Methods of Grinding

Grinding is a delicate exercise in skateboarding. Like everything, it takes time and practice. It is good enough to know how to do each individual grind, but it is for nothing without the knowledge of how to execute every grind. There is very little deviation from one grind to another in the method.

Everyone adapts their own methods of grinding, though they all derive from the basic way to grind. The following are the basic methods:
1. MAKE SURE YOU PICK AN OBJECT WHICH YOU CAN OLLIE HIGHER THAN. Your grind is going to be cut very short if you can't ollie high enough to get onto it.
2. Sometimes poles are better to grind, sometimes benches and tables are. You must learn this. For slides, it is generally better to have a pole so you can drop off unobstructed. For 50-50's and the likes benches are quite often better. You will learn this for yourself.
3. Start straight, end straight. If you get into the grind crooked you will find it far more difficult to balance.
4. Speed = difficulty. Speed = ease. Once you get better at the grind, do it faster, because the faster you are, the straighter you are, not to mention the fact you end the grind quicker.
5. Learn the grind with an ollie before a nollie. Learn the grind in your normal stance before switch.
6. Learn the basic grinds first. The 50-50 and Boardslide are the basis of all grinds, learn them well and you will find other grinds easier.

Some find waxing a useful method to make grinding easier, especially if you are grinding concrete ledges. Simply use any wax, candle wax is the cheapest, and rub it on the grind object and on your trucks. This makes it harder to balance and much faster, however.

Grinding is something that is more and more becoming a basic skateboarding move, while a few years ago, it had little presence outside of boardslides done on the coping of a bowl. For beginners, it may seem quite daunting, but once you have a respectable ollie, it's all a matter of practice, practice, practice.

Here are a few tips to help you to start shredding some cement (and quite possibly, your elbows).

First, learn how to ollie, and be comfortable with ollieing onto curbs and riding off of them. Although this isn't exactly neccessary on smaller curbs where you can just slappy grind up, it does look a lot cooler when you grind a 2-foot bench instead of a 2-inch sidewalk ledge.

Next, find your spot. Boardslides are best done with ledges or parking blocks that are thin enough to accomodate the space between the trucks on your deck (This is not to say that boardslides can't be done on ledges, but it takes a lot more balance to make sure your wheels don't scrape the top of a ledge). Other types of slides and grinds can be done on either ledges or poles or handrails or whatever you want for the most part. The best obstacle to grind or slide on tends to be a newly painted surface, but there are waxes specially designed to make ungrindable curbs nice and slippery. (A good alternative to this is paraffin wax, which is easily found at the local supermarket.)

To perform an actual grind, roll up to the obstacle at the fastest speed you feel you are comfortable with, since you don't want to lose momentum half-way. Make sure you approach at a mellow angle, like you would to ollie onto a curb. Ollie, and make sure your land with your wheels locked in as close as possible to the ledge. Some slides are actualy performed easier with a half-cab. If you are sliding, make sure your trucks are close to the ledge. Also, place most of your weight on the tail or nose when you slide. I find that some sort of motion while grinding (flailing arms, or slight, smooth board motion throughout a grind) tends to keep balance and determination better, since you have something to aim for while grinding.

To get off of a curb, place a bit of weight on your back truck and turn off. It may take a slight pelvic thrust motion to give your board that extra clearance it needs to get off of a ledge. If you are boardsliding, then place a little weight on one side so that your wheels will raise up enough to enable you to swing off.

Don't get discouraged, and don't try stuff that you know you can't do. Just keep practicing every day for the rest of your life instead of getting a job and contributing to society.

1. Place the pills in a softly rounded, ceramic bowl glazed or polished to a non-porous surface. Using a stone or ceramic rounded mallet, crush the pills against the side of the dish with gentle pressure and a circular motion.
2. Fold a weathered bill in half and place the pills in the fold, under the top half. Use a smooth stone or the blunt edge of a lighter and run it across the top of the bill with strong pressure over the object underneath, crushing it.
3. When grinding just a few pills, you can simply place them on a plate or other hard, rimmed surface and apply pressure to them with the back of a spoon.