A rock to fakie is a half pipe trick in which the front wheels of your skate board roll over the coping/top of the ramp and pause on the deck before you roll back in the ramp backwards, or fakie. Physically the maneuver is not very difficult, but mentally it can be scary if you’re not comfortable/familiar with fakie. So get very comfortable rolling backwards on everything you can find to prepare yourself for this trick.

That being said the rest is pretty simple. Find a quarter pipe or half pipe that isn’t bigger than you are comfortable with. If you can find one without coping this trick will be a cake walk. You need to hit the ramp going forward with enough speed that your front wheels roll up and over the top. The middle of your skateboard deck should contact the coping/edge of the ramp and pause there momentarily.

After you hang out on the lip for a sec the key is to lean back away from the ramp and lift your front wheels by pressing on your tail and allowing your front leg to rise up out of the way. As you roll back into the ramp backwards/fakie you need to keep your front wheels up until you clear the coping/lip of the ramp. Only after you clear the lip put enough pressure on your front foot to lower your wheels back to the ground WITHOUT LEANING FORWARD. If you lean forward at all on this trick you will wipe out. Keep leaning back away from the ramp and stay low, bending at the knees. It’s as simple as staying on and leaning back. If you can fight the natural instinct to lean forward you wont fall.

A common mistake with this trick is lifting the front wheels on the way up toward the lip of the ramp. When you lift the wheels too soon (while you are still traveling up the ramp) you will drop them down right on the coping/lip and cause a “hang up.” Hang ups make you fall fast and fall hard so try to avoid lifting your front wheels to early.

Think of this trick in steps- Roll On, Lean Back, Lift Off. As always been your knees to land it. This one takes a few trys but it’s worth it, so don’t give up. Good Luck!

-Professional Skate Instructor

Mandy Esch

360SkateSchool.com

Popularity: 29% [?]

It’s Friday night. I get an invitation to a private warehouse skate session. Upon arriving I scope out the lot and can see that my connect is not yet present. However, the roll up door is open and the familiar clickity clack sounds coming from inside tell me the session is already on. I grab my skate and head inside. As I approach there is a pause from within the building. Skaters look at me, then look to each other seeking recognition on someone’s face to explain my presences. When there is none an awkward moment hangs in the air until a kick flip breaks the silence and the session resumes. With all the skaters focused on their own tricks I’m left in the doorway with a choice; head to the car and wait for my friend to arrive as proof that I was indeed invited, or simply barge the session.

I’m not the type to sit around when there are ramps to be ridden so I head to the empty bowl and warm up. I stick with my basic tricks, 50-50s, frontside ollies, yada yada. As I loosen up and begin busting a few more tricks out of my bag I can feel that eyes are on me and hear a few skate claps in the background. I get the feeling that even tough no one knows who I am or why I’m here that I’ve earned my ticket in with a few tricks. But the thing is that no one says a word to me. There is no “hello.” No, “my name is.” Not even a what’s up nod from one single person. I think “forget it this private warehouse with its well designed layout, obviously a training facility for a clothing line’s skate team, is too good to pass up.” I’m not about to let some weird vibe rob me of a killer time. So I skate. I skate the bowl alone and then join the boys on the street course. I take turns, follow edict, pull some good tricks, and still not a word. I felt like a ghost. I am somehow accepted but never really acknowledged.

Just then I hear the rumble of my friend’s diesel truck outside. With in seconds he’s inside giving high fives and greeting his buddies. He walks over to me and says, “guys this is Mandy, she rips.” And with that simple statement I receive nods, waves, and a few wad ups. A skater resting near by asks how long I’ve been skating. All of a sudden I’m a human being again. Common courtesy granted now that my homie gave permission. I was now allowed to have conversations with these guys that I’d just spent forty-five min. skating with in silence. Thing is that they all turned out to be really nice people. I enjoyed getting to know them and even went out for drinks with them after words.

What I want to know is what if my buddy never showed up that night? Would I have been ignored all night? What if I was just learning to skate, just starting out? If I was spotted struggling with a kick turn in the bowl would I have been stopped and asked to leave? Why is it ok to vibe people so hard in this sport that I LOVE? Even in a group of nice people common courtesy is not common. Why do we leave our manners at home when we go skate?

Popularity: 14% [?]

Tranny Grinding

When it comes to half pipe skating, grinds are of colossal importance. Starting with a fifty-fifty can open you up to a world of grinding options. So here are a few tips to help you cope with the coping.

Start with a fifty-fifty stall somewhere small like a mini ramp or quarter pipe.

You’ll need enough speed to get your back truck up to the top and confidence is crucial. Warming up with kick turns at coping can help. Once you’ve enough speed to get up there lock the back truck on first. The coping should be right under your bolts and your knees should be slightly bent. Center your weight over your back foot.To lock in the front truck you MUST twist your shoulders and square them off. Swing your arms around to assist the rotation as you lower the front truck and place it on the grinding surface. Stand on both feet equally with knees bent and you are half way there. Then just press down on the tail enough to lift the front wheels slightly. Twist your shoulders again until your body and board become perpendicular to the coping. Right before your back wheel rolls over the coping shift all your weight to the front foot and press it down hard like a drop in. Bend your knees as you roll down the tranny and smile. Repeat habitually.

By Mandy Esch
Mandy is our resident Pro and owner/teacher of 360 Skate School.

Popularity: 7% [?]

There comes a point in every novice skater’s life when the push-and-glide (which used to be challenging) becomes simple and no longer thrill worthy. What’s the next logical thought at this instant: TRICKS! You see them everywhere. Kick flips on shoe ads and Target commercials. Hardflips and shove-its in your favorite video game. Flip tricks look so simple but it’s hard to know where to start.

The best place is with the 180 body varial. It is a simple trick that can be learned in no time. The varial teaches skaters how to spot the board and where to put your feet when landing more complicated tricks such as the kickflip. Here’s how it works:

Without rolling have your feet pointing the same direction, front foot on the front bolts and back foot on the tail.
Bend at the knees and jump off your skateboard leaving your board with all four wheels still on the ground. (If you kick the tail as you jump and lift the front wheels, it makes it more difficult to land right.) While still in the air, board-on-ground, spin around and face the opposite direction. (You’ll need to stay over your board) During the rotation look down at your board and land with your feet over the bolts. Bend your knees to absorb the impact and add style.

This last step is what makes this trick so helpful in the long run. Landing tricks with both feet over the bolts forces the impact of the jump into the metal trucks instead of the wooden deck. In other words, when you rip so hard that you can 360 flip a ten stair – landing on your bolts means you don’t break your deck. So learn it early. Practice the 180 varial until you can turn it in to a 360 body varial and continue to get creative with it. Varials can be added to all sorts of tricks like kickflips and boardslides. It gives your trick extra flare and bonus points for style.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Today, a birthday party invaded my skate park. but I didn’t mind ‘em. The pack of 9 year olds was fairly well mannered and did a good job of staying out of the way. They seemed pretty comfortable with most ramps in the park, but as the sun set beautifully behind the Southern Calilfornia landscape I heard a commotion by the bowl. The birthday boy was standing on the brink of the four foot transition, wheels over the edge, tail firmly planted on deck with a terrified look in his eyes, being cheered on by his buddies. They did their best to egg him on, but the little blonde kid’s nerves got the better of him. I heard him utter, “I’ll never do it” before trudging off with his eyes lowered.

That’s how if feels the first time you stand on that edge of a ramp and truly contemplate diving into a concrete or wooden abyss. Looking down from the top can rattle any new skater’s courage. It’s intimidating at first and does often lead to wiping out. But, if you’ve been walking up to the top of that ramp and it’s looking more and more feasible, apply these rules to your first attempts so you don’t get hurt:

Popularity: 5% [?]