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What’s the difference between a frontside method and a backside lien air?

I often get questions about trick names. What’s this grab called? What is the difference between a frontside method and a backside lien air? I give people the same answer Dan Savage gives in his sex column, “all your answers are on the internet”. It used to take years of decoding magazine captions to be able to talk like a bro brah, but with Google image search, now everyone can pose (‘pOz verb posed; pos·ing. To affect an attitude or character usually to deceive or impress).

Image search returns tricks on skateboard, snowboard, wakeboard and any other image that was named “Stalefish” (Kids! Be sure to keep that filter on :) You can see how a trick looks in the pipe, off a cliff, wedge, or booter and how that trick looks when a skater does it. Skateboarding is where a majority of these trick names come from. This article is interactive, that way there are no copyright violations and I don’t have to find someone who can do these tricks and take their picture.

Below is a guided walk through some of the basic snowboard tricks; I left out a lot. The era before spinning when guys came up with through the legs and around the board grabs is not included. Back then boots had no ankle support, so guys could really tweak (‘twEk to make usually small adjustments in or to <tweak the controls>; especially: Fine-Tune). I also stopped at spinning. Most spin tricks can be described as combinations, but inverts get a lot more complex. Then you would need video and those tricks are beyond the scope of this article. This is a walkthrough of trick names that is also a good progression to follow as you learn these tricks.

Straight run, Sideslip, Straight Run - In the air this is called a Shifty, on a rail it is a Boardslide. This move is the key to many tricks. Unweight in the transition and sideslip with a low center of gravity.

Nose and Tail Press - This move is the key to the rest of the tricks and Press sounds cooler than wheelie (which is not a trick). Hip angulation levers on either the nose or tail and makes it flex. Your balance point on the board is between your foot and the tip/tail.

Ollies - Load up the tail like when you are pressing, then release the pressure and bring your feet up and your airborne. Do it off your nose and it is a Nollie. An ollie will increase your height and distance off a jump, while a nollie will increase height and decrease distance.

Now you are ready for some Jibbing! First Nosepress…. now do that shifty move and you have a nose Butter going and you are ready to Pop (Ollie). When you Ollie from the side like this, you have to spin, so land switch Nosepress and bring it around until you’re Tail Buttering that toe edge etc.

Your legs go up (flex) and down (extend) twice… then back up as you ride away. When your legs flex in the air… grab the board. (Now that you are up here, every move you make has an equal and opposite move similar to the counter rotation that happens when you sideslip. Without winding up you get stuck side slipping.)

Rear hand grabs just ahead of your rear toe and you’ve got a Frontside Air. When your front knee is locked (Boned out) and your chest is out, you’ve got an Indy Air. Your lead arm has to reach above and behind you or you’ll never get back to your center for landing. If you’re Tuck Knee that rear elbow is on the outside, but that requires a little press move (fore/ aft).

Lead hand grabs the toe edge between the feet when you’re Mute Air. To really stoke out your buddies, you want to have both knees and your elbows locked, then you’re Stiffy. (Feel free to grab with both hands.) If your knee is tucked, it is the Japan Air and you’ll need that fore/aft move we used to press.

It’s Shifty time. Just like side slipping in the flats, except you’re in the air.

If you poke it out there (your nose or tail), one leg is stiff and your body is aligned over the bent leg like Buttering in the flats. This move is great when you pop up and Bonk a tree or a grooming curb or whatever obstacle you find.

~The counter-rotation you learn sideslipping, the fore/aft leverage you learn pressing and the flexion/extension you get from the ollie. An understanding of these moves will let you butter it up till your hips pop out of socket. And now you are ready for air and rails~

Poke out your tail and grab your rear hand heel edge for the Stale Fish. Frontside in the pipe, you’ll love this one.

Lead hand heel edge is a Backside Air if your feet are flat. If you bone out that front foot, you’re Melon (cholly). Bend your knees and thrust that pelvis for the Method Air. If you were in the pipe, that board would be over your head and you would be stoked, but since you’re jumping, you should tweak it to the side (bs shifty), so the base and your face are both going forward. This is the most classic trick in snowboarding.

Nose and Tail grabs come pre tweaked, because you are grabbing the very end of your board (not the toe and heel edge between your foot and the nose/tail). Whether the board is flat or vertical, it’s all good. And, it’s even better to bring it around to the side (shifty) and poke it out.

~Always jump with a buddy and make sure your buddy never grabs between their foot and the end of the board. This is often the result of under tweak and should be avoided~

For Spinning, we will learn about Frontside and Backside. These terms came from surfing, because as you go down the line the wave is either on your backside or your frontside. For snowboarding, imagine you are spinning down the pipe (< 180° or <360°, etc.) and it becomes clear what a FS spin and a BS spin looks like for regulars and goofy footers. If you spin up the pipe (> 180° or >360°, etc.), it is called an Alley-oop. In the eighties, Steve Caballero did a switch nollie FS 360° while skating vert. Since “switch” and “nollie” hadn’t been invented yet, this trick is called a Caballerial. It feels so good spinning off your nose snowboarding that you will hear people talk about doing a ½ Cab (180°) or a Cab 5 (540°) etc. Snowboarders even grab their Caballerials… go figure.

When a skater grinds, in pool grinds, the lip it is called 50/50 if they’re on both trucks. Two wheels are in the pool and two wheels are on the deck. If you’re snowboarding straight down a rail, that is a 50/50. You might have to ollie up onto the rail or maybe it is a Ride-on or maybe it’s a gap to rail with a ramp built out away from the rail. If you want to slide it sideways, you’ll counter rotate just like in the sideslip drill (shifty). When skateboarders do this down a staircase, they can’t come at the rail straight like we often do in a snowboard park, so they hit it either Frontside (facing the rail) or Backside (with their back to the rail). If the nose goes straight over the rail you are Boardsliding and if you jump over the lip bringing the tail over the rail, it is a Lipslide. OK get ready.

If the rail is on your left and you’re a regular footer, it is on your backside. So your nose goes over for a Backside Boardslide and your tail goes over the rail (lip) for a Backside Lipslide.

If that rail is on your right, it is on your Frontside. A guy doing a Frontside Boardslide is facing up the rail. A Frontside Lipslider is facing down the rail.

Don’t be surprised if people screw this up. You can press that rail same as the snow and if you bring it to the side you are Nose or Tailsliding.

Google image is one of many sources for freestyle information. Sequence photos and video allow a person to visualize a trick in a way that was not possible before. PSIA has released the Park and Pipe Instructors Guide written by the Northwest’s own Chris Hargrave and many others. Intro to Freestyle clinics are the coolest way to pick up an education credit and when Johnny wants a park lesson, you’re first in line with that freestyle accred. A basic knowledge of freestyle riding is critical for anyone who teaches riders who have been out more than three times, ‘cause lets face it, on your fourth day you’re ready to catch some air.