slappy/curb discussion thread

[SatanicPanic]

Anyone else had problems with delamming the underside of the nose with slappies? I’ve been skating a lot of curbs lately and recently learned slappy 50-50s. The curbs I skate are steep and it took me a while to get the technique right to get up on  top of them  but I find I tend to catch the side of the nose on the curb and pretty soon the board starts to splinter and after that disintegrates pretty quick. It’s heartbreaking watching a good board turn to shit so quick. I’m left with thinking that I need to reserve slappies until a board starts to get close to the end of its life  but that bums me out because they’re so much fun to do. I ride a 8.5 popsicle with 44 aces and 54mm wheels and I’ve been toying with putting on some risers to help give the nose a bit more clearance over the top of the curb or trying a different shape. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I’m sure it’s also just sloppy technique but would be good to hear any suggestions.

I definitely used to scrape the bottom of my nose a lot on slappies. It’ll happen less with more experience.

[Allen’s Alley Cafe]

Thanks for the thoughts. Just seen Abe Bethel posted this picture of his board which has the same pattern of wear I get it’s just his board seems to razor down instead of delam and chip out so yeah I guess it just takes a bit more finesse to keep your nose clean. Will keep at it.

https://imgur.com/a/xbHggD3

[switchfakie]

Thanks for the thoughts. Just seen Abe Bethel posted this picture of his board which has the same pattern of wear I get it’s just his board seems to razor down instead of delam and chip out so yeah I guess it just takes a bit more finesse to keep your nose clean. Will keep at it.

https://imgur.com/a/xbHggD3

What’re you even doing to get your board like that? I remember one of my first boards like that, but it was when I was learning how to ollie

[Mbrimson88]

Expand Quote

Thanks for the thoughts. Just seen Abe Bethel posted this picture of his board which has the same pattern of wear I get it’s just his board seems to razor down instead of delam and chip out so yeah I guess it just takes a bit more finesse to keep your nose clean. Will keep at it.

https://imgur.com/a/xbHggD3

[close]

What’re you even doing to get your board like that? I remember one of my first boards like that, but it was when I was learning how to ollie

Crooks on not super smooth concrete edges will do that to the front corner of boards, so if someone does a lot of them, where they are more up on the truck, not down almost in nose slide, the end of the board wears down a whole lot.

There are a few guys I have seen whose boards look like that from a not so buttery curb they always skate so depending on the tricks they do, they can make a board have very uneven wear and go through a layer or two of ply quickly enough on repeat tricks like that.

[modern life is war]

Post your favourite slappy videos fellas, whatever gets you hyped to go skate curbs

[Easy Slider]

Slappies are fun to do, less so to watch

[yghartsyrt]

Slappies are fun to do, less so to watch

[moshandwallies]

Post your favourite slappy videos fellas, whatever gets you hyped to go skate curbs

Timesless video

[Aquatic Dinosaur]

Been doing fs slappies for about a month now but it’s still very aggro where I haul ass towards the curb and my wheels break into a slide and I either get on the curb perfectly, overshoot my back truck, or don’t get on at all.  Watching the first line in that koston video makes me wonder how you make a fs slappy delicate and easy rather than a do or die trick.  Been taking a beating on the curbs but I like it still

[modern life is war]

Been doing fs slappies for about a month now but it’s still very aggro where I haul ass towards the curb and my wheels break into a slide and I either get on the curb perfectly, overshoot my back truck, or don’t get on at all.  Watching the first line in that koston video makes me wonder how you make a fs slappy delicate and easy rather than a do or die trick.  Been taking a beating on the curbs but I like it still

Keep doing it and you'll get it, it's just about the subtle 'unweighting' of your tail once you get the front truck on. Just takes time and practice to get comfortable with it. You don't need to be hauling ass for a frontside slappy so try go slower and just focus on the technique rather than brute forcing it.

Also try waxing up the curb more, one little rub with the wax makes a night and day difference for front slappies imo

[cucktard]

I wrote a full explanation of how to slappy a while ago, but can’t find it.
Here’s a shorter version

Was trying to relearn them today, and realized most skaters don’t even know what they are doing themselves (because the good ones are so natural they don’t break the movement down) and this are shit at explaining it.

90% of people say you just ‘smash that shit’ or some bullshit like that, the people who have a clue will say something about being ‘lightfooted’.

The approach angle and speed are all well explained. Same with the carving motion.

But when it comes to hitting the curb, you don’t force it on, it won’t work. Especially do not straighten your legs trying to increase the force of impact.

You have to ‘unweight’ your feet as you go on. Front foot first, then the back.

This is not ‘lifting up the front trucks’, it is merely taking most of the pressure off the front foot, allowing the front trucks to bump up, then the back foot, and get the rear ones on. Then you grip, get your weight to the rear, and enjoy the ride.

It’s a very quick and subtle movement,  which is why you don’t catch it watching the videos (and why most people don’t notice themselves doing it) but it is the most important one.

A bit like then you unweight the board to nollie bump a crack that’s sticking up.

The next most important movement is turning the hips in the direction of the slappy, like you are carving a bowl, and lean into the turn a fair bit, like you are carving coping.

When you get these points right, it is effortless.

[biaherl]

Been doing fs slappies for about a month now but it’s still very aggro where I haul ass towards the curb and my wheels break into a slide and I either get on the curb perfectly, overshoot my back truck, or don’t get on at all.  Watching the first line in that koston video makes me wonder how you make a fs slappy delicate and easy rather than a do or die trick.  Been taking a beating on the curbs but I like it still

The slide is helping you because you are on your heels before the curb. The speed is throwing you off because you need to transfer your weight onto your toes on a frontside slappy

No unweighting needed

I mean if you got it like that it would be great but like me you don't, so concentrate on getting your toes

Go slower just to get on and learn the speed you need

[Paco Supreme]

Not the cleanest .gif but you can kinda see me unweight my front foot

[switchfakie]

Not the cleanest .gif but you can kinda see me unweight my front foot

ye i see it. im surprised you come in so mellow of an angle. ill have to try that out

[Paco Supreme]

I’m almost parallel with these at this point, it’s a really fluid movement one it clicks

[SatanicPanic]

That’s a nice explanation of slappies. I’ve tried to explain them to people recently and you’re right I am bad at it. Only thing I would say is it’s ok to do them shitty until you fully get the hang of it. We all went through the stages.

Unrelated but my friend suggested I do slappy willies and they’re so fun if you are doing them on purpose. Doing them to nollie 180 out actually looks not terrible. Underrated trick.

[Banned from the room]

Anyone else had problems with delamming the underside of the nose with slappies? I’ve been skating a lot of curbs lately and recently learned slappy 50-50s. The curbs I skate are steep and it took me a while to get the technique right to get up on  top of them  but I find I tend to catch the side of the nose on the curb and pretty soon the board starts to splinter and after that disintegrates pretty quick. It’s heartbreaking watching a good board turn to shit so quick. I’m left with thinking that I need to reserve slappies until a board starts to get close to the end of its life  but that bums me out because they’re so much fun to do. I ride a 8.5 popsicle with 44 aces and 54mm wheels and I’ve been toying with putting on some risers to help give the nose a bit more clearance over the top of the curb or trying a different shape. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I’m sure it’s also just sloppy technique but would be good to hear any suggestions.

This has been happening to almost all my bloards lately except one. The Pssx Glue 8.5.

I believe it was because the nose was so big and square.

The next one a Glue Forest 8.75 was tapered. It firred up from big spin front noses. My K shape started doing it but I stopped doing that trick because they rarely slide to satisfaction.


I can't wait to get back on an 8.75 with 5.8s.

I miss it so badly. Bigger is better. It just is.

[cucktard]

OK, i found it (on page 2)

CUCKTARD’S ALL-INCLUSIVE INSTRUCTIONS FOR FRONTSIDE AND BACKSIDE SLAPPIES

Take photos now, or copy-paste somewhere on your phone for reference when your at your preferred slutty and slick curb.

1- HANG YOUR FEET OFF.
You are going to turn hard and help those wheels up onto the curb, so if you are going backside, hang your toes off more than usual. If your going frontside, hang your heels off.
Also, for beginners, have your front foot over the front bolts, right up against the curve of the nose.
The back foot is on wherever, but maybe not on the end of the tail. You’re not going to lift the nose.

2- GET LOW
It helps. Especially with variations. Bend those knees, do not straight-leg it. You want to be stable and surfy.

3- GO STRAIGHT AT THE CURB (or almost straight)
This is just for the beginners. After you get the hang of it and your confidence increases, you can go at a lower angle. But going head-on into the curb will help you get onto it, so have your bodily mass heading into it.

4- CARVE
About a meter/yard before you hit, carve hard into the direction you wanna get on. Your board should be between 60-45 degrees to the curb at time of impact. Your body weight should be well inside the turn, and you should be cranking down hard on those toes or heels.

5- DON’T SLAM THE BOARD
This is the most important point. And one that people make the most mistakes with. Slappies are actually kinda delicate, and a pretty smooth feeling trick once you understand this point.
As your front wheels hit the curb, you have to lighten your front foot, like when you nollie bump a crack in the pavement. You let the board bump up onto the curb, and then do the same with your back foot, as you push it into place. It’s a very quick and subtle unweighting of front foot-back foot.
You never straight-leg slam the board into the curb.

****if you don’t twist enough into the turn, your back wheels won’t bump up. You have to twist your body so that your shoulders and hips are in line with the curb. This is usually easier frontside (probably because fs grinds on as a mini are like this, but with bs you can stay open to the coping). On a slappy, you gotta fully turn your whole body so that the back wheel gets on****

6- GET IN THE BACKSEAT
With your front foot so far forward, you may find yourself weighting the front truck so much that it catches on the grind.
As you get that back truck on, scoot the whole board forward underneath you, get your weight back of center, and grind

7-ENJOY THE RIDE, DISMOUNT IN YOUR PREFERRED STYLE, AND UTTER “PRAISE BE TO LUCERO”

[modern life is war]

Something finally clicked and I landed a few frontside crooked grinds tonight 
Didn't get any that were particularly long or stylish but definitely got 3 or 4 that were pretty honest with semi-clean roll-aways.
Stoked on that one... I feel like that trick separates the boys from men on curbs.

The bad news is that I think the owners of the store where my favourite curb is are onto me and they're turning off the lights in the carpark at night now so I can't skate late anymore.

[Allen’s Alley Cafe]

Expand Quote

Anyone else had problems with delamming the underside of the nose with slappies? I’ve been skating a lot of curbs lately and recently learned slappy 50-50s. The curbs I skate are steep and it took me a while to get the technique right to get up on  top of them  but I find I tend to catch the side of the nose on the curb and pretty soon the board starts to splinter and after that disintegrates pretty quick. It’s heartbreaking watching a good board turn to shit so quick. I’m left with thinking that I need to reserve slappies until a board starts to get close to the end of its life  but that bums me out because they’re so much fun to do. I ride a 8.5 popsicle with 44 aces and 54mm wheels and I’ve been toying with putting on some risers to help give the nose a bit more clearance over the top of the curb or trying a different shape. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I’m sure it’s also just sloppy technique but would be good to hear any suggestions.

[close]

This has been happening to almost all my bloards lately except one. The Pssx Glue 8.5.

I believe it was because the nose was so big and square.

The next one a Glue Forest 8.75 was tapered. It firred up from big spin front noses. My K shape started doing it but I stopped doing that trick because they rarely slide to satisfaction.


I can't wait to get back on an 8.75 with 5.8s.

I miss it so badly. Bigger is better. It just is.

I was thinking that the squared-off nose was part of the problem as that’s what I’ve been riding and there’s maybe more nose to catch instead of going straight wheel to curb.  considered trying something with a more football type shape to make it a bit easier or alternatively riding the wheels closer to the rails of the deck  i.e. a narrower deck or wider trucks. Don’t really have the money to change deck and trucks so that means a narrower deck when this one finishes its death spiral. So basically I came to the opposite conclusion as you - narrower board and pointier nose. I’m probably wrong on this lol. In the meantime I put on some 1/8” risers to see if that magically fixes the issue.

[Easy Slider]

Something finally clicked and I landed a few frontside crooked grinds tonight 
Didn't get any that were particularly long or stylish but definitely got 3 or 4 that were pretty honest with semi-clean roll-aways.
Stoked on that one... I feel like that trick separates the boys from men on curbs.

The bad news is that I think the owners of the store where my favourite curb is are onto me and they're turning off the lights in the carpark at night now so I can't skate late anymore.

What‘s your secret?

[modern life is war]

Expand Quote

Something finally clicked and I landed a few frontside crooked grinds tonight 
Didn't get any that were particularly long or stylish but definitely got 3 or 4 that were pretty honest with semi-clean roll-aways.
Stoked on that one... I feel like that trick separates the boys from men on curbs.

The bad news is that I think the owners of the store where my favourite curb is are onto me and they're turning off the lights in the carpark at night now so I can't skate late anymore.

[close]

What‘s your secret?

Super wide stance like you're about to get into a wrestling match
Front foot is diagonal across your nose with your toes right on the edge
Back toes are hanging off the board so the pressure is on your heel
Approach curb just a little bit more parallel than a 45 degree angle and push the nose in on your toe side so it locks in against your wheel
Turn your head in the direction you want to go

And here's where I am having trouble still... getting out of the grind. I honestly don't know what to do to consistently land this part. I could lock in almost every time but as I said i only rolled away from 3 or 4. Feels like it would be easier to revert out to fakie than to pop out still going straight, unless you're going off the end of a curb. Can't really help much for this part unfortunately but if you get the lock-in down you're bound to land a few eventually. The stance and foot position is really important for this trick.

[Easy Slider]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Something finally clicked and I landed a few frontside crooked grinds tonight 
Didn't get any that were particularly long or stylish but definitely got 3 or 4 that were pretty honest with semi-clean roll-aways.
Stoked on that one... I feel like that trick separates the boys from men on curbs.

The bad news is that I think the owners of the store where my favourite curb is are onto me and they're turning off the lights in the carpark at night now so I can't skate late anymore.

[close]

What‘s your secret?

[close]

Super wide stance like you're about to get into a wrestling match
Front foot is diagonal across your nose with your toes right on the edge
Back toes are hanging off the board so the pressure is on your heel
Approach curb just a little bit more parallel than a 45 degree angle and push the nose in on your toe side so it locks in against your wheel
Turn your head in the direction you want to go

And here's where I am having trouble still... getting out of the grind. I honestly don't know what to do to consistently land this part. I could lock in almost every time but as I said i only rolled away from 3 or 4. Feels like it would be easier to revert out to fakie than to pop out still going straight, unless you're going off the end of a curb. Can't really help much for this part unfortunately but if you get the lock-in down you're bound to land a few eventually. The stance and foot position is really important for this trick.

Cheers bruh, we’re in the same spot then. I do it exactly like you.

[okayskater]

[Aquatic Dinosaur]

How do you prep an unpainted curb for slappies?  Wax just the grind/slide area? Or do you wax the entire front surface of the curb.  Wondering if an unpainted front surface would make it harder to climb up.  I found a curb I want to adopt as my own but it’s completely unpainted and dry

[lamfordie]

How do you prep an unpainted curb for slappies?  Wax just the grind/slide area? Or do you wax the entire front surface of the curb.  Wondering if an unpainted front surface would make it harder to climb up.  I found a curb I want to adopt as my own but it’s completely unpainted and dry

Get yourself a rub brick to smooth out the curb. Unpainted curb is most likely rough and adding wax wont make it difference. After you rub brick the ledge hit it with some clear coat enamel spray paint, let it dry then hit it with some wax. 

[Burton Ernie]

Or do you wax the entire front surface of the curb.  Wondering if an unpainted front surface would make it harder to climb up.

You don’t have to do the entire front surface, but you should get at least the top 3-4” for sure.

After you clearcoat, wax, and start breaking it in, depending on how good it’s going you can def respray the curb after each session. You can spray right on top of the wax, it’ll soak into the uncoated areas.

I use Behr Wet Look Concrete Sealer with the cheap chip brushes, plenty of debate on which type of clearcoat is the best but I really like that stuff.

[SatanicPanic]

Ok I give up, what’s the secret to slappy smith grinds? They’re driving me nuts. I can get into them but they go nowhere

[crescentfresh]

Ok I give up, what’s the secret to slappy smith grinds? They’re driving me nuts. I can get into them but they go nowhere

there was some discussion here: https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=126344.0

[concrete eater 1000]

i know it's been repeated like dogma on here but you really don't need to put lacquer or clearcoat on a curb to skate it. just rub brick then wax.