I haven’t posted in a while, but worse, I haven’t been fingerboarding either. So the last couple weeks I’ve been getting back into it. And I have good news! I’m getting a new deck! I’m upgrading from a 4Corner to a Temple. I’ve been wanting to upgrade to a handmade board for a while and I’ve heard really good things about Temple’s quality. So why have I been using a 4Corner for so long? Well, I promised myself an upgrade when I learned to kickflip! That’s right, I can finally kickflip! The gateway trick to all other tricks!
So about the Temple deck I’m getting:
It is handmade. It is green. It is 5ply maple. It was only $15 including shipping from US. It looks like this:
In the meantime, I’m working on my kickflips. And since I haven’t posted in a while I made a video of some kickflips so I could see how they look and what I can do to improve them. I definitely need to work on catching the board, and not pulling my hand back so far when I let the board flip. Let me know if you have any other tips!
I haven’t gotten my popshuvits dialed down yet, and I’m just starting to figure out kickflips, but I wanted to post what I’ve learned before I forget. When I learn a new trick in skateboarding or fingerboarding, I feel like there’s this eureka moment, some subtle motion or movement that is at the core of the trick, and once I figure it out I sort of “unlock” the trick.
Hopefully I will one day get good enough to make some trick tip videos, but in the mean time I just wanted to share some of my realizations that helped me unlock these two tricks.
overall:
Fingers aren’t the same as legs and, my fingers at least, do not function as independently as my legs do, so I find it helpful to use my wrist motions to control tricks rather than finger motions. Of course it’s fingerboarding, so you have to use your fingers, but often it’s possible to control the board mostly through wrist movements. Basically, I just keep my index and middle fingers extended, the same width apart, and flick my wrist to pop, a motion which I’ve discovered translates into other tricks.
popshuvits:
It’s always good to start small and understand the motions of a trick before being able to perform it.
I’ve seen a lot of tip videos saying to practice pop shuvits and other tricks by just flicking the board off of a ledge without popping to get used to the feeling of the rotation.
Another thing that has really helped me is practicing them out of a bowl onto a lip, like pop shuvit to rock n roll. These are a great way to practice board control without worrying about popping as the board is already in the vertical position like it is after you pop on flat.
The really tricky thing about pop shuvtis are:
1) getting the board to spin without flipping, and
2) just giving the board the hint of the rotation and letting it spin the rest of the way slowly and deliberately before you catch it.
In both cases, what works for me is making sure the motion is more in my wrists than in my fingers. If I rotate my wrist while I pop, it gives the board just enough spin to rotate 180 degrees, and it also keeps the board in a level rotation without flipping. Just remember to keep the motion subtle and give the board the start of a spin and it will do the rest. If you do use your fingers to control the trick, chances are the board will over rotate and do a 360 or even a 540.
kickflips:
Ah, the great mystery of skateboarding/fingerboarding, the gateway trick, the kickflip. Again, a lot of tutorials will tell you to do a kickflip just like you would on a skateboard, by moving your fingers independently and flicking your index finger off the nose to get the board to flip. But again, you can do just that, get your front finger to flip the board, with your wrist rather than moving your fingers seperately.
What works for me is popping the board and, just as it becomes airborne, pulling my whole hand forward with the board like an ollie. The difference here is that there is a delay between the board’s movement and your hand’s movement. You just let the board pop straight up, and as it’s sort of hanging there in the air, flick your wrist and let your fingers follow the board like an ollie, but since the board is kind of hanging there in the air, your front finger will slide off the nose, making the board flip. For me the realizations here were:
1) that there is this matrix moment where the board is floating in the air. Being able to identify this moment is the key. Then you just slide your fingers off the nose
2) that you can let your wrist do the work and move your fingers together rather than independently.
I probably could have explained this better, and I’ve seen it described this way in a few tip videos, like FingerSkateSelective’s. What you don’t want to do is roll the board backward first, but the idea is sort of the same, you catch the board and flip it when its motion changes. Not because it’s rolling backward, but because it’s losing speed as it pops and your hand is what is propelling it and keeping it in forward motion at all times. It’s all about identifying that nanosecond when the board starts to lose speed after the pop, and keeping it in forward motion with the flick.
I hope these wordy tips help at least one person. You have to reach those eureka moments on your own, but hopefully this makes sense.
I haven’t posted anything in a while, and worse, I haven’t been fingerboarding either! I just finished an insanely busy year of grad school + working + teaching. Then, since I love to make things hard on myself, I immeadeately moved from the US to Canada. I’ve been settling in here, and it’s been good, but again, not a lot of time for fingerboarding. So I took some time over the weekend to get back into it. It’s amazing how relaxing and therapeutic fingerboarding can be. It’s fun and exciting scoping out new lines in the new apartment. There are some stairs that are fun and some great long window ledges with metal ledges on top, perfect for grinds and slides.
I’ve been so out of it lately that I completely missed Fast Fingers 15!!! Luckily I was able to watch the finals on their website. It’s amazing that fingerboarding exists, but also how far it’s come in the last five years, and how far people continue to push it. That’s what’s so exciting about fingerboarding. Like skateboarding, it’s all about learning new tricks, thinking about the environment in creative ways, and pushing everything to its limit, and then pushing it a little farther.
In my own fingerboarding I started out just trying to reacquaint myself with the board and figure out what I can do on the new window ledges. They’re really fun, but I’m still waiting for my rail and other stuff to be shipped from the US. But there is tons of potential here. Anyway, I’ve been focusing on pop shuvits, which I’m beginning to get the hang of. And then today, somehow I was just able to kickflip all of a sudden. Not beatifully or consistently, but I am able to flip the board and land it now and then. 😀
I promised myself that when I learned to kickflip I would upgrade my board. I’ve been riding a 4Corner complete, which I really enjoy, but I want to try something a little nicer, so I have my eyes set on a flatface deck next. Also shopping around for some new wheels too.
Unfortunately one of my trucks has been loosening and now the whole thing came off. All of my tools and spare parts are in the boxes being shipped from the US, so now I’m just waiting around again. Hoping to get it soon so I can get my kickflips down!
That’s whay I’ve been up to. I’ll post more in the coming weeks about my new spots and trick progress.
I ordered a homemade rail on ebay and got a really good deal. It was less than half the price of all the rails out there and it’s pretty nice. It’s round and about 2.5″ tall and 8″ long. It’s very stable too. The only drawback is that whoever made it painted it black so black paint chips peel off when you grind on it. Other than that it’s been really fun.
After a few weeks of practice, I’m finally getting my ollies down. They’re not perfect, but you’ve gotta start somewhere, right? As promised I’m posting a video of my progress. Sorry for the low quality, the only camera I have is my laptop one and it has a hard time with motion…
In addition to being super blurry I also used the most dramtic music possible because for some reason my lame editing software only recognizes my Sigur Ros songs as music files. I Gaer is an amazing song though, so I’m not too upset.
The last fingerboarder I profiled was French artiste extraordinaire Alexis Milant. If Milant is the artistic face of fingerboarding, Mike Schneider is it’s Tony Hawk. He’s been fingerboarding since he was 9 and is now 19, so that’s 10 solid years of fingerboarding. In those 10 years he’s become one of the best (quite arguably the best) and most well-known fingerboarders in the US. Mike lives in Massachussetts and has become iconic in the US fingerbaording scene partly because he has mad skills and partly because he owns Flatface, one of the top fingerboarding companies in the world.
I could go on, but the video below says it all. Pay close attention around the 41 second mark. I had to rewind the video and watch that part over and over because I was so amazed! This is why Mike Schneider is awesome. He’s not just mastering every trick, he’s innovating and thinking up tricks that should be impossible, and that is what fingerboarding, like skateboarding, is all about!
Things have been a little crazy lately so I have a lot to catch you up on here.
First of all, my Dump Trucks arrived! I ordered from the Flatface website. They come in a random color, so I was pretty happy with these blue ones. The set of two trucks was $4.00. And for that price, I can’t complain. They’re definitely on the cheap side as far as craftsmanship goes, but they’re pretty decent. The bushings are plastic and the kingpins stick up a bit over the hangers as my first 4Corner trucks did, but overall they ride well. Despite feeling a little cheap, they look nice, and definitely do their job of holding the wheels on. If you’re looking for some colorful trucks, or just a cheap back up, Dump Trucks aren’t a bad option. They also came with an assortment of Flatface stickers. Not a bad haul for 4 bucks.
Also, I’ve been trying to clean up my ollies, and I think I’ve finally got them dialed down. My ollies used to be really sloppy and inconsistent. I studied weakfingers’ tutorial a lot over the past couple weeks and figured out that the pop is more of a pushing forward motion than anything. My ollies are still far from perfect, but they’re smoother now and I feel confident that I’ve got a good form down that will translate into helping me learn to do other tricks correctly. I’m still working on a way of curving my ring and pinkie fingers back that feels comfortable and gives stability, but I’m no longer rolling my board back before I pop, pressing down too hard on the tail, or doing any of those other sloppy things.
Here’s my new setup with the Dump Trucks:
I’ll post a video of my ollies soon. Also I ordered a homemade rail on ebay. It hasn’t arrived yet, but I should be getting it soon and I’ll post on that soon too.
New tricks I’m working on: pop shuvits and 180 ollies.
It’s taken me a while to find good fingerboarding websites, so I’m including some of my favorites in this post.
Retail
Blackriver Ramps makes the best equipment around. They have an amazing team of fingerboarders and often post amazing videos as well. Chances are if you’ve seen any minis on youtube, you’ve seen their products being skated.
Flatface fingerboards is one of the top companies. Run by one of the best fingerboarders in the wolrd, Mike Schneider, Flatface offers not only their own high quality products, but also some cheaper options as well like the Dump Trucks I bought.
4Corner Fingerboards is a great option for anyone looking for an affordable wooden board. See my previous posts for reviews of their products.
Communities
fingerboardhq is a UK based site that offers a global community through their forums, as well as a pretty solid blog. The message boards aren’t super active, but there are members who post daily. This is definitely my favorite online fingerboarding community.
FingerFlip Inc. is like the Ivy League of fingerboarders. This community is ridiculously exclusive, offering registration by invite only. Anyone can browse the forums, but to post you must be a VIP, or harrass someone enough to get an invite. Though it seems to be an honor to be a Finger Flip member, a lot of people prefer more laid back sites like fingerboardhq.
Videos
Fingerboard TV has a lot of great videos. interviews, etc. I believe they are based in Germany, so some content is in German, but a lot of it is in English too. And who cares what language the videos are in!
YouTube. Of course there are tons of great fingerboard videos on YouTube. Everything from tutorials to minis and meet ups.
So when I got back from Chicago on Sunday I was tired and stressed. I couldn’t land any tricks and my frustration resulted in this:
So then I had to get a new board. A whole new complete:
Since I didn’t like the giant kingpins in my 4Corner trucks, I took the opportunity to shop around for some new ones. I really wanted Y Trucks or BlackRiver trucks, but they are ridiculously expensive so I ordered some Dump Trucks from FlatFace’s website for only $4. I haven’t gotten the Dump Trucks yet but I’ll post them soon.
So the replacement board came today and I actually like it a lot better than the old one. It’s basically the same, but I guess 4Corner has started including their new products in their completes. The first thing I noticed were the trucks. I don’t know if you can tell in this picture, but the new trucks (on the left) have resolved the kingpin issue. The kingpins no longer stick up over the hanger. They now rest well below. And they also come with better tuning. Not only have they replaced the hard plastic bushings with softer ones, but there are also washers as well. Overall a much nicer truck and a well-needed upgrade. I like these trucks a lot so far and am wishing I hadn’t ordered the Dump Trucks. Though at $4 they will still be fun to try out.
The next big difference is the grip. It’s still basically the same foam tape, but it’s much thinner. This makes it seem more like real grip tape and makes the board look less strange. Not a big difference here, but it makes the board look and feel nicer.
So there aren’t really any major changes in the decks, but I’m actually really glad I ordered a new complete. 4Corner has stepped their products up a bit.
In other news, I’m finally getting my ollies dialed down!
I’ve been in Chicago for work this week, with little time to sleep, let along fingerboard. I locked myself in my room tonight and ordered room service, which gave me time to put this video together:
I know it’s rough, the tricks are crappy, and my style is even worse, but it’s my first mini!
I haven’t posted in a while, but worse, I haven’t been fingerboarding either. So the last couple weeks I’ve been getting back into it. And I have good news! I’m getting a new deck! I’m upgrading from a 4Corner to a Temple. I’ve been wanting to upgrade to a handmade board for a while and I’ve heard really good things about Temple’s quality. So why have I been using a 4Corner for so long? Well, I promised myself an upgrade when I learned to kickflip! That’s right, I can finally kickflip! The gateway trick to all other tricks!
Tabletop pop 