Frontside Boardslide

The frontside boardslide is the mirror of the backside — you approach the box from the toe side, ollie on, and rotate 90 degrees the other direction so the box sits between your bindings. Frontside is often scarier than backside because you're turning your back to the direction you're sliding, but the mechanics are the same.

The "blind slide" is the mental hurdle. Once you rotate onto the box, you're moving with your back toward the direction of travel, unable to see where the end of the box is coming from. Your instinct will be to peek over your back shoulder — don't. Looking over the back shoulder twists your upper body and usually tips you off. Instead, look over your front shoulder toward the end of the box, even though it means trusting the rotation to have worked.

Riders who already have a solid backside boardslide sometimes underestimate the frontside — the spin direction is opposite, so the wind-up and timing are mirrored and have to be relearned. Give it a few sessions on a flat, short box before taking it to a down box or rail. Once your shoulders trust the rotation, everything else falls into place quickly.

Key tips

• Approach the box on your toe edge with consistent speed
• Ollie and rotate 90 degrees in one motion — don't rotate once on the box
• Look over your front shoulder toward the end of the box
• Keep your weight centered — leaning back catches the heel edge, leaning forward catches the toe edge
• Ride off the end and rotate back to forward without hesitating
• If you have backside down, frontside is mostly a confidence hurdle