The rock to fakie is a basic transition trick that much like the drop is, is an essential. The trick involves the rider going up a ramp, rocking their board up and over the coping, and then coming back in fakie. It is usually used to set up for fakie tricks. This trick is best learned on a small ramp, but once you learn it, it is very easily to apply to ramps of all sizes.
You are going to not only be comfortable on ramps, which dropping in requires, but a good amount of speed is required to get your board over the coping. This means you would either have to pump back and forth a good amount of times to get the speed, or you could just drop in.
Other Skills:
Being able to ride in fakie stance comfortably will help.
Doing The Trick
Positioning:
This trick doesn't have an official foot positioning, and basically allows you to put your feet wherever you feel comfortable, or if you want to look stylish setting them up in a certain way, but just have them in places that will allow you to lift your front trucks up, and then be able to ride back down fakie. Generally you want to have your back foot in the middle of the tail, and your front foot right below the front bolts, however feel free to mess around.
Motion:
After you drop in, and are riding across the flat, you are going to want to get your feet into the position described above.
As you are riding up the ramp, begin to put your weight onto your back foot
Right as your nose is about to meet the coping, begin lifting your front trucks up
Hold your front trucks up off the ramp, in what is basically a manual, until they clear the coping
Once your front trucks are above the coping, begin to put your weight forward onto your front foot and rock the middle of your board on the coping
You will now begin coming back down, so just as you did to get into the trick, shift your weight to your back foot again, and lift the front trucks up.
Hold your front trucks off the ramp until they clear the coping and are on the same level as the ramp again
Once your trucks are clear of the coping, just center your weight on the board, and ride back down the ramp fakie
Video Trick Tips:
Troubleshooting
I can't get my board to rock on the coping, only my front trucks make it over
You aren't getting enough speed. Don't be afraid to go faster, the trick is actually easier and flows better with speed. If you continue to do it slow like that, chances are you will hang up, and that isn't fun. So work on pumping on the way up, and you will get it.
My front trucks hang up on the coping when I come back in to the ramp
This problem is easy to fix, simply remember to really put your weight on your back foot and lift those trucks up, don't get lazy with it and let them hit, make sure they clear all the way and you will be fine.
I lose my balance when I reach the top of the ramp
First of all make sure your are comfortable with your foot positioning, once you find one that is comfortable with you try again. If you are still losing your balance, then make sure you are keeping your shoulders parallel with your board. Most people learning this trick have the tendency to open their shoulders up so that they are facing the deck of the ramp, and this will cause you to lose your balance. Just keep those shoulders straight and you should be fine.
Where Do I Go From Here?
Once you get this trick down it will open up the doors of fakie tricks to you, that means you can start out learning tail stalls, and then eventually progressing into even more advanced fakie tricks. A good trick to learn after this is also the axle stall, because it is fairly basic and allows you to not have to come back into the ramp riding fakie, which will set you up for more regular tricks. You can also try to learn rock n rolls, which are the same trick, except on the way out you pivot to regular.
they do its also a trick its called rock to revert or rock to pivot