Aerials (skateboarding)
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Aerials (or more commonly airs) are a type of skateboarding trick usually performed on half-pipes, pools or quarter pipes where there is a vertical wall with a transition (curved surface linking wall and ground) available. Aerials usually combine rotation with different grabs. Most of the different types of grabs were originally aerial tricks that were performed on vert ramps before flatground aerials became common. Aerials can be executed by ollieing just as the front wheels reach the lip of a ramp, or can be executed simply by lifting the front wheels over the coping (or lip). The former is preferable on shallower ramps where the skateboarder has less speed to lift them above the ramp.
[edit] Aerial tricks
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- 540
- A 540 is an aerial where skater and board spin one and a half rotations in midair. They're usually done on vert, but a few skaters have managed to pull them on box jumps and pyramids as well. In the early 80s, Billy Ruff invented the Unit, the precursor to the modern 540. He'd early-grab the front rail and twist frontside, briefly putting his other hand down on the transition in order to push off the wall, which made it easier to get the whole spin. Because he had to put his hand down, the Unit was always done below the coping. In 1983 Tony Hawk took it to the next level when he invented the Frontside 540 (now commonly and erroniously known as a "Rodeo Flip"). He essentially did a Unit without putting his hand down on the wall. This fixed the inherent flaws in the Unit, and after a little practice, Tony managed to take the Frontside 540 above the coping. But soon after, for some reason he lost the trick, and it didn't gain any sort of popularity until much later. In 1985, Mike McGill, then a pro skater for Powell, invented the McTwist, which is easily the most popular 540 variation ever (see below).
- 720
- The 720, two full mid-air rotations, is one of the rarest tricks in skateboarding. It was first done by Tony Hawk in 1985, and it took him a whole hour to learn. It wasn't something he planned to do. He accidently over-rotated a Gay Twist and Lance Mountain suggested that he might be able to spin twice. After a dozen or so more tries, he landed it and has done it consistently ever since. Though it seemed to come easy to Tony, it's still one of the hardest vert tricks. Even today, more than twenty years later, probably less than a dozen skaters in any given professional contest circuit can do one.
- 900
- The rider spins 900 degrees backside in the air, usually while grabbing Mute. It is arguably the most widely covered trick in the history of skateboarding, as Tony Hawk landed it for the first time at the 1999 X-Games following the best trick competition. The celebration on the ramp quickly snowballed in to newspaper and television coverage which helped make Tony Hawk a household name. Five years later, Georgio Zattoni and Sandro Dias both landed their first 900s within a week of each other. Several skaters that can do 720s have tried to do it fakie-to-fakie, but so far their efforts have not payed off.
- Benihana
- A one-footed tail grab, taking the back foot off and kicking straight down or sideways in a backwards direction. The key to a good Benihana is to grab late. The idea is to take the back foot off and use the front foot to kick the board out ahead of you, and then catch the board by the tail and put it back under your feet. Invented by Christian Hosoi.
- Body Jar
- A backside nose grab air to tail. A varial Body Jar is called a Body Bag.
- Caballerial
- A 360 backside ollie from fakie. Invented by Steve Caballero.
- Christ air
- An air where the board is grabbed in one hand, and the body is in a "crucifix"-like position. Usually performed backside (as invented by Christian Hosoi), but occasionally done frontside (as by Monty Nolder).
- Finger Flip Air
- Another Tony Hawk trick. Generally a backside air grabbing on the nose, and spinning the board in the heelflip direction with the front hand. Sometimes stopped by an Indy grab.
- Gay Twist
- Similar to a Caballerial; the difference being that the board is grabbed, whereas the cab is performed without touching the board with the hands. Invented by Lance Mountain, supposedly because he couldn't do Caballerials.
- Gnar Jar
- A 540 degree spin with a bodyjar (tail tap) when re-entering the vert ramp. Variations include: judo Gnar Jar, Double Judo Gnar Jar, Anti-Judo Gnar Jar, Christ Air Gnar Jar (all invented by Sandro Dias), and the Frontside Gnar Jar (invented by Bob Burnquist).
- Judo Air
- During a Judo Air, the skateboarder performs a nose grab, takes his/her front foot off the board and kicks it forward and pulls the board backwards while the back foot is still on the board. The name of the trick stems from the skateboarder looking like to be doing a Judo kick in mid air. This trick was invented by Tony Hawk. An Anti-Judo Air is where the front leg is kicked out twice: first in front, then behind, then back on the board.
- Lien Air
- Another of the basic airs. It's a frontside air, but instead of grabbing the toe edge of the board with your back hand, you grab the heel edge with your front hand (backside grab). Neil Blender invented the Lien Air, and originally, the trick was named after it's Neil's technique. He said he would "lean in to it." Someone thought it was some sort of genius that "lean" is phonetically the reverse of "Neil," and after some time the spelling ended up reflecting that.
- Madonna
- A one-footed lein to tail, where the front foot is taken off and kicked out straight down (behind the board). Although it is called a Lien grab, most people grab the nose instead.
- McTwist
- The McTwist is an aerial where the athlete performs a backside 540 while grabbing Mute (front hand grabbing the toe side of the board). In other words, the athlete approaches the half-pipe wall riding forward, becomes airborne, rotates a backside 540 and lands riding forward. It was named after its inventor Mike McGill, who first performed it in public in 1984 at a Del-Mar Skatepark contest. In skateboarding the Mc Twist is synonymous to a Mute 540 (even though it may be executed with an inversion). But in snowboarding McTwist always combines an inversion so that the rider is upside down amidst the trick. Snowboarders also use the term McTwist no matter what grab they use.
- Samba Flip
- A kickflip that is grabbed on the toe-side then flipped again downward where the skateboarder grabs it in an indy grab. <ref>http://expn.go.com/xgames/sxg/viii/s/best_trick.html</ref>
- Sean Penn
- The Sean Penn is similar to a Madonna lien to tail except the skateboarder kicks the front foot up and over the board (like a judo air) before finishing the lien to tail. It was named because Sean Penn was married to Madonna for a while, and thus was the opposite of Madonna. Possibly invented by Mark Rogowski, who popularized the trick.
- Sloth Air
- A type of double grab in which the skateboarder grabs indy and grabs a roastbeef with the front hand. Invented by Nathan Shellhorn. Usually done in vert.
- Stalefish
- The skateboarder reach behind the back leg with the back hand and grabs the backside of the board right in front of the back foot. The Stalefish can be done going frontside or backside.
- Rocket Air
- During a rocket air the skateboarder grabs the nose of the skateboard with both hands and at the same time places both feet on the tail.
- Method Air
- The Method Air is when a skateboarder gets air and grabs the backside edge of the board between the feet while pushing outward. It looks like one is kneeling on air.
[edit] References
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