The frontside 5-0 grind is a fairly basic grind trick, which is the act of getting onto an object and landing only on the back trucks. The grind itself looks very similar to a manual.
This trick is very similar to a frontside 50-50 is quite a few ways. Before you try this one, you're going to want to have a pretty consistent and comfortable frontside 50-50 grind.
Other Skills:
While this trick is very different than simply doing a manual, some of the balance aspects are essentially the same. Before trying this one, make sure you can manual alright and understand how to maintain balance and control. Also, you might want to spend some time practicing doing ollies and landing in manuals.
What You May Find Useful:
This is a grind that can be done on many different types of objects. If you're not very experienced with grinds and slides.. You might want to try this trick first on a box rather than a rail.
Doing The Trick
Positioning:
The back foot
Your back foot should be set up as if you were going to be doing a frontside 50-50 grind. Depending on your personal preference, you might want to adjust it a little bit in order to make it easier to land on and be balanced.
The front foot
The front foot should be positioned just as if you were going to be doing a frontside 50-50, also. And again, depending on personal preference, you can adjust it's placement just slightly to help you maintain balance
Motion:
Alright, you know how to do a frontside 50-50 grind. You are going to approach the object with the same amount of distance between you and the object you're going to grind, and you will want just as much speed also. Setting up for this one is pretty much just like setting up for a frontside 50-50.
Once you're set up and traveling proper speed and you have proper distance between you and the object you're going to grind, bend down and pop a clean ollie and get yourself over the object.
As you're about to land on the object, put a bit of extra pressure over your back truck, and un-level your board as if you were going to land in a manual.
Land only with your back truck on the object, making sure that your board is straight and your front trucks are over the object you're on. Make sure you maintain proper balance and keep your body over your board the entire time.
Grind this one out, and as you're reaching the end of the object, begin to slightly level your board out. You will not level it out completely, but do so enough as to prevent your tail smacking the edge of your rail/box.
As you leave the object, finish leveling your board out completely and stay over it with your body and prepare to land.
Land evenly on the ground with both feet over the bolts, absorbing impact appropriately. Ride away, and you've done it!
Video Trick Tips:
Troubleshooting
Chances are you're not going to be pulling this trick off first try, you know. So, if you have any problems, check out below.
I am having a hard time getting onto the object I want to grind
If this is happening, it's because of the way you're approaching it. Please refer to the frontside 50-50 trick tip troubleshooting.
I'm get on the object, but I don't grind
This is happening because you're not going fast enough, or the object isn't slick enough. Please refer to the frontside 50-50 trick tip troubleshooting.
I get on the object and grind, but lose speed very quickly
If this is happening, and it's not because the object is poorly suited for grinding or because your speed.. It's likely happening because you're applying too much pressure to your tail, and it's grinding against the object.
Ideally, you want to have ONLY your back trucks on the object. When you're first figuring this out, it's understandable that you might accidentally drag your tail a bit. Usually, it's not a big problem, and isn't really going to affect the trick itself outside of the style of it. But if you apply a large amount of pressure, it can bring you to a halt. Focus more on keeping your back truck on the object alone.
I land on my back truck, and my deck shoots out on me
For the love of skateboarding, don't let this happen! It can really result in some nasty slams, so let's avoid that.
But if it's happening.. It's because you're not staying centered over your board. You should make more effort on keeping your body weight evened out, thus staying in control better. Make sure you don't lean too far back!
I have a hard time getting off the object
It's not hard to mess up when getting off whatever it is you're grinding on. It can lead to a fall. It can also lead to a very ugly and sloppy ending to an otherwise beautifully execute frontside 5-0 grind, and that's no good.
There can be multiple reasons you're not getting a clean leave from the object. If you feel it's because you're simply going too slow, try grinding it out a little bit faster next time. Also, make sure you're not applying too much pressure on your tail as you leave, thus smacking it against the edge of the object. You should make sure only your back trucks are on the object, and you're in the process of leveling out as you get off your object.
When I finish my grind and land, I lose balance
Typical problem, and I have a typical answer to remedy this. Simply make sure you're centered over your board upon landing and not leaning too far in any direction.
Yeahhhh... This trick is very similar to the frontside 50-50, as I've said many times already. If you're able to do those well, you shouldn't have too many problems with this trick. Just keep trying it and pay attention to what you're doing wrong so you can correct it.
Where Do I Go From Here?
Don't ask me where you should go. In fact, I should ask YOU where you're going to go from here. Are you gonna take it up a notch in speed and make sure it's cleaner and you're not dragging your tail? Or maybe you want to see if you can't get a trick into this grind. Hell, you might decide you want to frontside 5-0 grind more difficult objects, such as sloped objects. It's all up to you. Good luck with it all.
