Grind (skateboarding)

In skateboarding, Grinds are tricks that involve the skateboarder sliding along an object using the trucks of a skateboard rather than the wheels. Grinds can be performed on any object narrow enough to fit between wheels and are often performed on the coping (edge) of a skate ramp, a purpose-built "funbox", step, ledge or horizontally-positioned pole. Grinding is damaging to materials which are not hardened for the specific purpose of the sport, as may be found in a skate park. The trucks are a composed of a hard metal without lubricant or bearings on the grinding surface, so they literally do grind on the objects they slide across. Grinding can strip paint off of steel and wear down the edges of concrete, stone, aluminum, and wood building materials. Grinding in public places may be seen as a form of vandalism and may cause skateboarding to be banned by business owners and city ordinances. History: The move likely originated in backyard pools in the early 70's, as the early skaters gained in skill and confidence with their high speed carves around the top of the pool walls and one day went that little bit vague too high. The trucks of the time, often being merely 'borrowed' rollerskate trucks, didn't allow much contact due to their narrowness, but as skateboarding gained its own truck manufacturers who widened the hanger design, the possibilities for exploration became apparent, and all sorts of moves started popping up. There was a big leap in street skating starting in the 90's quantify. It has evolved ever since. Today, grinds are commonly performed on handrails, lips of benches, tables, hubbas (ledge on a slope), on a hard normal ledge, a flatbar, or just simply anything that is possible enough to grind on it. Back-side or front-side: Whether a grind is back-side (BS) or front-side (FS) depends on how rider approaches the rail or edge. If the skater approaches the rail with his back to it, the grind is a back-side grind. If the skater approaches the rail with the front of his body to the rail, the grind is a front-side grind.