TRICK TIPS PRESENTED BY VANS - THE FRONTSIDE CROOKED GRIND

Welcome to another edition of our Trick Tips Presented by Vans! This week, we learn one of the hardest and most good looking ledge tricks: The frontside crooked grind.

Check out our slow-mo videos and read our technical pointers to help you master the FS crooked grind.

ABOUT THE SHOE

The Skate Grosso Mid is a lower version of the Sk8-Hi that was revamped in honor of one of the greatest to ever to it, Mr. Jeff Grosso. Well known for being audacious, sardonic, and usually right on the money that it’s easy to forget that he gained his name with badass inverts, powerful grinds, and contest success.

The Skate Grosso Mid isn’t only an ode to Grosso’s incredible legacy, but is also a shoe that was engineered specifically for skateboarding. Part of the Vans Skate Classics program, this one features a fully redesigned upper offering more durability and style, Duracap underlays to prevent tears caused by abrasion, Vans new SickStick sole for grip and boardfeel as well as the brands Popcush footbed for maximal comfort and impact cushioning. Definitely one of our go-to’s for skating right now.

The Frontside Crooked Grind is definitely sitting in the hard section of your bag of tricks. That said, once you get the hang of it, this one will easily become one of your go-to’s as it provides one of the best grind feeling and looks so good. Like the Backside Crooked Grind, you will grind on the front truck with the board "crooked" off to the side of the ledge. The only difference is that you will approach the ledge frontside instead of backside.

Even if the movement is quite similar to a BS Crooked, the frontside version is slightly harder, but very aesthetically pleasing. It’s helpful to have FS Noseslides, frontside nosegrinds and of course Ollies on lock as a base.

The foot placement is the number one thing that will allow you to understand the fs crook, especially your front foot’s position. You need to think about how you do a backside crooked grind, how you need to put that front foot almost in a heelflip position, with your toes hanging off the side just a bit below the front bolts. That front foot placement will allow you to move your foot right in the front pocket and obtain what we call the “pinch” when you get to the grind. We’ll get back to the pinch later.

As for your back foot, just think the same. Place your back foot in the back edge of your tail just like you would do for a backside crook. The hard part about this one is that this foot placement is a bit counter intuitive compared to a backside crook as you will approach the ledge frontside. Try to not think about it and keep your foot placement steady until you get to the pop.

Approach the ledge almost parallel while keeping your feet in the right position. Bend your knees down and prepare to pop as you get closer to the ledge. Once you feel like you are on the right pop spot and that you will be able to get on the obstacle that’s in front of you, snap that tail on the ground and jump on the ledge just like you would do for a frontside nosegrind.

That’s when the foot placement becomes essential. If you placed your front foot well enough, below the front bolts with your toes hanging, you’ll be able to tweak your board in a crooked position as you move your front foot towards the board’s nose and aim towards the ledge with your front truck.

That’s when the famous “pinch” comes into play. The "pinch" means that the crooked grind is locked on the front side of the truck right between the front wheel and the truck, with your toe side front wheel on top of the ledge only! If you placed your front foot properly, popped well, aimed for the ledge with your front truck while moving your front foot to the front pocket of your nose and tweaked that lock with your back foot, you should be able to “pinch” that frontside crooked grind perfectly on the ledge. 

Remember, we’re not learning how to do tweaked nosegrinds here, we’re learning how to do frontside crooked grinds! Once you lock on the ledge with that much-needed pinch, put all your weight onto your front truck to stand properly on the grind. Keep balanced for as long as possible until you reach the end of the obstacle.

That’s another hard part of this trick as you will need to pop out of the obstacle all while getting your board back straight to be able to roll away. Your back foot will play a major role for this part. As you push your front truck forward to be able to get out of the ledge, guide the board with your back foot to bring it back in its rolling position.

Once you got out of the ledge, tilted your board back in a straight position and touched the ground, bend your knees to absorb the impact and roll away as smooth as possible.

THAT’S IT! NOW YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO. LAND IT AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL YOU BECOME A FRONTSIDE CROOKS MASTER! GOOD LUCK!