Frontside Carve Grind
also known as: Frontside Grind · Carve Grind · Pool Grind
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Shown for a regular-footed rider. Teal ring + arrow = the rider's facing direction; teal band = the tail; a dot is where a hand holds the board - bright yellow for the front hand, amber for the back one, which is the whole difference between a mute and an indy. Board and rider rotate independently - each follows its own component. Drag to orbit.
How it works
The ancestral grind, born in backyard pools in the mid-1970s: carving frontside through a corner fast enough that both trucks ride up onto the coping and grind through the arc before dropping back in. No ollie is involved - centripetal force from the carve presses the trucks against the coping's round top, and the rider's line, not a pop, determines how much coping they take. It remains the fundamental coping trick in bowls and pools, and the frontside 50-50 on street ledges is its flat-ground descendant.
Step by step
- Pump through the transition and set up a frontside carve line aimed at a corner or pocket.
- Approach the lip at a diagonal with enough speed for the trucks to reach the coping.
- Let both hangers ride onto the coping, weight centered and pressing into the carve.
- Grind through the arc, knees compressed, letting the round coping guide the trucks.
- As the carve naturally brings the nose back toward the transition, ease weight down the ramp side.
- Drop back in, absorbing the re-entry and pumping away.
Body mechanics
| Front foot | Over the front bolts, steering the carve arc and leading the trucks onto the coping. |
|---|---|
| Back foot | On the tail bolts, pressing the back truck into the coping through the arc. |
| Shoulders | Open into the carve, rotating steadily through the corner ahead of the board. |
| Arms | Swing with the carve - leading arm points through the arc like a surfer's bottom turn. |
| Gaze | Through the corner along the coping to the re-entry point. |