TONY HAWK

teaches
Skateboarding

MASTERCLASS
100
Table of Contents

2 Meet Tony Hawk 31 Park Basics

A peek at Tony’s exceptional life and An intro to basic park skating.
career. PLUS: A glossary of crucial PLUS: Tony’s skate park etiquette tips.
skate terms; breaking down the parts
of a skateboard; and everything you 34 Park Intermediate & advanced
need to know about buying a board. An intro to more advanced park skat-
ing. PLUS: A 60-second bio of park
15 Basic Skills & Techniques skater Lizzie Armanto.
Learn whether you’re goofy- or
regular-footed; learn how to push, 38 Vert Basics & Intermediate
stop, and more. An intro to basic and intermediate
vert skating.
17 The Origins of the Ollie
How Alan 'Ollie' Gelfand changed 42 Vert advanced
skate tricks forever. An intro to advanced vert skating.

19 Skating’s Golden Age 45 How to Win
Examining how empty pools in Cal- Skateboarding’s journey from the
ifornia had a lasting impact on skate X Games to the Olympic Games.
culture. PLUS: A bit of history on PLUS: Tips for filming your own
Dogtown and the Z-Boys; the story skate videos; and five pointers for
behind one of the world’s most fa- crushing skate competitions.
mous vertical skate parks; and some
of the tricks that Tony has invented. 50 An Inside Look at
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
22 Creating a New Reputation How Tony’s video game empire
How Tony is using his star power – came to be.
and his namesake foundation – to
build skate parks in America and 53 The Future of Skateboarding
around the world. A look at the ways in which the faces
of skateboarding have evolved since
24 Street Basics the sport’s inception. PLUS: Water-
An intro to basic street skating. shed moments in the history of wom-
en’s skateboarding.
26 Street Intermediate & advanced
An intro to more advanced street 58 Parting Words From Tony
skating. PLUS: A 60-second bio of The Birdman offers a few final
street skater Riley Hawk. thoughts on your boarding journey.

1
 Left: Tony in 1987
Right: Tony today

MEET Tony Hawk

Tony Hawk didn’t invent skateboarding, but nobody has
done more to grow the sport than the iconic Southern
Californian. As the creator of more than 100 highly technical
and influential tricks that redefined what was possible in vert
skating, a dominant force in ’80s and ’90s competitive skating,
the owner of multiple successful skate companies, the star
of a billion-dollar skateboarding video game franchise, and
a tireless advocate for the sport who has built hundreds of
skate parks around the world with his foundation, Tony isn’t
just the face of skateboarding. Tony is skateboarding.

2
The Beginning

Tony was born on 12 May, 1968, in San Diego, California. Intelligent but also
hyperactive, and determined to do or get whatever he wanted, Tony (the
youngest of four kids) was a handful for his parents. What he – and they –
needed was the right outlet for his energy.

When Tony was nine, his older brother, Steve, gave him a beat-up old blue
fibreglass skateboard, which he rode for the first time in the alley behind the
family’s house. Tony wasn’t immediately enamoured with skating, but when he
visited his first skate park, he fell in love with the sport while watching people
do aerials out of swimming pools. I wanna fly. I wanna do that. Whatever it
takes, Tony recalls thinking. 'I was relentless in trying to get what I wanted as
a kid, and that shifted to skateboarding and wanting to learn tricks'.

Hooked, Tony began skating in empty pools for hours every day at the now-
defunct Oasis skate park in San Diego. 'When my dad would drive me to the
skate park, I would put my pads on in the car so that when we arrived I would
just bust out of the door ready to skate', he says. 'That’s how excited I was to go
there'. Not even his first big injury could deter Tony. After face-planting, losing
several teeth, and knocking himself unconscious at only 10 years old, he awoke
thinking not about his pain but how to avoid hanging up his wheels next time.
'I knew I was getting back out there, and I feel like that was a defining moment
of my career', Tony says. 'I didn’t mind getting hurt for the sake of progression'.

Finding His People

In skating, Tony found not only direction and a way to express himself, but
also a community that played an important role in his life. 'We were like this
band of misfits, and we didn’t fit in anywhere, but the skate park was our home
away from home', he says. 'We all spoke the same language. We all were push-
ing each other to be creative and to learn new things, and I felt like that com-
munity really defined me.'

Undersized and scrawny, Tony wasn’t able to 'fly' out of pools like taller, heavier
skaters could. Undeterred, he compensated for his physical deficiencies with
a revolutionary aerial move, performing ollies at the tops of walls so he could
pop himself up four to five feet in the air. This gave him the time and space to
execute more complicated manoeuvres. His abilities turned heads, and by only

3
 12 years old Tony was winning amateur contests throughout California. In 1982,
at 14, Tony went pro skating for the Powell-Peralta skateboard company on its
famous team, the Bones Brigade. He began travelling the country on weekends
to compete and do demos.

An Outcast Among Outcasts

The safe space that Tony enjoyed at skate parks stood in stark contrast to his
experience in high school, where he was bullied for being small, for having
an IQ of 144 and taking advanced classes, and for being one of two skaters at
his school – what Tony refers to as the 'trifecta of
uncool'. In the early ’80s, people considered skate-
boarding a lame, weird hobby that a kid should grow
out of, and jocks tormented him for it. 'School was
not a pleasant experience', Tony says. 'It was very Glossary
isolating. I basically learned to go to school kinda
undetected, go to my classes, and bounce.'
of Skate
Terms
By the time Tony was 16, the proliferation of half- A LITTLE CRAM
pipes and aerial tricks was making skating popular SESH BEFORE
again. Tony was dominating vert skating competi- YOUR JAM SESH
tions, making good money from prizes and endorse-
ment deals, and he was widely considered the best Air: Short for aerial.
competitive skateboarder in the world. But to his Aerial: A trick where
classmates he was still a nobody. 'I would go to all four wheels leave
Florida and there would be fans and I’d be signing the vertical or hori-
autographs and I’d win prize money, and [then] I’d zontal plane.
come home and I was still a ghost in the hallways', Backside: In general,
he says. He’d won three national titles by the time a trick executed with
he was 18, and even then, when people had heard the skater’s back
of Tony Hawk and knew he went to their school, facing the ramp or
obstacle. Also, when
nobody recognised him.
you rotate the back
of your body in
Despite his achievements as a young pro, Tony also the direction you’re
struggled for acceptance in the larger skate commu- riding.
nity. Initially his peers didn’t consider his inventive, Bail: While in the
trick-based style, which lacked the surf influence of air, deciding you’re
older skaters coming out of Dogtown (see page 19), not going to land
a style at all. Haters called him a 'robot' and a 'circus your trick and kick-
ing your board
away for a hopefully
4
painless landing.
 Bonk: A short nose
grind involving a
quick tap of the front
truck on an obstacle.
Bowl: A skateable
object (like a pool)
where the transi-
tioned walls wrap
around 360 degrees
to form a bowl.
Carve: The act
of making big, fast
turns in the corners
of transitions.
Coping: A protrud-
ing edge, typically
made of metal or
Tony at 18 sitting on a ramp he built cement, that runs
along the lip of tran-
sitioned ramps.
Crew: The people
you skate with.
Disaster: The act of
skater'. They claimed that his groundbreaking ollies rotating 180 degrees
into aerials were a form of cheating. Thrasher maga- in the air – either
zine ridiculed him even as it reported his event wins. frontside or backside
It all stung deeply. 'I was in this very small community – then smacking the
of skateboarding that was already isolated and out- centre of the deck
on the coping before
cast and weird, and then I’m a type of skater that’s
re-entering a bowl
only doing tricks, and that made me an outcast in or ramp.
this outcast activity', Tony says. 'And I was just ex-
tremely isolated in that. I want to be at least accept- Drop in: The act of
going from a flat
ed by this community that I love.'
platform into a steep
transition. Also, any
Tony persevered and stuck to his personal style, obstacle that skaters
constantly pushing himself forwards and invent- can perform that act
ing new tricks. 'I wanted validation from the skate from by placing their
community, but at the same time I loved skating tail on the obstacle’s
too much to make that the only focus of what I was edge and leaning
forwards.
doing', he says. 'At some point I learned how to do
these moves high in the air and I learned how to do Fakie: When you’re
them on different terrain, and that is kind of when in your normal
stance and rolling
the haters shut up.'
backward.
Flat / Flatbottom:
5
Any flat surface at
 The results spoke for themselves. By the time Tony the bottom of a
was 25 and decided to step away from competition transition.
to focus on learning and inventing new tricks, he’d Frontside:
competed in 103 pro contests and won a record In general, a trick
73 of them, with 19 second-place finishes. For 12 executed with the
consecutive years, from 1984 to 1996, he’d been skater’s front facing
the ramp or obsta-
crowned vert skating’s world champion. And even
cle. Also, when you
Thrasher, which had once trashed him for having no rotate the front of
style, named him the magazine’s inaugural Skater of your body in the di-
the Year in 1990. rection you’re riding.
Goofy-footed:
A skating stance
where the right
The Birth of Birdhouse foot is the lead foot.
Half-pipe /
Vert ramp:
A majority of skate parks closed in the early ’90s A ramp composed
because liability insurance was too costly and inter- of a flatbottom with
est in the sport was dying down. There were fewer concave transition
competitions, street skating was overshadowing vert leading to vertical on
both sides.
skating, and Tony found his royalty cheques from
sales were reduced by half each month. Handplant: A trick
that requires you
to do a one-hand-
But the turn of events couldn’t keep Tony down.
ed handstand while
In 1992 he teamed with fellow pro skater Per We- your other hand
linder to start his own skate company, Birdhouse grabs and holds
Projects (now Birdhouse Skateboards). Having your skateboard.
seen his beloved sport go in and out of fashion sev-
Hang up: When your
eral times already, Tony had faith that it would even- truck catches on the
tually rebound. 'I had to believe that', Tony says. 'And coping while re-en-
also, I didn’t want to do anything else. I loved skating tering a transition.
too much. I loved skating so much that I was willing Hardflip: A trick
to struggle with a skate company, to keep it afloat at consisting of a fron-
huge challenges to my livelihood and my lifestyle. tside 180 pop shove-
I was eating Taco Bell and Top Ramen, peanut but- it and a kickflip.
ter and jam sandwiches for, like, two years. Sold my Kick turn: When
cars. Moved into a smaller place. But I was happy you briefly lift the
doing that if it allowed me to stay in skating.' nose of your board,
balancing on your
For the next couple of years, while many of his peers back wheels, and
moved on in pursuit of financial stability, Tony and swing the front of
your board in a new
direction.
Knee slide: A way of
6
controlling a fall by
 a small team of skaters travelled across the country sliding on plastic caps
doing exhibitions in skate shops and amusement park on your kneepads.
car parks – three a day for a whopping $100 total – Ledge: Any elongat-
while promoting and selling Birdhouse products. ed block with edges
on which you can do
Tony’s belief in skating and Birdhouse ultimately paid slides or grind tricks.
off. In the mid- to late ’90s, the sport’s popularity Line: A number of
surged once more – in large part due to his own tricks performed
efforts and accomplishments – and Birdhouse blos- consecutively, or
somed into one of the biggest skate companies in the route a rider
plans to skate.
the world.
Lip: The edge of
any transition that a
skateboarder rides.
The Turn of the Century Lips are often built
with coping.
Lipslide: A slide in
Of all the years that Tony which the tail of
the board goes up
Tony at the 1998 X Games has been active, arguably
and over the obsta-
the biggest of his career cle and your board
was 1999. He’d returned slides between the
to competition in 1995 two trucks.
for ESPN’s inaugural alt- Manual: A trick
sports event, the Extreme where you balance
Games (since renamed on either the front
the X Games), and won or back wheels of
gold in the vert competi- your board without
tion that year and again in the tail or nose of
the board touching
1997. In 1999, at X Games
the ground.
V, Tony participated in the
Best Trick event and land- Nose: The front
ed skating’s first-ever 900 of the skateboard,
from the front truck
(two-and-a-half midair
bolts to the tip of the
revolutions) after 10 years board.
of trying, one broken rib,
and 11 failed attempts on Pocket: The con-
cave part of the
the day. 'When I made it, it was like time stood still',
skateboard’s curved
he says. 'I didn’t really understand it had happened tail or nose.
until I was riding back towards the stands and the
crowd and everyone was rushing me on the ramp. Pump: Extending
your legs at the right
It still kinda doesn’t seem real that it happened.'
spot on a transition
Tony didn’t win the event – he’d completed it after to build up speed.

Rail: The edge

7
of the skateboard.
 his time had run out – but the dramatic, jaw-drop- Alternately, a
ping feat made a huge impression on the massive handrail or any
live crowd, national TV audience, and those who other object
made to emulate
witnessed the highlight on SportsCenter.
a handrail.

A month later, Activision released Tony Hawk’s Razor tail:

Pro Skater, the first video game in what became a A chipped tail that
results from stop-
hugely influential, billion-dollar franchise that in-
ping your board
troduced skating to countless kids worldwide and by dragging the
inspired many of them to try skating for the first tail on the ground.
time (see page 50). With the 900 under his belt and
Regular-footed:
his titular game, Tony catapulted into mainstream
A skating stance
celebrity and became one of the most recognisable where the left foot
sports figures in the world. is the lead foot.
Revert: A rotation,
either frontside or
backside, done by
sliding the wheels
'Retirement' along the ground.
Rock ‘n’ roll:
A ramp trick where
Shortly after the 1999 X Games, Tony retired from you go up to the
competition, but his work in skateboarding was far lip, push your front
from over. He continued to develop new tricks and lorry over it, stall,
draw huge crowds to skate exhibitions, launching then kick turn 180
degrees to re-enter
his extreme sports tour, Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom
the transition.
HuckJam, in 2002. That same year, he founded the
Tony Hawk Foundation, which has helped build Session: Any time
more than 600 skate parks all over the United States skaters get together
at a spot to skate.
and made the sport accessible to kids in disadvan-
taged areas. An estimated 6 million young skaters Slam: A hard fall.
use those parks each year (see page 23). Snake: Someone
who cuts you off
Tony also continued building his business empire, or steals your line
expanding beyond Birdhouse and his juggernaut at a park or spot.
video game franchise with Hawk Clothing, the Tony Also, the act of
Hawk Signature Series of sporting goods and toys, cutting someone
off or stealing
several books, a film production company, a Siri-
their line.
usXM satellite radio show, and the immensely popu-
lar RIDE Channel on YouTube. Spot: Any location
with skateable
elements where
In 2009, Tony was inducted into the Skateboarding street skaters ride.
Stall: Holding a trick
8 for some duration of
Hall of Fame during its inaugural ceremony for his time before re-en-
many achievements in the sport. But the honour tering a transition.
didn’t mark the end of his skating career. Remark- Tail: The rear of the
ably, Tony landed another 900 in 2011 at 43 years skateboard, from the
old, and again, for what he claimed was his final rear lorry bolts to the
time, at 48 in 2016. On his 50th birthday, he blew end of the board.
minds by performing 50 tricks he’d invented over the Tic-tac: To pivot left
course of his life. Now 52, Tony is still going strong, and right on your
as dogged and determined as ever. And he plans to back wheels, either
keep skating until the light goes out of him. The joy as a means of accel-
of skating is that great, and, as Tony says, 'there are eration or to keep
your balance when
still new tricks to learn'.
landing a trick off
centre.
With this MasterClass, Tony wants to empower you
to accomplish more than you ever thought you Transition:
Any surface for
could. He will teach you skate history, share his per-
skating that is not
sonal story of perseverance and achievement, and horizontal or verti-
show you how to do basic moves as well as a range cal. The curved
of street, park, and vert tricks. Now let’s get rolling. part of the terrain
that is between
0 and 90 degrees.

Lorry/ Lorries:
The front and rear
axle assemblies that
connect the wheels
to the deck and
provide the turning
capabilities for the
board.

Varial / Shove-it:
The spinning of
the board along
its vertical axis.

Wheel bite:
When too much
weight is applied
to one side of the
board, causing the
underside of the
deck to touch a
wheel and stop its
rotation.

9
 The Basic Anatomy of a Skateboard
MODERN SKATEBOARDS HAVE COME A LONG WAY SINCE THEIR EARLIEST
PREDECESSORS. HERE’S A QUICK DIVE INTO THEIR COMPONENT PARTS

Hardware: Nuts, Grip tape: Adhesive- Deck: The board upon

bolts, and screws backed sandpaper affixed which you stand. Decks
that hold lorries to the top of the board to are typically made of
onto the board. provide traction. seven or nine layers of
maple or birch wood that
are laminated together
and shaped.

Riser pads / Risers:

Hard plastic pads
inserted between
the lorries and deck
to raise the overall
Lorries: The front and height of the
rear axle assemblies that skateboard and
connect the wheels to the avoid wheel bite.
deck and allow the board
Bearings: Round
to turn.
metal discs that fit
inside the wheels,
mounting them
to the axle. The
inner and outer Wheels: What your board
parts of the discs rolls on (obviously). They
ride on interior are typically made of poly-
balls, allowing urethane and measured
wheels to turn. Radial by their size and hardness.

Radial

10
 The Skateboard Buying FAQ
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BUYING YOUR FIRST BOARD

WHAT KIND OF BOARD WHAT SIZE DECK

SHOULD IS RIGHT FOR ME?
I GET? It depends on how big you are
Decks come in four basic and what style of skating you
shapes, and each one is plan to do. Decks come in many
designed for certain kinds different widths, and you should
of skating: choose your deck based on
width, not length, according
to these general guidelines:
X Shortboards are the shortest style
and are designed and shaped for get- X If you are under 1m and wear a size
ting air and performing tricks. Tony, 2.5 shoe or smaller, get a micro deck
Riley (see page 30), and Lizzie (see (width: 16.5cm–17cm).
page 37) all use shortboards.
X If you are 1m–1.3m and wear a shoe
X Cruisers, which often feature kick- between sizes 3.5 and 5.5, get a mini
tails, are easily maneuverable mid- deck (width: 17.8cm).
length boards designed for cruising
streets. X If you are 1.3m–1.6m and wear a
shoe between sizes 6.5 and 7.5, get a
X Old-school boards typically have midsize deck (width: 18.5cm).
a flat nose and kicktail and an asym-
metrical shape. They’re also generally X If you are 1.6m or taller and wear
wider. They work well for skating size 8.5 shoes or bigger, get a full-size
pools, ramps, or carving the streets. deck (width: 19cm or larger). Once
you’ve reached a full-size deck, your
X Longboards are wider and – you skating style will dictate the right
guessed it – longer. They’re easily width for you. Some loose guidelines:
maneuverable, and, with their softer
wheels, best suited for transportation X 19cm–20cm for skating
or downhill racing (not for tricks). streets or doing more techni-
cal tricks

X 20cm–21cm for skating

pools, ramps, and parks

X 21cm and wider for skating

vert, pools, and cruising

11
 Radial

HOW CONCAVE SHOULD MY DECK BE?

The concavity of your board is correlated to your
performance. Just like with board size, the right Radial Radial
concavity depends on the style of skating you planProgressive
to do. Here are common types of concavity that asymmetric
affect how the board feels under your feet and what
X Asymmetrical: With rails
kind of skating you can pull off:
that rise at different angles,
these decks give you more
power in your heels for turns.
Progressive Progressive
Radial Radial asymmetric
W-Concave convex

Radial W-Concave W-Concave convex

Progressive Progressive
flatcave asymmetric
flat
X Radial: This slight U-shaped X W-Concave: The W shape is X Convex: This atypical deck
curve is the most common found in the tail area, and the arches upward, giving you a
deck shape and it helps your extra curve in the centreline more natural foot placement
feet grip the board better, allows you to shift more ener- for downhill and slalom skat-
which is useful in most styles gy from your heel to your toe ing.
of skateboarding. flatcave
Progressivefor a highly precise, respon- flatcave flat
W-Concave W-Concave
asymmetric
Radial sive, quick-turning board. convex

W-Concave convex
Progressive flatcave flatcave flat
asymmetric

X Progressive: With a more X Tub / Flat-cave: Featuring X Flat: Found mostly on long-
dramatic curve than a radial, rails that extend at a sharper boards these days, this old-
these decks have a steep wall angle from the deck than a school design gives your feet
on the rail and a wider base radial board, these decks allow plenty of space and lets you
to give you more secure foot- you to shift energy quickly but do boardwalking tricks.
flatcave flat
ing and help you to feel even W-Concavealso keep your feet flatter for a
convex
more locked in. smooth and relaxed ride.

12
flatcave flat
DOES IT MATTER WHAT WHAT KIND OF WHEELS
WOOD THE BOARD IS SHOULD I GET?
MADE FROM? Skateboard wheels are commonly made
Decks are typically made of birch, of polyurethane and differ in
bamboo, or maple wood. Maple is the diameter (size) and durometer (hard-
most common and is ideal because it is ness). The wheels you pick will impact
flexible yet durable, so it can be shaped the way your board accelerates, turns,
easily without sacrificing strength. Plus and rides. The wheels that work best for
it’s impact-resistant. you will depend on the style of
skating you want to do.

X Diameter: Measured in millimetres (mm),

the smaller the number, the smaller the wheel.
Smaller wheels (50mm–53mm) give you a
slower ride and, because they’re lower to the
ground and more easily controlled, work best
for technical or street skating. Larger wheels
(60mm+) allow you to go faster, provide great-
er balance, and are best suited for cruising
and vert skating. Between these two is the av-
erage-size wheel (54mm–59mm), which is a
happy medium for beginners.

X Durometer: Measured on a Durometer A

Scale, which goes from 1 to 100 and measures
increasing hardness, harder wheels go faster
than softer wheels. For mellow cruising, try
the softest wheel (78a–87a), which can handle
rough surfaces. For street skating, try a harder
and faster wheel that still has grip (88a–95a).
For skating street, parks, ramps, and pools, go
with a wheel that is well-balanced between
speed and grip (96a–99a).

13
Play It Safe With Protective Gear

Every skater has had the thought that protective gear looks lame. But you know
what looks really cool? Finally pulling off a trick without breaking all the bones in
your body. Tony recommends wearing protective gear when you’re starting out
and at any experience level when you’re skating pools, parks, and vert. Here are
the essentials:

X Helmet:
You should always wear a multisport or skateboarding helmet that fits your head
snugly (look for one with installable pads – it shouldn’t move when you shake
your head). A helmet should sit low on your forehead and have side straps that
form a V shape around each ear as well as a buckle that fastens tightly under your
chin. If you can fit more than two fingers between the strap and your chin, it’s not
tight enough. Also, be sure your helmet is multiuse and capable of taking more
than one hit.

X Wrist guards:
Wrist guards reduce the chance of twisting or breaking your wrists when you fall
or bail on a trick. Not everyone wears them, but they’re sensible if you’re starting
out and haven’t learned how to fall properly or if you tend to land on your hands
more than your knees.

X Knee- and elbow pads:

When you fall – and you will fall – pads prevent or reduce the severity of cuts,
scrapes, bruises, and burns. Additionally, kneepads can be used in a knee slide
manoeuvre to slide safely on a vert and other large transitions. Make sure yours
have sufficient padding and an external plastic cap designed to take abuse.

X Skate shoes:
Whatever your personal aesthetic, a good skate shoe has closed toes and flat,
thick, durable, slip-resistant rubber soles that hold on to grip tape and prevent
shocks from travelling up your feet. Padded tongues and thick midsoles are also
key for protecting your ankles from spinning boards and obstacles. These days
Tony’s preferred brand is Vans.

14
BASIC SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES

GOOFY
GOO
FY forwards toward the nose of the
board but at a slight angle.

Y
GOOF
2. Use your back foot to push along-
side the board and propel yourself
forwards. To get more speed, push
RE GU LA R multiple times.

REGULAR
3. When you’ve achieved your de-
sired speed, place your back foot
on the tail so that it’s perpendicular
Take a Stance: to the deck.
Regular or Goofy?
AR

4. Once your back foot is on the

REGUL

board, pivot your front foot to the

same perpendicular position as
There are two stances for skate- your back foot.
boarding: regular and goofy. Regu-
lar means that you skate with your
left foot forwards and push your HOW TO
board with your right foot. Despite GET A RUNNING START
sounding like an insult, goofy simply 1. For this more advanced move,
means that you skate with your right hold the nose of your board with the
foot forwards and push with your hand that corresponds to your front
left foot. (Tony skates goofy-footed, foot (i.e., If you skate with your right
so you’re in good company if you foot forwards, hold the board with
do, too.) To determine which stance your right hand).
is right for you, stand up straight 2. Run forward.
and have someone push you gently 3. While moving, set your board
from behind. Whichever foot you down so your back wheels contact
brace yourself with is your lead foot. the ground first, placing your front
foot over the front truck bolts as the
front of the board comes down.
HOW TO 4. Place your back foot on the tail
PUSH so that it’s perpendicular to the
1. Place your front foot over the board. Alternatively, to get even
front lorry bolts. It should face more speed, you can give the board

15
a quick push with your back foot your heels or toes. Be sure to keep
before placing it on the board. your weight centred so that when
the board turns you don’t find your-
self off-balance.
HOW TO
STOP (BEGINNER)
1. While in motion, take your back HOW TO DO A
foot off the tail of the board and TIC-TAC
place it on the ground parallel to (AKA HOW TO MOVE
your board on the toeside. WITHOUT PUSHING)
2. Drag your back foot along the 1. With your board motionless,
ground, applying pressure to your place both feet in skate position,
foot until you come to a full stop. front foot over the front trucks,
Be sure to even out the weight you back foot on the tail.
place on your feet – if there’s too 2. Kick up your board slightly so
much weight on your back foot, you’re balancing on your back
you will stop, but your board will wheels.
keep going. 3. Using your bodyweight, quickly
swing the front of your board left or
right – about a quarter of a full kick
HOW TO turn (see below) – and bring your
STOP (INTERMEDIATE) front wheels back to the ground.
1. Place the toe of your back foot Make sure your weight is in your
on the tail of your board so that your front foot when you land, which is
heel is hanging off the back. what will propel you forwards.
2. Lean back on your toe until the 4. Repeat steps two and three,
heel of your shoe contacts the swinging your board back in the
ground, keeping your bodyweight opposite direction this time. This
centred between your heel and back and forth 'tic-tac' movement
your board. Be sure the tail of your will naturally set your board in
board does not contact the ground motion.
– if it does, you’ll find yourself with
razor tail.
3. Drag the heel of your shoe on the HOW TO
ground until you stop. KICK TURN
1. Kick up your board so you’re
balancing on your back wheels.
HOW TO 2. Using your bodyweight, quick-
TURN BY LEANING ly swing the front of your board in
1. With your feet in skate position, whatever direction you want to turn.
lean in the direction you want to 3. Bring the front of your board back
turn by placing pressure on either down to the ground.

16
THE ORIGINS OF THE OLLIE

In 1977, 14-year-old Floridian Alan 'Ollie' Gelfand – whose nickname came from
a favourite sandwich of his – was practising a lipslide on a half-pipe. He lifted up
his board at the top, causing all four wheels to come up off the wall. The board
stuck to his feet while it scooped around 180 degrees. Gelfand’s friends dubbed
this groundbreaking hands-free aerial move the 'ollie pop'. Subsequent photos
of Gelfand performing his 'ollie air', a feature in SkateBoarder magazine, and the
inclusion of his trick in the movie Skateboard Madness (1980) wowed the skate
community and opened up a world of possibilities in vert skating.

One of the many skaters inspired by Gelfand’s trick was fellow Floridian Rodney
Mullen, who appreciated the way the ollie allowed him to keep his momentum
on a ramp by scooping his tail and guiding his board around. Mullen decon-
structed the move and tried to take the vertical trick horizontal. The scooping
motion didn’t translate to popping straight up off of flat ground, but eventu-
ally he realised that quickly snapping the tail of his board and kicking his front
foot forwards – a move derived from an earlier trick he’d invented – levelled
his board out with a seesaw motion. Thus was born the flatground ollie, which
15-year-old Rodney debuted in 1982 at the Rusty Harris Pro-Am Series in Whit-
tier, California. Called an 'ollie prop pop' when featured in Thrasher magazine as
a Trick Tip a year later, it was subsequently simplified to an ollie. The move pro-
vided air with which to do more complex flip tricks and allowed skaters to pop
onto obstacles like rails and ride continuously by jumping curbs. It ended up
being revolutionary and became the foundational move of street skating.

What the Ollie Can Do for You

'The ollie is the foundation to almost every trick on the street', says Tony, 'and
most tricks on ramps'. Whatever kind of skating you’re doing, being able to
bring your board up into the air by snapping your tail off of a surface opens up a
world of possibilities. In street skating, getting that air allows you to jump curbs,
to jump over or onto obstacles like rails and benches for grinds, to perform
board flips and rotations, to clear stairs on a jump, and more. In vertical skating,
the ollie is key to maximising the air you need to perform the sickest of aerial

17
 tricks. So, take your time and get comfortable ollieing, then push yourself
to ollie even higher. From there, the only real limit to what you’ll do is your
imagination. (And gravity.)

Tony catches air during an ollie

HOW TO
OLLIE
1. With your front foot positioned
slightly in front of the middle of the
board, put your back foot all the way
on the edge of the tail.
2. Bend your knees so you’re
crouched down and ready to
explode upward.
3. Snap down on your tail hard with
your back foot so your board taps
the ground and starts to go verti-
cal. After snapping, bend your back
leg so your board can rise and your
back wheels can leave the ground.
4. Slide your front foot forwards so
it catches the board and levels it
out, bringing the tail end up to your
back foot.
5. With both legs bent and main-
taining friction between your feet
and the board, straighten your legs
to bring the board back down to the
ground and land the ollie.

18
SKATING’S GOLDEN AGE The
Boys of
Dogtown
A RAGTAG CREW
Mike Weed makes the most of OF KIDS FROM
an empty pool in the 1970s
CALIFORNIA WERE
RESPONSIBLE FOR
CREATING AERIAL
SKATING

Dogtown is an area
of southern Santa
Monica bordering
Venice Beach where
a group of young
outcasts, includ-
ing Tony Alva, Jay
Adams, and Stacy
Peralta, birthed
aerial skating. In
the 1970s, a crew
of surfers from the
then-impoverished
beach town com-
peted on the Zephyr
Surf Team, repre-
How a Drought senting their local
shop, Jeff Ho Surf-
Changed Skating Forever boards and Zephyr
Productions. When
waves were low at
When and why the first skater dropped into an emp- their local surf spot,
the infamous Cove
ty pool is anyone’s guess, but in Southern California,
at Pacific Ocean
the practice exploded in the mid-’70s as the result of Park, the 'Z-Boys'
a drought. Decreased rainfall and water conservation practised moves on
efforts led many homeowners to drain their pools, skateboards in the
freeing the bowls up for an unintended use. While streets and in pools
some skaters politely asked to use pools, others wait- void of water, cre-
ed and watched until homeowners left, then hopped ating a fresh new
surf-inspired style of
over fences into people’s backyards. Some even
skating.
went so far as to unscrew and remove pool slides for
their sessions.

19
A golden age of skateboarding, it was an experimental time when skaters were
discovering new possibilities daily, building upon each others’ innovations and
blending styles. For surfers who skated, like the Zephyr Skateboard Team (aka
the Z-Boys), the transitions and walls of empty pools were the closest thing they
could find to a wave on land, and the inherent danger of wiping out on concrete
added extra excitement to runs. The Z-Boys revolutionised skating with their surf
moves, riding up walls and catching the first documented air. Along with other
skaters like Steve Alba, known as the 'Godfather of Pool Skating', pool skaters in-
spired the next generation of skaters, including a young Tony.

The popularity of pool skating led directly to the proliferation of skate parks
with pools – such as the one in San Diego where Tony first watched skaters
perform aerials and fell in love with the sport. The air skaters caught in those
earlier pools changed the verticality of skating completely.

Quite simply, without pool skating, skateboarding as we know it today would

not exist. There would be no big-air vert skating, no half-pipe titans like Tony,
Bob Burnquist, Christian Hosoi, and Shaun White. So, the next time you see a
bone-dry pool, don’t think of it as empty – recognise it is full of possibility.

The Story of Pipeline Skatepark

(aka Upland)
HOW THE WORLD’S FIRST VERTICAL SKATE PARK CAME TO BE

Pipeline Skatepark was a and the first fullpipe in a round pool with a small
legendary skate location park, Pipeline attracted shallow section. Pipe-
in Upland, California. pros like Steve Alba and line inspired and influ-
Stan and Jeanne Hoff- Chris Miller and became enced the construction
man opened Pipeline, the go-to location for of skate parks around
dubbed 'The World’s skate contests and video the world even after it
First Vertical Skatepark', shoots. The park gained closed in 1988. In 1994,
in May 1977, following even more fame world- a replica of the original
the emergence of vert wide when the Hoffmans Combi Bowl was built
skating in pools. Featur- added the Combi Bowl, a at the Vans skate park
ing the first vertical walls 12-foot-deep vert dou- in Orange, California, in
that were actually de- ble bowl that connect- collaboration with the
signed for skateboarding ed a square pool and a Hoffmans.

20
 A Long List of (Some of) the
Vert Tricks Tony Has Invented
THE MAD SCIENTIST OF SKATING HAS MADE UP MORE THAN 100 TRICKS
ON VERT SINCE HE STARTED SKATING IN 1977. HERE ARE JUST A FEW

720 Backside rewind Frontside Frontside Rodeo flip

grind bluntslide noseslide
900 Sacktap
Backside varial Frontside body G twist 360
360 flip varial revert varial Saran wrap
mute to fakie Bluntslide to
fakie Frontside taxi G twist heelflip Shove-it
360 frontside body varial frontside
rock ‘n’ roll Taxi backside Frontside taxi nosegrind
smith disaster G twist varial
360 ollie to disaster revert Shove-it
backside Taxi body varial Frontside taxi rock ‘n’ roll
boardslide disaster revert Gymnast plant
Taxi lipslide Shove-it to
360 varial Frontside taxi Half taxi body backside smith
disaster Taxi revert revert varial lien
Slob G twist
360 varial Taxi shove-it Frontside taxi Half taxi fron- one foot
McTwist Taxi to tail tailgrab tside blunt re-
vert Stalefish
360 varial to tail Double kickflip Frontside G
twist Half taxi to Stalefish 540
540 body varial varial indy
bluntslide Stalefish
Eggplant Frontside G
Airwalk twist body varial Half elguerial frontside 540
to fakie
Airwalk to fakie Frontside G Heelflip slob air Switch 540
Fakie heelflip
Alley-oop back- varial lien twist Madonna Switch backside
Heelflip varial
side bluntslide Frontside G lien ollie
Fakie to fakie
Backside 540 twist varial Switch indie air
Heelflip varial
heelflip body Frontside lien revert
varial Fakie to fakie Switcheroo to
frontside rock hurricane fakie
Indy 540
Backside ollie ‘n’ roll Frontside
one foot Invert to layback Tailgrab one
Fakie to fakie hurricane to foot 540
fakie air
Backside lien 540
ollie to tail Kickflip McTwist Varial 540
Fakie to fakie Frontside
Backside pop stalefish 540 kickflip body Lipslide revert Varial 720
shove-it varial
Fingerflip air Madonna Varial G twist
to fakie Frontside
L twist to tail Nollie heelflip
Fingerflip indy
backside air Frontside
nosegrind Ollie 540
Frontside 270 to
switch crook Ollie to indy air

21
CREATING A NEW REPUTATION

Skateboarding Breaks New Ground

SEE HOW THE TONY HAWK FOUNDATION IS HELPING TO KEEP SKATEBOARDERS BUSY

Skateboarding has long had an outlaw image, largely because skaters had no
dedicated practice areas to call home. As far back as the mid-’70s, skaters were
getting into trouble with the law for trespassing, damaging property, and dis-
turbing the peace. When purpose-built skate parks largely disappeared in the
early ’80s and crews began street skating in places like office parks and locked
schoolyards, the conflict between skaters and non-skaters only worsened.
There was hardly a skater active during those days who didn’t have to ditch a
session to flee from an angry property owner, security guards, or police.

In the decades since there has been a concerted effort by local advocates and
civil authorities to build skate parks so kids have safe spaces to thrash and stay
active without disturbing others or grinding public property to pieces. To that
end, since 2002 Tony’s namesake foundation has worked with hundreds of
these advocates to create free parks for the public, raising more than $9.2 mil-
lion to help finance 623 skate park projects (and counting), especially in low-in-
come inner cities and rural areas across the United States. The Tony Hawk
Foundation has also partnered with Skateistan – an international nonprofit
organisation that uses skateboarding and education to empower children – to
build parks in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and South Africa.

According to a 2009 survey of 102 police officers in 37 states where Tony’s

foundation had contributed to the construction of a public skate park, the parks
are effective at keeping young skaters out of trouble: Surveyors found that 47
percent of officers noticed a decrease in overall youth crime since the skate
park opened, and 90 percent believed the skate park was an asset to the com-
munity, with 85 percent reporting a 'significant decrease in complaint calls from
business and property owners regarding skate-­related incidents/crimes'. Skate
parks, it turns out, do the trick.

22
 Skate the States
THE TONY HAWK FOUNDATION HAS DEDICATED MILLIONS TO BUILDING SKATE PARKS ALL AROUND
THE WORLD. USE THE HANDY GUIDE BELOW TO SEE HOW MANY THF HAS BUILT IN EACH STATE

3 6 4 8 66 12 1 2 11 10
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia

0 26 14 17 15 12 4 1 10 4
Hawaii Iowa Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Maryland

10 22 23 13 6 16 9 6 5 6
North New
Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana Carolina North Dakota Nebraska Hampshire

4 4 1 21 21 13 32 15 3 2
South
New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island Carolina

6 5 23 4 7 7 30 31 12 6
South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virgina Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia Wyoming

23
STREET B A S I CS

Street skateboarding is a style that makes use of the limitless urban envi-
ronment. It found popularity in the late ’80s and early ’90s as skating’s liabil-
ity insurance caused skate parks to close. With fewer places to go, skaters
took to the streets, using obstacles like curbs, handrails, stairs, walls, park
benches, picnic tables, and trash cans to perform tricks like grinds, slides,
and aerials. The beauty of street skating is that there are no hours of opera-
tion. Virtually anywhere can be a skate spot (legality pending). The environ-
ment – and what you choose to do with it – is boundless.

Pain vs. Progression

IN SKATING, SUCCESS IS OFTEN SYNONYMOUS WITH SUFFERING

Injuries are a part of skating. Whether you says. 'I didn’t mind getting hurt for the sake
want to skate fast for transportation or to of progression.'
perfect tricks, practising to achieve your That dogged determination to achieve
goals will most likely lead to at least a few your goals – no matter the scrapes, breaks,
literal painful moments of failure. (Yes, even bumps, and bruises you’ll certainly acquire
with the protective gear that Tony recom- along the way–is as much a part of skating
mends – see page 14.) as your trucks and grip tape. 'I think there’s
Tony’s first big injury happened when he so much to learn from failure, through your
was 10. While performing rock ‘n’ rolls in a life', Tony says. 'You learn what you’re capa-
pool, he hung his wheels up on the coping, ble of, you learn what you can endure, and
lost his board, and face-planted, losing you learn to be successful through those
teeth and knocking himself unconscious. failures.' Before Tony landed his historic
When he awoke – just as an ambulance 900 at the 1999 X Games, he spent 10 years
arrived – his first thought was not about getting banged up while trying to pull it off.
his injury but about where the trick went Only you can say exactly how much pain
wrong (he needed to lift his wheels more you’re willing to endure for your love of
to avoid hanging them up). 'I knew I was skating, but if you’re anything like Tony, no
getting back out there, and I feel like that amount of pain will compare to the eupho-
was a defining moment of my career', Tony ria of finally succeeding.

24
HOW TO DO A to continue rolling backwards when
BACKSIDE POP SHOVE-IT you land.
1. Position your front foot slightly in 4. Straighten your legs to bring the
front of the middle of the board with board down after you and the board
your heel hanging off the board. have both turned 180 degrees. If
Position your back foot on the tail you need to, you can land early on
of your board so that your big toe your front wheels (now at the rear)
presses on the tip of the tail. and pivot the rest of the way as you
2. While performing a basic ollie bring your back foot (now in front)
(snapping the tail of your board with down to complete the 180.
your back foot so the tail taps the
ground – see page 18), kick your
back foot behind you and your front
foot out in front of you.
3. As you’re in the air, bend your Riley Hawk demonstrating a street trick

legs so your board has room to rise

and spin beneath you. To keep your
board from over-rotating, don’t
push too hard as you kick out.
4. When your board has spun 180
degrees, extend your legs so your
feet catch it and bring it down to the
ground.

HOW TO DO A
FRONTSIDE 180 OLLIE
1. Position your feet as you would to
perform a basic ollie (see page 18).
2. As you’re about to snap the tail of
your board, open your shoulder and
turn your torso in the frontside po-
sition. This will provide the momen-
tum to make your board spin fron-
tside 180 degrees. If you find you’re
not spinning a full 180 degrees, turn
your shoulder even more.
3. As you’re levelling out your board
halfway through the turn, shift your
weight towards your front foot,
keeping your upper body over your
back foot. This puts you in position

25
STREET I N T E R M E D I AT E & AD VA N C E D
HOW TO DO A
KICKFLIP
1. Position your front foot just be-
hind the nose of your board. It
should be hanging halfway off the
board on the heelside. Place your
back foot in the middle of the tail.
2. When you snap up as you would
when performing a basic ollie (see
page 18), kick your front foot out on
a slight heelside diagonal. Your toe
should catch the nose of the board
and send it flipping beneath you.
3. As you and your board travel, be A young Riley skates during
the 2011 Maloof Money Cup
sure to keep your weight over the
board.
4. When your board has flipped a heel to initiate the flip.
full 360 degrees beneath you, catch 3. When your board has flipped a full
it first with your back foot, then your 360 degrees beneath you, catch it
front foot, then extend your legs to with your feet and land the heelflip.
land the kickflip.

HOW TO DO A
HOW TO DO A BACKSIDE OLLIE 180
HEELFLIP 1. Position your feet like you would
1. Position your back foot in the doing a basic ollie (see page 18),
middle of the tail and your front with your back foot in the centre of
foot just behind the nose of your your tail.
board, with your heel on the board 2. Before snapping your tail, begin
and your toes hanging off. Be sure turning your shoulders in a backside
enough of your heel is on the board direction. This will create the mo-
so it will catch your board as you mentum to spin you and your board
kick out. 180 degrees.
2. As you ollie (see page 18), kick 3. Pop your tail and slide your front
your front foot out diagonally to- foot forwards while continuing to
ward your toeside, catching the rotate your shoulders around. If
nose of your board with your front you’ve timed your shoulder turn

26
correctly with the pop, you and your your front foot to flick forwards and
board will land after rotating 180 to the heelside to start the board
degrees. Be sure to also shift your flipping, like you would in a kickflip.
weight as you would with a frontside Be sure to jump high enough that
180 ollie (see page 25) to ensure you the board has time to both rotate
keep rolling when you land. and flip a full 360 degrees.
4. As the board is nearing a 360-de-
gree rotation and flip, catch it with
HOW TO DO A your front foot to settle it, then
FRONTSIDE POP SHOVE-IT catch it with your back foot and
1. Position your back foot so your bring it down to the ground.
big toe presses on the tip of the tail.
Position your front foot slightly in
front of the middle of the board, Pro tip: When starting out, don’t
with your heel on the board and worry about catching your board and
your toes hanging off. landing. Focus on getting the flick-
2. Pop your tail while also pushing outs right so your board consistently
it out toeside to start your board’s rotates and flips 360 degrees.
frontside rotation beneath you.
3. Use your front foot to guide your
board as it rotates so it completes a
full 180. HOW TO DO A
4. When the board has nearly com- FRONTSIDE 50/50
pleted the full 180, catch it with your 1. Start out by skating parallel to the
front foot to stop its rotation, then obstacle you want to jump onto.
catch it with your back foot and 2. Pop your ollie (see page 18). Make
bring it down to the ground to com- sure you ollie high enough to clear
plete the trick. the obstacle completely so you can
bring your trucks down on it. (When
starting out, try with a lower obsta-
HOW TO DO A cle, like a curb, then work your way
360 FLIP up to benches and rails when you’re
1. Position your feet as you would comfortable.)
for a kickflip (see page 26) but with 3. Rotate slightly frontside so both
your back foot more in the pocket of your trucks land on the edge of
of your tail. the obstacle in a grind position. Be
2. With your back foot, pop your sure to land on the heelside of your
tail down and use your toes to flick trucks – if you land on your toeside
towards your heelside with enough you can slip out of the grind and fall
force so that your board rotates 360 backward off the obstacle.
degrees in a backside direction. 4. Grind in a forwards motion and
3. Just after you pop your board, use come off at the end of the obstacle,

27
putting pressure on your tail to bring so that the board slides straight and
your nose up as your front truck doesn’t rotate further.
clears the obstacle. 4. As you approach the end of the
obstacle, turn your board straight
for your dismount and landing.
HOW TO DO A
FRONTSIDE SMITH GRIND
1. Start by skating parallel to the Prolific skater Nyjah Huston (see page
obstacle you want to jump onto. 54) takes over a street in Montreal

2. Pop your ollie (see page 18) like

you would when doing a frontside
50/50 (see page 27).
3. Land your back truck on the
obstacle, dipping the nose of your
board to the side of the obstacle.
4. Lean on your back foot enough
to ensure that you have sufficient
momentum to push your back truck
through the grind completely but
not so far back that you’ll fall back-
wards.
5. If you’re grinding a ledge, lean
more on your toes – the top of the
ledge will support you. If you’re
grinding a rail, lean on your heels to
make up for the lack of support on
the side.

HOW TO DO A HOW TO
BACKSIDE TAILSLIDE KICKFLIP DOWN STAIRS
1. Skate parallel to the obstacle you 1. Approach the stairs with sufficient
want to jump onto, keeping it on speed to clear the set.
your backside. 2. Perform a kickflip (see page 26)
2. As you pop your ollie (see page as your front wheels are almost at
18), rotate your shoulders, turning the edge of the stairs. Flick the board
backside 90 degrees so the tail of quickly so it will flip 360 degrees well
your board lands on the obstacle before landing and you have time to
and slides. bail out if you need to.
3. Once on the obstacle, stop your 3. When your board has flipped 360
shoulder rotation and point your degrees, catch it with your feet to stop
head in the direction you’re heading it from flipping any further.

28
If you fail to stop your board, you HOW TO
might land on its side or bottom, risk- BOARDSLIDE A HANDRAIL
ing injury. 1. Approach the handrail at a slight
4. Spot the landing and ride away. angle instead of straight on. Make
sure you have enough speed so that
if you fall, you don’t wind up taking a
Pro tip: Before even attempting to rail to your crotch.
kickflip down stairs, get comfortable 2. When you’re near the rail, perform
ollieing down stairs, making sure an ollie (see page 18) high enough so
you have enough speed to clear your front wheels will clear the rail.
them. Also, start with a small drop, 3. While in the air, rotate your body
like a curb or a couple of stairs, be- frontside so you land the middle of
fore proceeding to a big set of stairs. your board on the rail, travelling side-
ways. Be sure to keep your weight
centred over your board so you’re
balanced on the rail.
4. When you’re dismounting the
Riley feeble grinds a rail rail, simultaneously turn your board
and body back to their original posi-
tions so you can land and ride away
straight.

HOW TO
FEEBLE GRIND A RAIL
1. Approach the rail like you would
to do a boardslide but with even
more of an angle. Be sure the rail
is on your backside.
2. Ollie up, making sure to get
enough air so your front truck clears
the rail.
3. Land the back truck and the toe-
side of your board on the rail at the
same time. Keep your weight on
your back heel.
4. While you’re grinding the rail, keep
your weight centred over the rail.
5. As you near the end of the rail,
shift your weight back slightly, lift
your board, and straighten it out so
you can land and ride away safely.

29
G E T TO K N OW
STREET SKATER

RILEY
HAWK
TONY’S SON IS MAKING
A NAME FOR HIMSELF APART
FROM HIS FAMOUS DAD

Age: 27

Where He’s From:

San Diego, California

When Did He Turn Pro?

6 December, 2013, on his 21st
birthday. That same day, Skate-
Boarder magazine named him its
2013 Amateur of the Year.

Sponsors:
Baker and Lakai

Skate Vid That Inspired Him:

Lakai’s Fully Flared (2007)

Notable Wipeouts:
Repeatedly damaged both ankles,
requiring reconstructive surgeries and the addition of synthetic ligaments.
Tony told GQ that injuries like Riley’s would normally be 'career-enders'.
(Thankfully they weren’t.)

Fun Facts:
Riley has appeared in two video games from his dad’s famous franchise: Tony
Hawk’s Pro Skater HD and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5. In addition to skating, he
is singer-guitarist for the hard rock band Petyr, a visual artist, and also works
on motorcycles.

30
PARK B A S I CS

Park skateboarding is a style that uses purpose-built skate parks, which

typically feature a mix of vert and street skating elements such as half-pipes,
quarter pipes, handrails, stairs, pools, bowls, pyramids, and ramps. The world’s
first skate park, Tucson, Arizona’s Surf City, opened in 1965, but the mid-’70s
saw an explosion of parks inspired by the popularity of pool skating in Southern
California. In addition to their versatility, skate parks also offer a safe space for
skaters to practise their craft – meaning they won’t get into trouble with the law
for trespassing or damaging public or private property.

31
Tony’s Skate Park Etiquette and Tips
SKATE PARKS ARE A GREAT PLACE TO WORK ON YOUR SKILLS AT ANY AGE, BUT THEY CAN
BE DANGEROUS IF YOU DON’T RESPECT THE FLOW OF THE ACTION OR KNOW THE OFFICIAL
AND UNOFFICIAL RULES. TO MAKE SURE YOU GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR EXPERIENCE,
FOLLOW TONY’S ADVICE.

X Skate during off-hours.

The emptier a park is when you’re first starting out, the better. You’ll get more
practice runs in because you won’t have to wait for others before taking your
turn, you’ll be less likely to collide with someone, and, if you’re self-conscious,
there will be fewer eyes on you. (Generally speaking, skaters are supportive of
each other trying to learn new tricks, so try not to stress yourself out. Everyone
is there to learn and get better.) Try going early in the morning, when people are
still asleep, or during school and work hours. (Not that you should skip school
or work – but you know what we mean.)

X Observe before joining in.

To avoid collisions, park skaters take turns. This is especially important when a
park is busy. Watch when and from where people skate so you understand the
order and flow, then claim your spot and take your turn.

X Make sure you are seen.

With all of their twists and turns and elements, skate parks can create blind
spots. To reduce the chances of running into someone else, make your pres-
ence known, and be sure you’re in the clear before dropping in.

X Watch out for 'snakes'.

A snake is someone who skates out of turn and takes more turns than they
should. They steal time from others and potentially endanger them.

X Wear protective gear.

Even if you avoid collisions, there’s always the possibility you’ll slam hard trying
a trick. Tony recommends wearing a helmet, kneepads, and elbow pads (see
page 14) so you can enjoy skating for decades to come.

X Read and follow the park’s official rules.

Every park will have a list of rules to ensure everyone’s safety and enjoyment.
Do your part and check them out anytime you skate a new park.

32
Skate phenomenon Sky Brown at nine years old

HOW TO HOW TO
CARVE DROP IN (TAIL DROP)
1. As you’re approaching a corner, 1. Stand at the edge of the ramp or
do a small pump with your legs bowl and place your board’s back
through the upward transition. wheels beyond the coping, support-
2. As you near the top of the tran- ing the board by putting weight on
sition, steer your board into a side- its tail with your back foot.
ways position on the wall. 2. To begin the drop, put your front
3. As you move through the side- foot on the board and lean forwards
ways plane of the corner, give a with it, committing fully.
hard pump with your legs to pick up 3. As your front wheels hit the wall,
maximum speed. shift your weight evenly across your
board and lean forwards – if you
keep your weight on your back foot
you’ll fall backwards.

33
PARK I N T E R M E D I AT E & AD VA N C E D

HOW TO DO A your board continue your slight

ROCK TO FAKIE rotation.
1. Approach the coping going 5. As you finish your rotation clear
straight up so that you’re perpendic- of the coping, extend your legs and
ular to it. land on the wall. If you extend your
2. As you near the coping, apply legs too soon, you’ll hang up your
slight pressure to your tail to lift your back truck on the coping. If you
front truck so it clears the coping. think that’s going to happen, just
3. Shift your weight forwards so the kick your board away and bail into
middle of your board comes to a a knee slide.
rest on the coping.
4. Once you’ve rocked on the
coping, shift your weight back into HOW TO DO A
the bowl – but not so far that you BACKSIDE 50/50 GRIND
fall backward and slam. 1. Approach the lip so it’s on your
5. As you begin to reverse direction, backside and aim for a spot on the
put weight on your tail to ensure coping where you can place your
your front truck clears the coping back truck to start your grind. Give
once more and doesn’t get hung up.
Tony does a frontside ollie in 1995

HOW TO DO A
FRONTSIDE OLLIE
1. Approach the coping at a slight
angle so that the front of your body
is slightly open to the coping.
2. As you near the lip, rotate your
shoulders even more to the fron-
tside, opening up your body further
to the coping.
3. With your back foot, perform an
ollie (see page 18) by popping your
tail on the wall. At the same time,
slide your front foot forwards to
launch yourself into the air.
4. Keep both legs bent as you and

34
yourself added momentum with a HOW TO DO A
pump of your legs as you ride the BACKSIDE DISASTER
transition upwards. 1. Approach the bowl’s coping go-
2. Ride up and over the coping until ing straight up so that your board is
your back truck catches on it and perpendicular to the coping.
begins grinding. 2. As you near the coping, use your
3. Shift your weight to your front back foot to press down and out
truck to bring it down so that both heelside on the tail of your board,
trucks are grinding on the coping. initiating a 180 backside rotation.
When you’re starting out, stand Spot where you want to land the
straight and keep your weight centre of your board.
centred when grinding. When you’re 3. Clear the lip with your back
more experienced, you wheels and complete your 180-de-
can lean into the bowl to gain gree rotation, landing the middle of
additional speed. your board on the coping.
4. At the end of your grind, do a 4. To re-enter the bowl, shift your
subtle kick turn to re-enter the bowl. weight forwards and press on the
5. Bring your front wheels down on nose of your board to ensure your
the wall and lean into your re-entry back wheels clear the coping and
as you would whenever dropping don’t get hung up.
in (see page 33).

HOW TO DO A
HOW TO DO A FRONTSIDE SMITH GRIND
FRONTSIDE 5-0 GRIND 1. Approach the coping as you
1. Approach the coping from a slight would for a frontside 5-0 grind but
frontside angle. Make sure you have with even more speed.
enough speed so that your rear 2. As you approach the lip, turn your
truck will clear the lip and catch it, shoulders frontside.
initiating a grind. 3. Land your back truck on the
2. As you near the lip, lift your front coping to initiate your grind before
truck and aim for a spot on the cop- clearing the coping with your truck.
ing to place your back truck. 4. Lower your front truck down
3. As your back truck clears the past the lip so the frontside rail (side
lip, shift your weight over your back edge) of your board slides on the
truck so that it locks in on the coping coping. This will pitch you forwards,
and begins to grind. so shift your weight to your back
4. To complete your 5-0 grind, con- foot to keep yourself grinding.
tinue your frontside rotation, shifting 5. To re-enter the bowl, continue
your weight forward to bring your turning frontside while shifting your
front wheels down onto the wall weight forwards. Bring your front
and re-enter the bowl. wheels down and ride off.

35
HOW TO DO A HOW TO DO A
FAKIE DISASTER SMITH FRONTSIDE BONELESS
1. Approach the coping going back- 1. Approach the coping with enough
wards, aka fakie. Be sure you have speed to get air.
enough speed for your back wheels 2. As you near the lip, bend your
to roll up and over the lip so you can knees, grab your board frontside,
land the middle of your board on and plant your front foot on the
the coping. coping while keeping your back foot
2. When your back wheels have on your board.
cleared the lip, land the middle of 3. Using your momentum, push off
your board on the coping. the coping and rotate 180 degrees
3. Shift your weight and pivot your frontside.
board heelside with your back foot 4. Quickly get your front foot back
so you stall on the deck. Push down on your board, release the board
with your back foot, forcing your from your hand, and shift your
back truck into the coping. weight forwards for landing.
4. Shift your weight forwards to
bring your front wheels down onto
the wall, clear the coping with your
back truck, and re-enter the bowl.

John 'Tex' Gibson does a

frontside boneless in 1985

36
G E T TO K N OW
PARK SKATER

LIZZIE ARMANTO
THE WUNDERKIND IS
OFF TO THE OLYMPICS

Age: 27

Where She’s From:

Santa Monica, California

Her Home Park:

Lizzie learned the basics at the Cove
in Santa Monica, which has a pool,
two bowls, and a street/flow course.

When Did She Turn Pro?

2017

Sponsors: Birdhouse, Vans

Notable Achievements:
Lizzie has won more than 30 skateboard-
ing awards, including taking gold at the
first-ever Women’s Skateboard Park event
at the 2013 X Games in Barcelona, Spain.
In 2016, she became the first woman featured on the cover of TransWorld Skateboarding
magazine and, in 2017, the first woman to grace the cover of Thrasher in more than 20 years.
In 2018, she became the first female skater to complete Tony’s 360-degree ramp, the Loop.

Going for the Gold:

A dual citizen of the U.S. and her father’s native Finland, Lizzie will represent the Finnish
national team at the Tokyo Olympics when skating makes its debut.

Notable Wipeouts:
While skating the Vans Combi pool in Orange, California, Lizzie bailed on a trick, slammed
hard, and knocked her teeth out. In 2014, she tore her PCL, then her MCL, forcing her off
her board for six months.

Fun Fact:
Lizzie has appeared in two of Tony’s video games, Tony Hawk’s Shred Session and Tony
Hawk’s Pro Skater 5.

37
VERT B A S I CS & I N T E R M E D I AT E

Vert skateboarding is an aerial style that involves skating a transition from

a horizontal surface to a vertical one, such as you find in a ramp, half-pipe,
bowl, or pool. Surfers who were pool skating in the mid-’70s to simulate wave
riding on dry land created vert skating when they rode up and over the edges,
catching air. From backyard pools, vert skating moved to skate parks, which
often include pools and bowls and vert ramps such as half-pipes and quarter
pipes. Although going vertical can be intimidating, flying up in the air off of
vertical walls is one of the purest thrills there is in skating, and you can use
that air to perform eye-popping tricks.

38
HOW TO height of your backswing to release
PUMP the energy.)
1. When you are at your highest 3. Repeat on each transition wall
point of a transition wall and coming to continue building speed.
to a stop, drop into a half-crouch.
2. As you begin to roll back down the
transition, straighten your legs into a HOW TO DO
standing position, pushing down on A FAKIE
whichever of your trucks is higher. 1. As you’re going up a transition
This transfers the stored energy from wall, lean forwards.
your legs into your board to pick up 2. As your board comes to a stop,
speed as you roll through the flat and shift your weight to your back foot,
into the next transition wall. (Note: which becomes your lead foot as
The principle is the same as pumping you roll back down the transition.
your legs on a swing, bending 3. This enables you to switch direc-
and lifting your legs through your tions without turning.
backswing, straightening them at the

HOW TO DO
A KICK TURN
1. As you’re going up a transition
wall and nearing the top, begin to
rotate your lead shoulder as if you’re
throwing a punch.
2. Apply light pressure to your tail to
lift your front wheels slightly. Using
the momentum of your shoulder
rotation, pivot 180 degrees on your
back wheels.
3. Quickly set your front wheels
down to skate back down the
transition.

HOW TO DO A
KNEE SLIDE
1. When bailing out at the height
of a vert ramp, either toss your
Tony does a melonchollie
to fakie on a half-pipe board or hold it out at your side
to avoid getting tangled up with
it as you fall.

39
2. Bend your knees, position them page 18) up into the air, keeping
under you, and lean back slightly your legs bent.
to avoid falling forwards on your 3. Slide your front foot forwards on
face. Alternatively, you can take your board.
one step on the transition while 4. As you come back down to the
coming down before entering into ramp, extend your legs to maintain
your knee slide to absorb some pressure on your board and keep
of the impact. your feet on it until you land. Done
3. Contact the transition with your properly, a backside ollie will feel like
kneepads and slide down to safety. you rode an invisible wall while in
the air.

HOW TO DO A
BACKSIDE AIR HOW TO DO A
1. Approach the top of the transition FRONTSIDE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
wall like you would when doing a 1. Approach the coping going
kick turn (see page 39). straight up so that your board is
2. As you lift your front wheels, grab perpendicular to the coping.
the heelside of your board’s nose. 2. Lift your front wheels slightly so
3. Instead of pivoting 180 degrees they clear the coping.
on the wall, allow your momentum 3. As your front wheels clear the
to carry you up over the lip into the coping, straighten your front leg,
air, where you will continue your pushing the nose of your board out.
180-degree rotation. Be sure to 4. Simultaneously, bend your back
keep your back foot firmly on your leg and pivot your back foot on your
board. board so only your toe is in contact
4. As you come back down to the with the tail.
ramp, keep your legs bent until your 5. As you begin to come back in,
wheels have cleared the coping so pivot frontside. Lift up on your front
you don’t hang up. wheels so they clear the coping
5. Once you’ve cleared the cop- and don’t hang up when re-entering
ing, extend your legs and put your the ramp.
wheels back down on the ramp. 6. Come back in like you would
doing a frontside kick turn.

HOW TO DO A
BACKSIDE OLLIE HOW TO DO A
1. Approach the top of the transition LIPSLIDE
wall like you would when doing a 1. Approach the coping at an
backside air. angle as if carving (see page 33)
2. As you near the coping, lightly with enough speed to get over
pop your tail to perform an ollie (see the coping.

40
2. Just before the lip, snap your tail
to perform a frontside ollie (see
page 34), making sure to move your
front foot forwards to the nose as
you rise up.
3. In the air, turn your board enough
so you land the middle of it on
the coping. Your board should be
perpendicular to the coping. Your
momentum will make you slide
along the lip.
4. With your front foot still on
the nose of your board, press down
to lift your back wheels over the cop-
ing so you can re-enter the ramp.
Tony demos a Madonna

HOW TO DO A
FRONTSIDE TAILSLIDE
1. Approach the coping at an angle,
as if you’re doing a lipslide. HOW TO DO A
2. Ollie (see page 18) before you MADONNA
reach the vertical portion of the 1. Going the frontside direction, grab
ramp, snapping your tail so you jump the nose of your board as your mo-
it up onto the coping. (Note: You just mentum carries you up off the ramp
want to reach the coping, not jump – no ollie necessary.
over it, then come down on it.) 2. Just after you grab the nose of
3. As you’re coming up onto the your board, take your front foot off
coping, shift your weight to your the board and kick it downwards,
back foot on the tail so that you can propelling you further up.
stand and slide. 3. As you reach your peak, bend your
4. Slide, keeping your weight bal- front leg and bring it back up to your
anced on your back foot, until you board.
begin to slow down. 4. As you come down, aim your tail
5. To come back in, let your front for the coping, but make sure you
wheels drop, shifting your weight are far enough out of the coping that
to your front foot like you would your back truck won’t catch it, hang
when dropping in (see page 33). up, and send you sprawling. If you’re
Alternatively, you can ollie out too far out and your tail misses the
of the tailslide, but it will reduce coping, you’ll just land your wheels
your speed. directly on the ramp and roll down.

41
VERT AD VA N C E D

HOW TO DO A board to account for a natural for-

BACKSIDE SMITH GRIND wards shift that occurs when sliding.
1. Approach the coping at an angle 2. As you shoot up, lift your front
like you’re doing a backside 50/50 truck slightly so it and your back
grind (see page 34). Make sure you truck clear the coping and your tail
have enough speed so your rear makes contact with the coping.
truck will get up onto the coping, 3. Once you’ve cleared the coping,
initiating a grind. use your front foot to rotate the
2. Shift your weight to your back nose of your board back until it’s
foot while pushing the nose of your perpendicular to the coping. (Ro-
board out and down with your front tate your board clockwise if you’re
foot so your front trucks go to the goofy-footed, anticlockwise if
side of the coping, your nose tilts you’re regular-footed.)
down into the ramp, and the rail of 4. Keep your weight back and make
your board sits on the coping. Be sure you’re hanging your heels off
sure to lean back enough so you the back of your board while briefly
won’t get your front wheels caught sliding on your tail.
up. Point your front foot towards 5. To perform the 180 up off the
your board’s nose so your heel coping, swing your lead shoulder in
doesn’t stick out and catch either. a backside direction while lifting up
3. Grind the coping with your back your board. This will carry you and
truck and rail, maintaining your bal- your board around and forwards
ance and keeping your front foot on back down into the ramp.
the board, not hanging off at all.
4. When you’re losing momentum
or just feel like it, drop back into the HOW TO DO AN
ramp. INVERT (HANDPLANT)
1. Go straight up the vert ramp
perpendicular to the coping.
HOW TO DO A 2. As you near the coping, reach
BLUNTSLIDE TO down with your lead hand and grab
BACKSIDE 180 your board on the toeside between
1. Go up the ramp at an angle with your legs. At the same time, reach
just enough speed to clear the cop- down with your back hand and
ing with your back truck. Approach prepare to grab hold of the coping.
the coping with your heels off the 3. When your back hand reaches

42
the coping, grab it. This creates a and you launch into the air, let your
pivot point for your body to rotate body unwind, sending you into a
around. backside 360.
4. As you pop off the ramp on your 4. As you complete your 360, put
board, your legs should be bent and your wheels down on the wall, land,
your hand should still be holding and roll forwards.
your board. Let your momentum
pivot you around so your board
points toward your planted hand.
(Note: As you get more experi-
enced, you’ll discover your balance
point where you can stall and add
cool personal effects to your invert.)
5. When you’ve reached the high-
est point of your invert, swing your
board back around, keeping your
planted hand as your pivot point. As
your board approaches the coping,
release your hand and transfer your
weight from your hand to your feet.
6. Come back into the ramp like you
do when performing a backside air
(see page 40).

HOW TO DO A
CABALLERIAL
1. Approach the lip going fakie. Be Mike McGill does a McTwist
sure you are going up straight so during a 1985 competition

your rear wheels will hit the coping

at the exact same time. As you ride
fakie up the transition, wind up your
shoulders to give yourself rotational
momentum.
2. Hit the coping with your back
wheels and launch up off the ramp HOW TO DO A
into a fakie ollie. If you’re going McTWIST (AKA 540)
fast enough and bonk your wheels 1. As you approach the coping,
hard enough, it will give you enough reach down with your lead hand
separation from the wall to com- to grab your board toeside behind
plete a 360. your front wheels. At the same
3. As your wheels hit the coping time, snap your head around.

43
Getting your head tucked against toeside behind your front wheels
your back shoulder will not only with your lead hand, keeping your
make you spin, but also allow you head tucked. Grabbing your board
to spot your landing zone in ad- and tucking your head will make
vance – key for a trick that has you you spin.
spinning and blind to your landing 4. When you’ve rotated 540 de-
spot until the last instant. grees and are coming down straight
2. Lift your front truck up slightly, and forwards, release your board
and snap your tail off the wall to pop and stand up on it. (Note: While
up off of it and into the air. Be sure spinning, you won’t see your land-
to hit the wall with enough force so ing spot until right before you come
you get sufficient air and room to down on it. Landing a McTwist re-
pull off your rotation. quires lots of practice, repetition,
3. As you snap off the top of the and some gut intuition to know just
ramp, quickly grab your board when to land.)

The Birth
of the
Caballerial

The caballerial is named for its creator,

Steve Caballero, a legendary skater from
San Jose and a member of the Powell-
Peralta skate company’s revered Bones
Brigade team. Steve invented the trick
in 1980 and successfully executed it for
the first time in competition on a half-
pipe at Pipeline Skatepark, aka Upland
(see page 20). Pulling off the trick helped
him win the event. In a Powell-Peralta
Intelligence Report – a zine designed to
Steve Caballero, inventor of
the caballerial, rides in 1985 inform the skate community – compa-
ny cofounder Stacy Peralta announced
Steve’s win and dubbed his trick a Ca-
ballerial, a portmanteau for 'Caballero'
and 'aerial'. Steve was embarrassed to
have a trick named after him and instead
referred to it as a fakie ollie 360 or fakie
360 aerial, but caballerial (or taxi) stuck.

44
HOW TO WIN

From the X Games to the Olympic Games

FOR ITS NEXT TRICK, SKATEBOARDING WILL
BE OLLIEING ONTO AN OLYMPIC PODIUM

It’s been a bumpy road to the Olympics for skateboarding, but the long-ig-
nored sport was finally approved for Olympic inclusion by the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) on 3 August, 2016. Skateboarding is set to debut at
the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, following a one-year postpone-
ment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Games will feature both men’s and
women’s street and park skating competitions with 20 skaters per event.

In the interest of national diversity, only three skaters from each country will be
able to qualify for each event. To do so, they will have to compete for qualifi-
cation points at events sanctioned by World Skate, the IOC-recognised organ-
isational body for roller sports. Prior to pandemic-related suspensions, the top
three finishers at the 2020 World Championships were supposed to receive an
automatic trip to Tokyo for each event, with 16 more decided by world rank-
ings, plus one Japanese competitor per event.

Both street and skate events will include a prelim round and a final round, with
the prelims featuring four heats of five skaters. The first eight skaters from the
combined ranking of the heats will advance to the finals. Park skaters will show
off their moves in three 45-second runs on a curvy course with dishes and
bowls, with their best run counting as their final score. Using a scale of 0 to 100
points, five judges will score the skaters based on overall level of difficulty and
originality, factoring in flow, timing, consistency, and air.

On a street course featuring stairs, handrails, curbs, benches, walls, and slopes,
street skaters will get two 45-second runs to perform five tricks. Five judges will use
a scale of 0 to 10 points to score, factoring in the degree of difficulty of the tricks,
height, speed, originality, execution, and the composition of moves. The skater’s
four highest run or trick scores will be combined to create their final round score.

Skateboarding’s inclusion in the Olympics has not been without controver-

sy. In 2015, when the IOC was merely considering approving skate events for
Tokyo, opposition skaters created an online petition that read: 'Skateboarding

45
is not a "sport" and we do not want skateboarding exploited and transformed
to fit into the Olympic programme. We feel that Olympic involvement will
change the face of skateboarding and its individuality and freedoms for ever.'
Such backlash was perhaps inevitable given skateboarding’s countercultural
history, its 'art vs. sport' debate, and a generational resistance to mainstream-
ing and validation by suits.

For his part, Tony sees Olympic skateboarding as a good thing. 'This new gen-
eration of skaters has much more opportunity thanks to its inclusion in the
Olympics', he argues. 'On an international scale, it’s going to change every-
thing, because countries that have, for the most part, discouraged and shunned
people from skating are now going to embrace it and are now going to give
them facilities, give them opportunities, and skateboarding will be just as com-
monplace in those countries as football.'

If that proves true, Olympic skateboarding may be as good as gold.

5 Keys to Crushing Skate Competitions

WHETHER YOU’RE OLYMPICS-READY OR JUST ENTERING A LOCAL
COMPETITION, USE THESE TIPS TO HELP YOU TAKE HOME A TROPHY

1. Plan your runs. cution comes only from putting

Know exactly what you want to do in the work.
and how you’ll transition from one
trick to another. If you wing it, you 4. Be conservative.
may end up going blank. Play it cool in early rounds, and
get more complicated or risky as
2. Always have a backup plan. you advance. If you start big,
No matter how much you’ve pre- everything else you do will seem
pared, things go wrong. Know what underwhelming.
you will do in the worst-case scenar-
io to get the most out of your run. 5. Don’t succumb to your ego.
The crowd can fool you into doing
3. Practise, practise, practise. a trick you haven’t practised, but
You want your moves to feel like you’re more likely to hurt yourself
second nature, and consistent exe- than pull it off.

46
Tips for Filming Skate Videos

Gone are the days when skaters like Tony had to enter and win skate competi-
tions to make a name for themselves. The internet and social media have given
everyone a platform to show off their skills, build and interact with a fan base, and
even make a little money. Got a revolutionary trick up your sleeve that the world
needs to see? Just grab your phone, film it, post it on YouTube and Instagram,
and share it to skate sites and blogs. Of course, the more attention you pay to
filming and editing, the better your skate video will look and the more likely it will
be to impress. Use these tips to make your vid as impactful as it can be.

X Set your phone up on a tripod. If you’re filming yourself, you will need to po-
sition your phone in advance. Leaning it against something or wedging it in be-
tween objects won’t necessarily secure it, and your phone may slide or fall over,
blowing your shot. A sturdy, adjustable tripod will allow you to get the shot you
set out to get.

X Mark spots for tricks. When filming yourself with a static phone, you need to
know exactly where to execute your trick so that it’s framed properly. Use tape or
chalk markings so you can see where your frame is and where you should start
your move.

X Get a friend to film you. While it’s possible to film yourself, having someone
else film you opens up more possibilities (a friend could skate alongside you to
capture grinds or a series of tricks more dynamically). Ask a friend to help you out
– just make sure that he or she knows what you want out of your shots.

X Scout locations in advance. Don’t waste time wandering around on your

shoot day trying to find challenging obstacles or cool backgrounds. Take time
beforehand to locate the right spots for you, thinking critically about the shots
you want and how to frame them. Whenever possible, use skater-friendly loca-
tions like skate parks. The last thing you need when trying to film a sick trick is to
get booted, fined, or arrested for trespassing or property damage.

X Frame your shots carefully. Always make sure you are completely in the
frame. Tricks inspire far less awe when a pair of disembodied legs performs them.
Being fully in frame lets viewers appreciate your range of motion, athleticism, and
the risks you take.

47
X Variety, variety, variety. A skate video with just one location, just one angle,
just one lens, and nothing but tricks is a boring one. Add some spice to your vid-
eo by mixing things up. Shoot at different locations at different times of day. Try
different kinds of tricks from a number of angles, using close-ups, cutaways, and
long shots to keep viewers’ eyes stimulated. To that same end, experiment with
the many lens attachments available for phones. A fast lens can blur your back-
ground, a wide lens works well for compact tricks in small places, and a fish-eye
lens will make stairs and rails appear bigger and taller, providing a trippy quality to
big tricks while keeping both you and your obstacle in frame. Show your failures
as well as your successes. You can also switch things up by filming your crew jok-
ing around, comparing injuries, and more, giving viewers a sense of your person-
alities as well as a respite from tricks on tricks on tricks.

X Always keep the camera rolling. If you constantly stop and start while record-
ing, you may miss out on once-in-a-lifetime action that you’ll never be able to
re-create. Much of what you shoot will hit the cutting room floor, but you may
also find unexpected moments of brilliance in B-roll footage.

48
X Save the editing for later. While you’re filming, focus on capturing as much
cool footage as possible. You can worry about postproduction after you’ve
squeezed everything you can out of the day.

X Find the right video editing software for you. With skate videos, your edit is
as important as your skating, so you need software that fits your needs and edit-
ing skills. If you have money to spend on professional editing software like Final
Cut Pro and VideoStudio Pro, rad; if you don’t, there are free and user-friendly
options like iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, and Avidemux that will get the job
done and produce high-quality videos.

X Tell a story with your edit. The more you can emotionally invest viewers in
your video, the bigger impact it will have. A great way to do that is by giving your
video a story framework. Have one in mind when you begin editing. Maybe yours
is a story of overcoming adversity, failing at a trick over days only to nail it in the
end and skate off triumphantly to the hoots of your friends. Perhaps you’re telling
the story of your gnarliest slams, or the progression of all the tricks you’ve ever
learned. Whatever it is, it will be far more engrossing than a simple capture of a
single skateboard trick.

X Play around with speed. In addition to providing much-needed variety, mixing

in slow-motion shots can add emphasis to big moments and allow viewers to re-
ally digest them.

X Add background music to your edit. The sounds of a skateboard get old
quick. Use them sparingly and add life to your footage with music that evokes
specific emotions, like filmmakers do with scores and soundtracks. The right
song can add drama to a scene or pump up the viewer. Experiment and find
something that works best for your vid (just make sure it’s legal to use whatever
music you choose, otherwise you might run into trouble posting on YouTube or
Instagram).

X Adjust your colours and white balance. To avoid your video looking too dark
or washed out, modify the colours and contrast during your editing process. It
will allow you to get crisp, high-quality images that clearly show the details of
your skating.

X Avoid goofy filters and effects. Skate videos should be fun, and you should
have fun filming and editing yours, but adding silly filters and effects can make
your video look amateur. The more seriously you take the look of your video, the
more seriously people will take your video.

49
AN INSIDE LOOK

How Tony’s Pro Skater

Video Game Series
Changed Skating History

In 1998, when Tony signed on with

video game publisher Activision to make
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (1999), he had
no idea how pivotal the moment would
prove to be for him personally and for
the sport of skateboarding.

At the time, Activision had a prototype of

a skateboarding game in the works with developer Neversoft and approached
Tony to make it more authentic, so it would connect with skaters. The demo
Tony played featured a previously licensed action movie star skating through
the desert with a gun strapped to his back, and while that was laughable, Tony
saw promise in the intuitive controls and engrossing gameplay: 'I realised right
then that with my resources, with my experience, with my connections, we
could make this something that skaters would really like.'

Tony worked closely with Activision, going above and beyond to ensure that
the game simulated the feel of skateboarding and accurately reflected skate
culture. In addition to doing motion capture for the game, he supplied devel-
opers with videos of skate tricks and consulted with other featured skaters on
moves and terminology so it would be well-rounded. Down to the music – li-
censed contemporary rock songs instead of chintzy video game music – it was
designed to be the real deal.

Serendipitously released a month after Tony pulled off his famous 900 on
national television at the 1999 X Games, catapulting him into mainstream ce-
lebrity, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was a revelation for those who played it, but it
wasn’t until Pro Skater 2 (2000) that the series became a phenomenon. With
additional development devoted to improving its intuitive controls, forgiving
gameplay system, and open style of play, Pro Skater 2 received glowing reviews
and racked up sales. Gamers who’d never set foot on a skateboard picked it up

50
and quickly learned how to perform tricks – the names of which popped up
on screen when attempted, teaching skate vocabulary – and then string them
together into sick, point-grabbing combinations. To outsiders, it made skating
seem accessible and, more important, fun.

Not intended to be a gateway into skateboarding, THPS nonetheless led

gamers to fall in love with the sport – much the same way that EA’s wildly pop-
ular FIFA franchise has created legions of rabid young football fans – and try
skating for the first time. 'I expected that this game would inspire skaters to buy
video game systems because they wanted to emulate, they wanted to do tricks
that they wished they could do in real life', Tony says. 'And there’s a whole gen-
eration of kids right now that started skating because they played that game'.
So much for video games rotting your brain and locking you into the couch!

Two decades later, with 18 titles in the billion-dollar franchise – including this
year’s exciting bundle of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, which features remas-
tered 4K graphics, updated tricks, and the classic skaters’ current likenesses –
it’s clear that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series continues to popularise skating as
much as any of the breathtaking tricks Tony has pulled off in his iconic career.

The Evolution of Tony’s

Pro Skater Games
HOW THE BIRDMAN’S VIDEO GAME EMPIRE HAS PUSHED ITS LIMITS OVER THE YEARS

Tony Hawk’s it added manuals (bal- players to extend their

Pro Skater (1999) ancing with one set of trick combinations.
The game that kicked wheels and no support
everything off featured from the nose or tail) as Tony Hawk’s
intuitive controls and well as local multiplayer. Pro Skater 4
unique gameplay with Players also had the abili- (2002)
motion capture used to ty to create custom char- Featured 'skitching',
make the skateboarding acters and design skate which allowed skaters
moves look as realistic parks. to hang off the back of
as possible. moving vehicles, as well
Tony Hawk’s as the spine transfer. The
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (2001) game is also the only one
Pro Skater 2 (2000) Introduced online multi- in the series where the
One of the best-reviewed player gameplay as well player does not have to
video games of all time, as reverts, which allowed buy tricks.

51
Tony Hawk’s Tony Hawk’s Tony Hawk’s
Underground (2003) Proving Ground Pro Skater HD (2012)
The first game to have a (2007) The first exclusive-
story mode in place of ca- Featuring gameplay that ly downloadable Tony
reer mode. It also allowed was more reminiscent Hawk’s game for con-
players to dismount their of earlier Tony Hawk soles, the mashup of
skateboards and explore games, it evolved Project THPS and THPS2 added a
different levels on foot. 8’s 'Nail the Trick' mode 'Big Head Survival' mode,
into 'Nail the Manual' in which players had to
Tony Hawk’s (a bullet-time version of complete combos to keep
Underground 2 (2004) a normal manual) and their character’s gradually
The only direct sequel in 'Nail the Grab' (grabbing inflating head from pop-
the series. It allowed play- the nose, tail, or sides ping like a balloon, effec-
ers to slow time with 'Fo- of the board with one tively ending the game.
cus' mode, which offered or both hands) modes.
greater control during a Tony Hawk’s
combo. Tony Hawk’s Motion Pro Skater 5 (2015)
(2008) This release featured the
Tony Hawk’s Released for the Nintendo ability to stomp suddenly
American Wasteland DS, it featured an insert- to the ground while in
(2005) able motion-sensing pe- midair to reach rails or de-
The first game to feature ripheral called the 'Motion stroy objects. Additionally,
one consecutive open Pack' to control skaters level-specific power-ups
world instead of separate and, for the first time in could give characters
levels. It also allowed the franchise, snowboard- special abilities, like dou-
players to grab a bike and ers. ble jumps, or cool visual
do freestyle BMX tricks. tweaks like gigantism or a
Tony Hawk’s Ride burning skateboard.
Tony Hawk’s (2009)
Downhill Jam (2006) Catering to more active Tony Hawk’s
The only racing title in gamers, it replaced the Pro Skater 1 + 2 (2020)
the series. The goal was controller with a periph- This highly anticipated
to beat opponents with eral skateboard and mo- bundle (see previous
speed, high scores, and tion-detecting infrared page) features the com-
the completion of goals. sensors. This allowed plete remastered ver-
players to simulate riding, sions of the games that
Tony Hawk’s turning, leaning, and hop- launched the franchise
Project 8 (2006) ping. and changed both gaming
With the new 'Nail the and skating history. All the
Trick' mode, players could Tony Hawk’s Shred pro skaters, classic levels,
use the right analogue (2010) and tricks return in 4K
and left analogue sticks A peripheral-based mo- high definition along with
to control the placement tion-controlled game, classic gameplay modes
and actions of their ava- it introduced a snow- like local split-screen
tar’s right and left feet to boarding mode for con- multiplayer, Create-a-
perform tricks, just like in soles, allowing people Park, and Create-a-Skater
real life. without a Nintendo DS modes.
to ride powder.

52
THE FUTURE OF SKATEBOARDING

Skating Towards Diversity

SINCE THE EARLY DAYS, SKATING HAS BEEN PREDOMINANTLY WHITE, MALE, CISGENDER,
AND HETEROSEXUAL. BUT THANKS TO INCREASED ACCESSIBILITY, VISIBILITY, AND ACTIVISM,
THE SPORT IS TRENDING MORE DIVERSE BY THE DAY.

Money equals access in most areas of American life, and skating is no different.
During the ’70s and ’80s, if you didn’t have or live near an empty pool, didn’t live
in or near a community with a skate park, or didn’t have enough room in your
backyard to build a wooden ramp, the chances you would get into skating were
low. Even if you had money to buy a skateboard and equipment, the lack of skate
facilities and the community they foster could crush your dream of ollieing be-
fore it even got off the ground. As a result of this economic barrier to entry, the
majority of skaters were white.

Despite the existence of black, Latino, and Asian skaters such as Ray Barbee, Mark
Gonzales, and Shogo Kubo, the perception of skating as a 'white thing' precluded
many nonwhite kids from even trying it. Other black kids accused Barbee, who
learned to skate in the summer of 1983 at the age of 12, of 'trying to be white'.
The taunts didn’t stop him from skating or turning pro for Powell-
Peralta in 1989, but the message that he didn’t belong was clear enough.

Skating’s racial and ethnic diversification gained momentum in the early ’90s:
That was the era when street skating – which required only a board – explod-
ed, enticing a diverse new group of skaters. The shift continued throughout the
decade as televised skate competitions at the X Games, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
video games, and skaters like Harold Hunter and Stevie Williams brought skating
into more minority communities, normalising and popularising the sport. More
recently, the development of publicly owned skate parks in low-income and
marginalised communities has contributed greatly to that growth. Tony, whose
namesake foundation has helped develop 623 skate parks (and counting) across
the U.S., and Manny Santiago, who restores or builds a park in his native Puerto
Rico annually as part of his yearly Prince of Puerto Rico skate contest, are just a
couple of the people making skating more accessible to the masses.

53
For women and girls, who’ve long been marginalised in what is reputed to be a
progressive sport, activism and entrepreneurialism have been integral to address-
ing gender inequality.

After being shut out of the first seven editions of the X Games, skaters Jen O’Brien
and Cara-Beth Burnside pushed ESPN for inclusion, securing a women’s demo in
2002 and full-on women’s events in 2003. When they found out that male X Games
winners made 25 times more than their female
counterparts, they organised a women’s boycott
of the 2005 X Games and won equal pay in 2008.

That same year, Burnside and Mimi Knoop

created the female-focused skate company
Hoopla because other skate brands weren’t
sponsoring women skaters. Their mission – to
encourage girls to skate and provide a support
system for female pros – was successful and
vital for a decade, leading to sponsorships for
women skaters from skate brands like Wel-
come, Plan B, and Enjoi and sports brand giants
like Nike and Adidas. In the media space, a crop
of online magazines including Skateism has
emerged to promote diversity and challenge
traditional skate outlets like Thrasher and Tran-
sWorld Skateboarding, which have rarely rec- Mimi Knoop skates during
a competition in Huntington
ognised female skaters on their covers. Beach, California

Even with these strides, the need for great-

er recognition of skaters who are not straight white males remains, as does the
need to call out racism, sexism, and homophobia in skating. Both issues were
central to discussions when skaters, activists, writers, city authorities, academics,
and charity workers met in 2018 at Pushing Boarders, the first-ever international
conference on skateboarding.

Looking to the future, it’s impossible to overstate the importance of multiracial

skaters like Nyjah Huston racking up gold medals in competitions, Leo Baker (née
Lacey Baker) becoming Nike SB’s first openly gender-queer nonbinary skater in
2017, or the Olympics featuring men and women from all over the globe skating
for the first time at the upcoming 2021 Tokyo Summer Games. Children of all
races, ethnicities, nationalities, gender identities, and orientations are watching,
and the more they see themselves reflected and accepted in skating, the more
they will embrace skating and push it to new and exciting places.

54
 Watershed Moments in
Women’s Skateboarding
A BRIEF BUT CRUCIAL HISTORY

1964 1964
Patti McGee, the first female 1965 1965
professional skateboarder, sets the Patti McGee wins the first female
world record for the fastest girl on a national skateboard championship
skateboard – 47 miles per hour – at and appears on the cover of Life
Dick Clark’s World Teen Fair. magazine doing a handstand.
1975 1975
Patti McGee
Peggy Oki, an original member of
the Zephyr Skateboarding Team – and
the only female – joins the Z-Boys.

1988 1988
Cara-Beth Burnside is the first
woman to grace the cover of
Thrasher magazine.

1994 1994
Cara-Beth Burnside collaborates with
Vans and becomes the first woman
to have a signature skate shoe.

1994
Jaime Reyes becomes the second
woman skater featured on the cover
of Thrasher magazine.

1996 1996
Elissa Steamer features in Welcome
to Hell, making her the first female
to have a street part in a major
skate video.

1999 1999
Slam City Jam, the North American
Skateboard Championships, adds 2001 2001
women’s competitions. That same year, At X Games VII, Jen O’Brien skates men’s
Elissa Steamer appears as a featured vert doubles with her then-husband, Bob
skater in Tony Hawk Pro Skater – the Burnquist, when his partner, Lincoln Ueda,
only playable female pro at the time. hurts himself. The run doesn’t count but
is significant in the push for inclusion.

55
 2002: 2002
Jen O’Brien and Cara-Beth Burnside 2003 2003:
convince the X Games to host a Women’s skateboard park and vert
women’s demo at X Games VIII. competitions debut at X Games IX.
Jen O’Brien becomes the first
2005: 2005
woman to skate officially at the
Cara-Beth Burnside, Mimi Knoop,
X Games. Vanessa Torres wins the
and Drew Mearns form the Women’s
first women’s park gold.
Skate Alliance to unite and give voice
to professional female skateboard-
ers. The WSA’s nonprofit division, the
Action Sports Alliance (the Alliance),
stages a women’s boycott of the X
Games, demanding action on pay
discrepancy – men were making 25
times more than women – and im-
proved media coverage for women.

2005:
At age 15, Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins
becomes the first female to skate the
daunting DC Mega Ramp.

2006: 2006
Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins becomes the
second playable female character in
the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise,
appearing in Tony Hawk’s Project 8. Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins

2018 2008 2018

Following a 2006 meeting between Mimi Knoop and Cara-Beth Burnside
Action Sports Alliance and then-ESPN start the female-focused skate com-
president John Skipper to resolve pay pany Hoopla to encourage girls to
disparity, the women’s and men’s X skate and to provide a support system
Games champions both win $40,000. for female pros. It operates for a de-
cade before shuttering, its founders
declaring their mission accomplished,
2009: 2009
as big skate companies are finally sup-
Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins becomes
porting female pros.
the first woman to land a 540
McTwist at the Quiksilver Tony
Hawk Show demo.

2012:
At age 12, Alana Smith becomes
the first female skater to land a 540
2012
McTwist in competition (at Exposure,
an all-women event).
Alana Smith

56
 2014: 2014
Leticia Bufoni becomes the first
female skater signed to Nike SB. 2015:
Leticia Bufoni wins the first Street
League Skateboarding Women’s SLS
Nike SB Super Crown World Cham-
pionship. She’s also the first woman
skateboarder to appear in ESPN The
Magazine’s annual Body issue.
2015
Leticia Bufoni

2016:
The International Olympic Committee
approves skateboarding for the Tokyo
Summer Olympics, including women’s
street and park skating competitions.

: 2016
Lizzie Armanto becomes the first
woman featured on the cover of Leo Baker (née Lacey Baker) becomes
TransWorld Skateboarding magazine. Nike SB’s first openly gender-queer
nonbinary skater and designs the
first-ever Nike skate shoe for women.
In 2017, they also become the first
2017: woman to win the Berrics’ Populist
Birdhouse rookie Lizzie Armanto award.
becomes the third woman featured 2017
on the cover of Thrasher. 2018
Samarria Brevard becomes the first
2017: professional African American wom-
Nora Vasconcellos is the first woman an skateboarder to sign with a major
to join the Adidas skateboarding team. skate brand (Enjoi).

2018: 2018
Lizzie Armanto becomes the first
female skater to complete The Loop,
Tony’s 360-degree ramp.

2019:
Nike SB releases Gizmo, its first
all-female skate video and a tribute
to team member and women’s
skate pioneer Elissa Steamer. 2019
Samarria Brevard

57
PARTING WORDS FROM TONY

'I’ve always said that skateboarding is a lifestyle, a sport, and an

art form all at once. You’re creating your own style. Skating is
your canvas and you can paint it however you want, and no two
paintings are gonna look alike.

'Skateboarding can be a great lesson in your life: A lesson in

perseverance, a lesson in self-confidence, a lesson in belief. You
don’t have to be a pro skater, but you can carry these lessons
with you in so many other ways – skateboarding will teach you
the value of repetition, the value of seeing something through,
and [the value of] not giving up. It’s not a matter of being super
good. You just have to be willing to try. You are capable of so
much more than you imagine.'

58
Credits

CLASS

Del Mar Skateranch bulldozer and pool John 'Tex' Gibson

Courtesy Tod Swank Photography Courtesy Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

1996 FoxLA news report Tony doing a melonchollie to fakie

Courtesy FOX 11 – 24/7, Fox Television Courtesy Robert Anthony/Alamy Stock
Stations, LLC. TM and © 2016. All rights Photo
reserved
Steve Caballero
WORKBOOK Courtesy Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Tony in bed Mimi Knoop

Courtesy John Storey/The LIFE Images Courtesy Stan Liu/Icon Sportswire via
Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images Getty Images

Tony sitting on half-pipe Patti McGee

Courtesy Paul Harris/Getty Images Courtesy Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture
Collection via Getty Images
Tony at the 1998 X Games
Courtesy Tom Hauck/Getty Images Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins
Courtesy Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles
Mike Weed Times via Getty Images
Courtesy Dick Loek/Toronto Star via Getty
Images Alana Smith
Courtesy Rick Kern/WireImage
Riley in 2011
Courtesy Dario Cantatore/Getty Samarria Brevard
Images Courtesy Keith Birmingham/MediaNews
Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty
Nyjah Huston Images
Courtesy Le Babillard/Alamy Stock Photo
Leticia Bufoni
Sky Brown Courtesy Carl De Souza/AFP via Getty
Courtesy Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images
Images
Marketing
Tony doing a frontside ollie
Courtesy Doug Pensinger/Getty Lizzie Armanto Thrasher footage
Images Courtesy Greg Smith

59