as a means of acceleration
or to keep your balance when landing a trick off center, tic-ing and tac-ing your
wheels to the ground |
| Tools |
To a skater, tools are any of the following: a phillips head, hex key, 3/8" wrench, 1/2"
wrench, or 9/16" wrench, or anything else that can be used on a skateboard |
| Topsheet |
The top ply of the deck |
| Transfer |
Whenever a skater transfers from one area to another; ex: from one ramp
to another, approaching an obstacle from one side and riding away on the other side, etc. |
| Transition |
Any surface for skating that is not horizontal or vertical |
| Trick |
A trick is any maneuver performed on a skateboard |
| Triple Set |
see Double set, and go from there |
| Truck |
The axle assembly, made up of the following: hanger, baseplate, axle, kingpin,
bushings, axle nuts, bushing cups, and usually speedwashers |
| Tuck Knee |
Grabbing your toe edge right near the back wheel with your
back hand and pulling the board back as you push your knees forward |
| Tweak |
To add style to a trick be exaggerating or contorting it |
| Varial / Shuvit |
The spinning of the board along its vertical axis, without
popping the board in the air |
| Vert |
Vertical |
| Wallie |
Getting all four wheels on a vertical wall before ollieing |
| Wallride |
A trick entailing riding your board on a very steep or vertical wall |
| Wedge Ramp |
Two launch ramps, touching at one corner, with a triangle shaped platform
between them |
| Wheel |
Skateboard wheels are made of urethane; four of them let the skateboard roll |
| Wheelbite |
When too much weight is applied to one side of the board, causing the
darkside of the deck to touch a wheel and stop its rotation |
| Wheelburn |
The marks on the darkside of your deck made by wheelbite
scraping the paint off the deck |
| Wheelslide |
The technique of slowing down without putting your feet down. it is what people may commonly call a skid. |
| 180 |
Pronounced "one-eighty", a measurement of a rotation, used to describe a trick eg: 180 frontside ollie |
| 360 |
Pronounced "three-sixty" a measurement of rotation , used to describe a trick eg: 360 shove-it kickflip |
| 5 - 0 |
Pronounced " five-oh" a type of grind such as 50-50 grind |