 |
|
Skateboarding
Terms
you might want to know about!
|
# | A | B
| C | D | E
| F | G | H
| I | J | K
| L | M | N
| O |
| P | Q | R
| S | T | U | V
| W | X | Y | Z |
#'s
- 180
- Pronounced
'one-eighty'. One Hundred and eighty degrees. Measure
of rotation. Used to describe skateboarding tricks eg.
180 frontside ollie
360
- Pronounced
'three-sixty'. Three hundred and sixty degrees. Measure
of rotation. Used to describe skateboarding tricks eg.
360 shove-it kickflip
411
- Video
magazine for skateboarders. Usually released every 2 months
-
- 5-0
- Pronounced
'five-oh'. Type of grind ie. 5-0
grind. Grinding with the axle of
the rear truck on the edge of the object
50-50
- Pronounced
'fifty-fifty'. Type of grind ie.
50-50 grind. Grinding with the axles
of both trucks on the edge of the
object.
A
- A
measurement for the hardness of skateboard
wheels eg. 95A
A
ACIDDROP
- Skating
off the end of an object with ollieing
or touching the board with your hands
AIR
- The
name given to the trick of the skateboard
and skater when they leave the ground/ramp without ollieing.
AXLE
- The
metal rod running through the hanger
on which both ends you screw on your wheels.
Through time they may be known to 'slip'. This causes
one wheel to be tight and the other
loose. Taping on the tight side will knock the axle back
into place.
B
BACKSIDE
- Originated
from surfing, the direction in which you turn if you are
travelling up a wave and turn so as you back faces the
wave. Used to describe your direction of rotation in skating.
The opposite of 'frontside'.
BANK
- An
elevated surface. A common urban form of ramp.
BASEPLATE
- The
flat part of the truck that fixes to the board via four drilled holes
for truck bolts. Also has an
area to attach a pivot cup and kingpin, ready
to attach the rest of the truck.
BEARING
- The
part of the board that bears the friction of movement. There should
be two contained within each wheel.
BIGBROTHER
- A
skateboard magazine hailing from CA. Produced by
Steve Rocco. With regular pictures of naked things and
articles on such things as 'how to commit suicide' it
continues to offend certain people (mainly parents).
BIGSPIN
- A
360 degree shoveit
while turning your body 180 degrees in a backside direction.
BLUNT
- Going
up over an object and landing with the tail
along the edge of the object and the rear two wheels on top of the object. The board should then be pointing in a near vertical position.
BOARD
- Main
platform area of a skateboard. Either pro signature models or team
boards. Prone to snapping with incorrect landing of skateboarding tricks. Avalible in Slick and Stain.
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 you back
foot still on the board jump up. Then place your front
foot back on the board and remove your hand before landing.
C
CASPER
- With
the board upside down, place the front foot underneath the
board and backfoot on the tail, pointing the board into
the sky.
COMP
- Short
for competition.
CONCAVE
- The
contour given to decks. The concave will dip down from the left to right
and should be asymmetrical. Provides strength to the board
and aids the skater when performing tricks.
COPER
- Protective
covering for your truck that attaches to the hanger.
Protects your truck against grinding.
Pretty non-existant these days. Usually fell off with
too much abuse. Not for the hardcore.
COPING
- Metal
piping running along the top edge of ramps. Provides a
longer life to the ramp plus aids to the range of skateboarding
tricks eg. providing a grindable edge.
CURB
- What
coping is to ramps, is what curbs are to streets. One
of the most used and abused objects on the street for
skating. Painted curbs provide a smooth grindable
edge, though most can be made this way by applying common
candle wax.
CUSHION
- Donut
shaped rubber components found on trucks.
Slotted onto the kingpin. Provide
steering and act as shock absorbants. Can be bought in
a range of colours and hardness's. Two are needed per
truck, the one thats slightly cone
shape fitting furtherest up the kingpin.
D
DECK
- Main
platform area of a skateboard. See Deck
DELAM
- Damage
done to a deck through skating as a layer is chipped from the plywood
deck. The thin layer removed is called
a 'delam' and the name is also given to the mark left
where it once resided
DISASTER
- Placing
the rear wheels on top of an object with the rail of the board
on the edge. The front two wheels
are therefore hanging off the object.
DOWNHILL
- Skating
as fast as you can down the steepist of hills for the
greatest of adrenaline rushes. Has also developed into
a seperate area of skateboarding with special boards and techniques.
DROPIN
- As
the name suggests. Place your tail
on the platform of a ramp with your wheels
hanging over the edge ready to drop into the ramp. With
your weight on the tail, gradually move you weight forward till you end
up riding down the ramp.
E
EMB
- Embarcadero,
SF, America. Once the greatest urban mecca for skateboarding. Nowadays you'll more likely end
up with a fine than a good days skate.
F
FAKIE
- Travelling
backwards. If you where driving a car and put it into
reverse, you would be in effect of going fakie.
FAT
- Meaning
high or far. Used to express a skateboarding trick that
is performed over a long distance or to a great height.
Also spelt Phat.
FEEBLEGRIND
- Grinding
with the rear truck while the front truck goes over the top of the edge of the object. Hence
the board will be at a slight angle
to the direction of movement.
FLIP
- Developed
from freestyle skating. It involves making your board
turn upside down a variation of combinations. A flip is
generally when it completely flips over to land back on
the wheels. Flip is also a skateboard company owned by
Jeremy Fox born from a british company called Death Box.
FOCUS
- Snapping
the deck into two pieces. It was once 'fashionable' to do
this when you became frustrated, said to be conjured up
by a part of the industry who wanted people to buy more
boards by making people think it was cool to focus the
board you where riding.
FREESTYLE
- An
area of skating that has now become part of street and
vert skating. Used to be performed
on low riding skinny boards. Tricks
consisted of numerous balancing tricks, flips and shove-its.
FRONTSIDE
- Originated
from surfing, the direction in which you turn if you are
travelling up a wave and turn so as you front faces the
wave. Used to describe your direction of rotation in skating.
The opposite of 'backside'.
FUNBOX
- Usually
the highlight of an artificial street course. A platform
object with banked sides plus handrail
if your lucky
G
GOOFY
- You
skate goofy if you skate with your right foot forward.
The opposite of regular.
GRAB
- Using
your hand to 'grab' onto your board.
GRAPHICS
- The
art work on the bottom of a deck.
It helps in telling one deck from another and usually
incoporates the signature of the pro skater it is modelled
for.
GRIND
- Moving
along the edge or on top of an object with the axles of
both trucks, Variations include 50-50,
5-0, Tail, Nose,
K-Grind, Smith,
Sausage, Feeble
and Slappy.
GRIPTAPE
- A
sticky back sandpaper material. Usually black but can
be bought in a range of colours, even clear. It is used
to cover the top of the deck (then trimmed) to enable friction and therefore
aid the skater.
H
HANDPLANT
- A
form of handstand where your board is held in the air
either by a hand or feet.
HANDRAIL
- Common
urban feature, used for holding onto while travelling
up and down stairs, though used by skaters for a whole
range of tricks.
HANGER
- Part
of the truck. This is the part that gets most abuse. When you
grind, you are grinding along the
top of the hanger. Contained inside the hanger is the axle.
HEELFLIP
- Flipping
the board with your heel. Your front
foot should move up and across the board flipping
it in the opposite direction of a kickflip.
HELMET
- Protective
equipment for your head. Nearly always used in vert
skateboarding.
HIP
- When
two ramps are placed together so that one is at a slight
angle the the other, the part at which the ramps join
is called the hip.
I
IMPOSSIBLE
- Freestyle
trick invented by Rodney Mullen. Consists of spinning
the board around either foot.
INDYGRAB
- Grabbing
the board in front of you with the rear hand.
J
JAM
- Getting
a load of skaters together for a skateboard
session.
K
K-GRIND
- Stands
for 'Crooked Grind'. Grinding along on the leading truck without having the board over the object.
KICKFLIP
- Flipping
the board by using the same method as you would if you
were trying to kick something.
KICKTURN
- Rotating
on the rear wheels of the board with the front
wheels raised from the surface.
KINGPIN
- The
bolt that holds the hanger, cushions and baseplate
together of your truck. Probably
the most likely part of a skateboard to snap. Very cheap to buy and even cheaper
if you get one from a hardware store
KINK
- Used
to describe handrails. A kink is the changing of the handrails
angle. Meaning that a handrail that runs down a set of
steps then goes horizontal is a two kink rail.
- L
LAUNCHRAMP
- A
ramp made for skaters to launch from, hence the name.
A portable street ramp. Transitioned without any vert.
LIP
- The
top edge of a ramp.
LIPSLIDE
- Sliding
along on the rails of the board with
the rear wheels going over the object.
M
MANUAL
- What
people commonly call a wheelie. This is travelling along
of your board balancing on the two rear wheels.
MCTWIST
- 540
degree backside air with a mute grab. Invented by Mike McGill.
MELLONCOLLIE
- An
ollie and ,while in midair, grabbing the board behind you with
the leading hand.
MINIRAMP
- A
ramp (two transitioned banks facing each other with flat
bottom and platforms) that does not have any vert. Usually
around 6 feet in height.
MM
- Millimetres.
The standard measurement for the diameter of skateboard
wheels.
N
NOCOMPLY
- Old
school street skating trick. There are many variations
but the basic is to travel along with rear foot on the
tail, then place the front foot on the ground and pop
the board into the air.
NOLLIE
- Follows
the same concepts as an ollie. While
travelling along place the front foot on the nose
and pop up into the air using the nose (rather than the
tail in an ollie). The exact same as a switch-stance fakie ollie.
NOSE
- The
part of the deck in front of the front truck. Opposite end to the 'tail'.
NOSEGRAB
- Grabbing
the front of the board (nose) with the leading hand.
NOSEGRIND
- Grinding
on the leading truck only.
NOSESLIDE
- Sliding
along an object using the underside of the nose.
O
OLLIE
- Invented
on ramps by Ollie Gelfand and brought to the streets by
Rodney Mullen. A air without using your hands. The basis
for most skateboarding tricks and the one that should
be learnt first.
P
PADS
- Protective
equipment for the kness and elbows. These are mainly used
by vert skaters or for competitions with insurance worries.
See Rector.
PIVOTCUP
- A
plastic cup that fits into the baseplate
and stops the metal hanger from coming into contact with the metal baseplate.
PLATFORM
- An
elevated flat surface.
PLY
- Short
for plywood. The most commonly used material for the deck.
Usually seven layer ply.
POPSHOVEIT
- A
shoveit mixed with an ollie.
Enables shoveits to be performed
higher.
PRO
- A
professional. Someone who gets paid by a company to skateboard.
Often has his/her own signature model deck of which he/she
has a percentage of all sales.
Q
QUARTERPIPE
- Basically
one side of a mini-ramp or vert ramp, yet usually with
less width and found on street area's at skateparks.
Often used for gaining speed on a street course or practising
ramp tricks.
R
RADLANDS
- SkatePark
in Northampton, England. Owned by Chris Ince. Location
of a yearly major comps in the skateboarding world.
RAILS
- On
the underside of the board. The edges on the deck running along either side
of the board between the trucks. 'Rails' used to be long thin plastic objects
that where fixed to the underside of the board but are
now redundant.
RAILSLIDE
- Sliding
along an object on the part of your deck
between the trucks. Also known as
a boardslide.
RECTOR
- Makers
of pads, essential for vert skating...probably the best money can buy.
REGULAR
- Nothing
to do with how often you go to the toilet. You skate regular
if you skate with your left foot forward. The opposite
of goofy.
REVERT
- Finishing
a trick coming out forwards, then quickly sliding round
180 to come out backwards.
RIPGRIP
- Thin
sticky back sponge material. To be stuck onto the bottom
of boards to give your fingers some grip when grabbing.
A lot like dinosaurs ie. you don't see them about these
days.
RISER
- Usually
made from plastic or rubber. Fits between the deck
and baseplate of the truck.
Helps absord stress on the deck and truck. Two are needed
per board.
ROCCO,STEVE
- Was
famous for being good at freestyle skating and the first
to have a signature wheel. Owner of World Industries,
Big Brother, etc.
ROCKANDROLL
- Ramp
Trick. Go up to the lip and push the front truck over it. Stall, then turn
180 back down the ramp.
ROLLIN
- To
skate along the platform of a ramp, over the lip and down onto the transitions. The part of a ramp that curves onto
the platform is also called a roll-in, because of the
purpose it serves.
RUBBER
- Another
name for bushing. Also, the substance that makes your
wheels.
S
SADPLANT
- A
variation of a handplant where your grab the
inside rail and straighten your front leg.
-
SAUSAGE GRIND
- Grab
your tail while doing a smith grind on your front truck.
SESSION
- The
act of skateboarding ie. you can session a ramp, have
a street session, etc.
SHOEGOO
- Liquid
rubber that comes in tubes. Buy it then put it over the
holes in your shoes and watch it harden.
SHOVEIT
- Turning
the board without turning your body so as the board
spins round under your feet.
SIDEWALKSURFER
- UK
based skateboard magazine. Developed from RaD magazine.
- SKATECAMP
- An
american invention. An offshoot of Summer Camp except
Skate Camp is dedicated to skaters, with comps
and skate facilities at hand for everyone.
SKATEPARK
- A
place dedicated to skateboarding of artificial means.
SKETCHY
- Just
about landing tricks. Someone who lands a trick, wobbles
about and generally just about lands the trick is sketchy.
SLALOM
- Doing
the thing that skiers do, except on hard ground with usually
a dedicated
skateboard.
SLAM
- Its
basically another word for falling off your board
and hurting yourself.
SLAPPY
- Doing
grinds along such things as curbs
without ollie-ing onto it.
SLICK
- Special
plastic layer fixed to the bottom of a deck
supposed to aid slidding. Created by Santa Cruz skateboards.
SMITHGRIND
- Grinding
with the rear truck, while the front truck does not go over the top of the object but runs
along the side of it. The center of the board my also be touching the edge of the object due
to the nature of the trick.
SNAKE
- If
your skating an object in which only a limited number
of people can skate, a snake (or snaker) is the person
that seems to have more goes than anyone by jumping the
naturally occuring 'queue'.
SNAKERUN
- Twisting
path with banked sides. Looks like a snake from above,
hence the name. Popular 70's skatepark
facility.
SPACER
- A
small hollow cylindrical object, usually made from metal,
placed between two bearings inside a wheel. Used to give
bearings a longer life if used correctly.
SPINE
- If
two ramps are put back to back and do not have a platform
at the point of connection, the upside down 'V' shape
is called the spine.
STALEFISHGRAB
- Grabbing
the board behind you with the rear
hand (round the back of the rear leg).
STAIN
- Normal
deck without a slick
bottom
STANCE
- Either
regular of goofy. The way in
which you stand on your board. See also the art of 'switchstance'.
STOKED
- The
feeling of doing something well.
STREET
- Most
commonly used terrain of skateboarding,
this has lead to the banning of skateboarding in certain
area's.
SWITCHSTANCE
- The
art of skating the stance that you are did not learn to
skate with. This means if you do tricks skating goofy,
to skate switchstance you perform tricks with a regular
stance and vice-versa.
SURFING
- Without
it, skateboarding may not exist. Skateboards where
made by surfers when the waves where too small to practise,
and ramps where created to form an artificial wave.
T
TAIL
- The
part of the deck behind the rear truck.
Opposite end to the 'nose'.
TAILGRAB
- Grabbing
the rear of the board (tail) with the rear hand.
TAILSAVER
- A
piece of plastic that attaches to the underside of the
tail. Designed to prevent wear and
tear on the tail from such activities as ollies.
Very redundant these days.
TAILSLIDE
- Sliding
with the tail of the board upon the object and the rest
of the board hanging off the object, without having gone over
it.
TECHNICAL
- The
name given to complex skating ie.freestyle.
Involves flipping and shoveit-ing
your board in all manners of directions.
THRASHED
- The
wear and tear of an object due to skateboarding.
THRASHER
- Skateboard
magazine that has been running since the start of time.
Loads of ads with some music thrown in for good luck.
TOSS
- Such
as 'product toss' or 'sticker toss'. An event usually
found at sponsored competitions where products are thrown
to the crowd.
TRANSITION
- Part
of a bank/ramp that inclines in an upward direction.
TRANSWORLD
- Great
skateboarding magazine known for amazing photos and quality
feel.
TRUCK
- Fixes
to the board, and the wheels fit to the truck. Two needed (a pair) per skateboard.
A complete truck is made up of a baseplate, hanger, axle,
kingpin, cushions,
2 special washers and 2 bolts for the axles.
TRUCKBOLTS
- Four
used per truck. Keeps the truck attached
to the board.
TWEAK
- To
point the board in a different direction than normal.
V
VERT
- Part
of an inclined surface that is vertical in gradient.
W
WALLIE
- Skating
onto, up and over a street object.
WALLRIDE
- The
act of skating up a vertical wall.
WAX
- Used
to make objects increasingly slidy for skateboard
tricks. Can be seen as a black residue on objects that
have been skated after being waxed.
WHEEL
- Four
of these things are needed per skateboard. They come in
a variety of shapes, sizes, hardness and colours.
WHEELSLIDE
- The
technique of slowing down without putting your feet down.
It is what people may commonly call a skid. Can be done
frontside/backside 90/180/360/etc.
WOOD
- The
material used for decks. If someone refers to a deck as being a 'wood'
or 'stain', it usually means that
there is no 'slick' layer on it.
WRISTGUARD
- Protective
equipment for the wrist. A type of glove containing a
plastic/metal splint running along the underside of the
wrist onto the palm of the hand.
|
|