Learn one of the most basic grinds in skateboarding
The 50-50 grind is one of the easiest and most basic tricks in skateboarding. It is commonly one of the first tricks you learn and leads to learning other tricks . If you don’t know how to Ollie, this is a great way to learn because you tend to focus more on getting up on the ledge and you end up doing an Ollie without even trying consciously. It does help though to have some sort of experience with the Ollie.
The 50-50 is when you Ollie up something and end up grinding on both trucks. Your board is facing the same direction as the ledge you are grinding and it is just the same as when you are rolling on the ground, except you are grinding on your trucks rather than rolling on the wheels.
So how do you do a 50 - 50 grind you ask ?
First you need to get something to grind on. I recommend a small ledge about 100mm high to start on .
Then as you get more confident and increase your ollie height you can then progress on to higher ledges. If you are practicing on a curb, make sure you wax the curb well . You can also add some Vaseline for extra slide but I don't recommend Vaseline on your wax if you are just learning.
Plus it foul's op your deck with a residue.
The reason we wax the curb is because if you get speed and hit the curb with no wax, you’re trucks will stick , causing more chance of a slam .
If you have a fun box then just affix a piece of 90 degree 5mm thick metal with screws into the corner edge of the fun box.
Be sure to counter sink your screws so they don't catch when grinding.
So now you should have an object or structure to grind so let's get into to the nity gritty
First off , I recommend that you approach at a slow speed that you feel comfortable with ,
you don't want to be slipping straight onto your butt because of too much speed and being unbalanced.So ease into it.
Starting at a slow pace helps to get a feel for the grind before you commit with speed. It also gives you a feel for what happens during the grind.
You should also be doing this front side, which your toes pointing towards what you’re trying to grind.
This reason is it's just a lot easier whereas you have full vision of the grinding apparatus.
You need to get parallel to the object that you are going to grind. Set up your feet with one foot on the tail in the ollie position , and then you place your front foot in the middle of the deck over the front deck bolts in the ollie position . If you know how to Ollie, then this will be the same as doing the Ollie. Just pop the tail, slide your front foot like the Ollie and then shift your weight and board over onto the edge you wish to grind.
It helps a little if you are leaning towards to object you are grinding because then your board and feet will flow in the same direction .
So basically, what your doing is :
You Ollie, then shift your weight towards the rail and your board just follows. It’s really that simple and it's an easy trick to learn that you can learn fast.
Remember : Be prepared to slam if you don’t commit, and if you don't have enough wax on the ledge , your gonna stick and get spat off your board.
Speed is a key factor , the faster you go , the longer you will grind
If you are having trouble getting on the ledge , try approaching it at a slight angle ,
or maybe you need to work on you ollie.
So in brief
Get some speed, Ollie, then shift your board over the ledge and hit the grind.
Lock it in , focus and hold tight
Don't forget to balance
To get out of the grind , lift the nose and drop off. If you aren’t at the end of the ledge
you can just lift the nose and turn off .
The most important thing to remember is to commit
Skate hard but not beyond your abilities