Frontside Crooked Grinds

[skateboardingenthusiast]

I can front nose pretty consistently, but I can't even get the board to come up with my front foot when I ollie and attempt front crooks. I've tried the different foot positions, but still no luck.

I ollie and stab my front foot onto the ledge, putting all of my weight on my front foot, but the board isn't even sticking to my foot.

Any tips? Thank you.
.

[behavioralguide]

Do a bunch of 5050s first

Front foot flat, right angle, under bolts.
Ride parallel to obstacle, fairly close to it
Actually ollie, you can't whip it up like a fs ns, which I guess is what you do?

When you fs noseslide, do you come out back to reg or do you go to fakie?
If to fakie, focus more on actually popping and keeping shoulders parallel to curb, or even open them up a little (hence the 50-50's).

You want your front crooks to be angled because of the lock in, not because you come in at an angle and just don't straighten out your board (this also helps against the always scary overshooting the front truck).

[Notyourmom]

50-50s first is the best start.
What works for me is set up the front foot just below the bolts with a little toe hanging over the board. And then I think about doing fs nosegrind but with just the toeside wheel on top. It just falls into place.

[whale]

Do a bunch of 5050s first

50-50s first is the best start.

Thank you kings.

[Pastasash]

Ben breaks it down pretty well in this YT short https://youtube.com/shorts/SaRuvG7eQwk?si=K6Mk71PDdh0chWe6

[rawbertson.]

realizing now the more difficult grinds require a lot more speed to work properly
this is one of them
i just do a nosegrind and then once i am in the grind i start letting it go sideways a bit... it kinda just happens. i think i normally pinch a nosegrind naturally slightly "overcrooked" so then this one is really just straight on maybe with thie TINIEST TINIEST bit to the side and it seems like you naturally just kinda want to go that way.
i dont aim my wheel in any diferent of a place like ben degros said he does i just aim it how i normally do but i think what he is saying does make sense. i just find when i do that i end up doing crooked wheel slides more often.

[camel filters]

I imagine front nose grinds but missing the lock-in and letting the ledge hit the toe half of the front hanger. I combine this with keeping my shoulders lined with the ledge and my head over my toes and usually have good luck. Popping out has been so hard for me so I usually try to nudge off the end of the ledge. Maybe someone else has tips for pop outs to regular in the middle of a ledge

[myfeetarekillingme]

I’ve landed a few dinky front crooks but it’s never felt comfortable or like I knew what I did right to land them. The very frustrating thing that happens to me most is I somehow lose my board when I try to lock in and I end up with just my forefoot on the ledge and bail. I’ve skated 20+ years and am pretty competent at fs nosegrinds and fs noseslides so I know how to ollie obviously, so I have no idea why this happens. Has anyone else had this issue and overcome it?

[tura]

I'm not the best at front crooks, but I can get em pretty proper if I put the time in (quite a long time these days tbh). But I might be able to help since front nose is one of my go to ledge tricks so we probably have a similar approach to the front crooks.

Instead of 'stabbing' the nose in with your front foot, try using your back foot to get the board to the right angle, like you're doing a backside shifty - you could also think of the motion as being more like doing a back lip than a front board, so getting 'above' the obstacle rather than going 'at' it. Doing the 'stabbing' motion tends to cut the ollie a little short, and in my experience the more you do with the front foot the more you stick. Another way to look at this is to pop like you would for a front nose (to regs, not fakie) but lifting your back foot up more, which will naturally lift your front foot higher. This also lends itself to a steezier pinched front crook with a little yank out rather than falling off the end of the ledge. Even though I'm super inconsistent with front crooks, they're usually good when I finally get em, which I think is because I treat it more like a front nose than frontside nosegrind - this is purely because front nose is one of the easiest ledge tricks for me, and I've probably landed less than 5 nosegrinds in my life. Happy accident though.

After you suss out popping in, the next thorn in your side will probably be sticking. Thing that helped me the most with this was dangling the toes of my front foot over the edge of my board a bit like a heelflip. Feels weird popping like that, but you end up with your front foot on an angle that kind of pushes it along, and it keeps your heel out of the way which is guaranteed stick. Also makes the grind feel more like a front nose.

Getting out is pretty tricky. Main thing is having your feet flat to make sure the board doesn't flip, and not trying to yank it out like a front nose. Gotta be a bit dainty and do a lil crack pop out. Remember: there is no hurry to get back on the ground, so don't yank or stamp. Gotta treat it like a lover. Gentle yet firm. Sensual yet bolts.