HOME >> HELP >> FASTSLIDE/BACKSLIDE

Note: If you are looking to learn backslides the proper way, check the royale tutorial. That will teach you the proper balance needed for a true backslide. Described here is the stylish looking backslides as seen in The Hoax 2, and not how to really grind things.

Contrary to what you might think, one footed fast slides are actually easier than grinding a rail- Assuming you do them on the right rail. The first step is to find a nice short rail, preferably down 3 to 5 steps. Then, skate straight towards it and jump as high as you can to see if you can make it above the rail. Don't try and jump over the rail your first time, just jump next to it so you can't catch your feet on it. If you're having problems getting high enough, try going faster. The faster you go, the farther out you'll jump and the farther down the rail you'll be when you peak. If you still can jump high enough to clear it, you probably need to work on jumping things normally. After all, if you can jump to get on top of the rail, how do you expect to grind it?!

Before you go any further, let me define a few terms for skate of clarity. A fast slide is a grind in which the lead foot (the one furthest down the rail) is sliding along the rail, and the trailing foot isn't on. A back slide is the opposite, with the trailing foot being slid upon and with the lead foot being lifted/grabbed. A soul slide is a soul grind in which the lead foot is lifted off and you are grinding only on the soul of your soul foot. With that out of the way on to the how-to.

Once you can jump high enough, you should be ready to give fast slides a shot. One key is to approach from a slight angle so that you'll just cross over the bottom of the rail. Get some speed up, jump and turn so that you are parallel to the rail. Stick your leg out, tap the rail, pull it in, and you are done. In reality you are not grinding, but sliding. Though a few top skaters can actually grind in this fashion, the vast majority simply do a slide. So remember to jump high enough and with your body straight enough that you can stick your leg down and toe tap the rail.

Back slides are found to be easier to do than fast slides by most. To do a back slide you approach the rail just like you were going to do a normal grind, except you want to hit the rail with just the outside edge of your back foot. Remember, the key is that you don't want to put any weight on the sliding foot or it will slide out from under you and you will jack your ribs.

A few key things to remember when doing fast (and back) slides are speed, spin, and control. If you are doing a long rail, or a shallow rail, you will need tons of speed to be able to fast slide it and not have to put any weight on the foot. If you are used to just frontsiding the rail, its a big mental jump to do these, but its quite possible. Remember that you are basically just jumping over the rail and throwing in what looks like a grind. The next two important things to remember- spin and control- go hand in hand. Because you are going so fast and the rails are smaller than normal, you will need to spin very fast to be able to make the grind and make the landing. You need to be in total control of your body when it is in the air, and hopefully it'll be possible to pull it out.

Once you're done with that, all that's left is variations, bigger rails, and actually grinding it.. As you get comfortable with the sliding and getting into the correct position, you should be able to actually start grinding the rail instead of toe tapping it. This will make it more stylish, and also able to do longer rails. If you are ready to try the real thing, read up on royales first, as they are as close to it as you can get.