Want to learn how to frontside smith grind the easiest way?

How to Frontside Smith Grind

1. Ride with some speed and your feet in a basic ollie position
2. Approach the ledge frontside, either parallel or on a slight angle
3. Ollie toward the ledge, turning frontside slightly so that only your back truck hits the ledge, rather than both trucks.
4. Lock your back truck into the ledge with the heelside wheel of your back truck flush against the ledge.
5. Keep almost all of your weight over your back truck as you grind, while your front foot stays in the middle of the board, guiding you forward.
6. Lift your front wheels up a bit as you near the end of the ledge to get out of the smith.
7. Land on the bolts and roll away clean… FIRST TRY!

Practice Step

According to Nigel, the master of smiths, a great way to learn frontside smith grinds is to try to lock into a front smith while stationary. Before you try this practice step you should warm up with a few frontside 50-50s and frontside 5-0s on the ledge you’re going to smith grind. Now set your board up in front of the ledge and stand on your board with your feet in a basic ollie position. Make sure the ledge is facing your front, not your back. Ollie onto the ledge and lock your back truck into the ledge in front smith position, keeping most of your weight on the back foot and letting your front foot act as a guide. When you lock in, the heelside wheel of your back truck should be flush against the ledge. This will ensure a proper pinch and a smooth smith grind. You don’t need to dip the front of your board down real low, just let it hang down naturally with your back truck locked into place.  When you’re locked into the smith, your front foot should be on the griptape somewhere near the middle of the board rather than hanging out by the nose / front bolts. Once you’re comfortable locking into frontside smith while stationary, add some speed to the trick and get the feel for locking in while rolling. Going fast really helps with this trick. Though it may seem intimidating at first, approach the ledge with some speed and just aim to front smith the end of the ledge. From here, you can gradually increase the amount of ledge you smith as you get used to locking in with speed.

We hope our video inspired you to learn front smiths, or to improve your frontside smith grinds if you could already do them! Film yourself landing a frontside smith grind and follow the instructions here; who knows, your clip might just be featured on our social media…Now get out there and SKATE!