Backside Boardslide
Image by olalindberg via Flickr
A backside boardslide is when you ride up to the rail with your back towards it. You then pop an ollie and turn frontside 90 degrees and you slide on the bottom of your board. In this position, you should be facing the same direction you are sliding.
To start off, you should be really good with your ollies. This is a very easy trick and as long as you have a low rail and a good ollie, you should be able to do it. To learn this trick, you should start with something like a waxed up parking block or a low rail.
You should roll up to the rail perfectly parallel to it. Don’t learn it the cheap way by rolling towards it and manualing onto it, because then it will be extremely difficult to relearn it on higher things. You may want to ride in a slight angle, but not a big one. Have your feet in your normal ollie position.
When you are ready, pop an ollie. As you slide your front foot up, you want to start turning your upper body towards the rail. This is just like a FS 180. Make sure you don’t rotate too much and land uneven on the rail.
When you land on the rail, your feet should be over the bolts. Try to stay balanced as you slide. Balancing may take some work, but I cannot help you with that.
When you come to the end of the rail, you want to try to pivot out so you can land and keep rolling. When you get to the end, start pushing your front foot in front of you to straighten out your board. If you are not close enough to the end, then your trucks may get caught up in the rail. Just work with it and it will come with time.
