The Frontside Grind - Why Is This Move So Iconic?

THEN:

NOW:

Way back in the day, when we would stare at "Skateboarder" or "Skateboard World" magazines, we really liked the aesthetic of the frontside grind.

The way it looked in those images was so surf-style - it looked like a huge cutback on a giant wave, except this wave was made of concrete.

The coping acted as a natural mini-barrier to get you back into the pool and, at the same time, it was grindable, which added to the experience.

Hearing a raspy, gnarly grind is a thing to behold for us skaters.

Sometimes, we'd grind just right and get sparks...

It feels like aggression and that's because it takes an aggressive movement to do a great, gnarly grind.

You basically pump up the transition and slash the frontside turn up and "above" where you normally do a backside grind.

It's kind of a double-pump - you pump once, on your way up and then, a second time when you go to slash the grind.

We liked the way the frontside grind looked so much that we practiced and practiced our frontsides.

We found that most other skaters were kinda lazy when it came to frontsides - they are kind of scary to do, after all, with your azz hanging in mid-air while you rely only on one wheel to keep you in the pool.

And, because we skated lots of pools, our goal was to do a frontside grind in EVERY pool we skated.

We were able to do them in most pools, but a few were too over vert or kinked to be able to nail them.

Here's to the frontside grind, an iconic maneuver from the '70s and '80s.