Tailslide tips (edit: frontside)

[SaySo]

Man these are a whole different game on actual ledges as opposed to curbs, today I was trying them on a decent sized ledge, I have some mental block when I try to pop into a tailslide even on a curb which normally takes 0 effort for me to pop on to I will end up under Ollieing and tapping the side of the curb. Tomorrow I’m recalling going to try and break the trick into two parts, the pop and then opening my front leg, I think if I can do that they will be much easier and more consistent.

THIS! I feel your pain.

[NG]

A quick note on holding tailsides-focus on landing the ball of your foot on the ledge, then placing your foot flat as you're sliding. This was a game changer for me; if you try to land with a flat foot on the ledge you either slip out or stick. The ball of the foot gives you the ability to fitness it and then you can just plant your foot when you're sliding.

This has been said in other posts but it's crucial to Ollie and then turn and place your truck on the ledge. Approaching the ledge fairly parallel is the key to coming out to regular; much harder when you come in a carve or at an angle.

Good luck all!

[dime a dozen trend skater]

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Man these are a whole different game on actual ledges as opposed to curbs, today I was trying them on a decent sized ledge, I have some mental block when I try to pop into a tailslide even on a curb which normally takes 0 effort for me to pop on to I will end up under Ollieing and tapping the side of the curb. Tomorrow I’m recalling going to try and break the trick into two parts, the pop and then opening my front leg, I think if I can do that they will be much easier and more consistent.

[close]

THIS! I feel your pain.

I started to get past this today by just practicing 5-0s a lot,  get comfortable popping onto high stuff with your weight on the back foot.

[ghettoburd]

I learned these a couple months back and I learned it in a few steps. Pop your ollie high enough so you can get onto the ledge, look at your backfoot and aim it onto the ledge. Sounds basic af but i swear looking at your backfoot all the way through the trick helps a lot.

[rocklobster]

I learned these a couple months back and I learned it in a few steps. Pop your ollie high enough so you can get onto the ledge, look at your backfoot and aim it onto the ledge. Sounds basic af but i swear looking at your backfoot all the way through the trick helps a lot.

Had to get them back after going through some gear madness, where you look is really important to how you lock and slide. Look too far ahead and you'll over-rotate, your board will be far ahead of your body and you'll slip out. Not far enough and you'll under-rotate and stick. I guess-timate aiming around 0.5-1 foot ahead of where you want to lock, since the forward momentum and rotation will be bringing your body forward already.

[switchfrontshuv]

pro tip:

when you lock in into fs tail, move your weight onto your heel-side wheel

what often happens when I lock in and slide a bit and then get pitched forward is my toe-side wheel ends up catching a lot on the ledge

I always had the impression that to make a tail slide longer I would have to just lean back but this would cause me to fall backwards or slip off the ledge, once I focussed on kinda pinching it on my heel-side wheel I could slide a lot farther with more control and less wax (especially useful at skateparks where waxing ledges is illegal)

this is also true for noseslides, crooks, and 5-0s. if you pinch your heel-side wheel you end up having a lot more control cuz ur still centred over the ledge but getting a bit more stability rather than if ur on ur toes. you can use ur forefoot/toes to pop out with way more ease

[Brguy]

Man these are a whole different game on actual ledges as opposed to curbs, today I was trying them on a decent sized ledge, I have some mental block when I try to pop into a tailslide even on a curb which normally takes 0 effort for me to pop on to I will end up under Ollieing and tapping the side of the curb. Tomorrow I’m recalling going to try and break the trick into two parts, the pop and then opening my front leg, I think if I can do that they will be much easier and more consistent.

After some time I realized it's really the same thing (assuming your wheels don't touch the ground on the curb), the real issue is building up the pop and control so you can stick your legs out the same way you would do on a curb. It's that thing where you want your whole body to rise with the ollie instead of bending your legs to cheat those extra inches you need, I can't really do them like a 50-50 where you can land all crouched on the ledge if you don't go high enough. There's probably a ton of people that can bend their knees a bit more getting up the ledge, but to me it just doesn't work.

[j....soy.....]

What about switch?  I can do switch 50-50's....get lucky on a switch 5-0....

Is switch front  tail actually a switch tail?  Or is it switch 180 to noseslide?  People do this trick so easy...

[rocklobster]

What about switch?  I can do switch 50-50's....get lucky on a switch 5-0....

Is switch front  tail actually a switch tail?  Or is it switch 180 to noseslide?  People do this trick so easy...

Got my thinking. Switch 50s are ok for me, switch noseslides feel scary but switch tailslides seem less so since the weight feels more like a regular noseslide

[baustin]

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What about switch?  I can do switch 50-50's....get lucky on a switch 5-0....

Is switch front  tail actually a switch tail?  Or is it switch 180 to noseslide?  People do this trick so easy...

[close]

Got my thinking. Switch 50s are ok for me, switch noseslides feel scary but switch tailslides seem less so since the weight feels more like a regular noseslide

I definitely approach them like a switch ollie/180 into a noseslide, otherwise I won’t get the snap necessary. Consequently, since I’m thinking switch 180 into a noseslide I only ever get them out to regular and not back to switch because it’s the natural follow through of the switch 180 I guess

[chris.]

I think you gotta think about it as if you'd be hopping stairs sideways on one leg (your back leg). Jumping from your back leg to your back leg. When you pop concentrate on not using your front leg. Just kinda fold your front leg from under you to give your board room to ollie, but all the pop comes from your back leg. Your center of mass stays pinched over your back leg throughout the trick.

This made so much sense to me last night reading it, and definitely helped this morning when I put it to practice.  The trick is still nonexistent but I can make more sense of how to get into them now.

[chris.]

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I think you gotta think about it as if you'd be hopping stairs sideways on one leg (your back leg). Jumping from your back leg to your back leg. When you pop concentrate on not using your front leg. Just kinda fold your front leg from under you to give your board room to ollie, but all the pop comes from your back leg. Your center of mass stays pinched over your back leg throughout the trick.

[close]

This made so much sense to me last night reading it, and definitely helped this morning when I put it to practice.  The trick is still nonexistent but I can make more sense of how to get into them now.

Bumping this because it’s the trick I’m working on the most still. One thing I did to work on the “jumping from back foot to back foot” was to roll up to the ledge, pop with my back foot, do nothing with my front foot so my board wouldn’t follow me, and just land right on the ledge with my back foot only and balance there.  Lots of reps of this in an empty skate park in the morning haha.

I can lock in about 90% of the time now but I’m still too chicken shit to go faster and actually slide the thing. Looking at some video of myself I think I’m doing TOO much with with front foot also, bringing my nose up a little too high.  I’m gonna work on folding it under like was talked about elsewhere in the thread.

Y’all have helped me get so close to one of my dream tricks. Just need more reps. Thanks pals.

[rocklobster]

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I think you gotta think about it as if you'd be hopping stairs sideways on one leg (your back leg). Jumping from your back leg to your back leg. When you pop concentrate on not using your front leg. Just kinda fold your front leg from under you to give your board room to ollie, but all the pop comes from your back leg. Your center of mass stays pinched over your back leg throughout the trick.

[close]

This made so much sense to me last night reading it, and definitely helped this morning when I put it to practice.  The trick is still nonexistent but I can make more sense of how to get into them now.

[close]

Bumping this because it’s the trick I’m working on the most still. One thing I did to work on the “jumping from back foot to back foot” was to roll up to the ledge, pop with my back foot, do nothing with my front foot so my board wouldn’t follow me, and just land right on the ledge with my back foot only and balance there.  Lots of reps of this in an empty skate park in the morning haha.

I can lock in about 90% of the time now but I’m still too chicken shit to go faster and actually slide the thing. Looking at some video of myself I think I’m doing TOO much with with front foot also, bringing my nose up a little too high.  I’m gonna work on folding it under like was talked about elsewhere in the thread.

Y’all have helped me get so close to one of my dream tricks. Just need more reps. Thanks pals.

Front tails are 75% back foot, 25,% Front foot, getting a sweet slot in from the back foot helps to lock the position and overcome the inertia when your land on top of the ledge.

Front foot: drag up and side ways
Back foot: pop, lift up and slot in

Start with some angle but as you get more comfortable start rolling more parallel. Too much angle and you'll have a tendency to over-rotate your back truck / tail, ending up in some tail scrap / coping dance instead of standing tall on it.

Ride closer to the ledge than you think you should if not you'll end up riding the tip of your tail instead of getting a baseplate slide.

[Urtripping]

Been trying them on the top step of a 2 up 2 down lately and really struggling to figure out angles of approach and popping out over the bottom stair to regular, but I'm pretty sure if I can handle them on that then ledges will become easier.

As I continue to try to get these better, I seek out skaters who do them how I want to do em. To me, this guy has some of the best fs tails I've ever seen. I know he takes these to sw crooked and does shit out of them, but it has really helped me to study his shoulders, how he's leaning, front foot/leg movement, and approach angles. Love the tip to put weight on the ball of your foot, I feel like when sliding it helps to have most weight on the instep of your back foot to get that back heelside pinch someone mentioned and really take em for a ride.

Edit: you can clearly see the back heelside wheel pinch in this one. Great study for noseslide technique, too.

[rocklobster]

Edit: you can clearly see the back heelside wheel pinch in this one. Great study for noseslide technique, too.

Dat weight distribution on the back tail.

[juniormint]

Anyone have some advice for these on banks? Not sure how to get into them, whether to kind of hop a small ollie or slide into it? Much appreciated